Hello Friends,
Sad news this morning that Midget’s died at 71. Easily one of the greatest figures in Australian surfing history and a man who wore his fame with modesty in an age when being a big noter seems to be the norm. There’s a great quote from him in the SMH that I think perfectly captures his personality:
“They gave me the trophy. I remember an Australian couple in the Makaha crowd saying, ‘Good on you,’ and Ron Church taking that photo of me with the trophy on the Keyo board I’d shaped for Hawaii,” Farrelly recalls in his Brookvale surfboard factory. “I got into my car – you could buy a bomb for $50 without windows, $100 with windows – and drove back to the north shore to tell the other blokes I’d won. They probably had some beer.” (SMH LINK)
I think the last time I saw the gentleman was a few years ago getting out of the water at Dee Why with a beautiful new board under his arm. I didn’t know until today that he’d lived at Dee Why for a few years just before he became the first world champ. He was even president of DYSF during that time
BTW if anyone has any recollection, etc you’d like to share, send them along and I’ll publish them here.
You could definitely catch a wave for Midget this morning at Dee Why. Conditions looked pretty good, with set waves into the chest plus range at both the point and the beach. The MHL buoy was showing 1.75 metres of 10sec SSE swell. Wind was offshore and tide was coming into the high at noon.
Swell’s expected to fade away to flatness by the end of the week, so I’d be getting in noe if I could – which I can’t because I broke my arm surfing at the point yesterday. Thanks to Eve and Rowan who took me up to Mona Vale, and thanks to the kind staff there who had me patched up and headed home in about an hour! Now learning to type one handed but I was able to get up into the crows nest for the pics, so yay for that.
Have yourself a great Monday everyone!
