SA Big Wave '66

In surfing, legendary tales of big days are handed down word of mouth by the core crews of eras gone by, but sometimes an image crops up to indelibly fix a name into our lore. The story behind the photograph becomes a legacy upon which future wave warriors paddle out when their 'big day' arrives.

Today, film and photo technology ensure our big wave heroes get respect by consistent performance in waves of consequence. But in the early days of surf media, before the photographic armies assembled, one grainy image would suffice as a record of an individual feat of bravery and skill, and by extension a collective symbol for the community.

South Africa's first reference to big wave riding depicts Neville Callenbourne's iconic ride in a heaving 12'+ swell on the Bluff on 2 July 1966 at the South African Surfing Championships.

Printed in South African Surfer magazine, the image was celebrated widely. However, as veteran Durban waterman Harry Bold mentioned in the report of the event, there was no shortage of competent big wave men who could have nabbed that wave:

“Some good performances during the morning were put up by non-competitors who could not resist the good surf and held a contest of their own to see who could take off the furthest inside, on the biggest and most ridiculous looking wave! They all had good rides , and if anyone was scoring, Neville Callenbourne would have beaten Anstey's regulars, Wilbur Baars and Bob Trevethan by a narrow margin. Of the official competitors, Robert McWade, Errol Hickman and Peter Basford got the best rides”.

Here's how Neville, now 71, describes that day, and also puts the record straight about exactly where he rode that wave.

“It was supposed to be at Dairy Beach, sometimes called the Wedge, right in front of the Model Dairy. Anyway, I was a spectator with a couple of my mates and there was a little wave, a foot high and in those days there were only about thirty competitors so they got on the phone, phoned around, phoned somebody on the Bluff. The answer was: 'It's pumping here', so they moved the whole competition to Cave Rock.

"We get there. We're all on the beach watching, and the crowds came. I didn't have a board but my mate Mars Roodt had a board he'd never ridden before, new on his car! So, I had this twitching feeling (laughs), you know we all get. So I said: 'Can I borrow your board'? waxed it up, and it wasn't all that difficult to get out, almost in front of where the rock was, the Cave Rock.

"The waves were sweeping in from the south, that's why they were so small at Dairy and big at the Bluff. You more or less paddled out diagonally on a northerly direction, you struggled but you got out. I think that day I caught about eight waves, there was a huge mob of locals – a couple of names, your Dad (Jimmy Whittle) will remember, Wilbur Bars from Dolphins (SLSC), 'Dog Balls' Brown (at one time he worked in one of the surf shops), but anyway ...

"I wasn't a participant in the competition that day but as the crowds got bigger and bigger, then this Mother came up – this Mother came up – you know! So I did a couple of strokes, looked down, looked down at the crowd on the beach, imagined all the blondes on the beach, so I couldn't pull out (laughs). I had to go for it! It was a directional take off, no great turns or anything, probably on for I don't know how many seconds until the whole thing closed out completely.

"There were no leashes in those days, so the board was gone, lucky enough I was far enough in not to get caught in the backward suction. I was in about two meters of foam and I knew I mustn't try and get up too soon. I just got one breath and the next one hit me, so I relaxed under the water - relaxed under the water. By the time the next one hit me I came up, luckily I was about 100 meters from where the waves were breaking so I just floated ashore. There was his board on the beach. Dinged! (laughs).

"People all clapped the wave and Blah, blah, blah ... ”