A production of South Carolina ETV ♪ Dennis McKevlin> West Coast East boys, Air Force people came over from California and that to my knowledge is the beginning of it.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Ted Watts> In 61' my father got a surfboard from John Stanko who used to owned Better Brands in Myrtle Beach, the Budweiser distributor.

He bought a pop out makko from California.

He gave it to my father.

For the next six, seven years I paddled that around trying to learn how to turn it.

Never did learn how to turn it.

Keith Thompson> No surf shops were around back then.

I bought my first surf board at a Chapin company, a hardware store.

I paid 96 dollars for it.

But Danny Weston, and his brother bought me one of these.

They used to let me ride at least one or two waves a day.

I'd sit on the beach nearly all day long, getting to ride that one wave.

It made the difference the first time I ever was propelled I guess.

Larry pushed me off and I rode the wave in the first time and that started it off right there.

Tim Holt> I started surfing and probably the first time, I ever tried it was in 1963.

A friend had a board and we just took it to the beach and tried it out and our parents let us mess with it.

And then in 19 - the next Christmas, matter fact I asked my dad for one of my own and so he gave it to me.

And so that would be, I guess the Christmas of 1963 or 63.

Nanci Polk-Weckhorst> I started surfing in 1965 at Folly Beach in Charleston.

And I had actually been on a board several years earlier, but I wouldn't say that I actually was surfing.

But I actually got hooked on surfing in 1965.

Lonnie Hart> I started the summer of 66.

My folks bought a house a couple blocks from the beach and that first summer I went down there and there was an old, like an old van down there.

And there was this strange looking character painting flowers all over it.

And it turned out to be a California surf bum named McKinney Dean.

And he rented boards that summer and he got a bunch of us, we were all about 15, 16 years old, about six or seven of us.

And he got us all started.

Took off from there and never looked back.

Bill Perry> I first went surfing, I remember more than likely summer of 1966.

I believe on Pawley's Island.

Betty Sue> My brother, I went to, I went to the surf shop and picked out a surfboard and then he said, it has a ding in it and I put in.

Got the ding fixed.

And then he just said, 'Okay, now you can go surfing.'

And that's how he taught me.

Hank Bauer> I started in 1968 and it was my brother Chuck.

He pushed me in my first wave.

I'll never forget it.

It was over in Sullivan's Island.

Robert Williams> I remember the first wave I stood up on and then fell down like everybody else, two seconds afterwards.

I'm remember the first wave, I actually went down the line on.

It was down in Pawley's Island.

I was really stoked and I couldn't stop laughing about it.

About five, ten minutes I just kept coming up to Jason saying, 'Hey, I just you know rode down the line of that wave.

Ricky Archambault> I think the first wave I ever caught was on the surfboard belonging to two brothers Willie and Mike Johnston, and we rode the white water in, like you would on a raft.

But it was just exciting.

It was wonderful.

I was in heaven.

I knew I had to get involved with surfing at that point.

Brian McNeeley> I remember the board weighed 45 pounds and I weighed 65 pounds.

And it was quite a tussle getting it out to the beach.

I used to put it on my head and stagger like this to get out onto the beach.

But, it was great fun and I knew the first time I went that I was hooked.

That was it.

That was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

Glenn Tanner> I got my first brand new board from Dewey Surf Shop in 1968, a weber ski.

And got a short John wetsuit for my birthday, the day after Christmas.

And that was really like my first.

Yeah that's when it took off from me.

I hadn't looked back since.

>> It was real fun.

My brother started teaching me how to surf when I was about eight years old.

And, basically just threw me out there I think I knew how to surf before I really knew how to swim very well.

And it was fun being around all the older guys.

I got picked on a lot because of that.

But still it had its fun moments, as well.

Frank Powers> First time I went surfing was in the summer of 73'.

You know it was just pure accident.

A friend of mine lived across the street, came over one day and said why don't we go surfing.

And I looked at him like he was crazy, because we've never been surfing before.

So anyway, he talked me into it.

We went to the McKevlin's Surf Shop and we each rented a surfboard, went out to the beach, spent a few hours out there.

We both had a good time.

I think I had a better time than he did, because I pursued it over and over.

Adam Justice> It was Christmas day.

My brother got me a full suit and took me out and it's been probably about six years since I've been surfing.

And really, he's the one who got me started.

Stoney Cantor> Right.

I think I got started surfing, it was in 1979 or 80'.

So, I just first moved here from a small little country town so.

It's kind of strange but yet I started surfing in basically Kelly Richards, the guy I surf for now is one pretty much who I started surfing with.

Greg Elliot> I got into surfing because I wasn't any good at school basically.

I had a whole different world twirling and tumbling.

And I just wouldn't fit and had dyslexia, classic dyslexia.

And undiagnosed, it went on for a long time.

So I hitchhiked to the beach, which is pretty crazy now, but we did it back then.

And, somewhere along the line, I used to surf competitively and it kind of, was like a pat on the back.

I did it basically for that reason.

Colleen Hanley> The boy I liked surfed.

When I was ten, I just kept going out there trying to hang out with him.

And then eventually I just, just kept surfing.

I fell in love with it really.

Coleman Richards> Well, I used I used to wear a life jacket.

So this is what my dad did.

He would push me out and when a wave came that was good, he would push me on the wave, then I would end up but I couldn't turn and I was like this.

(laughing) *Jim Dotherow> Actually, the day I bought the boards and came out here, and I set them down on the beach.

And I was looking at him I was so proud of them.

It was so pretty.

And we waxed them up and we went out there and we just got annihilated out on those waters.

But we kept getting up and going back in there.

And we just kept screaming, I'm a surfer!

I'm a surfer' It's an incredible feeling.

I knew at that time, that this is something I was going to do forever.

And we were terrible out there.

We were just getting - we were falling off, where we couldn't paddle out properly but you couldn't get the grin off our face.

And at that moment, I knew that if I was this bad and having this much fun, that this is something I was going to do forever.

♪ Betty Sue> There's probably areas that all over the world, that have surfers that come to specific surf spots, you know at various times.

They all get to know each other.

They get to see each other in the water and they grow old together.

They start - and some of them go by the wayside and some come back and they reminisce and they've experienced swells together.

They experience life together in the ocean.

And so because of that it's kind of a little community.

It is the world of Folly Beach.

It has its own surfing community, its own people that have come through and made their mark or not made their mark, either way.

But, it's I think that same type of community is just is in lots of different places.

Bill> We all have something in common and that's the waves.

And so it's kind of like something that brings everybody together.

>> Folly Beach basically was primitive.

You come out here now, there's a hotel.

There's nice houses.

Back then it was like shacks.

Matter of fact, past 12th street on the east end or 6th street on the west end, there was hardly any houses, just sand dunes and you can do anything you wanted out there.

Surf, nobody even knew you were out there.

Hank> I can think of a lot of people that we you know we always had our little groups out here on the beach.

But there always seem to be some kind of unity.

Regardless, you know where you were raised that way they're raised in St.

Andrews or Charleston, James Island, it didn't matter.

I mean you know you had that surfer brotherhood.

Brian> When we were kids it was just all great.

Everybody knew each other on the beach.

It's was just like one big happy family.

We booted each other's rides and share rides to the beach.

It was just a great thing.

You see somebody riding down the road, they'd give you a thumbs up or thumbs down if the waves were good or what not.

Tim> When we first started in Myrtle Beach really it was only like two or three and actually if you saw another surfer it was kind of neat because he wanted to surf.

Now you're trying to get away from everybody.

Ted> You had to different areas.

People surf at 29th Avenue South.

The crowd I started hanging around with, we surfed at what is now called Sea Island Resort Sandpiper Motel off of Myrtle Beach.

Then you had the crowd that surfed at the Dune's Cove and still had 43rd Avenue which is still surfed.

You had different crowds.

The crowds, we consider them crowded, but yet you're only looking at ten, eleven surfers.

And it all, everybody knew each other.

Lonnie> Back then that was before all the campgrounds and the development that happened heading toward Myrtle Beach was nothing but about 300 acres of woods and just wide open beaches, no tourists.

It was a great playground.

We had a ball.

And back south it was still very sparsely populated.

Surfside about 200 year round residents.

And fortunately there was a bunch of us all about the same age, living in the same area and we all kind of got in the surfing thing together.

(waves crashing) Jim> A typical day of surfing back then, we would get up early and do a dawn patrol.

Come out.

Check.

Even if it wasn't up, we're going to come out walk around and talk about it, sit in our cars out here, run our mouths and tell stories about the days we've been up and what we were going to do today.

I'd go back, go to school and the minute it was out, we would all fly out here as fast as we could.

Get something to eat then get on out to the beach and go out there and wait.

And wait till it came up.

Everybody's going to get wet.

Get out there and have a lot of fun no matter what.

(waves crashing) Nanci> We used to know everybody up and down the coast that surfed.

There's so few surfers then.

And especially if you're competing, you knew the top people.

You even knew the top big name people from California.

So, they were all over here or we were there.

♪ Brian> The group of guys that I grew up surfing with all mostly have families now, and careers and it's rare that we can all get together to go out.

It seems that families and other priorities kind of, kind of take precedent over surfing.

And that's understandable but on occasions they'll manage to break away and I'll call them up and we'll get out and still get on the water and have a great time.

And it's funny you can really tell the old true hard cores that surf from ever...comes up you'll see about 20 or 30 guys well over their, well into their 40's out here that are still surfing.

It just kind of warms your heart when you see that.

You know those guys are still at it.

Hank> There is that still that core group that I fondly look upon and still have a lot of fun with out in the water.

Tim> I haven't missed a season in 33 years of surfing and I love surfing with my friends and the younger kids too.

I just love them and I love being with my buddies.

My old buddies, there's very few of them but there are still a few of us left, that's still surfing.

A day surfing with your friends is a whole lot better than surfing by yourself.

Tommy Bolus> I would say after the group of about 50 that I knew from James Island High School from 65 to 69 maybe out of 50, maybe there's five of us left that are still surfing in our 40's.

And when we're out together it's really a nice time.

(waves crashing) Ricky> You can forget about all your earthly worries when you're out there.

All you have to worry about is the next wave.

There's a lot of camaraderie out in the water.

A lot of fellowship.

Keith> Really getting back out with my friends and seeing their sons surf, that's the real inspiration to me.

(waves crashing) Frank> What makes it even more enjoyable is when you happen to be out in the water and you see someone that you surfed with a lot, years ago and you just happen to see they're still into the sport and doing it.

(waves crashing) Ted Watts> I actually have a wonderful time.

I love my friends, meeting with them.

I love the hoots and the hollers and I love the hooting hollers.

So it's really a lot of fun when your friends are out there.

♪ Dennis J. McKevlin> My oldest son, Teddy, that's the fellow that was really crazy about the sport.

And that's what happened with me getting into the surfboard business.

We had a bowling alley in the back of the bowling alley was a store room nine by forty.

Then we moved further up across the street in front of to be on Center Street by maybe a thousand square feet and then 1980 we moved then to this three thousand square foot.

And we've been here.

We expanded in 1982.

We had it enlarged again.

(silence) Back then there was a surfboard and a ball of rocks.

And then the showy wet suit, we didn't realize you could wear a long wetsuit in those days all they had was right to the knees.

But it was a matter of telling a surfboard and throwing a ball of rocks at a fella and wishing him well.

Now, it's a brand new ball game.

Everything has completely changed.

Tim McKevlin> It's a lot more complicated than it used to be.

The shop started out with boards and bars of wax that we cut up ourselves.

And that was pretty much it and cheese sandwiches for surfers when nobody else was open here on the beach but that's surf shops.

And after that it started getting into all the clothing made it really big.

That's when all the suits and ties kind of got involved in the business and it really started becoming big dollars when the clothing took off.

♪ ♪ Bill> We got into the surfing business from the sailboard business.

If kind of got it started when we were making our own sail boards and jumping away from sail boards.

And we needed a retail outlet to do our sail boards Betty Sue>- to keep our habit going >>- and to keep our sail boards going.

And the natural arts shop over there, came up for sale.

And that's when we started the surfing business.

We had a rack of T-shirts and about eight surfboards.

And a couple of pieces of sail boards.

And then we discovered something really interesting.

Surfers and sail boarders don't get along.

(laughter) Betty Sue> So at that point, what we decided is well - Bill> - sail boards out the door.

<Surfing.> We like surfing.

Surfing's our roots.

So the heck with the sail boards.

We stopped sail boarding and just stuck with surfing.

♪ ♪ Tim> I think probably the first thing somebody sees when they walk into the shop and the biggest difference that they notice if they're from the school where they've learned about surf boards through the "Gidget" movies or something like that is the size difference now.

They look at it and suddenly there's lots of boards under six foot, There's still boards in the nine foot range, but there's also the real smaller ones Probably the other thing is the weight of the boards.

If they get past the shock of the sides being so strange and they pick one up and they feel a board that, 20 years ago weighed 50 pounds and now only weighs twelve pounds or something, they seem shocked by that.

I think today probably the biggest difference is the variety of stuff that's available for people.

There are boards for practically every age group and every size and every sort of experience that a person has from the totally absolute in-experienced person can get aboard that can work for them right away.

And also you can have somebody who's been surfing for years and years and is almost in a professional sort of realm, they can find a board at your local surf shop that works good for them too.

Betty Sue> I think that there was a period of time when the surf boards got too small, that it excluded a great number of people.

And even the beginning surfers didn't have a good time when they went out because the surfboard was so small that basically all they could do is pretend they were surfing.

Unless they were very, very talented, they really didn't get a lot of surfing in.

And I think that probably the best thing that happened was when the surf board, when it got okayed, maybe "Endless Summer 2" , that movie because it got to be okay for people to ride long boards and fun shapes and any other kind of board they felt like riding as long as they were having fun on it.

Bill> The boards have been riding a lot better.

The technology's a lot greater.

The rails are better.

The fins are set better so your performance is definitely enhanced with the surfboards.

Even the fun shapes now are lighter weight and you know they just ride a whole lot better.

And I think that would give more people pleasure and that's why more people want to keep doing it because they're getting more fun while their surfing.

Brian> I prefer riding long boards, especially in this area, the way conditions around here, generally don't tend to be favorable to ride real short boards except during big hurricane swells, which I'll break out my short board then.

But, more often than not, it's long boards for me.

And it just seems like that's kind of an attitude, kind of the way things are going with a lot of especially us older guys, now.

We're kind of regressing back a little bit.

We finally are getting a few more pounds around the waist, now and it's a little bit easier to paddle the long boards.

It just seems to be a better way to go and it's a lot more fun.

Nanci> I think the short borders thought they rule and that is the end.

The long borders are coming back in full force.

And now, most of the kids even in our area are all, either have short and long boards, so that it's, they're seeing, relics like us out there surfing and enjoying both.

I ride both long board and short board but I prefer the medium board.

About a seven tens, seven six is that size I prefer.

Lonnie> There's a whole different feel between the longer board and the short board.

The short boards fun, but I like that I guess it's a matter of style.

And especially today, of course I'm not, you know, svelte, a 120 pounds like I was back then, closer to like 220.

Longer board, easy to paddle.

I can catch just as many waves and have just as much fun as the kids out there.

And it's not as - I hate to say it but it's not as as tough on the old man.

♪ ♪ Kelly Richards> Every surf board is so hand made that you would not believe it.

I mean there's no possible way, if this guy loves his surfboard, and he brings it back and he says, 'Kelly, I want this exact surfboard.'

I can come close and it will probably be a little bit better than this one, but you cannot reproduce anything that's hand-made.

- cause it's putting pieces of a puzzle together.

And I mean you have to take the guy's height and weight.

That's important.

You have to take - It's hard to believe but how good he is in his ability is one of the most important things.

And then you have to try to tell him what you think.

But you have to have ears too when he's telling you what he wants.

And you want to come to a happy medium.

You know to where he's happy.

There's been more than once to where I've gave a customer my advice.

I've, you know, I said this is what I would do.

And they say, 'No, this is what I want.'

Then, that's when I have to turn my brain off and I just have to hear and listen.

And then that's when I say, 'Okay, on your, on this board, I'm a' work for you.'

It all begins with the blank, which is made out of like a polyurethane Styrofoam foam or whatever.

and you just carve and cut the blank in to what the customer wants.

And that can be a whole story within itself.

And so you custom shape the blank to what they want.

And then we put the airbrush right on the foam.

And then the board, cause there's glass with cloth, cloth and resin.

Compare the board to like an M&M.

The foam is the candy inside and the glass and the resin is the hard coating that goes on the outside.

And then we put on the skegs.

It takes, you could build a surfboard in two days.

But that's not the way you do it.

We do them in like a batch of a half dozen, eight a day.

And each guy does his job on that eight a day.

I think that's what makes my surfboards, is that I used to compete.

I competed since I was, well, since I was twelve.

And in the surfboard business, that's very important.

Because if you don't have people out there riding the different boards and coming back to you with good feedback or bad, that's what you need to improve your product.

Because, if you're not riding the boards or a guy who surfs well is not riding the boards, then you just don't know what you need to do to advance.

A team is a very important, important thing and A. it's a lot of fun to go to the contest and you see a guy win a contest on surfboard that you made, that makes you proud.

B. it's like it gives these guys just like in any sport, competition is good.

So the little kids want to be on the team because the bigger kids that surf good on our boards may be on a board that we have and that's what makes the ball roll.

Keith Thompson> I started in 1969.

First contest, one was a sun fun contest on Pawley's Island.

And last contest I surfed in at that time was in 1972.

I dropped out but in 1994, I stepped back into it.

And I've been pretty successful.

I've been twice second place long board in the state.

First in my region.

I placed in the Mid Atlantic regionals.

Nanci> I started competing pretty early, probably before I should have.

But because I was a girl, they kept egging us on to go ahead and get out there.

So, I guess so they weren't really sponsors back then.

You just were sponsored by a shop.

And they would give you a break on the surfboards and you would promote that shop.

But the competitions were just few and far between.

You might have one or two contests a year.

And then as the years went on ESA started up.

And they would have four contests a year.

And they would be held in a particular district.

And then you would travel to other districts to compete and then you would compete in the US or the east coast championships first and then possibly the US if you were good enough.

The 72' my first trip to the US Surfing championships, Nationals with Huntington Beach and - I was sent to represent the east coast in the women's division.

It was pretty cut throat.

I wasn't really prepared for it but I got through several heats, much to my surprise.

But at first there was just very few contests, local people, local judges.

Like we'd surf at Folly or our surf club which originally was West Coast/ East Surf Club who had sponsored several contests a year.

And then later there was the Palmetto Surf Club that one started having more and more judges from out of town and a lot of the big name people would come.

>> All the big stars used to come to Folly Beach in those days and we'd talk.

You don't see much of that anymore.

But they're still there but they just don't come to Folly.

Lonnie Hart> There were guys in Garden City and as time went on we developed a kind of a friendly rivalry between the towns.

We started a contest, Surfside Garden City Locals.

And that went on for about three years and then we got a lot of backing the third year.

And the fourth year, the city of Myrtle Beach came in and said we'll take it over.

So that ended the local aspect to it.

Glenn Tanner> I got in to competition.

My first contest was in 1971, Pawley's Island in the boys division.

And I think I got first place and that was my first trophy.

I've kind of come full circle.

When I first started, I was the young little kid.

I looked up to all these older guys.

I wanted to - It was fun competing It was kind of like a gathering of all the best guys and a stage to do your thing.

And then you know, eventually I stayed within.

I became one of the good guys I guess.

1982 I won the US amateur title.

That was like my highest claim to fame.

And now I've kind of gone to the far end of the scale and I look back now and I see the kids.

The other parents are out here dropping them off and I'm doing the same thing.

But I still look at it like surfing this competition here, we're at today is like a little league of surfing.

And it's just great to see the kids out here.

Adam Justice> I like contests in my opinion.

I think it's more fun.

I started in I think 92' like after one year of surfing.

My brother got me going to at all his contests with him so.

I've been in surfing contests since 92 really.

Stoney> Yeah.

I just always been a competitor.

I mean, if you ask most people that know me they'll tell you that.

Surfing contests, I don't know what it is but it just gives me so much energy.

And I just love winning.

Colleen Hanley> I started competing at I think I was fourteen.

It was an ESA contest.

Kelly and everybody was going to be entering and they asked me to enter it for fun.

And I ended up getting first.

And just, it was really like a rush like an adrenaline at the age of thirteen or fourteen.

So I just kept doing it.

Greg Elliott> Then I kind of got the hang of surfing... And then I was fortunate enough to get to enter a probe event one time.

A 108 guys invitational and I got one of the last two alternate slots and ended up finishing third place in that, which sent me to Australia.

And I've gotten to surf Australia, Fiji, a place called Tavua over Fiji, Barbados, Hawaii, several times California, a good many times.

Tim> It's much more personal than the other businesses.

You almost feel like you have to give something else back to them since they're bringing so much to you.

And they're not just bringing money into the shop.

They're also - They come in and tell you stories.

They bring their experiences.

You almost grow up with them.

And it's real neat to be able to give a little bit back.

We help sponsor the Eastern Surfing Association here.

I'm on the Board of Directors, there.

And I handle their newsletter and we, like you said, we sponsor surfers as well and help them out and make it easier for them to get the right equipment.

♪ Dennis> I don't see any difference in the boys.

You got a few bad eggs, but most of the kids are real good people.

I mean they're polite.

Everything as far as service or greater as far as I'm concerned.

Always been good fellas.

(waves crashing) Keith> I think kids are a little bit more aggressive today and are a lot more competitive than they used to be.

Tommy Bolus> It's like the difference between football teams that you see in the 60's and 70's, more sportsmanship, camaraderie.

Generally, it was not an ego thing.

It was something you did because you knew that you had to do it.

It was inside yourself.

Now you see a lot of just egocentric competition.

Lonnie> When we were surfing, you'd go anywhere.

Now it's kind of restricted to small areas and then they get packed.

Anytime you get people crowded in, yeah you have a certain amount of animosity and aggressiveness going on.

But for the most part the kids are - they're really good.

I get a lot of respect in the water, which surprises me.

Hank> I think so many younger kids nowadays might have a little bit more of an attitude problem.

I mean, but that's biased, of course, because you got to be able look at yourself and it's kind of hard to look at yourself maybe from a young age and say 'I didn't act that way.'

Nanci> I would get a lot of attitudes in the water sometimes like, 'Hey, lady you going to catch that wave?'

'You darn right kid!'

It's a matter of them disrespecting the older people.

And I think they're getting that but they don't want to.

Brian McNeeley> It's kind of sad you know, you feel like you've been out here surfing for almost 30 years.

You know you think in most sports that would you're treated with some kind of respect, but not so much in surfing.

I think you're respected when it comes from your peers in your own age.

And we respect each other and share waves and give each other waves and stuff like that, but with the younger generation now they pretty much, "Get out of the way, old dude!"

We're coming through.

(waves crashing) Ted> But there's a lot of them out there that have no idea what's going on.

They drop in on you at any time.

But the ones that really learn it, learn the spirit of surfing.

Those are the ones, they're good surfers and they respect other surfers.

♪ ♪ Nanci> I figured it out a long time ago that if you're going to surf, you needed to - your boyfriend needed to surf or you weren't going to spend much time with him.

♪ Jim> If you're going to be out here all your life.

You're going to be out here most your time.

You're going to talk it all the time.

You're going to be around surfers.

She's got to like the ocean, at least the sun.

♪ Colleen> And my husband will have to surf, I think.

It's going to have to be a given.

♪ Glenn> I met my wife out surfing.

And she came in to shop to buy some surf racks and the rest is history from there.

But we enjoy competing.

And she was really get into it.

And she's very good.

She won the east coast and she also won the hottest only woman to ever win the hottest wave award at the east coast championships.

That's pretty good.

Brian> It's difficult for a lot of women to handle the surfers' lifestyle.

I mean it's the kind of thing especially around here when the waves are good, you got to go and it can happen at a moment's notice.

And that's difficult for a lot of people to deal with and it's kind of hard to say "Honey, I can't make dinner with your parents.

The surf's up."

♪ Betty Sue> He let me have a couple of waves.

He was real kind to me out in the water.

(laughs) And then so I had a big pickup truck and he had a bicycle.

And he had ridden his bicycle.

It was during the era when surfing was restricted to just the wash out.

So we were at the wash out and I'm reminded, we might have never met except for that surfing controversy.

<Probably wouldn't have.> Because, Bill never surfed down there.

So we both went down there and he gave me a couple waves and it was real crowded.

So I asked him if he wanted a ride home.

I gave him a ride home in my pick up truck with his bicycle.

We've been together ever since.

♪ Tommy> A surfer's very lucky when he finds a woman that understands his what I term 'healthy addiction' to the sport.

He's not going out on her.

He's not gambling.

And he's not doing a lot of things, a lot of guys do I know hunters and fishermen that go out every week and leave their wives stranded.

Well, that can happen with a surfer, because when the waves are breaking, he's not around.

But in my experience and most of the surfers I know have girlfriends and wives that completely understand the situation.

And if they don't, that relationship will not last.

It's impossible.

If a surfer's, a real heart surfer, he's going to surf no matter what.

A relationship cannot exist if the woman in his life just doesn't appreciate his sport.

And there's really nothing to be jealous about.

It makes them a healthier individual and makes him I think more romantic.

♪ ♪ ♪ >> Back when I was in high school, we just go surfing, take a surfing trip up to Cape Hatteras and it'd usually be half a dozen of us.

Sometimes it'd be two to a car.

Sometimes it'd be three or four in several vehicles.

And we always camp out and stay at the light house campground or Salvo or Frisco.

It was just, you know, we partied a lot and surfed a lot and fished a little bit.

And just generally had a good time.

Ricky Archambault> Cape Hatteras probably gets the best waves on the east coast or at least it's noted for getting the best waves.

And it's a summer time spot, meanwhile in the winter most people I think that travel go down to Florida.

It's a little bit warmer in the water there in the winter.

And they get a better winter swell.

Jim> I've been up the tides of Virginia Beach and of course the Cape, which is one of my favorites.

I love going to the Cape and the whole area there.

...all the way down to the lighthouse.

Frisco, all through there, all the way down to Florida.

Many a time we take off on a week journey down to Florida and surf all the breaks down there.

Tim Holt> We'd go to Florida every Christmas for a couple weeks, when I was like 16, 17, pile in a VW Microbus.

Throw Jimi Hendrix on the tape player and you know pile up the boards and head down and find a cheap campsite and stay for two weeks.

We'd go to Cape Hatteras for a couple of weeks and surf and just have a great time.

Yeah, so - but now recently, the last few years I've been to Puerto Rico and this past December went to Barbados and stayed a while.

♪ Nanci> We went to - We used to go to Cape Hatteras.

We go there on a regular basis in Florida.

We've gone to Costa Rica.

We go do that about twice a year now.

That's our steady.

We go to Costa Rica.

♪ Betty Sue> We went to Hawaii.

I think nine times.

Bill> Nine times.

Betty Sue> And then we've been to the Bahamas.

We've been to the British Virgin Islands a couple of times.

We've been to Costa Rica.

<The famous Costa Rican Rum> The famous Costa Rica... Keith> We plan on going to Costa Rica this year.

First time.

I'm looking real forward to that trip, because that's one of the hottest spots in the world that I know of.

Colleen> I've been to Costa Rica just - I just returned three days ago.

I've been there about seven times.

And that place is amazing.

I mean it's just so many good waves.

And you know it's a totally different story than here.

I'm just glad that I learned how to surf and this is my hometown and this is where I surf so.

But Costa Rica is definitely a treat.

I mean big overhead reef breaks and good barrels and just good waves.

I mean I have to go back at least twice every year.

Robert Williams> Well, a friend of mine Pat and I went to Hawaii about six months.

We got to stay out there.

That was great.

That was everything I expected it to be and a whole lot more.

It's really good waves.

I've been traveling up and down the east coast some I've surfed in North Carolina and Florida.

Going to Jersey to see Pat, this fall.

That'll be interesting because from what I understand it has really good surfs.

Adam> I have not left the country to go surfing.

Not yet.

Actually I got to wait for my brother to take me some places.

Actually, my mom let me go.

(laughing) Jim> Being a surfer, you really get educated in weather.

Everything depends on it.

You're constantly watching.

You're trying to learn as much as you can.

It's really done a lot as far as increasing my knowledge and awareness of it.

But since everything evolves around the tides, the weather, the ocean and everything, you try to learn as much about it is you can.

And you really up on it.

Rarely can anybody come ask you what's going to happen at the beach, that you can't tell them.

Bill> The most the times if we check it a couple times each day that we're here, every now and then it'll catch you off guard.

Most of the time, it catches me off guard thinking that it's going to be big.

And you put on a surf report saying it's going to be big but you walk out to the beach with your board in your hand and all of a sudden it's flat.

And then you race back to change the surf report to tell the people busted.

(laughs) 'What happened to that big swell you were following?'

You know.

♪ ♪ Ted Watts> That's what you got to be aware of.

A stoke because sometimes you put things aside like work and - Like this past Thursday, I worked four hours, but I surfed seven.

So if - Sometimes you got to say, 'Hey!

Beware of the stoke.'

We got to, you got to be aware of it because it is something that is a very addicting sport.

Greg> The sense of being behind the peak, paddling in and just knowing that it's you know it could happen right now.

And a lot of the times it does.

And so that's a you know adrenaline thing.

Tim> Oh man... I got stoked yesterday.

We had waves here for three to four days.

Actually, yesterday was the second best day of the year.

There's waves today and Thursday was just beautiful, beautiful waves.

And I surfed six hours Thursday and five hours yesterday.

And oh, I love it.

Yeah.

And I'm going to be out of here in just a few minutes too.

Lonnie> Oh, yeah!

Yeah, I was out this morning, I had some good waves still.

It had been a good strong swell.

I've been waiting probably about three weeks for it to happen.

And finally.

Ricky> I'd get stoked right now if I was out there.

♪ ♪ Coleman> When I went to the beach, well the last wave I, the last wave I grooved was probably the best one.

Remember?

Ricky> The one big day of surfing in my entire 30 years of surfing, has to be the glorious swell.

And that was a Thursday in 1985 when hurricane Gloria was about 200 miles off the coast.

It was the biggest, bestest as they say waves I've ever seen.

And I'll never forget that day.

Bill> Which hurricane was that when we surfed off the coast guard base?

Betty Sue> Felix.

I do remember that.

Bill> We caught, you know, it's like point break waves at low tide.

And we've been watching for it to break.

That was what four years ago?

<Yeah.> Been watching for it to break again.

Being here all the time.. It has not broken since.

Greg> I just remember this one night where the surf was just absolutely unbelievable, beyond your dreams.

And getting this one, one wave would just - I really pulled up into the barrel and thought I was dead, could see dry reef and Old Thin Lizzy, my surf board at the time, she we took off and got in that barrel and it was time to go in after that.

Robert> We went down to the pier and it was only two hours, it was easily head high, very glassy, the water was blue, which is kind of unusual here.

Not too much sun, so it wasn't a lot of glare.

It's just a great morning of surfing and eventually about like three or four guys came out.

They kind of stayed down the beach from us.

Like I said it was easily head high.

Maybe some bigger sets, very lined up, very glassy and the off shore wind was on it.

It's very clean but it was knocking the size down.

So by probably ten o'clock when everybody else started showing up ten, eleven o'clock it was only about waist high.

And we were just on the beach laughing.

We were getting out and everybody was coming in saying, 'Oh it's really good.

Why you guys leaving?

And we were just like, you don't know.

Tim> I looked out the window and the waves were about ten foot faces, eleven foot faces and the wind was straight off shore and I went out paddled out to a place called High Rocket Soup bowls.

Took off on this wave and it just built right up, straight up I can still see it, straight up and all I had to do was fall just a little bit and the wave just went over, I could put my hands on the top of the wave like this, and it went right over my head, came down and I was standing in it like this, watching the Beijing surfers walk.

They were paddling up the face, yelling and screaming at me.

And then it just shot me out, straight out, just came back around stalled again in a smaller tube, right over the head and kicked out.

I could gone home then.

Tommy> The week they landed on the moon in 1969.

For some reason there was a week of low pressure and the waves were outrageous.

I know there's been just as good a surf since but for some reason I was - Let's see, It was eight, I was eighteen years old that summer, that whole week was tremendous.

And the day they landed on the moon the waves were really good.

And we thought it was kind of ominous.

And it was, just unreal.

hurricane, you had waters right off shore.

It was eight foot, glass, just perfect.

And I was out there and about a hundred people were out.

It was so crowded, but I like crowds because I think it's more fun.

One wave, I dropped in on, everybody was yelling at me.

It was a big set wave.

I dropped in and did like a bomb train, came up and got into the barrel.

Everybody was screaming and everything.

And I pulled out and did like a footer and rode it in.

I piled back out everybody was like, 'Yeah, nice work.

Nice work.'

(waves crashing) Colleen> There's a day that does stick out in my mind.

It was only, it was actually two years ago.

It was in Cape Hatteras.

I was with my boyfriend surfing and Greg Moore was out and it was super, super glassy.

It was the second jetty away from the light house.

It was probably about a good five to seven this nice A frames, glass.

I got barreled so many times that day.

I was with my boyfriend and Greg were the only ones out and it was just for three hours surfing great waves, good surfers and good times.

It was a good time.

Ted> Just yesterday afternoon, I had one I'd say, I couldn't wait.

♪ ♪ ♪ Robert> There was a guy in Hawaii named Rabbit Ka Kai He's about 77 now or so.

And he still surfs ten foot waves and he has an event down in Costa Rica, a surf contest.

And he's on it every day.

So, hopefully I can be like that, I mean.

Riding a long board or whatever, whatever the boards look like, you know 50 years from now.

I hope I'm on them.

♪ Hank> As long as I could punch the line up, I'll be out there.

♪ Ted> I hope I never have to pick up a golf club.

(laughs) That's that's the way I look at it.

If I pick up a golf club I might as well retire from surfing and become an old man.

♪ Glenn> I'm going to surf as long as I can walk.

♪ Lonnie> Well, until my knees give out.

I've already had ortho done on one knee.

And I'm probably going to have it done on the other one, but as long as I can get up and go out and just have a good time.

I'm probably going to be sticking right with it.

It's been 30 years and I hadn't, like I said, I haven't looked back since.

I don't plan on it.

♪ Tim> I'm going to surf right on.

I don't plan on quitting.

I won't be able to do what I used to.

I can't do now, what I used to do, but you know I plan on surfing right on.

Have my grand kids, hopefully even my great grand kids out there with me, surfing and enjoying it.

I don't plan to quit ever, never.

♪ Brian> If I ever went where I was surfing, I couldn't ask for a better way to go out.

I don't know.

What else can you say with that?

♪ Jim> I don't know.

That's a good question.

As long as I get up on a board, I'm going to go out and try it.

I'm looking.

There, you see these commercials with all these guys look like they're in their 70's or 80's So, I'm going to try to surf as long as I can.

♪ Colleen> As long as I'm able to live, I guess.

♪ Nanci> I met a 72 year old man in Hawaii, who took me under his wing and showed me where to take off and got the other bros to let me have a wave.

And he was just a real inspiration.

So I'm hoping, I'm hoping, we might not be as agile and get down as tight in a tube, but we'll keep going.

It's good for the heart.

♪ Tommy> My idea is if I'm 80 years old and they say I got six months to live, I'm going to hire a helicopter, Waimea Bay, Hawaii, pay the guy whatever he wants, get drunk at a hotel and get popped out beyond the line up and catch the last wave and that's how I'm a going to down on my brand new surfboard.

♪ ♪ Brian> You know as I've gotten older, I've come to appreciate things a little bit more.

And surfing now is not so much just in the act of riding a wave in itself, it's the whole thing that goes around it.

The listening to the weather reports and the anticipation of plotting when you think a swell's going to hit.

And planning your route for work, you know and how you're going to be able to arrange your work schedule around your surf schedule.

And just getting up at that early in the morning and getting your board and put it on the car and the feel of cool sand in your toes when you're going out to the beach.

Hearing the swell or seeing it for the first time.

It's the whole experience in itself is part of the deal.

I can't say there's any one favorite part of that.

(waves crashing) Ricky> There's a combination of things that have drawn me and I think all surfers, the sights, the sounds, the smells, the salt water smell in the air, the taste of the salt water in your mouth, the feel of the water on your skin.

There are exciting elements of nature that surround you don't experience on the land.

When you take off on a wave and the wind blows a spray in your face.

When you get locked into a big wave, and it comes completely over you.

When you're tubed, there's a sound there, it's like a roar.

Yet at the same time, you don't hear anything.

And it happened so fast, sometimes when you get through and you kick out and you paddle out, you go, 'Wow!

What just happened?'

And it takes a moment of two for it all to come back to you.

Tim> Surfing is a lifestyle.

It's something to just.

Actually, it takes in all of life.

There's a culture to it.

There's an appreciation for your environment.

Appreciation for the beauty of God's creation.

It's just the whole thing.

I mean the feeling, the camaraderie of the people and like my whole family surfs now.

I brought my kids up in it.

They all are good surfers.

It's a whole different feeling.

I don't know there's - when you're riding on a wave, you don't have a motor.

All you've got is yourself and that wave that is moving with you.

And so it's a whole different medium to try to find a thrill in.

And it's just an incredible, incredible sport.

(waves crashing) Greg> It's one of those things where you can paddle out, leave all your problems on the beach.

Find out who you are and where we stand in your heart and your soul and surfing is a spiritual soul searching thing.

And I used to surf professionally in a very competitive way.

And now when I compete, it's long boarding something with my son.

He takes it very seriously.

But I'm real happy to say that he is growing up, but with surfing around him enough that he knows what soul surfing is.

Coleman's dad> I compete now but I compete with the attitude of, I'm competing to have a good time.

To where I used to be, I was competing to win, to win, to win, to win.

Now, I'm competing to just have a good time.

And that's how Cole is, because in his first contest he won a trophy.

The next contest, he didn't win a trophy.

So, on our way home, I say, 'Cole, 'you know you bummed out because you didn't win a trophy?'

He said, 'I had a good time.'

And that's why you should do it.

Right?

But it's nice to win a trophy, though ain't it?

(laughs) Coleman> Better than losing one.

(laughs) Nanci> They say that the best surfer in the water is the one that's having the most fun.

So that's our motto.

Go out there and just have fun.

(waves crashing) Keith> It's just a bad habit I got into when I was a kid.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (music ends)