G&S Winter ’75 Adv.

1975 this G&S advertisement appeared in Surfing World magazine. It featured some pretty impressive shapers for the time like PT, Alan Blythe, Terry Bishop, Steve Griffiths, Robert Connely, Peter Glasson and Bob “Mr Moonbean” Liddell.

Groyne For The Nulla

     Local scribe Graham Cassidy stirred up some controversy when he reported in the December 79 issue of Tracks the Government and Local Councils plan to build  a 300 metre concrete break wall in the middle of the beach just south off Elouera clubhouse to combat sand erosion. The positive was the fact that the new groyne could maybe offer Kirra like tubes. The negative was how ugly it would look. Nobody apart  from the land owners really cared about the real estate in Prince St that was being threatened by the erosion.The plan was later scrapped.

The Point Regulars

Two of The Points most consistent standouts in the 70’s were the two Gregs. Greg Melhuish on the left was known for his clean style and his even cleaner G&S shapes. Greg McMaster on the right was your local charger. Nothing flash just balls to the wall, pull into the biggest and meanest tubes that 2nd reef could throw up .  Both photos were taken by one of the best water photographers of the time Dave Shaw who when he wasnt snapping away was charging hard on his surf mat.

Cronulla Vid -2

2 is  the all Cronulla follow up dvd to Twentytwothirty by Craig Stroh. Its been 5 years approx in the making and it should be well worth the wait. Strohy plans  to have it out in the next few weeks and there will be a premier. Below are frame grabs from the film.  Top row Dylan Hannah, middle  Connor O’Leary,Right  “Underground”, Bottom left “Power”,  middle “Groms” and right Dylan Hayllar.

Emerald

Heres an  advertisements from Emerald Surfboards back when Steve Griffiths was at the helm in the early 80’s. It features all the crew including, Steve , Pete Smith, Banksy, Ross Marshal, Brad Mayes ,Barry Carr and Craig Naylor.

Puberty Blues

This film about 2 teenage girls hanging out with the local surfie gang is a must see for any surfer from Cronulla at least once. Shaggin Wagons, fights with Clubbies, fish faced moles and  chicks dont surf are all part of this teenage growing up drama. Check out the clip below it even features a brief appearence of Occy, Richard James and Jacko. The funniest part about this movie is its accuracy to the times, this is what it was like growing up in the 70’s at Cronulla beach.

Luke Weinert

Luke  Weinert is one of the Elouera Dunny Hanger crew who is best known for his aerial  antics and general cutting edge moves. This shot taken around early 2000 is  typical of a Weinert surf session , turning average waves into big photographic moments, he definitely makes the camera mans job that much easier.      photo Craig Stroh

Herbie

Richard Herbert alias Dick Bent was one of Cronullas true characters. A longtime Point and Island regular Herbie was always pulling in and coming out with his crazy grin on his face. Herbie was a shaper with G&S and Emerald and produced Huzza Wuzza boards at one time in his career. Richard once had a double page shot in Tracks back in the late 70’s in an article titled Veruna. He later gained a cult like following in The Shire with his band Death by Bunta and then Dick Bent and The Bentnicks. A while back Herbie died from natural causes, his wild lifestyle finnaly caught up to him. This is shot 1 from a 6 shot sequence of Richard lining up and pulling into the hellpit at The Point    photo Stroh

Ratso

Iain “Ratso” Buchanan got his knickname after the hobo character played by Dustin Hoffman in the Hollywood movie Midnight Cowboy. Kiwi Ratso moved into Cronulla and soon became an integral part of The Alley scene surfing for Cronulla Boardriders, shaping boards for Hot Buttered and trying his luck on the World Tour. This photo was taken during a session behind the Rockpools between Northies and Southies on a clean northeast day. Ratso eventually moved back to NZ where he still resides today.   photo Stroh  circa mid 80’s.

Martin Potter

Early in his career Martin Potter the South African super kid  who was the hottest newcomer in the sport at the time due to his aerial assaults moved into Cronulla with the Darcy family for a time to get experience in Australia. It was around the mid 80’s and he was soon turning up at all the local breaks pulling huge airs and throwing plenty of tail. No matter whether it was KP, The Point or the Beachies he was going off and a huge inspiration for the local crew to see such talent ripping up their spots. It was also while staying in the Nulla the boys taught him how to party and by the time he moved on he had plenty of worldly experiences.This shot, heavy gouging carve by Potts was taken up the beach mid 80s by Chris Stroh