Chapter: 3
Malibu Swing
- Freezing the Moment with Doc Ball
- A Touch of Glamour
- Bob Simmons, Gnarled Genius
- Darrylin, Oh Darrylin
- The Magic Wave
- Velzy's Pig
- Dewey Weber, Hotdog Jesus
- Tubesteak Abides
- A Rebel for All Seasons
- The Valley Cometh
- Hawaii Calls
- Rocket to Makaha
- Buzzy Trent, King of Beasts
- Surfing's Beat Generation
- France and Peru Join In
- A Restart for Australia
- Bud Browne Presents
- Point Surf '58
- The Viking King of Mead Hall
- An Exorcism at Waimea
- A Farewell to Clubs
Point Surf '58
Makaha, 1953. Photo: Scoop Tsuzuki
Makaha contest director Fred Van Dyke (left). Photo: Church
Makaha International, late '50s. Photo: Clarence Maki
Makaha International, 1959. Photo: Bob Pasqua
George Downing, Makaha, 1958. Photo: Walter Hoffman
Downing paddled at speed over four progressively bigger waves then got caught out by the fifth. He pushed his board away and swam for the bottom, felt his sinuses rupture from the pressure change as the wave moved overhead, and broke the surface a few moments later with blood pooling in the back of his throat.
Every 1950s surf movie ended with a punishing big-wave finale. There were other compulsory features: beachbreak whipturns and cutbacks, hokey comedy bits, travel sequences to Mexico with tequila-pickled tourista surfers in sombreros, beater cars with boards stacked on the roof bumping along a dirt track toward the ocean. But in the end, the point was to send everyone home thrilled and maybe a litt...
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