Bob Pike at Dee Why Point
"I am a fanatic for big waves. I just can't resist them and the urge to paddle out and try to ride the biggest waves of all is the most compelling thing in my life, the most moving challenge I know."
The surfer stripped bare, Bob Pike caught in pose at big Dee Why Point. Although he won an international event in Peru in 1962 - becoming the first Australian to win an international event - Pike largely shunned the world of competition. Competition was pitting yourself against the largest waves possible and stripping the act back to it's barest essentials: board, surfer, wave.
Bob Pike, Dee Why Point October 1963. Photo by Ron Perrott.
Comments
You'd never see that 'other' sluggo wearer out in these waves would you? And you'd never see him surfing so elegantly either. Elegant, an unusual word to use for Bob, as he wasn't the most stylish surfer but this photo caught him in a beautiful moment of repose.
Pike fought his inner demons and his life ultimately ended in tragedy but he was a surfer I always admired.
Hi Stu,
You don,t probably know me,Bob and I were great friends,I went overseas with Bob to Hawaii in November 1963, with the stowaways Bob Mc T and David Chidgey, and as I remember went to Lima , Peru in 61 or 62 and he later was married to Midgets sister Jane Farrely, Have you read Bobs book "Stoked"?
Kind Regards Barry Kelly