by Chuck A Luck

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n)une 28, 1991, a handful of old-timers held a
gathering at San Onofre swjbeach from morning
to late afternoon to recall and confirm our mem-
ories of surfing in the early years. Our gang each told of
what we lmew about swjing, skim boarding and body
surfing t11e coast back then, as far north as Refugio
State Park and south to San Onofre. We all had our
turn in verifying each others recollections of surfing
adventures of long ago as being accurate in detail and
close to the Lime we recall the evenLs actually happen-
ing. Since those times the sport and competition have
grown beyond all of our beliefs. Our generation, when
young, never heard of smog or polluted waters. We had
powder puff clouds and clear blue skies with 1 to 20
foot waves of pure white foam pounding and I'Oaling up
and down the California coast.
My oldest brother Bill Ehlers says that
George Freeth surfed waves straight into shore
on an 8' redwood surfboard. He was surfing at
Moonstone Beach in Redondo Beach where
boardwalks and gift shops displayed local pol-
ished moonstones. This was north of the three
wharfs where the railroad went out to the end
of the piers to unload their cargo and where
square rigged ships, some steam driven, re-
loaded their holds. lt was the busiest cargo
hauling port on the Southern California coast.
Redondo Beach had the largest hot water
swimming pools in the world Bill also states
there was a tar road runrung along the Perry
line to Pter Avenue, Hermosa Beach.
The second young man to surf in Redondo
Beach was Dennis O'Brien m 1910.
Bill Ehlers and his friend Fred Alkire said I,
Charles Ehlers, met Dennis O'Brien and Frank
Roedecker (who invented swim fins) at our
beach horne in summer of 1920.
I was gomg to Ocean View School, a 4 room
building, which handled the grades from
kindergarten through the eighth grade. The
school was located on top of the highest sand
dune along the south coast line.
We left our beach home in September 1920
to go to Fresno. My father had lost his job at
Bell Telephone and the Hem1osa Bank had
closed. We moved back to 133-30th Street,
Hermosa Beach, in November 1922. At that
time we heard there were two new surfers.
(Spread) Hlttln' the surf with hollow's, circa mid-1930's.
(Inset) Johnny Dale with the vMahalo."
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(Above) By the early 30's everyone was
building their own hollow, complete with
custom decor and surf club affiliation.
(Below) Chuck at 9 years of age with future
surf buddies, 1924.
(Bottom) Chuck's family and friends,
Hermosa boardwalk, 1922.
Bill used 2
pieces of 2" x 6"
floor joist wood
(from the new
home) and nailed
them together
with ~ " x 2" trim
wood top and bot-
LOrn. He rounded
the edges and
painted the board
with grey house
paint. Using this
board, I learned to
nde on my knees
on 2' to 5' waves.
Tony, a friend of
Bills, along with
Fred Alkire decid-
ed to build me a
good surrboard
like George
Freeth's. They
bought 2 pieces of
2" x 8" redwood,
6' in length. It was
beautiful. They
used a draw knife to round the bottom edges
from the square back Lo Lhe bow shaped nose.
The finish was shinny shellac. The name
Chuck A Luck was cut on the nose. After prac-
ticing for a week, I learned to drag one foot or
the other to start a cut across
the face of the swells. My
brother was all smiles when I
was able to go from knees to a
stand up position while rid-
ing. We invited all our rela-
tives down to watch me at 8
years old go speeding across
the waves from right to left.
Logjam (too many surfers):
Spud O'Dell Moorman,
(Dilly) Dillon Pernne, (Tule)
Sal Clark soon joined me in
surfing. Three of us walked to
Pier Avenue School every day
while Spud was going to
school in Redondo Beach.
Spud's mother made us swim
trunks of light white canvas
that laced up the sides of our
thighs.
Later, one of the seven
Kerwins (born above a bakery
on Pier Avenue) joined the
gang. john Kerwin (t he oldest) was born in
1917.
We surfed between the El Segundo Pier
(where Spud's father worked) to Redondo
Beach. Out of Redondo came Matt Davies and
Denny O'Brien. We all took our
boards in
Denny's fiat-
bed truck.
ln 192-t,
the gang (by
nowabout 10
surfers) traveled
between the
Hermosa and
Manhattan Beach
Piers. john and
Mary Kerwin,
Tom Eggers, Spud
Moorman, Dilly Perrine and Man Davies
brought a young boy about 4 years old named
Oral August (Biackle) who rode on the nose of
Man's board, Tule Clark's, Denny O'Brien's,
john (Doc) Ball's and others.
In 1926, john Ott, who lived on the alley
(later Palm Drive). a second mate on the
Matson Lines (55 Lurline and SS Monterey)
brought a Hawaiian (a big fellow) to see how a
young boy made a surrboard go right or left
across the face of a swell or the white water.
He watched me stan off by putung my toes or
whole foot in the water nght or left while on
my belly. He said that !rom watching, he had
got the way to LUm a board.
ln 1927 Dilly Perrine and Spud Moorman
heard about surfing at Malibu. We three rode
in a rumble seat car with 3 boards sticking
out. We met Tom Blake and Cliff Tucker from
Redondo while in Malibu riding perfect, long
right slides on glassy water with very sharp
peaks We ldt early, for it was a narrow road
and a long way to home.
End of 1927 the Hawaiian returned. He satd
his name was Duke Kahanamoku. The board
he brought with him was about 10' long and
solid. It made two of my boards. We surfed
together on 5' to 8' waves for 3 days. When he
left he gave me the "Mahalo" board (about 160
lbs.). I could not pick up the tail end Lo drag it.
My brother and 1 took il w the beach on a
wagon and planks. Too much work, so we left
the board along the side of the house. Ten
years later I sold the Mahalo to johnny Dale of
Manhattan Beach for 510.
Dunng 1928, Tule Clark. O'Dell Moorman,
Dilly Perrine and 1 pried the rocks aside with a
6' crowbar, picks, shovels and hand LOols to
make a 3' deep by 4' wide by 100' long chan-
nel to let us paddle out from the low nde line
to just beyond the rocky bouom of Shark's
Cove. (Now known as Paddleboard Cove, some
claim that you can still make oul the path of this
channel if you fmow where to look-Ed.) Only 8
surfers knew of this. It was hard to wind your
way to the bottom of the cliff. There were high
sharp swells ~ o f a mile out to sea. They were
the best swells and waves to ride on the coast.
The ocean bottom had many shelves and reefs.
The Y. mtle shoreline was one of warm shallow
water with a bouom of whne sand and sea
grass, where many spec1es of sharks would
breed, from two foot sand sharks to 18'
Hammerhead, Blue and Tiger sharks.
By 1928 and 1929 there must have been
about 30 surfers. It was becoming a popular
sport though tough to learn, particularly the
current, location of ocean holes, shelfs and
where the best peaks were.
In 1929 we surfed up the coast around Santa
Monica and met Pete Peterson, Adie Bayer,
Dale Velzy, Bob Simmons and others. A fel-
low, who's name 1 can't remember, invited us
to his board shop at about 18th on the alley in
Venice. He had a wood mold and poured
foam ( like some son of plaster-of-paris or
baking powder substance) umil it rounded up
over the top, then he clamped a lid down ught
making the matenal ooze out the edges. He
sa1d he had to let it dl)' berore shaping it and
sand the excess off. He was going lO cover it
with a light sail doth sealed with Spar Varnish.
It would become the lightest surlboard ever
made.
Wimer 1929-Mr. Harl)' Eyestone, who was
making window screens for our grey shiplap
home, told my dad to get some 4" x 6" x 8'
balsa wood from the Hammond Lumber Co.
up in San Francisco. He wanted to make
Charles a real surfboard and light too. Mr.
(Above) Mary Kerwin, one of seven c h i ~
dren bom and raised above the Hermosa
Bakery, paddle racing a Pete Peterson
board, distinguished by the racing nose,
riding hlg!Hirawlng very little. When Pete
came out with this board we all gave u ~
he'd gain a length on us every two
strokes.
(Left Inset) Saillng the new cement
strand, just completed all the way from
the Fox Theater In Redondo to El Portal,
1943.
(Below) The author ridlng the Chuck-A-
Luck at Manhattan Beach, 1938.
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(Above) Scott riding Chuck' s, Harry
Eyestone built balsa/ redwood lamln
tlon, 1934. Dad got the balsa from
Hammond Lumber In San Francisco. We'd
never heard of balsa before, a mate on a
Matson liner told us about lt.
(Right) A junior surf club member sklm-
ml ng at Manhattan, early 40's.
(Below) The Manhattan Mermaids.
Each was required to paddle out a.nd ride
a wave In solo to join the club. Chuck
recollects that Ardith Mendenhall (2nd
from right) could jitter-bug faster than
you could at the Marine Ballroom.
Eyestone made two of the best surfboards I
have ever seen Made from 3 pieces of kdn
dned redwood 4" x 4" x 7'2" wllh redwood
mils each side to protect the edges and a cen-
ter p1ece x 4" x 7'3" He used
pins and glued them together \\hen fimshed
It was light, 37 pounds and 3Y" th1ck x L 9"
wide x 7'3", the best shaped surfix>ards on the
coast. He burnt Chuck A Luck on the nose
and varnished the natural woods. (Owcll and I
diSCUssed the possibility that rhrs ll'a.s thc_{l,sr
board built incorporat111g balsa wood ancl hl' felt rt
ccmld have been-Ed.)
1930-31-We used my SISters 1930 Model A
Ford Roadster and started surfing up and
down the coast; many umcs staymg ovemight,
sleeping on the beach.
1932-0nly a handful of new surfers. Roads
were almost
non-CXIStCnt
from
Portuguese
Bend to flood
Control. Long
Beach
1933-An
O\em1ght Sta}
at Hunungton
Beach, onl}
three new
>oung surfers.
Up to thiS
ume there
were no fins
on the
boards. You
dragged your
foot to tum Th1s
year the Hermosa
Beach Surfing
Club was formed
The)' had about 18
members The old
ones plus Don
Grannis. Ted
Da\'Ies, and
others.
1934-A banner
year, the Palos
Verdes Surfing
Club was formed-
With Tule Clark,
"Doc" Ball, l loppy
Swans, LeRoy
Grannis, along
with transferred
surfers Da\'ies, jim Baile} ,johnnr Gates,
rom Blake, Gard Chapin ancl others.
This year the first hollow board came out
with a hght frame work covered \nth water
proof canvas made by Jim Bmley, about 10'
long. Jim
said 11 was
too slow
and slug-
gish A
dream
gone bad
Not so, at
least six
surfer:.
made hol-
low 12'
plywood
paddle
hoards and jim rode on his new paddle board
wnh h1s dog on the nose.
1934-Hdd a tandem contest at Hermosa
Beach Pter with Hoppy Kerwm
commg m first, Chuck Ehlers/Manon Cook-
2nd. john Dalclluc!lle -3rd. Tule
Clarkl\1al") Anderson, Spud
Neelands and others had a
fun da}' using long boards. The surfing popu-
lauon had grown to about 80 b} no'' and
fred Alk1re and Spud satd thiS was the rear of
the long boards 9' to 12'-97 lbs. to 117 lbs.
-a lot of tandem nding with mo\'iC starlets.
and a hne of beach beauues.
1934-Tom Blakes fin appears on the tall of
a paddle board Made of spruce, it was about
1" thick x 4" high x 6" long and started a
whole new wa} to hold a board (rom slipping.
lt also made you lean instead of using your
foot to tum. From then on, surfing and slllfers
only got beuer and bigger.
In 1935, three vagabonds and a long holiday
let us travel south. We went by Long Beach
Flood Control for a few 6' rides. On to
HumingLOn Flats-small breaking surf and
slept on the beach. Next stop found a lot of
surfers at Corona del Mar. Good surfing 8' to
12' swells outside of a cement jetty- the best
ail-day surfing in sometime. Our ride started
JUSt inside of a bell buoy along the jetty and
around the rocks to a bath house about Y. mile
dtstance. Next morning we met (Whitey)
Harrison from Hawaii now livmg in Corona
del Mar, Tom Blake, jim Bailey, (Pasqual)
Pascowi tz, Ray Tucker and others.
Moved on to Dana Poim-8' super glassy
right cuts. Met another 6 plus surfers,
"Peanuts" Larsen, George Brignell, johnny
Gates and others. Heard of a good band play-
ing Green Gardens m San Clemente. We
danced every number Benny Goodman could
throw at us. lots of smgle g1rls, so we slept
ovem1ght on the beach. On to San Onofre's
big lO' to 12' swells and waves. Met several
surfers and slept with their gang under an
open palm leaf roof held up by rai lroad ues.
They wid us aboUL a surfing comest LO be held
in 1936. After two days of surfing, we started
for home along natTOW tar roads, stopped at
Dana Point and caught some more good rides
and then spent
the night on the
beach at Corona
del Mar after
surfing there
agai n too. The
next day, we
passed up
HuntingtOn and
Flood Control
and made our
way home along
H1ghway 1.
September
1936-Surfing
made 1 he Brown
SeCLion (Roto-
gravure) in the
LA. Ti mes.
1938-Hoppy,
l_eRoy, Pasqua!,
Blackie, Fred
and john
Kerwin, Tule,
Tom Horton, myself
and others built 3" x
18" x 6' idemical
hollows. We made 6
of them wnh both
ends round and held
Len toumamen ts of
paddle board polo in
the Olympic swim-
ming pool at the L.A.
Coliseum. There
were 11ets at each end
and you could not
leave your board
unl ess you jumped
on a guy wnh the
ball, played like
water polo.
1939- During a cloudburst rain, we
attempted to surf flooded hill streets.
1940-Most every surfer would ride under
the pier (at Manhauan Beach) and through the
pilings, someumes worrying Lhe people watch-
ing from lhe p1er.
1943- Surfed with Ed and Bob Harris
(Fat her Ralph was Dept. of Parks Chief for
Santa Barbara) at Refugto Beach. Mostly used
12' Chuck A Luck paddle board-many limes
riding with m}' children in my arms.
Enough ts enough,
Water Rat Clmcll A Lucll
(Above) Beach Flood Cont.rol, 1934. We'd
go there to surf then hit the dance hall.
(Below) Chuck and his children going for
a surf lesson with the Chuck A Luck dur-
Ing the War, 1943.
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