Bonza

G&S Trifin boards from the 70’s

Denny Childs

Talented goofyfoot and original owner of Southern Comfort. Denny is seen here in the early 70’s with two of his shapes.

Groin For Cronulla Scrapped

1980 October Tracks revealed that the proposed groyne to combat erosion at Cronulla Beach was to be dropped. In the pic below by Peter Simmons you can see the destruction caused during that monster swell of ’76 to Northies.

7ft 1″ Reno by PT

Check out this classic ride from ’74. Shaped by Peter Townend at G&S. It had Shaped 7/10/74 “Reno” Small Mouth written on the foam. We guess its referring to Reno Gillespie a stylish character and Sandshoes standout from back in the day who just happened to be a good mate of PT’s. In two years time Townend would claim the first pro tour title in ’76. Image by Craig Quinn.

Popout

Gerry “Popout” Manion during the seventies was one of the first to really take on maxing Cronulla Point. Gerry was renown for scoring the biggest and best barrel of the day a feat he achieved when he lucked into that killer keg that put Cronulla on the big wave map when magazines around the world including a poster in Surfing Mag ran it. Popouts other interests included racing cars. The full adrenalin freak. This framie was captured early 90’s.

Tom Uglys Surf Shop

There’s been a lot of Surf Shops come and go in the Shire and one the more unusual shops in a  slightly weird location was situated at Blakehurst on the southern end of Tom Uglys Bridge. Run by Paul Ryan who was a bit of a old surfer Hippy tree hugger who was keen on ecology and saving the world. He setup the  Tom Uglys Surf Shop in the mid ’70s and it was a like stepping  into Byron Bay with Yoga and other trippy decor. It mostly stocked Colour of Thought Surfboards shaped by Peter Glasson. This article appeared in Tracks in ’80.

Bruce Weller Southern Comfort

Bruce Weller in Southern Comfort Adv around the late 70’s

The Parkinson Bros.

 Retro pic of Jim Parkinson (Shaper at Jackson since 1974 and still today) and his brother Al Parkinson in California in 1973 at a place called Frogs. As you can see no legropes those days, Jim broke his fin while Al broke his nose. Photo courtesy of Christiana Parkinson/Jackson Surfboards.

Cronulla Article Tracks ’71

This is the first article based on Cronulla to appear in Tracks. Written by Rusty Miller its about a day he spent south. It was titled “Equal rights for the Southside guys”.Thats Jacko in the picture.

Windensea Surf Shop

The Windensea Surf Shop on Elouera rd was originally owned by Big Gary and started up in the late 70’s. The original shop appeared in Puberty Blues. Gary hired all the local groms like Dog and Alby Ross to work out the back making leg ropes. It was Dogs first paying job. A few years down the line Dog bought the shop from Gazza and changed the name to Triple Bull. After a while he closed the doors and moved the shop up to the main Cronulla shops were it remains today but with different ownership.