In 1964 young City Beach surfers Jamie Doig & Peter ‘Spook’ Bothwell met South Australian surfing legends Rodney ‘Box’ Waldeck & Ken ‘Kiwi’ White at Yallingup. The SA boys were staying in the Yallingup Board Club (YBC) shack at the back of Caves House. They told stories about the wonders of SA waves and this planted the seed for Spook & others to travel to SA and search for waves.
By the mid 60’s WA surfers Brian Boynes, Spook Bothwell and Hume Heatley from the Yallingup Board Club, Craig ‘Clarry’ Brent-White (Sand-n-Sea Board Riders) and others were honing their surfing skills in SA. They stayed in the Gulf area and surfed Cactus, Streaky Bay area, York Peninsula and the South Coast.
In 1966 travelling WA surfer Brian Boynes bought a 51 Ford Customline in Qld for $60 and drove it down the East Coast to SA with Spook. The boys stayed in SA & surfed with the locals.
Photos: 1966 (Left) Brian Boynes Ford Customline with Vance Cox (YBC) sitting on the bonnet. (Right) Spook outside Art Norman’s Deli in Moana. Photo credits Spook Bothwell.
While in SA the WA boys attended the annual Tunarama festival held at Port Lincoln. This event was a big deal in SA. There was a surfing contest and all the SA surf board clubs used to attend and parade down the main street to open the festival.
Photos: 1966 Tunarama Festival in Port Lincoln. (Left) Sand-N-Sea bus and street crowd. (Right) Spook & unknown sitting, John Pozzi, Daryl Robinson & Brian Boynes standing. Photo credits Baz Young.
After the Tunarama Festival ended Brian & Spook picked up passengers and drove the 51 Ford Customline back to WA. Spook competed in WA then returned to SA with Hume Heatley in 1967.
In SA the WA boys hung out with surfers from the Roader’s (Seaview Road Board Riders) and Sand-n-Sea Board Riders. The Roader’s had an old Charger surf wagon and S-n-S had a surf bus for members.
SA surfer Barry ‘Baz’ Young (now a Yallingup resident) was a foundation member of the Roader’s in 1964 and SA Open Men’s champion in 1968. Baz surfed with Spook & Hume in SA and recalls this incident.
Baz Young: “They had driven up to Seaford with their boards sticking out the back side window to check the surf and ended up collecting a concrete electric power pole with one of the boards which had this huge gash from the pole in it. They decided to change the story as no one had seen it happen, so they called into a local surf shop and told the owner (Geoff Smith) a big shark had attacked the board while surfing. The story spread like crazy and the board ended up on display in the shop for all to see. The truth eventually came out a few weeks later, but they had fooled everyone.”
Photos: 1967 (Left) Roader’s Charger surf wagon. On the roof L-R Horny, Porky, Bobby Waldeck & Darryl McGowan. Spook is in the wagon & Hume is standing alongside. Photo credit Darryl McGowan. (Right) Enjoying cigars at a Roaders Cabaret held at the Arkaba Hotel L-R Spook, unknown, Hume, unknown, Baz Young & unknowns. Photo credit Baz Young.
After his stint in SA, Spook returned to WA and won consecutive State Open Surfing titles in 68 & 69 and represented WA. In 1969 Spook (Open) & Kanga Cairns (Junior) became WA’s first finalists at the National level when they progressed to the finals of the Aust Surfing Championships held in WA. (At the time State & National Open Division = pro-am without age groups).
Spook retired from competitive surfing in 1970. He rarely surfs these days and currently only rides his long & SUP boards. He still has a holiday shack at Yallingup.
Hume was a talented surfer and colourful character, but sadly he passed away prematurely from melanoma in the late 80s.
In 1964 young City Beach surfers Jamie Doig & Peter ‘Spook’ Bothwell met South Australian surfing legends Rodney ‘Box’ Waldeck & Ken ‘Kiwi’ White at Yallingup. The SA boys were staying in the Yallingup Board Club (YBC) shack at the back of Caves House. They told stories about the wonders of SA waves and this planted the seed for Spook & others to travel to SA and search for waves.
By the mid 60’s WA surfers Brian Boynes, Spook Bothwell and Hume Heatley from the Yallingup Board Club, Craig ‘Clarry’ Brent-White (Sand-n-Sea Board Riders) and others were honing their surfing skills in SA. They stayed in the Gulf area and surfed Cactus, Streaky Bay area, York Peninsula and the South Coast.
In 1966 travelling WA surfer Brian Boynes bought a 51 Ford Customline in Qld for $60 and drove it down the East Coast to SA with Spook. The boys stayed in SA & surfed with the locals.
Photos: 1966 (Left) Brian Boynes Ford Customline with Vance Cox (YBC) sitting on the bonnet. (Right) Spook outside Art Norman’s Deli in Moana. Photo credits Spook Bothwell.
While in SA the WA boys attended the annual Tunarama festival held at Port Lincoln. This event was a big deal in SA. There was a surfing contest and all the SA surf board clubs used to attend and parade down the main street to open the festival.
Photos: 1966 Tunarama Festival in Port Lincoln. (Left) Sand-N-Sea bus and street crowd. (Right) Spook & unknown sitting, John Pozzi, Daryl Robinson & Brian Boynes standing. Photo credits Baz Young.
After the Tunarama Festival ended Brian & Spook picked up passengers and drove the 51 Ford Customline back to WA. Spook competed in WA then returned to SA with Hume Heatley in 1967.
In SA the WA boys hung out with surfers from the Roader’s (Seaview Road Board Riders) and Sand-n-Sea Board Riders. The Roader’s had an old Charger surf wagon and S-n-S had a surf bus for members.
SA surfer Barry ‘Baz’ Young (now a Yallingup resident) was a foundation member of the Roader’s in 1964 and SA Open Men’s champion in 1968. Baz surfed with Spook & Hume in SA and recalls this incident.
Baz Young: “They had driven up to Seaford with their boards sticking out the back side window to check the surf and ended up collecting a concrete electric power pole with one of the boards which had this huge gash from the pole in it. They decided to change the story as no one had seen it happen, so they called into a local surf shop and told the owner (Geoff Smith) a big shark had attacked the board while surfing. The story spread like crazy and the board ended up on display in the shop for all to see. The truth eventually came out a few weeks later, but they had fooled everyone.”
Photos: 1967 (Left) Roader’s Charger surf wagon. On the roof L-R Horny, Porky, Bobby Waldeck & Darryl McGowan. Spook is in the wagon & Hume is standing alongside. Photo credit Darryl McGowan. (Right) Enjoying cigars at a Roaders Cabaret held at the Arkaba Hotel L-R Spook, unknown, Hume, unknown, Baz Young & unknowns. Photo credit Baz Young.
After his stint in SA, Spook returned to WA and won consecutive State Open Surfing titles in 68 & 69 and represented WA. In 1969 Spook (Open) & Kanga Cairns (Junior) became WA’s first finalists at the National level when they progressed to the finals of the Aust Surfing Championships held in WA. (At the time State & National Open Division = pro-am without age groups).
Spook retired from competitive surfing in 1970. He rarely surfs these days and currently only rides his long & SUP boards. He still has a holiday shack at Yallingup.
Hume was a talented surfer and colourful character, but sadly he passed away prematurely from melanoma in the late 80s.
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