East Coast surfer Owen Ravenscroft moved with his family to WA for a brief period in 1971. While here he attended Swanbourne High and surfed with locals at Cottesloe.
These are Owen’s Cottesloe surfing recollections….
I’ve been following this site since its inception in 2014 and it has delivered no end of memories, all pleasurable. Happy to say, I also have the fabulous Surfing Down South book.
In May ‘71 our family moved to Swanbourne (Walba Way) for a term of about eight months. My father was assisting in getting a new business off the ground. I had heard plenty of rumours about the poor quality of Perth’s surf but at age fifteen it’s all a state of mind isn’t it? This said, the Perth surf actually delivered on the upside while we were there.
My parents enrolled me in good old Swanny High where I soon worked my way into the surfing clique. Moving from the east coast I had an inflated opinion as to my ability, but I was soon humbled by the abundant local talent.
I still recall my first surf at Cottesloe. A steely day, a decent 3 foot. No set bank, just peaky leftovers from an overnight wind swell. There was so much energy in the water. Being a post school session, everyone was scrambling to make the most of things before the light failed. The O’Callaghans, Ian and Bruce Hocking, Neal Peacock and young Jeff Barham among others really lit the place up and my initial appraisal of Perth surf, and surfing, was turned on its head that very afternoon.
Image: 1971 Huzza Al Fixter (top) & Ian Mitchell (bottom). Rob Farris pics in Country Surf Mag.
Image: 1970s Bruce Hocking surfing Seconds at the Cove. Photographer unknown.
I learnt so much from witnessing the older crew, from a respectful distance of course. Rick Lobe, Mitch, Al Fixter, Phil Taylor and Rinso were just a few of the great locals I recall. And I still hold the memory of a massive George Simpson backhand reo which as the kids say, ‘moved buckets’. Occasionally, Ian Cairns would show up when the conditions warranted and put on a show.
Image: 1970 WA’s First Pro Contest held at Yallingup. Ric Chan pic
Image: 1975 South Point State Titles. Greirson Surfboards pic
L-R Ian Hocking, Bruce Hocking & Col Ladhams.
Image: 1975 Trigg Point Pro Comp. Greirson Surfboards pic.
L-R Bruce Hocking, Adrian Wilson & Randell Owens
I was so in the groove our scheduled return to Sydney devastated me. At least my sympathetic parents gifted me the last two weeks off school so I could surf my brains out. It was fortuitous that an older school mate (Jay Messer from Santa Barbara – wonderful surfer) was also relocating back home and decided to ditch the last few weeks of school to make the most of his W.A. surf time.
Jay worked out the routine. Meet at Cottesloe at 7 a.m. where Tony Hardy would pick us up on his way back from night shift and take us up to Scarborough for forty cents (each) petrol money. Well going up to Scarborough in Tony Hardy’s kombi made me king of the coast didn’t it? What a quite humble guy, or maybe he was just short on conversation after working all night!
Image: 2019 Phil Taylor & Rinso catch-up in Augusta WA. Rinso pic.
Forgive my indulgence but I just had to commit to print a great time in my life.
P.S. I still vividly recall Mark O’Callaghan coming around to our place with a couple of pairs of boxing gloves. We used to spar on my sister’s double bed. He was a tough little rooster, reminds me a lot of Tom Carroll.
East Coast surfer Owen Ravenscroft moved with his family to WA for a brief period in 1971. While here he attended Swanbourne High and surfed with locals at Cottesloe.
These are Owen’s Cottesloe surfing recollections….
I’ve been following this site since its inception in 2014 and it has delivered no end of memories, all pleasurable. Happy to say, I also have the fabulous Surfing Down South book.
In May ‘71 our family moved to Swanbourne (Walba Way) for a term of about eight months. My father was assisting in getting a new business off the ground. I had heard plenty of rumours about the poor quality of Perth’s surf but at age fifteen it’s all a state of mind isn’t it? This said, the Perth surf actually delivered on the upside while we were there.
My parents enrolled me in good old Swanny High where I soon worked my way into the surfing clique. Moving from the east coast I had an inflated opinion as to my ability, but I was soon humbled by the abundant local talent.
I still recall my first surf at Cottesloe. A steely day, a decent 3 foot. No set bank, just peaky leftovers from an overnight wind swell. There was so much energy in the water. Being a post school session, everyone was scrambling to make the most of things before the light failed. The O’Callaghans, Ian and Bruce Hocking, Neal Peacock and young Jeff Barham among others really lit the place up and my initial appraisal of Perth surf, and surfing, was turned on its head that very afternoon.
Image: 1971 Huzza Al Fixter (top) & Ian Mitchell (bottom). Rob Farris pics in Country Surf Mag.
Image: 1970s Bruce Hocking surfing Seconds at the Cove. Photographer unknown.
I learnt so much from witnessing the older crew, from a respectful distance of course. Rick Lobe, Mitch, Al Fixter, Phil Taylor and Rinso were just a few of the great locals I recall. And I still hold the memory of a massive George Simpson backhand reo which as the kids say, ‘moved buckets’. Occasionally, Ian Cairns would show up when the conditions warranted and put on a show.
Image: 1970 WA’s First Pro Contest held at Yallingup. Ric Chan pic
L-R Ian Cairns, Ian Mitchell & Max Hickson
Click on this link to view 1970-first-pro-comp-at-yalls published Oct 2015.
Image: 1975 South Point State Titles. Greirson Surfboards pic
L-R Ian Hocking, Bruce Hocking & Col Ladhams.
Image: 1975 Trigg Point Pro Comp. Greirson Surfboards pic.
L-R Bruce Hocking, Adrian Wilson & Randell Owens
I was so in the groove our scheduled return to Sydney devastated me. At least my sympathetic parents gifted me the last two weeks off school so I could surf my brains out. It was fortuitous that an older school mate (Jay Messer from Santa Barbara – wonderful surfer) was also relocating back home and decided to ditch the last few weeks of school to make the most of his W.A. surf time.
Jay worked out the routine. Meet at Cottesloe at 7 a.m. where Tony Hardy would pick us up on his way back from night shift and take us up to Scarborough for forty cents (each) petrol money. Well going up to Scarborough in Tony Hardy’s kombi made me king of the coast didn’t it? What a quite humble guy, or maybe he was just short on conversation after working all night!
Image: 2019 Phil Taylor & Rinso catch-up in Augusta WA. Rinso pic.
Forgive my indulgence but I just had to commit to print a great time in my life.
P.S. I still vividly recall Mark O’Callaghan coming around to our place with a couple of pairs of boxing gloves. We used to spar on my sister’s double bed. He was a tough little rooster, reminds me a lot of Tom Carroll.
Owen.
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