Voodoo Wave Power

When Captain Cook sailed around Bate Bay looking for somewhere safe to land its not surprising he chose to bypass the rocky coastline around Voodoo for the safer and more protected Kurnell just around the corner. Deep sea ocean swells unload on this part of the coast as they hit the shallow ledges producing some intense wave energy. Just North of the car park in large North East swells the ocean power is never more evident as swells collide with the rocky headland. How big is this wave explosion? The person standing there in the shot gives a rough gauge into  just how high this spray is. Photo Stroh.

Greg McCarthy

Local photographer Greg McCarthy had been experimenting with different types of remote control radio cameras for quite some time in the 90’s. The problem was at the time it was very expensive and you had to be close enough to the action to reach the signal from shore. With plenty of frustrating hours put in eventually Macca and Dave “Speg” McKinnley eventually connected resulting in taking out a prestigous award winning Canon photo contest and the cover of Tracks Photo Annual in ’98. These days Go Pros have solved those technical problems. 

Gary Green

This shot of Cronulla’s prodical son Gary Green was taken at the south end of The Wall around 1990, Greeny as always was ripping it up around this time he was hooked up with Rip Curl and The Search.Photo Chris Stroh

 

Scotty Baxter

Elouera Beach diehard and contest behind the scenes man Mr Scotty Baxter dragged himself away from the Dunny Bowl to sample some Island magic around 1990 photo Chris Stroh

Pottz Surfboards by Stewart D’Arcy

When Martin Potter was on his first tour as a rookie the D’Arcy clan took him under their wing when the South African aerial pioneer was in Cronulla. Years later Stewart began shaping and manufacturing Pottz boards at Taren Pt throughout  the 90’s. Here’s an adv. from that time period.

Force 9 Surfboards

 Force 9 Surfboards was owned and run by longtime Cronulla surfer/ shaper  Jim Lucas and it has remained in the same factory now for decades. This  advertisement from the 90’s era  appeared in Underground Surf mag.

 

 

 

 

SMP and Andy King

The Clothing brand SMP which many believed the name refered to  “Smoke More Pot” had strong ties with Cronulla. Team manager Shane Moran hooked up local surfers like Fletch and Andy King when the brand was making a strong impact on the surf and snow market. Below Andy King adv. from Underground Surf Mag Circa 90’s taken by Chris Stroh.

Underground Surf Magazine.

First published around the mid 90’s, Underground Surf was the work of passionate surfer and weather forecaster Ben Horvath. What was so special about U.S was that it was a south-side based and  influenced magazine which gave the local crew a bit of a push. Regularly featured were Terapai, The McKinnleys, Boogs , Rusty and the new kids like Blake Johnston, Flintoff and crew.  This issue Spring ’94 it was Murph on the cover taken by Joli. Since its demise in early 200’s the South-siders once again are too often easily ignored by the current crop of surf publications.

Big Wednesday at Shark Island

When the Island or Point pumps the headland acts as a natural arena and it allows the perfect vantage point to watch all the action. Most big swells a large crowd will gather and it creates that Big Wednesday type feel about it. This swell in the early 90’s actually hit on a Wednesday and Chris Iredale was there to make the most of it. Story appeared in  Tracks and photographed by Chris Stroh

Damien Hodge

Around ’90 Damien Hodge was the new kid on the block showing plenty of potential in the amateur ranks. Being taken under the wing of Dog and Jason Marsh, Hodgey was one of Cronulla Boardriders Clubs most promising stars and looked like a possible candidate to follow a similar pro career path to that of Greeny , Occy and Dog. In ’95 when this pic was taken by Peter Simons, Hodgey was riding Stuart Patterson shaped Force 9 boards.