After eight months in existence
the OBSA established itself as the strongest surfers club in the
State within the club contest arena. Although they didn't win a
title during the Newcastle Championships (which they entered every
year) they were "way
out"
leaders in the unofficial point score. All ten acceptances were received
by the Newcastle Association and leading the team was John
Monie who caught the wave of the day on Saturday
to gain the top point score. Monie reached the semi-finals of the
senior event before being eliminated. Announcer Ross Kelly made
a comment to the effect that it seemed to be all Ocean Beach in the
heats, quarter-finals and semi-finals. Two members that really impressed
were the Monie brothers (they rated space in Tony Pratt's column
in the "Sydney
Sunday Herald") and
their future in the surfing arena looked promising. Both possessing
powerhouse styles with
confidence and ability which helped to get
th Kerry Purdon's (right) win in the "Central Coast Express" surfboard title (senior division) was thoroughly deserved. It was Kerry's powerhouse style and can't be beaten attitude that set the standard for others to follow. I remember Kerry as "the calming presence", a mentor to many aspiring young surfers who wanted to turn the sport into their own personal lifestyle. As the following link shows, there is no slowing the man down, still surfing contests and still taking out the Number One! eg Noosa over 65 yrs.
My affi |
em
under the lip more times than not. There was not a boardriders club
on the east coast of New South Wales that could better the OBSA in contests except WindanSea of
Manly, that was only because half of the OBSA members were members
of WindanSea and had to surf for the WindanSea Club during competitions.
, Ray Wessell,
and Colin Wall, (who won cadet title) - all members of the OBSA.
The contest finished and some of the boys travelled to Avoca looking
for more waves. As each surfer knows, every so
often they enjoy a "really good session". This
was to be it for Bill Monie, "Big" Jack Maloney,
Warren Egli, Lenny Fisher. Kevin, who is a Bondi local, was living
with some of us in Centennial Park, Sydney at the time. "The
Head" is a no-nonsense, aggressive surfer and this received
no argument from anyone after watching him perform in challenging
surf. No one else was out and they took over the beach and point
breaks. The guys actually "destroyed" the
point and made the waves look easy with Jack taking off so far
inside and making waves that were impossible to burst through. The
lefts were showing form so Len and Kevin
displayed their talents. Avoca is one of the best surfing beaches
on the Central Coast. The point, with
long tubing reef break waves, and the centre with its giant peaks
and long fast lefts. The point will hold waves to about eight feet
and then they tend to close out, but the centre is a different story,
it'll hold a wave to between 10 and 12 feet.
The favourite home break for most locals with talent, was "The
Box", a
magic place, breaks about 'two mile' off Ocean Beach at
the northern end. A series of sandbanks enable a left from "The
Box" to
the beach. The takeoff is 50 m from the rocks and as soon as
ya hit the bottom of the wave it starts lining up but is still a little slower
for a while until it hits the inside bars. An eight foot wave,
lining up for what seems like forever, turning into an insideout
tuberide and jumping to 10 feet in height as it hits the indiside sandbar, cruising for around
150 yards, a section would come down, then it would peel
off perfectly for about another 150 yards and repeat that nearly
all the way to the beach. Only breaks on a large NE swell however,
best with NE offshore winds. Not a
bad paddle for a group of young lads, or you could walk to the end of the beach for a shorter paddle, and with the tide running out, it was much easier, if ya wanted to walk.The Box could be easily
spotted with binoculars, from the back road of Palm Beach. Sometimes,
while out at the take-off waiting for a wave you would look across
past Lion Island, toward Pittwater and see 3 or 4 half cabin
boats loaded with surfboards on top, heading toward the best
left on the East Coast. Yeah!, no-one likes to share their waves,
no matter who they might be. Always liked to see a tourist
wipe out, knowing that it was going to be a long time, without
help from anyone, before he hit the Takeoff Area again. No leg
ropes, just a long swim. have seen both McTavish and Young out there enjoying themselves. 
