by Corky Carroll

​When I was a kid and learning to surf I was always told that in order to be a “complete” surfer it was important to be able to do all things surfing and ocean related.  A total “waterman” was the expression that was used.  At first I thought this just meant to be able to all things that had to do with riding a surfboard well.  You should be able to ride all size waves, from knee high to mountain high.  You should be able to surf in either direction equally proficient, front side to the wave or back side to the wave.  
 
But there was much more to it than just that, which I started to find out and learn when I started competing in the surfing events on the West Coast and later all over the world.  It was important to also be a good paddler.  When I was about 14 Mickey Munoz took me under his wing and was a mentor for me as a surfing competitor.  He convinced me to enter paddle races.  I excelled at that and won pretty much every paddle race.   Turns out being a fast paddler also came in very handy in the surfing competition.  Back then you needed to catch a lot of waves in a short amount of time.  These days you only need 2 waves and they give you a ton of time to get ‘em.  Plus they have jet skis to take you back to the line up after you get a ride.

​The downside of this was that almost nobody cared about these paddle races other than the people putting them on and the people that were in them.  I remember being at a party one night after I had just won some zillion mile paddle event.  Everyone was asking me where I had been all day, the surf had been really good.  When I told them I was in the zillion mile paddle race, wherever it was, they all just said, “bummer man, you really missed it.”  Nobody even asked, or cared, how I did.  This was in the 60’s and I think kinda showed that the age of the great “waterpeople” was coming to an end.  Surfing was becoming specialized.   Tandem surfing, which had been a crowd favorite, was all but dying out too.  There were small wave riders and big wave riders and not very many who did both well.  Those that went one direction exceptionally well and not so much the other.  
 
Before this period there had been many fantastic waterpeople.  Duke Kahanamoku kinda got that going.  The dude did it all.  Surfing, swimming, paddling, outrigger canoes, sailing, body surfing, diving…..  he could do it all.  Other Hawaiians were the same.  George Downing comes to mind.  Rode all size surf and won all the paddle races too.  Plus was an innovator at building the boards that he did that stuff on.  Eddie Aikau, the first lifeguard at Waimea Bay and one of the greatest big wave surfers ever.  He could sail, surf, dive, swim…. the whole spectrum.
 
Mike Doyle was one of the greatest all around surfers ever, probably the last of that era.  He excelled so much in the “Iron Man” lifeguard events that they called him “Iron Mike.”  He also made a mark with inventing the “mono ski,” which evolved into todays “snowboard.” 
 
After an extend 20 or so year period of mostly surfing specialists Laird Hamilton came along and started opening
up new ways and new equipment to ride waves differently.  He was a great windsurfer, could paddle from Hawaii to Peru if he felt like it, developed the stand up paddle boards and the “foil” boards.  But it was the tow in surfing in surf that was too big to paddle into that Laird is best known for.  No fear in waves so big that riding them had never been imagined before that.  Well, maybe imagined but not done.  Laird broke big wave boundaries.  
 
And now there is this Kai Lenny guy.  Took it from where Laird left off and is in a whole different world.  I see video of him doing ariels on 80 ft waves.  And he does them on anything.  A surfboard, a wind surfer, a kite board, a skim board, whatever floats the guy can ride it.  It’s amazing. 
 
It's not just guys either.  We have amazing watergirls too.  There is Liz Clark.  She lives on a small sailboat and sails it around the world surfing.  Back in my era there was Candy Calhoun, she could do it all too.  But these days we know more.  Like with anything, once a level is established it’s only a matter of time until it is exceeded.  So new boundaries are being broken all the time.  
 
Today I just wanted to give some credit to the “waterpeople.”  The ones who are able to stretch out into more than just one aspect of surfing.  Maybe plant the idea into a couple young minds to push their boundaries a bit and try some new stuff

by Corky Carroll

I explained to Dave that if this board did have any value, pounding legs into it would ruin it for sure. I promised him that I would put the board in the rafters of my parent’s garage and someday when we’re old and gray I’d sell it as an antique and split the money with him. Dave handed me over seven bucks in quarters and the “Al Nelson” balsa went up on the racks for the ride home.

​Our days of hanging out at the beach faded into careers, marriage, kids and a mortgage. I gave little thought to the dusty old balsa, shuffling it around as we changed addresses. Many years later and having an ocean view office, I thought it would look cool hanging above my door. It hung up there for many years, until one day I noticed a client of mine eyeing it closely for several minutes. My client was Spencer Croul, a well-heeled Laguna Beach surfer and vintage board collector that also co-owned the Surfing Heritage Museum in San Clemente. He complemented me on the old balsa and was soon on his way.
It wasn’t more than an hour later that Spencer gave me a call and says he’d like to buy that board. He tells me he’ll bring over 4k cash before the end of the day. Knowing that Spencer had a keen eye for vintage boards, I immediately googled anything I could find about this old Al Nelson Balsa. Nothing came up, zero, nada, so I call Spencer back and we made the deal. He was back over in 30 minutes, cash in hand. He told me he thought it would look great in his collection, but knew little of it’s pedigree. After a quick photo I watched that old balsa go out the door and out of my life.
That evening I gave my old friend Dave a call. I said “Dave, remember that old balsa I bought at that garage sale?”  “No”, Dave said. I said “c’mon, remember you loaned me 7 bucks and you wanted to make a table out of it”. Again, Dave said “no”. After trying to jog Dave’s memory to no avail I gave up. I reminded him of a promise to split the money when I finally sold the old balsa. Dave came by the house later that week and I put 20 crisp hundred dollar bills in his palm. He was pretty stoked, not bad for a seven dollar investment in quarters.
Since then, video and info have surfaced declaring this board to be the missing link between shortboards and longboards, ridden by many of the great surfers of that era like Butch Van Artsdalen. Apparently sometime in the late 60’s it disappeared without a trace. I’m glad I didn’t make a table out of it.”  
 
Just a little added note:  Al Nelson was one of the hard core La Jolla / Windansea crew that had been an early big wave rider and San Diego surf legend.  Yay Cubby.

by Corky Carroll

Over the last couple episodes of my column I have been telling you about the amazing talents of the infamous Artist/Photographer/Musician Doug Miller of Laguna Beach.  We covered his art and photography previously.  Today I want to get into his music.  The dude is one of those rare people who can make his instrument come alive.  And his is one of the hardest of them all, the violin. I have been letting Doug tell it in his own words thru messages we sent back and forth.  His start was like many others, but the result was way beyond.
 
“OK - Lita - My mom's mom - Grandmother who didn't like being called Grandmother - Her given name was Irene Robinson, but the Robinson's called her 'Ducie' and she liked us calling her 'Lita' - Anyway she got me into the free grade-school program in the 4th grade - Had a choice of flute or violin - those or choir. I could sing - But I didn't want to be singing - I took the violin - Got a private teacher name Sammy Stone in Long Beach - He taught violin and accordion - Not a very good violin tech.  After a couple years, Lita found Merwyn Tucker advertising to teach private violin lessons - He was a worker at Douglas Aircraft and a member of the Long Beach Symphony - Nice tough old guy with hairy knuckles. Slow and very intense technique to get tone and control - I didn't want to practice - But Dad - (Joe) put me in my room for an hour every night. He griped - 'We're not wasting that fiddle money' and I sawed away.”

​“I kept tunes in my head - and they stayed there. I could memorize a few symphonies and classical pieces even if I couldn't play them - and show tunes and pop tunes - I don't remember lyrics - But the melodies stick - Once I have the melody, I can play it - even years later.”
 
“I got invited to play violin with Bob and Dave at the Pelican Fish Company - around Thanksgiving of 1972 - Hitch-hiked to Dana Point - They liked me, and I became the third member of that group - Dave McMahon and Bob Hawkins. - Played a year at the Pelican - Then six months at the Dana Point Jolly Roger on the harbor and then six months at The Quiet Woman in Corona del Mar. I got to know the songs of Dylan, Jackson Browne, Little Feat, John Prine, and a lot more of the bar-stool standards. ​Bob's brother, Phil Hawkins, came in as our drummer at the Quiet Woman. We were joined on different nights at the JR and the QW by April Fulladosa, Mark Turnbull, Greg Thorne, Greg Leisz with his steel pedal, Beth Fitchet and Steve Wood, - and Richard Stekol - several others.”
 
It was at this point that I met Doug, and we became friends.  In 1973 and 74 I left the beach and lived in Sun Valley, Idaho.  Skiing, playing tennis and playing music in local bars.  Doug hitch-hiked from Laguna all the way up there and spent some time with us.  We played music together and he took a ton of photos.  When I moved back to the beach, in the summer of 1974, we organized the “FUNK DOG SURF BAND.”  Doug played “lead violin.”  We didn’t have a lead guitar player, I only played rhythm at that time.  It provided a unique kinda sound and Doug’s playing was really the heart and soul of the band.  And the part about him being able to play anything he had heard was a fact.  During one of our gigs, he got up on stage during intermission and did a set of famous tv commercial jingles, it was incredible and brought the house down.  He truly can make that violin cry or sing.
 
During this time we got asked to record a song for a surf film.  Doug met the guy who made the film and fell in love with his daughter.  He and Becky have been married ever since and have two sons, Jesse and Josiah.  One thing I learned about Doug right off the bat is that not only is he talented beyond the level of most humans, but he also has a very unique and deep way of “feeling” things.  He can read deeper into stuff than most of us would even be aware enough to consider.  That is probably why he is so good at the things that he does, he feels things.  It’s in his photos, art and music.  When I heard that he got married my immediate thought was, “wow, that dude is gonna be a great husband and partner.”  
 
You can see Doug pretty much any day of the week walking around Laguna taking photos or at the Sawdust Festival when it is going on.  I know my life has been better for having known him.  If you see him go up and say hello, very friendly and probably won’t bite.  You will be glad you did.
 
 
 

By Corky Carroll

​Picking up where we left off last time with me telling you about Doug Miller, the artist, photographer, musician, husband, father and all-around amazing dude from Laguna Beach.  We talked about his background in the Navy and about his photography last time.  Let’s jump into his art.
 
Like with his photography skills his painting skills were honed while in the Navy.  As I did last time, I am letting Doug tell you the story in his own words from an online interview I did with him a couple of weeks ago. “As for painting, I liked drawing as a kid. But I like to draw phone poles, electric towers. Oil derricks and Mountains - Didn't like school assignments and I couldn't stay within the lines. - Drew a mural of the LA Basin in the 4th grade.  Loved art in grade school but I was just ordinary - took art at Long Beach City College - and Music - a year of each. Aboard the Bennington, I had painted a couple small murals on the bulkhead of our compartment - Cowboys and Indians and covered wagons for the fun of it. And later a much larger mural by the Chief's quarters - They made a big impression on some of the guys. After being transferred to the Ticonderoga, CVS 14, which was coming into dry dock in Long Beach for an overhaul - I was back to just doing scullery duty - garbage can deployment - called 'shit-cans' - and later on I was on Fire Watch by the Admiral's quarters - where you sit with a fire bottle - (fire extinguisher) by a welder and see that he doesn't start a fire - and the Admiral came by followed by a very ebullient woman, an interior decorator who looked at the nearby bulkhead and said - 'A painting would look good here.' and I chirped, 'I paint murals!' And she replied cheerily' 'You do?' almost like it was some kind of Buster Keaton movie script. I explained I took art at Long Beach City College and I'd painted aboard the Bennington. And the Admiral said - We'll get back to you Miller - and they continued on their way to his quarters. - Three weeks later I was called to the XO's - I thought I was in some kind of trouble - But the XO said 'I hear you paint murals. and I told him I could - and he said 'We'll try you in the in the Admiral's Passageway - the place where I had encountered the decorator and the admiral. and so I bought some acrylic paint and set to painting a couple paintings in the passageway. - and I was assigned to the 'Hab Team - part of Admiral Zumwalt's idea to make the ships more 'Habitual so that there would be more guys re-upping - staying in the service. And so it went - I painted murals all over that ship - And big deck – to - overhead  murals by the ge-dunk machines., by the ship's Post Office, and the Galley where the food trays are turned in - and by the Officer's Lounge - and the biggest of all around the entire four walls of the flight-ops lunch room - where the air crews eat between their shifts and remain in their work clothes. - - the Chaplains office - two paintings there. And then Chief Wiggs had me paint his entire quarters - plus his file drawers. - altogether 57 paintings on that ship.”

If you want to see some of his work check his Facebook page or go to the Sawdust Festival.  That’s the space I have for today but stay tuned next time as I want to get into his music and all that it has meant to me over the years.
 
 
 

​By Corky Carroll

​When I was a little kid, growing up and learning to surf, I lived in Surfside Colony, a small private beach community just south of Seal Beach and bordering Sunset Beach.  Back then the houses were small wooden, you have almost have to call them “shacks.” But honestly they were probably one small step above that.  My parents bought our house, B-21, for $2100.  It was the early 1950’s.  Later we got a bigger one, B-44, for $4400.   
 
One of my best pals back then was a kid that lived up the street from us, closer to the jetty.  He was a year or so older than me, his name was Steve Rowe.  He had an older brother, Ron, and a sister my age named Tina.  Both Ron and Steve surfed.  Ron was actually very good, while Steve and I were learning.  We spent a lot of time together riding whatever stray watery peak that we could find up and down our little stretch of beach.  My first trip to “Rincon,” near Santa Barbara was with the brothers in Ron’s Red “Woody.”  
 
Steve recently passed away, having spent his entire life living in Surfside.  He was a really good guy and excellent surfer.  So, today I want to tell you a few good memories I have from our surfing childhood together.

​Huntington Beach High School, winter of 1961/62.  I was a freshman.  There was a little grassy knoll behind the snack bar where some of the surf crowd hung out.  Actually, all of the surf crowd.  It wasn’t all that big a group at that time.  We did have some good surfing talent there though.  Rich Chew, Robert August, John Boozer, Bill Fury and a few more.  Two of them were Denny Buell and Tommy Leonardo.  
 
Denny was a senior, super good surfer and a solid “ladies’ man.” One of my favorite memories of him ( a sub-memory here ), was one day in Civics class right after lunch.  We were all sitting there and the teacher was just about ready to start the class.  Denny Buell, who was not in the class, comes strolling casually thru the door and walks right to the desk of the most beautiful girl in the room.  She looks up at him and he bends over and gives her this full on romantic and long kiss.  Silence in the room.  Then he stands up and just as casually walks back out the door.  Even the teacher was speechless.  It was impressive.
 
Tommy Leonardo was known as “Top Mouth on the Coast.”  That dude was so sarcastic that his reputation went far and wide.  He was an excellent surfer too, you just didn’t wanna get on his bad side.  
 
So, it’s a beautiful clear day with “Santa Ana” offshore winds blowing.  A really good south swell running too.  It’s lunch time and Denny, Tom and I arrive at the grassy knoll at the same time.  Denny has this gleam in his eye.  “We gotta blow outta here and hit the pier, its epic conditions.”  
 
HBHS was a “closed” campus.  There were teachers posted by the exits to the streets.  Denny says we should make a run for it.  Hey, when one of the best surfers in school, and a senior, says lets go for it… ya gotta go for it.  So, we did. 
 
We got the edge of the campus and waited until the teacher in that area was looking the other way.  Then b-lined it as fast as we could run down the street toward the pier.  There was a house about a block away from the beach where a lot of guys stashed their boards.  We went there, commandeered boards and paddled out.  The surf was fantastic, and we were they only three people in the water.  
 
All went very well for about thirty minutes.  At that time there was a shout from the pier.  It was Mr. Brown, the Vice Principal.  Uh oh!!!  
 
“Mr. Buell, Mr. Leonardo, Mr. Carroll.”  Yikes, that’s us.  
 
“Surf looks great, see you all in my office tomorrow morning at 8 AM.”  He then smiled, waved and walked off. 
 
On the surface he seemed friendly enough, maybe it wasn’t gonna be all that bad?  
 
The result was we all got suspended for 3 days.  I spent my “mini vacation” surfing over in Seal Beach, pretending I was going to school.  I could sign my dad’s name perfectly, which I did on the notice they sent to my house which I grabbed from the post office before it could make it to my parents.  But, that was the only time that I ever ditched school.  I guess I learned my lesson.  
 

When I think of this memory I can hear in my head, “Bad boys, bad boys….. whatcha gonna do?  Whatcha gonna do when they come of you?”   
 
 

by Corky Carroll

Married Sher Pai in 1985, then had Lindsay, Trevor, Taylor and Ashlyn Pai..
who all have worked and are working at HSS.
Then, Lindsay married Scotty..
Trevor married Jenna..
Taylor married Delany..
and Ashlyn is engaged to Alrik!
Lindsay and Scotty have 4 kids.. Rosie, Izzy, Goldie and Sid!
Trevor and Jenna have 3 kids.. Rooney, Toby, Murphy!
Taylor and Delany have 3 kids.. Finn, Jones, Zowie!
That makes 20 of us in DA PAI FAMILY!
We all share a love for the ocean and surfing. Surfing is our Life!
We are a Surfing Family!
 
Today.. Sid is the youngest (5 yrs) and charges the waves and I am the oldest and still surfing today!
Taylor is a big wave charger..
Trevor surfs big waves too!
Taylor and Trevor are amazing Watermen.. surfing, fishing, freediving, spearfishing and all around great family men!
 
This past Summer.. The Pai Family  were very honored  to be the official "Huntington Beach Community Grand Marshall" of the Huntington Beach 4th of July Parade!
 
Now it's 2023, the Pai Family's passion for surfing and family has got us to where we are today. We have four stores (and an online store) all located in Huntington Beach and are dedicated to maintaining a hardcore commitment to our surfing community...
along with making our World a better place through Surfing!
It's a true joy to share Grandma Choi's ALO)(A Spirit every day with the guests and the work crew that walk through our doors of HSS!
It's a true joy to be able to wake up, go to work, and see my family.”
 
Pretty cool huh?  Hey, for me it’s a true joy just to know these guys and that they exist.  In this day and age where “family values” seem to have generally eroded to a large degree it makes me happy to realize that ones like the Pai Ohana still exist and thrive.  Good on ya AP.  And, lastly, who cannot dig a family that has a kid named “Zowie?”  

       

If you feel plugged or it seems like some people mumble, you could have reduced hearing either due to surfer’s ear or unrelated such as from prior loud sound or some age-related changes over age 60. People with ringing in the ear, dizziness, or imbalance may have unrelated ear conditions that would benefit from separate assessments and treatment such due to a benign tumor or elevated inner ear fluid pressure, called hydrops.  Oral medications, balance therapy, or current technology hearing aids may be indicated. There can be more than one cause of ear symptoms at the same time which can be different in ear each.
 
Learn about the severity of your exostosis on camera and receive an ear checkup.  It’s wise to see an ear doctor who uses an office microscope and can show you your ear, possibly photograph it, for you to understand. Have a hearing test by an audiologist in a sound booth for accurate assessment and determination if any reduction is related to exostosis or from an unrelated condition.
 
At home, to try to ease mild itching, discomfort, or plugging it’s safe and can be soothing to instill and massage in a few drops of original plain baby oil while lying on your side with the affected ear up twice a day. For any ear discomfort or drainage, keep the ear clean and dry. First aid measures include Tylenol PM. Don’t use over-the-counter chemical preparations or devices, rubbing alcohol or soap, swabs or flushing. These measures risk pushing material deeper or causing more irritation and swelling.
 
To the younger generations of surfers and everyone with less than 70% canal occlusion, remember that exostosis growth can be halted or completely prevented by ear plugs! Any plug that’s comfortable enough to consistently wear that keeps most of the water out most of the time will keep your ear canals open. Over the counter moldable silicone or shallow ear plugs are advised over long hotdog or Christmas tree plugs. Those can rub on deep thin skin.
 
Take care of your ears! We only have two, they don’t re-grow and they cannot be replaced!”
 
You can reach Dr. Jackson right here in Newport Beach at (949) 574 7744.  
 
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