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Some of the Narrowneck crew. PIC Kath Durre
Monday, 15 May 2006
Many Oz longboard clubs are heading into their third decade, among them Narrowneck, the crew who surf in the shadows of the highrise jungle at the northern end of the Gold Coast. A harmonious outfit boasting a healthy disdain for the serious side of competition, early April saw them celebrate their 20th anniversary, and Noosa’s Reid Johnson joined in the fun to bring us this report.
The comp kicked off at 7am, with two banks being run simultaneously to cater for the sheer numbers of enthusiastic current and past members. I was first heat in the water and somebody sort of directed me to the south bank. Paddling out the back as the siren sounded I was greeted by Ian “Max” Wecker. “Are we on this bank or the north?” said Max. We both shrug our shoulders. “They’ll figure it out.”
That moment pretty much sums up their whole approach, and on this perfect day as beautifully shaped three footers rolled out of the south it seemed particularly apt. As the heats progressed, the tide dropped out and the waves just kept getting better – as did all the old stories of the halcyon days of the club and legendary trips away to comps at Alex, Byron, Loggerheads and further afield.
The Narrowneck Longboard Club was born in ’86, although many of the guys initially got together during the early ’80s longboard resurgence as members of the Gold Coast Super 8’s. These very enthusiastic and sociable young fellas from the Surfers Paradise area fully embraced their newfound brotherhood of longboarding and quickly established a reputation for enjoying the social side of the sport. (As the only club on the Goldie at the time, the Super 8’s had over 100 members turn up for Wednesday night meetings ie. piss-ups, so imagine the logistical nightmare of Sunday comp days!)
Becoming a little disillusioned with the growing competitiveness of longboarding – besides “there ain’t no waves south of Burleigh” according to Narrowneck stalwart Nigel Johnson – they got a club together up their end of the coast, led by founding President Peter “Deags” Deagan.
And now 20 years on, it seems that once you’ve been part of this club you’re always part of it – you’re always welcome. Among the many notables who attended the anniversary were Louise White from Byron, Brian Hextall from Gympie, Terry O’Grady from Sydney, Dave Dunn from the Sunny Coast, Brett Lee Long (who managed to wake up in time for his heat after another night of debauchery at the Broardie), Bob Henderson (who refused to enter the water wearing a pink rashy – because there were already two out there) and the Aird family (who seemed to have a surfer in every heat).
The night’s dinner was in true Narrowneck tradition, lots of beer and great friends to drink it with. Photos of memorable moments from the past 20 years backed-up the “slightly” embellished stories to round-out a great celebration of two decades of fun and friendship. They’re now planning on having another 20-year anniversary in five years time, I can’t wait.
Big thanks to Bob McNeill and Terry Taylor, also to Narrowneck’s past presidents: Peter Deagon, Roy Durrie, Bernie Dalton, Froggy Wyatt, Grant Davies and Norm Tomlinson (current).
– Radical Reid
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