A few years after returning from Vietnam, an Australian war vet’ reflects on his time stationed at China Beach. While most soldiers are on R&R and content to get drunk and stoned, attention quickly turns to the waves when a solid swell pushes through.
Tracks cover of the October, 1973 issue. Ironically it features Wayne Lynch who famously went AWOL when he was called up to fight in Vietnam.
On surfless days, which. was often, they water-skied or sunbaked. Then, when strong winds’ or typhoons created a swell in the South China Sea, they would surf in the lukewarm water. They had perhaps twenty surfboards between them — most were American boards, some were Australian. At night they could drink beer or smoke potent Vietnamese grass (or both), and sit on the beach beneath the stars, listening to the waves nearby and the sounds of war in the distance.
The surfers were members of the “China Beach Surf Club” – the location was near Da Nang, South Vietnam. These surfers, aged mostly eighteen or nineteen, were in fact military lifeguards, members of the half-million strong military force theAmerican Government had sent to Vietnam. Because their unit was stationed at China Beach, these soldiers and sailors were given jobs as lifeguards. Their main purpose was to prevent combat soldiers, given-three days respite from the affairs of men at war, from drowning themselves at the beach.
It was quite a scene. GIs from various units in the war zone: marines, soldiers, sailors, sitting in the white, hot sun, drinking cans of Schlitz or Budweiser beer, the pages of well-read “Playboy” magazines flapping in the breeze. One of the tasks of’ the lifeguards, who even had a surf shack right on the beach in the best Malibu tradition, was to clean up the beach each evening. They would always find many articles of clothing and sometimes helmets and rifles, lost or left in the sand. A lot of the troops Visiting China Beach were very drunk or very stoned or both.
“I started to run, and seconds later stood before six foot tubes, blown hollow by an offshore wind.”
The first time I saw really good surf at China Beach was in July 1968, just after a tropical storm. Walking towards the beach, I expected the usual flat, placid sea. It was like walking towards Manly Beach the feathering tops of waves could just be seen in the distance. I started to run, and seconds later stood before six- foot tubes, blown hollow by an offshore wind. I ran to the surf shack on the beach, and asked to borrow a board, something ‘a visiting Australian was welcome to do. But no, it was impossible, this day of really good surf, because the Lieutenant had ordered this section of the beach closed. He thought the waves were too dangerous for the soldiers. No board at the shack to be used by anyone, no lifeguards allowed in the water either. A desperate situation when wanting to surf…
STARRING: JOEL PARKINSON, MICK FANNING AND DEAN MORRISON
This is the last time the original cooly kids were captured together and features some of their best surfing.
Their rivalry helped push each of them onto the world stage but their friendship endured. This is the last time the original cooly kids were captured together and features some of their best surfing.
A film by Shaggadelic Productions
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STARRING: DAVID RASTOVICH, OZZIE WRIGHT, CRAIG ANDERSON, RY CRAIKE, DEAN MORRISON & MORE
Seven free surfers embark on a voyage to boldly go where no man had gone before.
Seven free surfers embarked on a voyage to boldly go where no man had gone before.
Not that long ago, in an island chain far, far away, seven free surfers embarked on a voyage to boldly go where no man had gone before. Equipped with an array of surfboards, a packet of crayons and two ukuleles, their chances of success were slim. In pursuit of perfection, they were forced to navigate under the radar of a fleet of imperial boat charters. Despite numerous obstacles, the rebel alliance of wave-riding beatniks continued to make Galactik Tracks into a new surfing cosmos; their search for a Nirvana reaching its climax when they arrived at… The Island of Nowhere.
A film by Tom Jennings
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The film features the enigmatic and free-thinking Dave Rastovich at home on the Far North Coast of NSW.
Gathering is a short film from independent filmmaker Nathan Oldfield, the creator of the award-winning left of centre surf films Lines From a Poem, Seaworthy and The Heart & The Sea. The film features the enigmatic and free-thinking Dave Rastovich at home in the sacred playgrounds of the Far North Coast of New South Wales. The film explores Rastovich’s ideas around how the tension between the industrial and the natural in the surfing world unfolds in that place. Ultimately, Gathering celebrates how diversity and difference in ecosystems, relationships and surfing contribute to the preciousness of life. Gathering is easy on the eyes and ears and Tracks Magazine is proud to present it to you. Nathan Oldfield is a maverick, a filmmaker who wants a surf movie to say something important, to move us and make us grateful for the sea around us and the life within us. His films are quiet, beautiful and brimming with sacred purpose. Tim Winton, Acclaimed Australian Novelist
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In this quintessentially Australian film, the two friends ride waves with the nation’s best surfers.
From dreamy, north coast points to nights beneath starlit desert skies follow Luke Hynd and Mikey Wright as they embark on a surfing odyssey. In this quintessentially Australian film, the two friends ride waves with the nation’s best surfers, down beers with cantankerous locals and visit some of the more innocuous nooks of the continent’s rugged fringes. Wanderlust lets you rediscover the country and the coastline you love. Be careful, you might even be inspired to toss it all in and embark on your own journey around The Great Southern Land.
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