By Corky Carroll

​It’s that time of year again leading up to the big mid-summer surf contest and all of the activities that go along with it, such as the “Surfers Hall of Fame” induction ceremony.  This year marks the 25th anniversary celebration and will be held on August 5th at 9 A.M. in the SHOF plaza in front of Huntington Surf ‘n Sport at the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Main Street in Huntington Beach.  
 
More on the ceremony in my next column.  Today I want to talk about this years inductees.  Big wave charger Peter Mel, Surf Adventurer and Explorer Martin Daly and the whole surf worlds favorite Main Street Mom, Michele Turner.  I told you all about Peter Mel last time, today is about Martin and Michele.
 
Aaron Pai, the founder of the Surfers Hall of Fame, and his selection committee did some “out of the box” thinking this year and came up with two people that are legendary in their particular spheres although not too known to the general public.  Kinda of a refreshing change to the normal super famous surfers who are normally on the induction list.  

​Martin Daley is without a doubt the most experienced and heralded boat caption in the known surfing world.  Australian born surfer and diver Martin moved to South East Asia in 1981 to work marine diving jobs.  Over the course of then next decade or so he bought a broken down boat, fixed it up and semi renamed it the “M.V. Indies Trader.”  He and that boat are responsible for exploring and discovering more amazing surf breaks that anyone ever has or most likely ever will.  He has taken thousands of surfers on dream voyages to exotic and secret waves located far off the known surf map.  

Watch for our new line of Corky Carrol T-shirts coming early next month

​Hired by Quicksilver, and supported by the United Nations, Martin took on the seven year mission of a surf adventure around the world finding new spots and checking on coral health. This little trek resulted in visiting 56 countries, 4 territories and the discovery of 115 new surf breaks. 160,000 nautical miles all in all. This is like going around the world 8 times. An Amazing feat.

Not only is Martin “THE Capitan,” but he is also recognized as an amazing big wave charger and expert surfer. If you aren’t a very hard-core surfer, and pretty much even if you are, I doubt you would know about Martin Daly. It is to the credit of SHOF to shed some light on a person well deserving the induction who didn’t get there thru the normal way in the limelight.

The other inductee this year is all of our favorite surf mom, the iconic Michele Turner. How do I tell you about her? For decades Michele has owned and operated the “Sugar Shack” restaurant on Main Street in Huntington Beach. She is the mother of two legendary and world class surfers, Timmy and Ryan Turner. Thru the years she has made breakfast for about every famous surfer on the planet who has come through Huntington Beach and befriended probably all of them.
Anybody and everybody who comes to town makes it a point to have breakfast with Michele. She is one of the sweetest and kindest people ever and loved by all of us. She raised her two surf boys to be not only great surfers but truly outstanding people. This is another person who is well known within the hard core surf world that would not be known to the gen pop. Well deserving of some love and limelight. Again, the SHOF crew attempting to give credit to admired and respected “core” legends. Good on ya.

Stay tuned for a rundown on the 25th annual Surfers Hall of Fame induction ceremony and the evolution of the incredible “
Surfing Pai Family” next time. Awhoooo!!!!

by Corky Carroll

I just got handed the list of inductees into this year’s SURFERS HALL OF FAME.  At the top of the list is one of the greatest big wave chargers of all time, Peter “the Condor” Mel.  This dude is a member of a very small group of what I like to call “monster wave riders.”  (At this point cue in one of my old songs called Big Wave Rider….”monster walls of water, blockin out the sky…monster walls of water don’t you know that you can die…” sets the tone).  
 
Monster wave riders are the very few insanely fearless souls that chase waves that are bigger than big, the ones that you can only get towed into because they are too big and fast to be able to simply paddle into.  Maybe “fearless” is not the correct term, because anybody in their right mind would have to be somewhat scared in that stuff.  Some maybe saying “people who know how to deal with fear” would be better.  Or heck, go with “fearless,” and figure that they are NOT in their right minds after all.  Hence the “insanely fearless” thing.
 
Big surf ends at about 25 to 30 ft.  Monster surf is anything over 30 ft.  Peter Mel is a monster wave rider, one of the best to ever take the drop. Laird Hamilton and Kai Lenny are a couple of others in this small fraternity.  
 
Peter was born in Santa Cruz, California in 1969.  His dad is John Mel, himself a national surfing champion, who learned to shape surfboards with the legendary Skip Frye in San Diego before moving to Santa Cruz and opening Freeline Surfboards.  Peter learned to surf at Capitola, a smaller wave spot just south of Santa Cruz, before moving into the lineup at the bigger wave spots such as the infamous “Steamer Lane” and “Mitchells Cove.”  

​Some experience on Hawaii’s North Shore and Peter found himself to be high on the pecking order at “Mavericks,” the famed Half Moon Bay big wave spot.  Having a speed defined surfing style with his arms pulled back got him the nickname “Condor.” 
 
Although a fantastic small wave surfer, having been a finalist in the 1984 U.S. Championship in the Junior division and winning the 1997 Cold Water Classic, it was the challenge and thrill of the big stuff that drew his passion.   In the late 1990’s Peter was a finalist in the K2 Big Wave Challenge, the Quicksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau and the Mavericks Invitational.  He also successfully rode what was at that time the biggest wave ever ridden outside of Hawaii.  
 
In 2001 the Condor was part of one of the heaviest surfing adventures ever, the assault on “Cortes Bank.”  A small group of monster wave riders, which also included San Clemente’s Mike Parsons, successfully surfed the mysterious “giant wave that breaks in the middle of the ocean” place that lies 150 miles out to sea off San Diego.  This, probably even to this day, was one of the most radical over the edge big wave accomplishments ever.  
 
In 2011 he won the Pico Alto Big Wave championship.  He followed that by winning the Big Wave Tour in 2012 and then the Mavericks title in 2013.  A super successful professional surfing career.
 
Today Peter is still searching out and charging monster waves around the planet while, with his wife Tara, running the family surf business, Freeline Surfboards, that he took over from his dad.  Peter and Tara have a son they named John who is presently making a name for himself on the World Surfing League Qualifying Tour.  And just to cap things off nicely Peter was awarded the “Ride of the Year” award for 2021.
 
Stay tuned for more news on the Surfers Hall of Fame Inductions which will be held on August 5th in Huntington Beach.  This year marks the 25th anniversary of surfing’s prestigious institution and word has it that the induction ceremony will be incredible and surf star laden.  Peter Mel is joining a lineup of the greatest surfers of all time who have previously been honored during this past quarter century.  All that and more coming your way right here.  

by Corky Carroll

I just received a press release about a new movie coming out about Lifeguards.  Not just any lifeguards though, the ones that work at the worlds most dangerous surf spots.  Pipeline, Waimea Bay, etc. etc. These are some of the most skilled water people on the planet and some of the most unheralded.  
 
For pretty much my entire life I have been a surfer, closing in on 70 years in the water.  A lot of that time I have been under the watch of lifeguards, even if I wasn’t really aware of it.  A lot of the time that I wasn’t, I really wish I was.  Even in small surf things can happen.  In big surf the chances of something bad happening are far greater and it’s a great thing to have somebody on hand in the event that the bad thing that you never thought would happen, and didn’t see coming, actually does happen. And these things do happen all the time.  There is a great line in a Jackson Browne song that goes, “don’t think it won’t happen just because it hasn’t happened yet.”

​I have always had tremendous respect for the guys who put themselves on the line each time they jump in the water in life and death situations to save somebody else.  Just as with a fire fighter running into a burning building this is serious stuff.  And big wave lifeguards don’t have any protection.  A movie about these people is long overdue.

​Going beyond the fact that this is a great concept for a film is the fact that the people who made this film are the cream of the crop as far as not only being experts at what they do but also lifelong dedicated surfers themselves.  Surf Star Marty Hoffman, son of legendary big wave surfer “Flippy” Hoffman, nephew of Walter Hoffman (one of the all-time greats) and cousin of World Champion Joyce Hoffman, is the Executive Producer.  The film is made in conjunction with MacGillivary Freeman Films, known for epic IMAX masterpieces as well as some of the best surf films ever made.  Greg MacGillivary himself being a lifetime Orange County surf regular.  And the film was written by my former college from my years working at SURFER magazine, Jim Kempton.  Jim was Editor when I was Ad Director.  We spent many a “working” afternoon surfing at Cottons Point and Trestles.  It would be hard pressed to arrange a more competent and knowledgeable team to make this tribute to some of the bravest and selfless people on Earth.  
 
“Big Wave Guardians” will be released nationally at the end of June.  I got a chance to see a rough-cut version and was thrilled beginning to end.  The footage is breath taking.  The interviews are fantastic, the whole thing is just amazing.  When I finished watching it I sat there flashing back on times when I personally had to save somebody and how hard it was.  I am not trained to do it, as with most surfers.  But sometimes somebody gets in trouble and you have no choice but to help them.  It’s easy to be drowned by somebody who you are trying save from drowning, trust me on that.  I will never forget when I was maybe 14 or so and living on the beach at Surfside.  My cousin Gracie, who was the same age as me, went out swimming and got caught in a “rip.”  I swam out to get her and she was so panic stricken that she just glommed onto me like an abalone and wouldn’t let go, almost downed us both.  I had no idea of what I was doing, I just knew that I had to save her. If it were me in trouble I certainly would hope my fate would rest in the hands of one of these people who know what they are doing, and in fact are inventing and developing new and better ways to do it, many times on the fly.
 
Great subject and great movie.  EVERYBODY who sets foot in the ocean should see it.  And certainly every surfer.  Might want to make you want to stop by that lifeguard tower on the way in and say thanks.  
 

First off is a guy who everybody considers to be one of the best to ever ride a board, but also to be “the nicest guy” in surfing.  Paul Strauch.  Born in Honolulu in 1943, started surfing in 1947 (the year I was born), won the Makaha International Championship as a Junior in 1959 and the mens division in 1969.  Also won the Peru International in 1963 and a bunch of other stuff.  The dude has plenty of credds.  At one time Paul was thought by many to be the best surfer on the planet, a guy who had the rare ability to totally shred waves with radical moves and yet do it very gracefully and with a beautiful flowing style.  With all this going for him you might think he would be a jerk, but not at all.  Called “the Gentleman” surfer and deservingly so.  We all love Paul Strauch.  Always has a smile and is glad to see ya (well maybe he isn’t but he makes ya feel like it anyway).  
 
I first met Paul surfing at Ala Moana on Oahu’s south shore during the summer of 1963, my first time surfing there.  He and George Downing were out and were very encouraging to this young and brash hoale from Orange County, Calif.  We have been friends ever since.  He is still surfing great too.
 
Next up is probably one of the fastest guys to ever surf.  Joey Cabell.  Another dude born in Honolulu in 1938.  Anybody that has ever known Joey will tell you that this guy likes to go fast.  On a surfboard, on skiis, in a car….  in any and all ways.  Rapid.  Yes. he has won plenty of stuff.  Like Paul Strauch he won the Makaha International and the Peru International and lots of others including the first Malibu Invitational in the early 1960’s. 
Not known for tricks and show off kind of surfing he blew the crowd away by doing a “spinner” in the nose.  Totally uncharacteristic of the flowing style master that he is.  
 
He is also known as one of the original owners of the Chart House Restaurants.  In Aspen, Colorado he was as fast or faster than anybody on skiis.  I was a decent skier myself but would have trouble keeping up with Joey, the guy flew.  In Hawaii he rode giant waves from point A to the end in a blur.  There are stories about him surfing alone on monstrous days at Hanalei Bay on Kauai going so fast that people on the cliff with binoculars could not pan with him.  Having first met Joey at the U.S. Championship in 1963, I have always looked up to him as a person who just did things right and with style.  When you see him you have to look fast though, he is gone quickly.  The guy has left me in the dust more times that I even wanna remember.  
 
 

​Then there were the “Duke Invitational” events held in Hawaii beginning in the mid 60’s.  The top 24 surfers in the world were invited to compete and for the first time were flown to Hawaii and taken care of with hotel and food etc.  We always got to say hi and all that, had our photos taken with him a bunch of times.  I was fortunate to get invited to the first seven “Duke meets,” and consider those to be at the top of the highlights of my competitive surfing years.
 
There were dinners at “Dukes” in Waikiki where he would be there and Don Ho would do a show.  They gave all of the competitors these beautiful gold trophies that looked like “Oscars.”  It was Duke standing in front of board, an image that became very famous and is now many statues around the world.  Duke would hand them out to all of us and always thanked us by name when he gave us our “Duke.”  It was like “Thank you so much for coming over Corky, aloha.”  I always felt like he meant it.  
 
My best personal memory of Duke comes from one day I was invited to ride out to the North Shore with him, Paul Strauch and Freddy Hemmings in Dukes personal Rolls Royce.  I think Freddy drove.  Amazing just what a tranquil and sweet person he was out of the limelight.  You got the feeling that he really cared about you when he talked to you, wasn’t just thinking of himself or trying to be impressive.  Really an easy guy to like.  They loved him so much in Hawaii that no matter where he went for a meal it was always “on the house.”  Cool side benefit of hanging out with Duke was it always meant free lunch.  
 
“American Masters: Waterman – Duke – Ambassador of Aloha” premiers May 10 at 9 PM eastern time on PBS.  The documentary has narration by Jason Momoa and features comments from some of todays surfing greats such as Kelly Slater, Laird Hamilton and Kai Lenny.  It is a great film and should be required viewing by every serious surfer under the age of 40 or any others who don’t know the legend of the great Duke Kahanamoku.  A beautiful and well done tribute.  
 
 
 
 

I have been harping on this a lot lately in my social media posts and have mentioned it here before too.  But it needs saying again and maybe in a stronger tone, sometimes I gloss stuff over with trying to be glib or non-judgmental.  But here it is.  There are too many people in the water these days that have no clue as to the proper surf etiquette as far as who has the right of way and who needs to get out of the way.  People need to be taught this stuff and I am not sure that a lot of today’s surf instructors are really paying enough attention to that part of the learning process, as well as enough safety guidance.  
 
I watched a guy give a beginning class the other day.  He did a great job of telling his group how to pop up, but that’s all he did.  He gave them exactly no tips on safety.  Not even to cover their head when they fall off, THAT is the one main thing that should always be taught to beginners.  He did not tell them anything about what to do if somebody was riding in their direction either.  

Over and over, I have mentioned that the main problem I have in the water these days is not with people taking off in front of me, although that happens all the time, but with clueless people paddling out who are so freaked out about getting over the shoulder of the wave that they paddle right directly into my path.  Nobody has told them to let the rider go by.  They are not gonna die if they have to eat a little white water, even though they think they are.  Stop you geeks, let me go by.  Argh.
 
This very thing came to a head at my local surf break a couple of weeks ago.  Our first Women’s World Champion, Linda Benson, was visiting and out surfing.  Linda is in her mid 70’s and still surfs great.  Super cool chick too.  She took off on a wave and two other girl surfers paddled directly into her path causing her to have to straighten out.  One of the girls panicked and jumped off her board with no attempt to hold on to it.  The board hit Linda in the leg causing serious damage.  She had to have surgery on it and spend a night and day in the hospital.  Three weeks later she is still laid up as it is a slow heal.

The girl let go of her board for no good reason, it wasn’t a giant wave.  Obviously, she was not taught what to do and not do.  I have had the same thing happen to me many times and it’s always the same story.  “Why did you let go of your board?”  “I was afraid the wave was gonna cream me.”  “It was a two-foot wave, you were not gonna die.”  “Well, what was I supposed to do?”   
 
There it is right there…. They don’t know what they are supposed to do. Surf teachers out there, do your jobs.  Friends of beginners, take the time to educate them before they kill somebody else.  
 
There are more people surfing today than ever before.  Way more girls for sure, many starting when covid hit and the gyms were closed.  I am sure that most did not take lessons.  I wish people would realize that some simple early-stage help would go a long way to not only providing themselves with a better experience but also to save others the problems caused by those out there who just don’t know what they are doing.  
 
TAKE LESSONS.  And all of you surf instructors, and so-called surf instructors too, pay attention to all phases of learning.  Safety first. Etiquette too.  Skills yes, but being smart is better than being hurt or hurting somebody else.  
 
I am gonna say this one more time too.  If you are paddling out and are in the path of an oncoming rider it is your responsibility to get out of the way.  If you can make it over the shoulder without impeding the rider, then great.  But if not then you must stop and let them go by.  And by all means DO NOT let go of your board where it can hit somebody.  Hold on to that sucker with all your might.  The head that you cave in might be mine and that is a huge NO NO.  ​

by Corky Carroll

One of the more common questions that I get asked is what it was like doing the Miller Lite beer television commercials back in the 1980s and ’90s — and more specifically, how did I get involved in that in the first place.

For me, this was one of the best parts of my career and a period that I look back on with great memories. Plus, it was the most money I had made in my entire life.

For those of you that are too young, or just don’t remember, at one time Miller Lite was one of the leading beer brands in the country. This was on the shoulders, at least in part, of a mega-successful advertising campaign that featured retired athletes from different sports. Some of the athletes from the commercials were also part of what they called the “Miller Lite All-Stars.”

I was one of the lucky ones who did both the commercials and was part of the all-star program. That group did personal appearances around the country and were the national spokespeople for the brand. Some of the guys I worked with were Bubba Smith, Boog Powell, Billy Martin, Bob Uecker, L.C. Greenwood, Bert Jones, Sam Jones, Red Auerbach, Jack “Hacksaw” Reynolds and Dave Cowens. It was a very cool lineup of really great dudes who were funny and amazing to hang out with. What Miller Brewing Company looked for were guys that people would want to hang out with and have a beer.

So, how did I get selected for this?
They had a guy in New York that researched sports figures and selected those he thought would fit. As most of the mainstream sports — such as baseball, football and basketball — appealed to the over-25-to-dead market they were looking for somebody to appeal to the “just turning drinking age” group. A surfer seemed a good choice for that. And, lucky for me, the dude doing the selecting came up with me.

by Corky Carroll

Which brings me to todays subject.  Clark Little.  Clark grew up in Hawaii and was known as a fearless wave charger in the infamous Waimea Bay shorebreak. He took up photography and decided it was his mission to show the world what it looked like to be in that “tunnel” that is inside a breaking wave.  We started to see his photos turn up in the magazines and most of us, at least I did, thought “Wow, what a great shot, but I bet the dude took a beating getting that one.”  
 
He would stick himself right at the edge of the water where the most gnarly and nastiest waves broke to get the shot as it broke over his head.  Of course this left him in the danger zone and he had to have gotten totally annihilated right after to pushed the button.  I can’t imagine how much sand the dude has probably had to clean out of all those places that sand likes to go.  But he was getting really spectacular photos that went well beyond what we had seen in the past.  
 
Over the past few years we have seen more and more of his work and his shots never fail to get a “WOW” out of me.  He has taken his particular style of surf photography to a new level and it’s amazing.  Not only have his photos been seen in the surfing publications but also in National Geographic and they hang on the wall of the Smithsonian Museum.  He has been seen in Nikon commercials as well as many national television shows.  
 
This week Random House has released a beautiful book of Clarks work, CLARK LITTLE: THE ART OF WAVES.  Over 150 of Clarks images along with stories by journalist Jamie Brisick telling us how Clark gets the shots.  There is a forward by eleven-time World Surfing Champion Kelly Slater too.  I can truly say that this is one of those “must get” books for any surfer or any lover of the ocean and it’s beauty and moods.  It is going into prime position on my coffee table, I can tell you that. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

by Corky Carroll

It’s been said that Kemp Aaberg is “possibly the nicest guy to ever set foot on the sands of Malibu.”  This could be a totally true statement; Kemp is truly one of the nicest and coolest guys I have ever met.  The dude is also one of the surfing world’s greatest living legends, still going as he smoothly moves into his eighties (born in 1940).  
 
The first time I became aware of him was when I saw him in Bruce Browns surf film “Slippery When Wet,” which came out in 1958.  He was one of the stars of the movie and had a great style with a big back arching bottom turn.  A photo of that turn that was run in one of the first issues of SURFER magazine actually became the logo for that mag and lives on in surf photo history.  Kinda like Jerry West being “the logo” in the NBA, Kemp is “the logo” in the surfing world.  

​I am not sure where I first met Kemp, but one of my favorite early memories of him was on the North Shore in Hawaii.  The first day I went out and rode Sunset Beach it was big and I was pretty scared.  On my first wave I took of behind Kemp, figured he knew what he was doing so I would be ok if I just followed him closely.  I did and we both made the wave and came out over the shoulder just flying.  He looked at me and I looked at him and we both just hooted and laughed.  He says, “well, whaddaya think?”  I was just kinda beaming and said, “let’s do it again.”  

I became good pals with his younger brother Denny, both through surfing and playing music.  Super cool guy, my age, and amazingly fun to hang out with.  We have surfed together and played music together many times over the years.
 
Which brings me to my next favorite memory of Kemp.  In the early 1970’s right after I retired from competitive surfing I moved up to Ketchum, Idaho.  (commonly known as Sun Valley, the ski resort that is located there).  I rented a house in the “warm springs” part of town, not far from the ski lifts.  Kemp came up for a couple of weeks one of the years I was there and came over to visit one day.  He brought his guitar with him.  Kemp is a fantastic classical and flamenco guitar player, super good.  At that time I was learning how to play violin and also working on the cello.  I had a nice cello that I had brought up from the beach.  So, we decided to record ourselves doing a guitar and cello duet.  I didn’t really have a clue what I was doing, but I could stay on key and play a few notes in a couple of easy keys.  I had a tape recorder and we cranked it up and actually made a kinda cool sounding recording.  I just played a couple of basic notes, within whatever key it was, and Kemp played a beautiful guitar piece.  And it worked.  I wish I still had that tape.  But I do still have the memory and it’s a good one.
 
Kemp has lived in Santa Barbara for it seems forever, drove a UPS truck for a living until he retired.  His wife Ella is beautiful and posts regularly on FACEBOOK about how Kemp is doing and a lot of nice stories that he tells about different times and people.  In his early days he wrote a lot of stories for the surfing magazines.  He has been dealing with Parkinson’s for many years but is hanging in and doing it, as Ella puts it, amazingly graceful.  That kind of sums of Kemp, his surfing and his personality.  Amazingly graceful.  
 
Glad I got to share this memory of one of the best and coolest surfers ever.  Kemp Aaberg.