Santa Barbara-1958 - 2000

[pesrk]

Hello,
My name is Paul Stearns.I started surfing about 1958 while a junior at La Colina Junior High.I then went to San Marcos High School.
At San Marcos I was the President of El Capitan Surf Club.The other Surf Club was Santa Barbara Surf Club.
Surfers that didn't rate with S.B.S.C. didn't get asked to join and I felt there were alot of other surfers that deserved to belong.
Gary Flore and myself started a club with anyone that loved the sport of surfing.We spent about 3 yrs of surfing El Cap Point with Benny Hartman, without anyone knowing that the point(S-Tubes) existed.
I surfed a 9'6 Jacobs,Gary surfed a 9'6 Yater spoon,and I don't remember what Benny rode,maybe a 9'6 Bing.
I spent the Winters at "The Point" and the Summers at "El Cap" beach break.We rode all the breaks in California until President Kennedy was assinated.
I joined the Navy and did spend some time with Gary Flohr when I came home.We surfed togeather like we were never apart untill one day he just left to follow his dream of music in Chicago.
I heard from his sister awhile back that he had passed away.I have always missed"GUT" That was the playfull name we all called him.
If you want to know any thing about Santa Barbara's Surf Histery,let me know.
Bye for now,Paul=pesrk_9@msn.com

[BrianSB]

Hello to a fellow La Colina / SMHS alumni :).

[furndog]

Hi paul, mike furner here another el cap member here, sorry to hear of gary's passing. I was the treasurer for awhile. I still have the club patch and card, we had a great club at a great time I'm still in the water and loving it!

[JonS]

Hello,
My name is Paul Stearns.I started surfing about 1958 while a junior at La Colina Junior High.I then went to San Marcos High School.
At San Marcos I was the President of El Capitan Surf Club.The other Surf Club was Santa Barbara Surf Club.
Surfers that didn't rate with S.B.S.C. didn't get asked to join and I felt there were alot of other surfers that deserved to belong.
Gary Flore and myself started a club with anyone that loved the sport of surfing.We spent about 3 yrs of surfing El Cap Point with Benny Hartman, without anyone knowing that the point(S-Tubes) existed.
I surfed a 9'6 Jacobs,Gary surfed a 9'6 Yater spoon,and I don't remember what Benny rode,maybe a 9'6 Bing.
I spent the Winters at "The Point" and the Summers at "El Cap" beach break.We rode all the breaks in California until President Kennedy was assinated.
I joined the Navy and did spend some time with Gary Flohr when I came home.We surfed togeather like we were never apart untill one day he just left to follow his dream of music in Chicago.
I heard from his sister awhile back that he had passed away.I have always missed"GUT" That was the playfull name we all called him.
If you want to know any thing about Santa Barbara's Surf Histery,let me know.
Bye for now,Paul=pesrk_9@msn.com

Welcome to the site Paul! If you've got any old photos that you could scan and post, or any particular stories that stand out in your mind, we'd love to hear them! Sorry to hear about Gary...

Hello to a fellow La Colina / SMHS alumni :).

Me too. SMHS (class of '78), UCSB ('83).

[surfergirl]

Hi Paul!!

Just read what you wrote..:)
I am and have been ,the Pres. of SBSC sicce 1995...I would LOVE to hear from you and learn more of the history of the club...I would love to invite you to one of our monthly meetings, if you would, to be our guest speaker!!!!
Please contact me if you have some time, Ck. out sbsurfclub.com to contact.
With Aloha, Deb Trauntvein

[Stilsurfn]

S.M.H.S. 1975, back when everybody that surfed in town new everyone else and where they hung out. I was a El Cap. local all thru the 70's and into the eigthies. We all rode Creative freedoms shaped by John Bradbury.

[seahag]

Hi Paul, I surfed el cap in the late 60's early 70's alot.I met Gary when he got back from Vietnam. The short boards were in and His spoon was out. He had a hard time with the short boards, as did alot of the guys that got back from the service.Gary left for Maui in about 74 that was the last I heard from him. I am sorry to hear of his passing. He was so funny, really fun guy.

[JonS]

Hi Paul, I surfed el cap in the late 60's early 70's alot.I met Gary when he got back from Vietnam. The short boards were in and His spoon was out. He had a hard time with the short boards, as did alot of the guys that got back from the service.Gary left for Maui in about 74 that was the last I heard from him. I am sorry to hear of his passing. He was so funny, really fun guy.

Cool! Welcome to the site seahag...

[johnny]

Paul, I was wondering do you remember my dad Jimmy Walker?

[Hoot]

Paul, I remember your name as I was a member of El Capitan Surf Club in the early '60's. My name is Larry Gibson and I attended La Cumbre Jr. High.

My great rememberance is not only surfing El Cap on a couple of classic days, but more clearly, the contest we held against Hope Ranch at Hollywood by the Sea. I competed in my heat agains Shawn Claffey. Who could forget him? Naturally, I came in second. Who could forget such class on a board as Shawn Claffey? To this day, I rank him as the most unrecognized great of our era. I used to paddle out of the water just so I could watch him surf.

I still surf. You can visit my website at: www.hootgibsonbroker.com and go to the "hoot stuff" page and there is a picture of me dropping in at the Huntington Beach pier. I had an office directly across the street from the pier for a couple of years, so I naturally took advantage. Most of my surfing these days is confined to Baja.

Thanks for posting the thread. Hope to hook up with you again.

Hoot.

[JonS]

This is cool. Let's hear some more stories...

[Russell]

Yeah I just noted this thread yesterday. Some guys on here older than me! One oldie but goody mentioned is Shawn Claffey. One of my best bros growing up who was one of the best surfers around in his day, Dave Kuzen, who moved to Kauai the same time I did and is still there, was a Hollister Ranch club member and daily Rights surfer back then and he thought Claffey was the best. I heard of off the lip 360s on a longboard.

[Hoot]

I surfed with Kuzy. He was part of the Mesa Lane crew. The next neighborhood north was the Pit, which was a different crew. We went to school together and the last I heard of him was that he did indeed move to Kaui. Surfing was in his soul.

[Dennis Lanes]

Hello from yet another La Colina and SMHS grad ('66). Paul Stearns and Mike Furner were a little older than me but I remember them both. I grew up in Goleta surfing Campus Point, Goleta Beach when it was breaking, Depressions, Sands, El Cap, Driftwood Cove, and numerous other spots. We hung around the Doug Roth shop in Goleta when he came to town, and many of us bought and rode his boards. I feel fortunate to have lived and surfed in the "Golden Age" of Goleta. As I got older and life became more serious and complicated with career and family, I got away from surfing, regrettably, but got back in two years ago. I am almost 60 and told myself it is time to get back into the things that I enjoyed when I was quite a bit younger. I live in Atascadero and often surf many spots between Morro Rock and Cayucos. I get to the Santa Barbara and Goleta area often and plan to surf there more when I retire next year after 35 years of teaching.