In the mid-’70s, I began hearing about these kids from Carlsbad: David Barr and Joey Buran. Barr was a fast, vertical regular foot, and Buran was a nuggety, goofy foot with a knack for finding the tube. While still in his teens, Barr was on the rise in the newly formed professional surfing tour.
Barr’s goofy foot counterpart, Buran, was initially more difficult to take seriously, perhaps because of his nickname, “Sand Crab.” Rising about the childhood handle, Buran showed promise in his early teens by finishing high in numerous local competitions. While Joey surfed well in all conditions, it was in the tube where he came alive.
While Carlsbad has limited tube potential, Joey sought shelter in the sandbars to the north and the reefs to the south, mostly in La Jolla. La Jolla, however, was not always welcoming to surfers from out of town, and Buran, mainly because he was a threat to the Windansea power structure, was denied an all-access pass by some of the more vigilant locals.
In true championship form, this shunning did nothing but increase his determination. Joey Buran was on a quest to be the best surfer in the world, with an interim goal of winning the Pipeline Masters in Hawaii.
The Pipe Masters, then the most prestigious surf contest in the world, determined who was the world’s best tube rider. It seemed likely that Australians Tom Carroll or Mark Occhillupo could take it. If not, Hawaiians Gerry Lopez, Rory Russell, Dane Kealoha, Michael or his brother Derrick Ho had a good shot.
No betting man could count out South Africa’s Shaun Tomson. For reasons nobody can explain, no California surfer had ever won the Pipe Masters, and 1984 seemed like history would repeat itself.
Buran, who had placed seventh in the world in the 1983 pro ranks, had a confidence in himself that few shared. His emotionally based power had festered in his heart since childhood, when he proudly proclaimed, “I am going to win the Pipe Masters someday.”
The surf was big and powerful, cracking on Pipe’s second reef when Buran prevailed over the best in the world to be crowned Pipe Master. He had achieved his dream and watched it evaporate.
Joey tells it in his memoir: “I sat on the beach at Pipeline, mulling over an interesting question: What will my life be now? I’d just fulfilled my ultimate dream of winning the Pipeline Masters. In my 23 years no other life dream or goal had ever crossed my mind. Winning Pipe had occupied me for 12 years, driving everything I lived for as a surfer and a man; now, as suddenly as being shot out of a Pipeline cannon barrel, it was behind me.”
Finding the victory shallow led Buran to explore life’s deeper meanings, a journey that led him to marriage, children, faith and becoming a Christian pastor.
The mere 500 words in this column make Buran’s journey seem easy. It was not. But when his unwavering determination combines with his rock-solid faith, mountains move. As well as being an adrenaline-pumping read, this story is inspiring for anyone setting aim for an unlikely dream.
To learn more about Joey Buran’s life, you can order his memoir, “Beyond The Dream.”
