Endless Memories on Surfing in Orange County

Surfing in Orange County, the way filmmaker Bruce Brown remembers it . . .

Some of Brown’s best memories of his teen-age years were hanging out with his friends at the Huntington Beach Pier in the mid-1950s.

“We had a great time down at the pier,” said Brown, who wrote and directed “The Endless Summer” in 1964 and the sequel that opens today nationwide. “We would surf all day, then light tires on fire near the pier at night and surf some more.”

Huntington Beach locals dumped old tires at the beach for the kids to torch, Brown said.

“You could see the smoke all the way to Hermosa Beach,” he said. “You could stand 100 yards away from it and still be warm.

“Could you imagine doing that now? People would look at that and say, ‘What are those kids doing having all that fun?’ ”

Brown and his pals also used to go duck hunting near Bolsa Chica State Beach, before the area became a wildlife preserve.

“We used to dig a pit in the sand on one side of PCH and the ducks would come flying out of those ponds,” he said. “We would plug them, and they would land on the highway.

“Back then, there was only one car coming through every four or five miles, so we would run out on the road and pick up the ducks.”

Brown, who lived in Dana Point until the mid-1980s, will receive the Waterman Achievement Award Saturday at the Waterman’s Ball held at the California Scenario Sculpture Garden in Costa Mesa.

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Add Endless Summer: Huntington Beach surf shop owner Robert August kept a detailed journal when he starred in the original “Endless Summer.” Now he just wishes he could find it.

“Bruce wanted me to keep a journal to keep track of everything and help when he went to narrate it,” August said. “But I left it on the plane between Tahiti and Hawaii and never saw it again. We called the airlines and had the employees dig through the trash for it, but they couldn’t find it.

“Looking back, I was pretty stupid not to write my name and address in it.”

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Last add Endless Summer: Robert (Wingnut) Weaver, a 1983 Newport High graduate and one of the stars of the sequel, on touring cities such as New York and Toronto to promote the movie:

“I can’t really say I’m looking forward to good reviews from the New York Times on my performance. What performance? I surfed and had a good time, and Bruce thought of a lot of good things to say about us.”

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Channel surfing: The Assn. of Surfing Professionals has reached an agreement with DynoComm Sports of San Clemente to produce several TV specials on the world tour. Under the three-year deal, DynoComm will produce hour-long shows on the surf contests and distribute them to stations within 12 days after the conclusion of the events.

DynoComm had produced specials on Huntington Beach’s Op Pro surfing championships for ESPN since 1983, but the shows aired more than a month after the event.

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News flash: Because of an increase in entries in the junior amateur surfing competition, Op Pro organizers are considering canceling the event’s popular Miss Op sports model contest.

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Beach standings: Kelly Slater of Cocoa Beach, Fla., leads the ASP standings and is second behind Santa Barbara’s Chris Brown on the Bud Pro U.S. tour and world qualifying series.

Slater won the ASP opener at Bell’s Beach, Australia, and has won two of four Bud Pro events.

The standings:

ASP

Men--(after one contest) 1. Kelly Slater (Cocoa Beach, Fla.), 1,000 points; 2. Martin Potter (Australia), 860; 3. Gary Elkerton and Shane Powell (Australia), 730; 5. Damien Hardman (Australia), Sunny Garcia (Hawaii) and Taylor Knox (Carlsbad), 610.

Women--(after one contest) 1. Layne Beachley (Australia), 1,000; 2. Lisa Andersen (Ormond Beach, Fla.), 860; 3. Pauline Menczer and Lynette Mackenzie (Australia), 730; 5. Kathy Newman (New South Wales), Vanessa Osborne, Trudi Todd and Heather Clarke (Australia), 610.

World Qualifying Series

(Through seven contests)

1. Chris Brown (Santa Barbara), 3,635 points; 2. Slater, 3,450; 3. Rob Machado (Cardiff), 3,250; 4. Pat O’Connell (Laguna Niguel), 3,205; 5. Victor Ribas (Brazil), 3,060.

Bud Pro Surfing tour

(Through four contests)

Shortboard division--1. Brown, 3,025 points; 2. Slater, 2,950; 3. Marty Thomas (Seal Beach), 2,400; 4. Machado, 2,390; 5. Richie Collins (Newport Beach), 2,230.

Longboard division--1. Ted Robinson (Manhattan Beach), 5,060; 2. Joel Tudor (San Diego), 4,460; 3. Josh Baxter (San Clemente), 4,230; 4. Jeff Krammer (San Clemente), 3,750; 5. Colin McPhillips (San Clemente), 3,628.