Wilton's Return

Hello. My name is George Hope. I was searching the web for some background on a story and I was trying to remember events from my childhood in Hermosa Beach. Specifically, I was trying to remember the Hawaiian who surfed the biggest wave I had ever seen at Redondo Breakwater. I remember his name as Wilton John Keama, although I wouldn’t trust that. Stuart Lough thought it was Wilton Kune (see: Mr Baxter).

Anyway, I was searching Wilton/Hawaiian/surfer/Redondo and landed on the story by Stuart Lough about the Hawaiians on 4th and Hermosa Ave. 

Actually, they were right across the street from us on 3rd St. I must have been about seven or eight, but I used to hang around over there and run errands for change for the various guys coming through there, usually down to Mickey’s deli for food, etc. I used to also run errands for all the lifeguards (getting them burgers and stuff when they were on duty) which is where I remember Tim Kelly (the guy they made the statue of) and Henry Ford. I remember doing a lot of bottle collecting too. I was an industrious little kid. 

The first time I was ever on a surfboard we kids were playing in the waves down at 3rd St. and Chubby Mitchell came down with his huge board. I remember it as dark green with black stripes. He recognized me from my hanging around all the time and said “Come on, kid. You need to learn how to surf.” He took me out on his board and we caught a few waves, riding tandem. I doubt if it was more than a three foot day. Once I could stand up okay he stood me up on his board, it was like a carrier deck to me, and we took off on a small wave, and then Chubby jumped off and I was able to ride it in. My first wave ever. I still remember it to this day. From that day on, I was rabid about surfing. I remember my boyhood heroes were the Duke and Paul Strauch. We little gremmies used to lie in the hot sand and make pacts about how we would surf until we were old, like Duke Kahanamoku.

The other guys who lived in that house (that I remember) were brothers, Bobby Chang and Mervin Chang. I just remember Mervin as a very scary guy. Once, as a prank, one of the other guys told me to go into a bedroom in the back and ask Mervin if he needed anything at the store, so of course I just barged right in to see him in bed with a woman. He gave me his evil stare and I got out of there while the other guys were having a good laugh. 

I remember seeing that pig cooking, that Stuart talked about. Somebody on that day had made a coconut cake, which I had never had before. I got a slice before I was sent home. Actually, I think that was somebody’s wedding party, but I don’t remember who. I also remember going over there and seeing the wreckage after the other party that was talked about. The place was destroyed, windows busted, bottles and trash everywhere. I don’t remember ever going back there again. Everybody probably bailed after that one. 

Those guys were good people. Once, I thought it would be a good idea to scare my sisters, so I hid under the ironing board and then jumped out when they came by. The iron tipped over and the boiling water poured down my back. Of course, I scared them good and then went screaming out of the house down Hermosa Avenue with my mother chasing after me. A couple of the Hawaiians came out and ran me down and carried me back home. I don’t remember who exactly. It might have been Wilton. Which leads to the Wilton story.

I don’t remember the exact year. It might have been 1963. Anyway, there were monster waves on the breakwater. The only way to get out was to try a pick a gap between the sets and then hustle down the rocks and launch yourself into it. I remember seeing a few guys getting caught short when a wave came and they were still on the rocks. Bad spot. At some point in the day, the biggest set of all came in, and there was Wilton. There was no left or right to it (of course, you only want to go left at the Breakwater anyway ;) ) it was just a giant wave, about 25 or 30 feet and steep, and he came straight down the face of it and then the wave just came over the top of him and down and he disappeared in the whitewater only to emerge from the soup still holding on to his board like Odysseus coming out of the Charybdis. Wilton was famous around there for a while after that. Back then, there was no hotel or restaurant out there on the beach side of the Breakwater, just a big parking lot, and the whole ocean side of the parking lot was lined with people taking pictures. I know that somewhere, a picture of that ride exists.

I also knew the Perkinsons, who Stuart mentioned in his article. In fact, Mrs. Perkinson was my third grade teacher at South School. Funny that years later, after I got out of the army, I was surfing at the Breakwater and saw somebody familiar looking out there and it turned out to be her son. I think his name was Todd or Ted, but I’m not sure. I was a crazy kid and his mother was very kind to me. I always remember her for that. 

After living on 3rd street for a few years we moved to 10th St. and lived right behind Mr. James, who was our landlord. He ran Juicy James which was a hamburger joint by Hermosa Pier. The thing I remember about him is one day I came home and he was sitting on the porch sawing a cast off his arm, oh, and his daughter taught me how to play strip poker, but that’s another story. 

 We used to rent surf mats from Juicy James and go out at Hermosa Pier. We actually stood up and surfed on those things. I remember going to the Biltmore Hotel to swim in their pool and there was a little place in there called Stub’s Pub where kids could go and watch guys with duck tails (did we really call them “Hodads?” ;) ) playing music. Back then, the sound track was Roy Orbison, The Everly Brothers, Del Shannon, Elvis and the Beach Boys and my favorite songs were “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” and “Leah.” 

Dru Harrison was one of the kids hanging around then. The Harrisons lived right behind the Biltmore, if I remember correctly. Later, after I left Hermosa, I heard he became a hell of a surfer. 

I remember the first time I ever saw a short board. Mike Purpus came down on 14th St. carrying one under his arm. We were all like WTF? We watched him trying to catch waves with the thing and all I can remember thinking was that it wouldn’t catch on. Too hard to paddle. At the time, my big sister was babysitting for a surfboard builder who live next door on 10th St. I think his name was Dobson, but I can’t be sure. It seems to me that he was the one who saw me without my own board (no way my mom could afford one) so he gave me this Velzy/Jacobs balsa wood 9 footer. To this day, I have muscles in my shoulders and back that I developed from carrying that thing down to the beach. Wish I still had it. I hear they’re worth money now. 

I also remember Donald Takayama doing the first barrel roll I’d ever seen anybody do down on 8th St. That’s also where Tony Dow, the guy who played the older brother in Leave it to Beaver used to surf. The Wilsons lived on 8th St., Jeff, Linda and Laurie. Nice people. Laurie was my first crush. Hap Jacobs lived right there too. 8th Street used to get some good waves.

Anyway, we left Hermosa in 1965. I remember being crushed because I was due to go to Pier Avenue Jr High the next Fall. My mom got a job down South so I ended up spending my days body-surfing and belly-boarding at 35th and 45th Sts. in Newport Beach and also The Wedge. My favorite surf spot was near Dana Point. I think it was called Mepee’s Point or something like that. Then some genius decided to build a breakwater across it and destroyed a really good surf spot. 

Some three years later my mom got another job and we moved to Gardena. Of course, I was still trying to surf. One day, I was hitchhiking down to Hermosa on Artesia Blvd and got picked up by a guy name Eddie Talbot. He was a great guy. Really one of the best people I’ve ever known in my life. After that, he would regularly pick me up and take me down with him to the Redondo Breakwater to surf. Later on, he went on to work for Greg Noll and then eventually opened ET Surfboards. Eddie was also the gnarliest little fighter you ever saw. Believe me, you didn’t want to mess with Eddie. If he couldn’t kick your ass he’d bite your nuts off. The funny thing is that I still remember his board. He had a Weber Performer with a Road Runner on the bottom of it. Funny what you remember. I think I was envious and wanted a board that nice.

After I got out of the army I tried to return to surfing. I went down to Rick’s Surfboards on PCH and had them build me the teardrop board I’d always wanted but could never afford. Then I got into my VW van and tried to get back into it up and down the coast, at all the spots I remembered. 

It was during this time that I bumped into Perkinson at the Redondo Breakwater. After a summer of being attacked, car windows broken, tires flattened, fighting, etc etc I realized that what had existed before had changed forever and was gone. I remember some punks telling me they owned the Breakwater. What a joke. Eddie had ET Surfboards up and running by this time and was kind enough to take my two boards off my hands. 

Anyway, I ended up going back to Colorado (where I’d served in the army for a while) and took up skiing. And I’m still here in the Rocky Mountains. But now I’m working toward returning to the coast. My sons will be grown soon. And I’ve been too long from the sea. Maybe someday I can find even some nice spot, that nobody knows about, and surf again, in peace. You’ve got to have a dream.

Thanks for the forum. I needed to get this off my chest. If anybody ever comes up with a picture of Wilton on that wave, I’d love a copy.

- George Hope (June 2010)