Surface Motion
J eff "JD" Devine talks about
surfing the harbor in the 70s
Interviewed 11/26/99
On his father's pre harbor surfing.
KJ Can you tell me that story that your dad told you?
JD Before the jetty was built he would paddle over from-- it's called the State Park which is on the other side from Schwan Lake. So he'd knee paddle across Schwan Lake, which is part of Twin Lakes, to the beach at Twin Lakes. And he'd walk down from Twin Lakes down to Castle Beach and then paddle out to the Rivermouth. And surf there.
KJ That's cool.
JD He was bummed when they built the jetty because he couldn't just walk down the beach to his surf break.
KJ So there probably wasn't much of a break at that time at Twin Lakes.
JD No.
On who was there.
JD We started riding it in about '72 and '73. I did, anyway. And there were people like Bill Mulcoy. His name now is "Harbor" Bill, cause he was well known for really, becoming quite a surfer there. And his son is Josh Mulcoy.
KJ I've heard of both Josh and Bill Mulcoy.
JD Just remember, Harbor Bill's real name was "Cowboy" Bill when he first started sufing there. That's a rarity, nobody knows that.
KJ Was he from the old guard, that started on longboards, and then-- cut down?
JD Nooo.
KJ He was one of the newer guys.
JD Yeah.
KJ You guys actually started on kneeboards then.
JD Yeah. There was probably you know, fif--, more kneeboarders there than there were surfers. In those years, there were a lot of kneeriders. Lot of kneeboarding going on in Santa Cruz then.
KJ Were there any of the original harbor tube riders there, like Pat O'Neill?
JD Pat O'Neill and Aaron Wright. Were the guys.
KJ Did you guys look up to them?
JD Oh yeah. They were the top notch guys. Pat O'Neill and Aaron Wright. And John Buckley. Was a great surfer. Goofy footer.
KJ Were you influenced by older kneeboarders in surf films like Lance Greenough from Endless Summer?
JD George Greenough.
KJ Excuse me, George Greenough.
JD More, the infuence here was John Mann.
KJ Yeah, from surf films?
JD John Mann was a Santa Cruz guy, and Jack White, and Bobby DuBois.
KJ That was at the harbor?
JD Mm hm. And Steamer Lane.
KJ Did you know Kevin Reed then in the 70s?
JD Very well. He was in our crowd. Me and Robert Garrett, and Charley Bursey, and Kevin Reed. We were all about the same age.
On what maneuvers were done there.
JD Tube riding mostly. Making the takeoff behind the jacks, and you know, having a tube ride.
KJ Did you have hotdogging tricks, and off the lips?
JD Well, yeah, ' used to hang five a lot on kneeboards. You know, put a flipper on the nose. That was a pretty cool move. Mostly tube riding though, at the harbor. Was just killer. Off the lips.
KJ What was an off the lip at the time?
JD Just a roller coaster.
KJ Just go up and come down, wasn't straight up and down?
JD Could be straight up and down.
KJ Really. At that time?
JD Mm hm.
On interaction between surfers and boaters.
KJ Do you have a particular story or a memory of a particular day surfing at the harbor?
JD Oh gosh, there were--
KJ Pick one out of the--
JD Just so amazing that wave, you know. We got killer waves there, it was just insane.
There was this one time. There was this boat, and it was really big. And he came over-- the wave was so big, the nose of the boat was so far up in the air and then when it came down. . .
This guy was up on the very front of the boat, you know. He-- when the boat landed, he fell off in the water. And he was asking, crying out for help.
KJ Wow. He fell off the pulpit. Incredible.
JD Mm hm. The waves were huge. And he was in the middle of the channel. He wasn't gonna be able to swim. It was cold water. I said come on over here, got him up on my board, and I paddled him in to the beach at Twin Lakes. And then he got in.
KJ You actually had to paddle in with him, you didn't put him back on his boat?
JD Oh no. The boat was going out to sea.
KJ There were a lot of run ins I guess, between boaters and surfers?
JD I guess. That was when I was about 13 or 14, that guy's-- basically his life was saved. And that was probably the only interaction I had with any boaters. It was before any kind of hostility was there with the boaters.
KJ There was a time when it was prohibited to surf?
JD That was more in the 80s.
KJ I know that Harbor Bill was reputed to have run from the police.
JD Oh, yeah. See that was in the late 70s and 80s. '72 and '73, it was good that we were there surfing, 'cause that incident that happened-- you know that nobody knows about it, it was never really publicized. I mean, the person thanked me.
