Peter ‘Doc’ Docherty (age 13) started riding plywood ‘Toothpick’ surfboards at City Beach in 1958. Doc surfed metro, Lancelin & Southwest beaches and shaped balsa surf boards at his parents place in Floreat.
Doc. “and nearly sent my folks crazy.”😊
Circa 1962 the late Brian Cole employed Doc as a sander at King & Cole Surfboards in Wembley.
Brian Cole. “Doc used to sit in a corner of the shop & play his guitar a lot.” 😊
Doc co-founded the City Beach Surf Riders (CBSR) Club with Viv Kitson in 1962.
Late 1963 Doc toured eastern states surf beaches with Terry Jacks, Ernie Potter & other WA surfers. He returned to WA to attend Uni in 1965, then moved back & settled on the East Coast.
Doc is also a talented artist & musician.
1958 Doc (age 13) with 12ft plywood surfboard at City Beach.1962 This is a fuzzy shot of Doc’s bedroom / surfboard shaping room at his parent’s place in Floreat. The CBSR Club’s inaugural meeting was held in this room. Photo Peter Docherty.
In the early 60s Doc shaped balsa surfboards for City Beach hot rats Barry Day & Norm ‘Dot’ Kitson.
1965 Norm Kitson of Floreat holding a 9’10” balsa board shaped by Peter Docherty. Photo courtesy of Norm Kitson.1964 City Beach WA surfers Terry Jacks, Ernie Potter & Peter Docherty on surf trip to Byron Bay NSW. Photo Ernie Potter.
In 1964 Doc won the first Goya Art Award in NSW for his Black & White study of a surfer doing a ‘full bottom turn’.
1964 Media coverage of Doc’s Goya Art Award includes pic of Doc surfing Dee Why NSW. Image courtesy Peter Docherty.
A Peter Docherty Perpetual Trophy donated to the City Beach Surf Riders Club by Cordingley Bros Hay St Subiacowas awarded annually to the Club’s best juniors in the 60-70s. Winners include David Moss, Phil Henderson, Norm Kitson, Barry Day & Ross Utting.
The surfboard shaped trophy was made from surfboard stringer off-cuts by Cordingley Bros craftsman Dave Ellis.
2009 Club stalwarts Ron Moss and Doc with the Peter Docherty Perpetual Trophyat a Club reunion at City Beach. Photo Bruce King.
Doc has created a auto’board’ography showing all his surfboards from his 12ft plywood board in 1958 to his 11ft Surftech surfboard in 2011.
Doc. “The orange pig board (2nd from left) was Murray Smith’s first surfboard. The green board in the middle is a 10ft Reynolds Yater (USA). I had the board recoloured Maroon by the guys at Scotty Dillion’s surf shop (NSW) and sold it to Cordingleys (WA) in 66. If you come across a 10ft maroon board, grab it, sand through the maroon resin and you may discover evidence of a valuable antique.”
Doc’s 1958-2011 auto’board’ography image courtesy Peter Docherty.
Missing from the above montage is Doc’s 2011 homemade Tom Wegner Alaia shape (finless) board.
2011 Doc with his homemade Alaia board at Crescent Heads NSW. Image courtesy Peter Docherty2011 Doc with wife Annie and Jim King on SW surf trip to Yallingup WA. Photo Bruce King.
Doc lives with his wife Annie on the NSW Central Coast near his home beach of Avoca Beach.
Peter ‘Doc’ Docherty (age 13) started riding plywood ‘Toothpick’ surfboards at City Beach in 1958. Doc surfed metro, Lancelin & Southwest beaches and shaped balsa surf boards at his parents place in Floreat.
Doc. “and nearly sent my folks crazy.”😊
Circa 1962 the late Brian Cole employed Doc as a sander at King & Cole Surfboards in Wembley.
Brian Cole. “Doc used to sit in a corner of the shop & play his guitar a lot.” 😊
Doc co-founded the City Beach Surf Riders (CBSR) Club with Viv Kitson in 1962.
Late 1963 Doc toured eastern states surf beaches with Terry Jacks, Ernie Potter & other WA surfers. He returned to WA to attend Uni in 1965, then moved back & settled on the East Coast.
Doc is also a talented artist & musician.
In the early 60s Doc shaped balsa surfboards for City Beach hot rats Barry Day & Norm ‘Dot’ Kitson.
In 1964 Doc won the first Goya Art Award in NSW for his Black & White study of a surfer doing a ‘full bottom turn’.
A Peter Docherty Perpetual Trophy donated to the City Beach Surf Riders Club by Cordingley Bros Hay St Subiaco was awarded annually to the Club’s best juniors in the 60-70s. Winners include David Moss, Phil Henderson, Norm Kitson, Barry Day & Ross Utting.
The surfboard shaped trophy was made from surfboard stringer off-cuts by Cordingley Bros craftsman Dave Ellis.
Doc has created a auto’board’ography showing all his surfboards from his 12ft plywood board in 1958 to his 11ft Surftech surfboard in 2011.
Doc. “The orange pig board (2nd from left) was Murray Smith’s first surfboard. The green board in the middle is a 10ft Reynolds Yater (USA). I had the board recoloured Maroon by the guys at Scotty Dillion’s surf shop (NSW) and sold it to Cordingleys (WA) in 66. If you come across a 10ft maroon board, grab it, sand through the maroon resin and you may discover evidence of a valuable antique.”
Missing from the above montage is Doc’s 2011 homemade Tom Wegner Alaia shape (finless) board.
Doc lives with his wife Annie on the NSW Central Coast near his home beach of Avoca Beach.
Thanks for sharing your memories, Doc.
Related content
1964 East Coast surf trip by Ernie Potter posted 4 October 2017.
Foot note: Ernie Potter passed away 23 May 2023.
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