I’m not sure when I first met surfboard shaper Tim Bessell, but he was not yet old enough to drive. His family, who had moved from La Jolla to Temecula, were supportive of the surf dreams of Tim and his older brother, Peter.
I believe it was the Bessells’ mother who drove 15-year-old Tim to Ed Wright’s Sunset Surfboards showroom/factory. I was employed at Sunset to rub out (polish) boards. The boards, which were glassed by “lam master” Gary Stuber, were shaped by their leader, Ed Wright, along with Bill Shrosbree, Pat Flecky and a series of others guest shapers like Rusty Preisendorfer, who would one day become legendary in our sport. This impenetrable wall of talent was cracked by Bessell, who was first employed to shape kneeboards.
Before he had exited his teens, Bessell had been tutored by Wright and others who rank highly among the world’s top board makers. By his 20s, Tim had made a name for himself and was soon in business under the name Bessell Surfboards. This had taken him back to where it all began, his hometown of La Jolla.
In the mid ’70s La Jolla’s centerpiece was Windansea, a hard breaking wave protected by a crew of hard-living locals. Bessell at the time was among the gremmies living there. Also dominant in the young crew were Tim’s friends Brew Briggs, the late Chris O’Rourke, Mark Brolaski, Tad Hodson, Jim Neri, George Taylor and Mark Ruyle.
These guys had been mentored by older surfers like Brud McGowan, Tom Ortner and David Rullo, who, in turn had come of age under the tutelage of the original Mr. Pipeline, Butch Van Artsdalen, and “Endless Summer” star Mike Hynson. As such, the new gremmies grew up quickly, learning to be tough and fearless, both in the water and out.
While the aforementioned became good surfers, it was Briggs, O’Rourke and Brolaski who showed the greatest promise of joining the ranks of pro surfing, something that was then in its infancy.
Sadly, O’Rourke would die of Hodgkin disease before he reached his prime. Briggs wanted nothing to do with being paid to surf. This left Brolaski, who did well in the few pro events he entered before realizing that, as he says, “You might make $200 after spending $500 to get to a contest.”
Mark quickly left that scene to pursue avenues that would lead to a successful biotech business that provided the resources to retire comfortably in Hawaii.
The other surfers mentioned are now among the elders at Windansea. They have continued surfing for fun. Of those, only Bessell and Taylor have made their mark in the surf industry.
All had grown up under a strict code of localism, where anyone not from the area might, at best, find a nasty note on their car. (At worst, the car might actually be flipped over.)
Windansea remains a tough break in for non-locals, but this zero tolerance attitude is no longer in play. While I would not suggest a tourist take the airport billboard slogan “Windansea, your happy place,” seriously, I think you’re safe showing up there if you realize you are allowed entrance only as a guest.
The improvement in attitude can be attributed in great part to the surfers in the photo accompanying this article.
