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by Corky Carroll  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.”  Butch was a fantastic surfer. He was one of the first guys, along with Timmy Dorsey from Seal Beach, who could surf with either foot forward. Later on Dale Dobson and Jock Sutherland would be able to do that too. He was also a really funny and charismatic kinda dude. I don’t know anybody who didn’t like Butch, unless you happened to be on the wrong end of a punch that he threw after a few beers. But even most of those would say that they loved the guy.
He would have made a great pirate; he had that swagger about him. I could see a parrot on his shoulder. He was a serious partier and could get very rowdy after a few drinks. I learned early that it was best to stay clear of him after dark. But, that was just all part of the whole colorful character that was Butch Van Artsdalen. He was on a first name basis with most bartenders in T.J. As a surfer Butch was one of the best of his time. He could ride all size waves, from 2-foot mushburgers at La Jolla Shores to giant monsters at Waimea Bay in Hawaii. He was fearless. I can remember being out with him on huge day at Waimea Bay back in 1970. It was the year that we were experimenting with “twin fin” surfboard designs. I had one that was 8 ft 11 inches that was just not working. It wanted to turn in too small a radius and I was chewing it big time. Butch had a bigger one, I think maybe 10 ft. And he was killing it. After I had eaten it badly on one wave, and was in the water swimming in after my board, I watched Butch take off on a huge set wave standing right foot forward (goofy foot). He dropped in very deep and I thought he was gonna get creamed. But right at the last second he switched to left foot forward (regular foot) and cranked an incredible long radius bottom turn that powered him right into the pocket. He got what we would call “shacked,” totally covered by the tube of the wave, and came screaming out going mach three thousand. Amazing ride for then, or even now. The dude could surf. PERIOD. He became a lifeguard right there at Waimea Bay and saved a lot of people would jump in and go get ‘em when most people would have considered it a death wish. You could say he was truly “brave, courageous and bold.” We lost Butch from an over amount of partying, way too young. It pretty much had to be the way he would go out. Full bore, pedal to the medal, he died the way he lived. He was one of the best and most colorful surfers ever, and today I just wanted to remember him a little bit. He deserves it. There is a great video on YouTube about Butch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJIxAXJwr5E. It’s really worth watching.
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