Phil Jarratt in conversation at Sandon Point
Call it a homecoming of sorts: After publishing his memoirs, Phil Jarratt is returning to where it all began - Wollongong.
On Tuesday 15th August, Phil will be having a Q&A with Stu Nettle at Sandon Point Surf Club discussing Life Of Brine. The audience can expect large digressions as Phil recounts the early days of surfing in the Gong plus stories from the world beyond.
Also on the night, Phil will be showing recently unearthed 1960s surf footage from the northern Illawarra, and Steve Core will be playing classic 70s footage of the Gong's best goofy surfing a secret left down the coast. Hmmm...
The event starts at 6pm. Point Street, Bulli.
Admission is free but bring money for beer and to buy a copy of Phil's book - go on, get it signed!
Comments
E book?
'Twas a good night with a few highlights. One of them was seeing an old G&S single fin that I used to own. Craig Hosking from Culburra drove up with five old boards that originated in the northern Illawarra, one of them was a grey Bob Hansen-shaped pintail - a board I used to own.
Another moment came when I was talking about the boards and a fella up the back put his hand up. It was Ross Longbottom, father to Darren and Dylan. "See those two boards there on the left?" asked Ross pointing to to a G&S twinny and Peter Clarke single fin. "I glassed both off those boards." He then gave us a bit of industry history.
Also, Phil played some mid-60s news footage shot in the Gong with reporter David Hill (who recently retired as head of Fox Sports in America) interviewing a young John Skipp. Amongst other things, Skippy, who was also in the audience, forecast that surfing will soon be in the Olympics! Fifty years later...
Phil is over at Mona Vale tonight with Simon Anderson and Kirk Wilcox presenting.
Any way we could get to see the footage of the Gong? My dad was a Corrimal boy and from that era and I would like to get him a copy? I thought John Skipp had passed away some years ago?
Think some of it is going into a short promo for Phil's book. I'll post it on here when it goes live.
Grab a copy of the book, plenty of talk from the early days at Corrimal: big Darryl Eastlake opening the first surf shop in the area, starting Corrimal Area Boardriders, getting up to no good in the dunes etc.
Also, Skippy only closed down his business last year.
Mona Vale was a very entertaining evening. Kirk, Simon and Phil were all in fine form. Numerous surf media and industry types (mainly of the older variety) were in attendance and it looked like he moved a stack of books. I have my signed copy and it is next on my reading list!
Your name even came up in the Gong Q&A, BB. An article I thought he wrote back in the day, Phil attributed to yourself.
Well Stu I did once represent the Illawarra at the State titles, probably 73 or 74 but I am struggling to think of anything I wrote at that time that might have been confused with Phil's work.
I was asking about some of the nicknames he gifted people such as the wounded gull and I also thought he first called TF the 'sultan of speed' but he thinks it may have been you.
Not me Phil. I have no idea where that one came from.
I am hopeless getting to bookstores these days and they are becoming an endangered species. Is Phil going to put it on iBooks?
You mean a Kindle thing, Memla? Not sure...
You can buy it online and have like the actual book sent to you.
Yeah an actual book would be good for a change. iBook is the Apple version of Kindle.
Thanks for the evening in the Gong Stu.
My folks were some of the Whale beach hippies Phil was speaking of, made me laugh :)