Flash back to summer of 1968.  I am in the prime of my professional surfing career and did a lot of traveling to different places to surf.  I worked for Hobie Surfboards and one of the great perks of the job was use of the Hobie Surf Team Ford Econoline Van and travel expenses covered.  I always did my best to promote the brand, and it worked out well for both of us. One of my favorite destinations in late summer was the Pacific Northwest.  There are tons of great waves up there and at that time there were very few surfers riding them.  It is cold though.  Very cold.   But incredibly beautiful too.  
 
On one of these trips north my wife at the time, Cheryl, and I were driving up the coast road, Hwy 1 and 101.  We would do the coast one way and the inland freeway the other.  On this one we were driving up and were well north of San Fransisco.  
We came to the town of Garberville and as we were getting to the town I remembered that I heard somewhere that Doc Ball lived there and in fact was the town Dentist.  Doc is the guy who published the first book on surfing, “Californai Surfriders,” back in the 1940’s.  I had met him once before at some surf event and we had a great talk, I liked him a lot.  Super good energy.  
 
So, I am thinking it would be cool to stop and say hello.  And just as I was thinking this low and behold I see the sign on the front of his office.  “Doctor John Ball, Dentistry.”   Shazam, there it was right there.  So, I pulled in and walked inside.  I was wearing shorts and a Hawaiian shirt.  When the receptionist saw me I guess she figured I was a surfing friend and just told me to “go on back, he is working on another surfer.”  
 
I opened the door and there was Doc with a big ol’ smile on his face.  He looked up and saw me and let out a big hoot.  Then he pointed at the man in the chair, who was also wearing shorts and an Hawaiian shirt, and says, “do you know Tom Blake?”  
 
TOM BLAKE!!!!  Wow, this was a guy who is a major part of surf history from way before me.  He is the guy recognized as the first to put a fin (skeg) on a surfboard.  Many of the boards he made back in the middle of the 1900’s are on display in the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii.  This guy was a huge part of the evolution of surfboard design in Hawaii during the years that boards were big heavy redwood and pine beasts.  He is one of the pioneers.

​As we barrel into the end of yet another year, and it’s very true what they say about how they go faster and faster the older you get, I thought I would take a short look back at a totally classic surf legend who has pulled out but deserves to be remembered.  This is a dude who is sitting up in surf heaven looking down and saying “write something good about me or I am gonna kick your butt when you get up here.”  So, as you can see, I have no choice.  
 
The great Butch Van Artsdalen. Butch was one of those “bigger than life” kinda dudes that has more wild tales about him than ever could be told in one, or a thousand, sittings.  He was dubbed the very first “Mr Pipeline,” back in 1962 when guys were first pioneering the previously thought “too dangerous to surf” spot on the North Shore of Oahu.  Butch was a full tilt “go for it as hard as you can at all costs” kinda dude from La Jolla, California.  He was great at all sports and a party hound that had few equals. I got to know Butch when he came to work at the Hobie surfboard shop in Dana Point.  I was about 15 at the time and worked as a salesman and clean up guy.  Butch did repairs in a little shack out back.  He moved in right down the street from me, along with Mike Hynson.  I had a little apartment with Rodney Sumpter and a couple other guys not too far from Mickey Munoz’s house.  It was like “surf street.”   ​

Myth #2: Oral or topical anti-infectives alone will cure the inflammation. When plugging is frequent, an ear specialist, otologist, with office microscope and micro instruments must remove the debris so medications can get to the underlying infected soft tissue. Under direct vision while using both hands debris is safely removed. When exostosis blocks over 80% of the ear opening, it’s time to consider getting them removed. 
 
Myth #3 is that after removal, exostoses grow back to need future repeated removals. To the contrary, when completely removed they do not recur to ever need removing again. That’s especially true when laser-assisted microsurgical excision is performed treating the bases and swim plugs are worn.
 
Myth #4 is that surgical removal is painful or can cause facial droop. Laser-assisted excision is performed through the ear canal without external incision behind the ear, is outpatient and now safer and better than ever with return to usual non-water activities the next day. Facial weakness has long been eliminated by nerve monitoring during anesthesia. 
 
There is minimal postoperative discomfort. External skin incisions are no longer necessary. Accordingly, there are no visible scars or pinna numbness and protrusion. There have been no repeat removals with this technique with twenty year follow-up. It’s a permanent solution to put “surfer’s ear” in the rear view mirror.  Healing is faster 

under age 70 and it’s best for them to be removed when 75 to 90 percent occlusive. Return to water with precautions is usually several weeks later.
 
Myth #5 is that exostosis is inevitable with surfing. To the contrary, custom swim plugs prevent formation and halt growth when worn regularly. Newer vented plugs allow hearing while wearing them. They float, come in bright colors, even with glitter, can be put on a lanyard and are rarely lost in the water. Over-the-counter moldable silicone or shallow plugs are also effective.
 
Tips: If you feel plugged or it seems like people mumble, you could have reduced hearing due to surfer’s ear or other causes such including prior loud sound, age over 60 or other causes. People with ringing in the ear, dizziness, or imbalance may also have unrelated ear conditions warranting care. Medications, balance care, or current technology hearing aids may be indicated. 
 
View the severity of your exostosis on camera with an ear doctor, office microscope and imaging system. Have a hearing test by an audiologist in a sound booth for accurate assessment pertaining to exostosis or any other condition.
 
To ease mild itching, discomfort, or plugging instill and massage in a few drops of baby oil while lying on your side with the affected ear up. Keep the ear clean and dry. Take Tylenol PM. Don’t use over-the-counter chemical agents or devices, rubbing alcohol or soap, swabs or flushing. They risk pushing material deeper and worsening irritation. Keep a symptomatic ear clean and dry. Portable surfer’s ear dryers available on the internet help to reduce infections. No water, no germs!
 
Take care of your ears! They don’t re-grow and cannot be replaced!”
 
Dr. Jackson and her amazing staff (the “ear babes”) can be reached at (949) 574 7744.  Tell ‘em I sent ya.  
 

 


 

​One time I came home from school and the surf was really good, but it was also really cold.  My wetsuit had a tear in the back and I had to fix it before going out.  But I didn’t want to wait for the glue to dry so I took a stapler and just stapled it back together.  Seemed like a logical thing to do.  
 
But when I paddled out I realized that I had put the staples in from the outside and I was getting cut from them.  Duh!!!  I was probably about 10 at the time so my engineering skills had yet to develop.  
 
It was great when companies such as O’Neill and Dive n Surf came out with actual surfing wetsuits.  And through the years these have continued to get better and better. 
 

​Dick partnered up with Hobie back in the 1950’s and has been a major part of the Hobie empire ever since.  He opened the Hobie Surf Shop in Hawaii in the early 1960’s, the scene of one of my first surf shop jobs (closing time sweeper).  
 
Of great note is his involvement in Bruce Brown’s epic surf film, the “Endless Summer.”  Dick was the blueprint.  In 1958 he jumped on a freighter and spent the next three years traveling around the world in search of surf.  His adventures in Tahiti and Africa laid the groundwork for Bruce Brown to follow that path. The highlight of the movie being the “discovery” of the legendary “perfect wave” at Cape St Francis.  The location of which was passed along to Bruce from Dick.  See, there is a little-known fact I bet you didn’t know.  You get that kind of stuff here folks, stick with me.
 
Today Dick is the main energy behind the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center in San Clemente and splits his time between Laguna Beach and Ketchum, Idaho.  “
A lot of great tales were told at the party.  I have known Dick since my first trip to Hawaii in 1963.  I was 15 and spent the summer there surfing at Ala Moana.  Dick owned the Hobie dealership and gave me a job sweeping up every night at closing time.  It was the start of a lifetime friendship.  My view of him has never changed.  It started that summer.  There was a really pretty surf chick who also worked in the shop and I spent a lot of time that summer trying to get something going with her.  (I am going to keep this G rated).  Finally, one night the stars aliened, the angels sang and the cow jumped over the moon.  At the end of the evening I was all happy and basking in the afterglow.  I said to her, “that was really a great night.”  She smiled, kinda giggled, and replied, “Yeah it was cool, but you might wanna take some tips from Dick Metz, THAT guy really knows his way around a chick.”   
 
And that that moment I became fully aware that I had found exactly who I wanted to be when I grew up.  And here it is 61 years later and I still feel the same way.   And the dude is still going full tilt.  He’s 95.  His latest girlfriend just bailed on him because she found out he is 37 years older than her, she didn’t have a clue.  He looks like he could be in his 60’s and she thought he was.  Then she saw the latest documentary on him and did the math.  At the party I was sitting with Bing Copeland and reminiscing.  We both took note that while we never got up, Dick never sat down.  Dude worked the room for 3 hours, laughing the whole time.  And then he took off to go ride his dirt bike up in the hills.  
 

For some unknown reason, well at least unknown to me, I had a dream last night about sitting on the beach at Oak Street in Laguna Beach.  It was a warm sunny summer day, and by the look of the people and surfboards it was sometime in the late 60’s.  I have no idea what I was doing there or pretty much anything that was going on, just that I woke up and had the image in my head that I had just dreamed that.  But it make me start thinking about how much I have always loved that town and brought back a ton of memories. Laguna, like most beach towns that have surf, has a rich history of legendary surfers who grew up there and pioneered the different surf spots.  My first memories of the area is of doing surf checks at Brooks Street on the way south.  I lived in North O.C.  Normally the destination was San Onofre or one of the spots in that area.  But we always had to stop and check out Brooks Street.  Hobie Alter lived right there.  While checking the surf it was also customary to point that out.  “Yep, there’s Hobies’ house.”  Part of the deal.  

The early surf heroes of the area, at least that I know of, would have been Hev’s McClellend, Dick Metz, Dave Whitegon, Barney Wilks, Hammerhead and Corky Smith.  Hev’s became one of the all-time great surf contest announcers.  He was also one of the funniest dudes and best story tellers that I ever knew of.  Dick Metz owned a bunch of HOBIE surf shops, including the one in Honolulu.  He also started the Surfing Heritage and Cultural Center in San Clemente.  The dude turns 95 this week and is still going strong. ​I started hanging out in Laguna during the early 1960’s.  I had a girlfriend, Banzai Betty, that lived there and went to Laguna Beach High School.  She lived across the street from the famous Calhoun girl surfing family.  Marge Calhoun had been one of the best women surfers in the world and her daughters Candy and Robin both surfed.  Candy was great too, she won a number of events.  Great all-around water person too.  ​