In 1977, Michael Peterson was widely regarded as one of the greatest surfers of his generation. And he still is. Some very good obituaries have already appeared (see links below) and undoubtedly many more will follow as surfing’s global tribe reflects on the passing of an iconic figure.

In retrospect it was good luck that I was in Australia in 1977 to shoot footage for a surf movie. But it was astonishingly good luck that I happened to be hanging out in the then very rustic Bells carpark a few days before the contest. Conditions that morning were just about perfect. The solid head high plus swell was brushed by a faint offshore under clear blue skies. Winki was going off.

I’d watched it for awhile and because there were a few names in the water, I was tossing up whether or not to join them, or to do the right thing and shoot some footage first.

Suddenly MP appeared from out of the bushes near where I was parked. He came over, looking around warily in the way that he did, and said something along the lines of “You want to get some film man? Gimme a hundred bucks and I’ll go out and you can get some shots.” Having been down this particular road once before with Michael at Kirra, I knew that it was a certainty that I’d a) be eating beans for a couple weeks thanks to the budget hit and b) I’d definitely get some keepers.

After attending to the financial issue, MP produced his board and shouldering the big Miller fluid head and the freshly loaded Bolex H16, we bush bashed our way down to a good position for me to shoot the Winki line up. Michael changed and a minute or two later he was paddling out into the line up at his usual amazing speed.

He only stayed in the water for about 20 mins, but by the time he came in, I had close to 5 mins of keepers.

To mark Michael’s passing, I’ve grabbed out some of that footage and turned it into a short youtube video to give you a taste of how good this guy was. When Rabbit saw this footage years ago he remarked that it just might be some of the last shot of MP before he fell into full-blown mental illness.

One other note, as indicated at the end of the clip, I have about an hour of edited down footage from that trip and close to half of it includes Michael. There’s a short sequence from Kirra and then quite a bit from the ’77 Stubbies as my pal Guy and I followed MP’s progress right through to the final. So yep, there’s footage from the famous semi against Rabbit.

There’s also footage of North Narrabeen (with Terry Fitz et al) and Dee Why (Peter Crawford doing a turning 360).

For decades now I’ve been meaning to turn it into a proper movie. But I’ve never really had the resources and time. I’m gonna make another effort which I’ll document at a www.surfin77.com (not online until early April). Check it out some time!

- Don Norris

Solid obituary by Fred Pawle from the Australian