A Paipo Interview with Tom Wegener by Bob Green

A Paipo Interview with Tom Wegener
Relearning ancient wisdom
May 1, 2010 - Noosa Heads, Queensland, Australia.
Questions and telephone interview by Bob Green.

Tom enjoying a Noosa righthander lying down.

Photo courtesy Tom Wegener.

1. When and where did you start surfing?

In 1976, when I was 9 or 10 years old at Palos Verdes Cove. Palos Verdes is a little quiet town just out of Los Angeles, but it does have PaddleBoard Cove which was very famous in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, as it was the top surf spot even before Malibu became famous. The Cove has gentle rolling waves and it is the closest thing to Waikiki that California has to offer. So all the surfers would go there in the 1930s and 1940s. Tom Blake was there, Doc Ball was there. That’s where they surfed and that’s where they took those photos of these guys riding planks (the cover of the book, Time of the Terrace Land). That’s what enamoured me with surfing, just the thought, the smile and the energy of these old black and white photos.

You described still being haunted by this photo of people on planks.
To me that was what surfing was all about. That’s what surfing was to me. None of the competitiveness and aggression, just the sliding into a gentle swell. I was really young. Getting into the wave early was really important then, it still is. Before the swell breaks the wave moves faster in the open ocean. You can see a swell drag along the bottom and slow down as it breaks. The earlier you catch the swell, the faster you are going and you are really moving across it when it breaks.

It all comes back to speed.

I love speed. Speed is everything.


Tom with a 5' x 20" paulownia bellyboard made for Bob Green.



Tom tubed at King Isand Photo by Sean Davey



Tom bottom turning at King Island  Photo by Sean Davey.

........ Full article at mypaipoboards