DAVE Goldsworthy was not a talented surfer, by all reports, but what he lacked in skill he made up for in bravado.
More importantly, he also had the £10 it cost for a solid custom-made redwood surfboard from Burns timber yard at Caringbah.
It was 1937 and solid wooden surfboards were almost on their way out, soon to be replaced by the Tom Blake designed 4.8-metre (16-foot) long hollow "toothpicks" which were the board of choice after WWII.
That it cost £10, which at the time was about two weeks' average pay, was a shock, even though they were made to last.
But the bigger shock for Dave occurred when, on his first outing in the surf, the board reared up, hit him in the head, knocked out his teeth and gashed his head.
John Myers was 13 on the day the accident occurred on North Cronulla beach.
John and his mates, after being knocked back for membership by Cronulla Surf Life Saving Club for being under 16, were made welcome by the new surf club at North Cronulla, just across from his Nerang Road house.
Dave's carry-on could be heard across the park. He trudged up the beach carrying his one-day-old surfboard and shouted to no one in particular that he was done with surfing and asked who wanted to buy a once-used board.
John's mother was hard to convince but he managed to collect £7, which was just enough to get a bruised and battered Dave Goldsworthy to turn it over to him.
John's surfboard was made at the end of the era between the wars, so it didn't get too much use before he trained as a sheet metal worker and served in the navy during WWII, before making scientific equipment on his return to civilian life.
This is the surfboard that manufacturer Brian Jackson saw in the rafters of the old Nerang Road house (Leader, September 25). It is an identical "church window" shape to the one Duke Kahanamoku rode 20 years before in the very spot Dave Goldsworthy got smashed. It sat in the rafters at John's mother's house for more than 30 years.
John Myers still lives in Sutherland Shire and despite being in his 90s, recalled the story as if it was yesterday.
The board now hangs over the doorway of the Harry Brown room at North Cronulla Surf Life Saving Club, emblazoned with the names of all members who served for more than 50 years. There are fewer than 50 of them.
The Duke's 1915 Cronulla surfboard has still not been found but this perfect example of a redwood Alia was designed by him and was used around the world for 35 years.
Cronulla's "Surfretrospect" event, celebrating 100 years of surfing in the shire, will be held next February and hopefully will unearth many more stories like this one.
Details: surfretrospect.com.au
