It was an era that changed the look and feel of the surf culture.
Black, boring wetsuits made way for fluorescent neon. Boardshorts got colorful polka dots. Surfboards, instead of plain white, became vibrant and eye-catching in the waves.
It was along a small stretch of Newport Beach, dubbed “Echo Beach,” where outrageous – sometimes outlandish – styles made waves around the world.
An event on Thursday night, April 4, at Hobie Surf Shop in Dana Point brought together a small crowd for a showing of the surf film “Echo Beach,” highlighting how West Newport and surf brand Quiksilver changed surf culture during the ’80s.
“That was a really fun time in all of our lives and something we’ll never get back again,” said Quiksilver co-founder Bob McKnight, who opened the night talking about that time period.
Echo Beach
Newport Beach was a hub for surfing decades ago, mostly north of the pier at a popular longboarding spot called “Blackies.”
But when the rock jetties were put in at West Newport during the ’60s in an attempt to stop erosion, suddenly the stretch of beach near 54th Street became a new surfing mecca.
It was in 1969, 50 years ago, that a small surf brand created by Alan Green popped up in Australia. McKnight and friend Jeff Hakman asked Green if they could have the U.S. license for the company, a deal solidified by a dare.
“(Hakman) puts this paper doily in his mouth, chews it up and swallows it,” McKnight said in the film.
The duo shortly after were sent one snap, a strop of Velcro and a Quiksilver label.
“Here’s your starter kit, good luck boys,” the accompanying note from Green said.
The co-founders of U.S.-based Quiksilver were in the perfect place to build their start-up brand in the ’70s, first in a small Newport Beach home and later in a small manufacturing area off 17th street.
The brand was still small – with only three employees – when the stretch of Echo Beach started to become popular, McKnight said.
There were a group of cutting-edge surfers who yearned to be different, to stand out — hoping to make a name for themselves by scoring magazine covers.
And the brightly colored Quiksilver designs, which had made their way from Australia, helped land them spreads, and then notoriety, in the surf world.
“We launched a range of prints called Echo Beach – all the boys in Newport adopted them, painted their boards to match,” McKnight said. “We were ground zero as a spawning zone and that helped them go after it in a really big way.”
Thieves turned team riders
The film, released in 2009, brought back memories for a tight-knit group, many of whom showed up at the Hobie Surf Shop.
Laughs were shared over the shenanigans from the good ol’ days — such as how Danny Kwock and Preston Murray stole a box of boardshorts from the factory, only to realize the shorts in the box they grabbed were about 10 sizes too large.
Once McKnight caught wind of who the petty thieves were, he made them come to the shop to work off their debt by sweeping floors and doing other menial tasks.
Then, he sponsored them as team riders. And with their crazy hair, wild styles and partying ways, they helped put Quiksilver on the map.
“It went from black and dark and boring to loud, outrageous,” McKnight said. “I think it all changed in the ’80s and it all came from Newport Beach, So Cal and then the rest of the world.”
But not everyone dug the bold personalities coming out of Newport Beach and the attention they garnered.
“A lot of people outside of Newport hated it. It was totally different, totally unexpected, really outrageous,” McKnight said. “For me, I think it changed the course of the surf industry. It was a little boring in the shops — now everyone can do color, they can be more punk rock, they can have an attitude.”
Now that the surf industry is worth billions, Thursday night was a chance to reflect on a time capsule moment in the industry’s growth.
“We’re all still friends, we still hang out a bit,” McKnight said. “We all have such great memories of that era.”
