Greg Melhuish and Butto ’77

This  shot of Greg Melhuish a well respected  surferand  shaper for G&S appeared on the cover of Surfing World Vol 25 No5 taken at The Point by Greg Button in 1977. Butto was a regular out the Point and Island charging on his kneelo but always found the time to snap off some deep action water shots around this time. Butto along with Dave Shaw in the 70’s  put Cronulla on the surfing map as well as introduce many of The Shires top waves and riders to outside of the area.

Dave George ’76

1976…. Dave George surfed The Point mostly and was the envy of his 16 year old mates when a colour picture of him made it to the pages of  a surfing magazine around that time.These shots of Dave surfing Elouera Beach  in the mid 70’s by Tim Vanderlaan

Nugget

Every Beach has its main men who have earnt the respect of their peers over the years. Narrabeen had Simon Anderson, Pipe had Gerry Lopez at The Alley it was the late “Nugget” Dennehy who ruled the roost in and out of the surf. Someone smart once said, “Nugget would be world champ if only they held all the comps out  at The Alley”. Nugget backside pivot photo by Chris Stroh late 80’s

Mick Anastas

Sandshoes ripper and regular standout in local club comps and regional events in the seventies, Mick Anastas was also capable on a skateboard during the mid 70’s boom when flexi skaties and urethane wheels revolutionized the sport. Below Mick from the pages of Surfing World in an article called Concrete Cruising by PT.

Gary Birdsall

Gary “Birdshit” Birdsall today is an accomoplished artist known for his surf inspired artworks. Back in the early sixties he was one of Cronulla’s first stars taking on the Point whenever it was firing. This image of Birdshit was  courtesy of Dags.

Night Surfing ’84

1984 Elouera Beach hosted the 2mmm Night Surfing Spectacular with $5000 prize money for the Top 16 surfers.It was held over two nights, the first was a practice session allowing locals and pro’s a chance to test out the lights. The night lights made things difficult at times as occasional glare blindness and black spots made it difficult to adjust too at times. Night 2 saw a humongous crowd turn up to see the night show evolve. Conditions were tiny and mid way through the comp a southerly buster hit causing all sorts of trouble. Unfortunately it would be a one off event after the council banned future night events due to crowd problems. Below Tom Curren in action on the practice night from Waves Magazine photo Peter Crawford.

Jacko @ Sandshoes

Brian Jackson surfboard shaper and Cronulla legend takes on Sandshoes reef in the sixties. Photo Jack Eden

Nigel Dwyer Museum NZ.

Nigel Dwyer, a former Cronulla boy and great mate of Jacko  is now the owner of Del surfboards N.z. where he also runs  his own museum. Here are some of his  boards he’s collected. Info courtesy Dags

Spike James

Richard “Spike”James  excelled at The Point on those mean days and earned a reputation as one of the areas best tube riders during his time in Cronulla throughout the 80’s before moving North. Photo Stroh late 80’s

Terry Tumeth ’61

Another of Jacks classics this time Terry Tumeth styles his way down a South Cronulla left in ’61. Terry was also one of the pioneers of Sandshoes and has plenty of stories how the local boys used to trick visiting Surfers to the whereabouts to the much sort after secret reef in the early days. The Shoes boys would lead them down the coast then at the first opportunity loose them and head back to their little secret spot and have all the waves to themselves. Photo Jack Eden.