Dreams
Surfing is a dream state. Riding
waves came to Bill in deep sleep, and, over many years, became
indelibly imprinted in his subconscious. This
has never stopped. The sensation of being one with the ocean
was part of Bill in the 1950s when he began body surfing lonely
beaches, free diving and spear fishing in the
ocean. Seeds for Bill's surfing dreams
were planted in an article on
Hawaiian surf written by Bev Morgan for Skin
Diver Magazine about 1960. Above photo by Bill of a hollow
wave on a Delaware beach empty of surfers or sunbathers - early
'60s.
1960s - George
&
Bill
Bill's boyhood pal, George Pittman,
shared his adventures. Bill convinced George they should
buy three surfboards from California. They knew nothing about
surfboards or the Bohemian Surf Company. In December of 1961
three pop-outs with Velzy decals arrived at a southern
Delaware train station. When Bill stripped away the cardboard
revealing brightly colored fiberglass boards, redneck bystanders
asked, "Boy, what's them thar things, a'rplane wings?" And so it
began...............
Hobie made Ole boards and
shipped them East, not
wanting to infringe on his
Virginia Beach Hobie dealers, Holland
& Smith. Later Hobie realized the two dealers
were not in direct competition.
George and Bill then sold Hobie
boards in their Eastern Surfer shops in Ocean City, Maryland, Rehoboth Beach and Harrington,
Delaware.
Alone - Delaware -
Maryland Line - 1963
A hurricane 800 miles at
sea pushed up sizable swells this autumn day . Bill was the only
surfer in the water from Indian River Inlet south to the state line.
At red ball road, so-called for a large buoy marking the road up to
the dune line, Bill pulled in, grabbed his surfboard and
camera. Only two sunbathers were on the beach. One of the
girls shot an entire roll of film. This frame is the only one that
turned out. All others were out of focus.
Indian River Inlet
Southside - 1964
George Feehley, Smedley, Dutch & Jim Phillips,
checking jetty surf
possibilities.
Ocean City 93rd
Street - Rental Boards - 1965
Bill & George bought an
old school bus, tore out the seats, installed racks, and filled it
up with used surfboards for rentals. They leased the area from 93rd
st to the Carousel Motel from Avery Hall for an annual rental
of $500. This became the official Ocean City,
MD surfing area where The Eastern Surfer rented
boards by the hour or day.
Tower Wave From the
Water - 1964
Another
underwater housing shot by Bill that appeared in Surfer
Magazine.
Jim
Phillips in the hook - George Pittman straightening off -
South Bethany Jim was
inducted in the East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame in
1998
http://www.naturalart.com/surfinghalloffame/index.html
Unless
otherwise attributed, all text and photos on this
site were
created, copyrighted, and the property of Bill
Wise.
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