Clockwise from top left : surfers in 1946 , including Herb Oelke ( left ), David “ Keyhole ” Tompkins ( middle ) and Joe O ’ Sullivan ( right ) with their boards on the beach at St . Ann ’ s Drive ; Dick Metz waxing his Velzy board in 1952 ; Nancy Creed ( foreground ) and a friend relax on the beach after surfing in Laguna circa 1961 .
chemicals and made a high-density polyurethane foam ,” Metz says . “ And it took him a year or better to even start to get it right .” The mixture was stirred in a bucket , then Metz recalls pouring it into a cementand-steel mold . But youth and inexperience meant there were a few factors they didn ’ t consider .
“ We didn ’ t know … the temperature and the humidity would change from the morning to the afternoon [ and ] one day to the other ,” Metz says . “ So these boards were like a waffle that didn ’ t have enough dough with these empty spaces in there . These left big pock marks and it was expensive to do the foam and we couldn ’ t throw it away , so we put Bondo in those holes and then we ’ d call these Easter egg boards : They were blue , white and kind of a pink color — you had your choice — but they covered up these big blotches that were in the foam .”
It wasn ’ t until the early 1960s that they achieved the recipe for a foam without these blemishes that allowed Alter to popularize the fiberglass-coated polyurethane core surfboards .
“ We finally figured out how to control it and mix it better and be in a controlled environment so it wouldn ’ t change the composition of it ,” Metz says . “ All of these were steps along the way .”
LEARNING FROM LEGENDS Metz had started surfing around age 6 with guidance from two older Laguna guys , Larson and Brennan “ Hevs ” McClelland . Both surfers and well-known locals , Larson also shaped boards while McClelland was a lifeguard who served as the announcer for early surf competitions in the area and went on to establish the U . S . Surfing Association in 1961 . But back in the day , wherever they went , Metz went , and he picked up a passion for surfing along the way .
“ They were 10 , 12 years older than I was and it was during the Depression . People
didn ’ t have jobs and people were literally living on the beach ,” Metz recalls , adding that Larson and McClelland had built a shack on the sand below the spot where Las Brisas is now , using wood that washed up from the broken pier . “… They went out surfing and diving to get abalone , to get lobster , and then they would bring it to my dad [ at his diner ] and trade it for beer or a hamburger or whatever they wanted . So one day , my dad said , ‘ I ’ m kind of worried about my kid . If you ’ ll watch him , I ’ ll give you a burger and a beer at the end of the day .’ … I was their meal ticket .
“ They just kind of took me wherever they were going . … They ’ d take me out on the boat and then we ’ d go to San Onofre and Doheny , surfing . And they had an old Model A Ford and they ’ d put the [ surf ] board in the rumble seat along with me . … Because I was a little kid , they ’ d start tandem surfing with me . They could lift me up ; I probably weighed 50 pounds or something . And then as I grew , I just started
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