Posts by Mike Purpus
Sparky Hudson to be inducted into Hermosa Beach Surfer’s Walk of Fame
Sparky Hudson started surfing in front of his El Porto home when he was 12 on a beautiful 9-foot board his dad made for him. It weighed 58 pounds.
Read MorePipeline : Kyle Beatty
“Kyle is going through a major just-reached-puberty growth spurt with his new Fonzi haircut and winning smile on every wave.” At 5’7” and 135 lbs, 15 year old, Redondo Beach High School freshmen Kyle Beatty looks kind of like Ron Howard somewhere between Opie and Richie Cunningham with his bright red hair and freckles is…
Read MorePipeline: Jesse Hinkle, The International Surfman of Mystery
Post grommethood has made 19-year-old Jesse Hinkle of El Segundo an international surf man of mystery. The reserved regular foot keeps a low key demeanor not suggesting the places he’s been or the places he’s going. When Jesse Hinkle was six years old his mother was in a panic watching a strong riptide pull Jesse…
Read MorePipeline: Mike Purpus on Buttons
“Buttons with his giant sun bleached Rastafarian Afro and a cake cutter comb sticking out the side was always ready to surf and out there putting on a show like no other.” His name is Montgomery Kaluhiokalani but everyone calls him “Buttons”. When he was 5 years old his grandmother said his dark black matted…
Read MoreA Purpus take on Riddle
“When Jay was on, he was almost unbeatable with his soulful cheater five on the nose then huge extended drop knee arching cutback.” In the mid 60’s, Jay Riddle and I were both eager juniors trying our hardest to shake up the surfing world. We both were similar surfers from different areas. Phil Edwards was…
Read MoreAll for the YEWWW: Sean Johnson Profile
For Santa Clarita’s Sean Johnson every surf session is a surf trip Sean Johnson drives over an hour every day from his home by Magic Mountain in Santa Clarita to surf Malibu or Leo Carrillo. He’s a red hot regular footer who’s turning a lot of heads at both breaks. The 5-foot-11, 155 pound, 23-year-old…
Read MorePipeline : Paul Hugoboom Profile
“The [lifeguard] swim test from the Redondo Beach Breakwater to the Hermosa Beach pier was stormy, choppy and freezing cold. The college pool stars didn’t stand a chance.” Paul Hugoboom learned to surf when he was three by standing on his father’s back while his dad bodysurfed at Saphire Street in Redondo Beach “My father…
Read MoreMike Purpus’ Pipeline: Jamie Meistrell Profile
Teaching and competing Captions Jamie Meistrell is sitting in exactly the same spot in my living room as he and his younger brother Tracy sat 14 years ago when I wrote about them ripping for the Redondo High School Surf team. Now, at 29, he’s a 5-foot-11 165 lbs., regular footer with well trimmed, brown…
Read MoreLongboard Slide-sation Tyler Critelli
Wave dancer Tyler Critelli applies his dance training to walking on water Tyler Critelli’s smooth shortboard and progress, old school longboard styles can be traced to his dance background. “Dancing is my thing. I was practically raised in a dance studio. My mother used to own several Beach Cities Dance Studios and now I teach…
Read MoreHB Surfers Walk of Fame inductee Doyle set standard for watermen
Mike Doyle started as my idol and then became my mentor and finally, a good friend. I was a 12 year old gremmie addicted to surfing when Doyle was the worlds best all around surfer. He was winning not only the men’s division titles, but also the tandem events and paddleboard races. On Saturday, Doyle…
Read MoreLocal High School ripper Alidih Sheldon Profile
Sheldon steps up for Sea Hawks The surf was a pumping six- to eight-feet at Knob Hill apartment in Redondo Beach. It wasn’t looking like Redondo, but more like the North Shore’s Off the Wall. Ailidh Shelden dropped in on a six-foot wall at Knob Hill, dug in with her right hand and spanked…
Read MorePezzolo Perseveres: Local Up-and-Comer Ethan Pezzolo
Cut-off wetsuits, bad boards, scary fin cuts can’t stop Ethan Redondo High senior Ethan Pezzolo started surfing when he was eight on a Joe Bark that his mother bought him. “It was skinny gun shape that was almost impossible to learn. The smooth talking salesman convinced my mom it was the perfect beginner board. Then…
Read MorePIPELINE: Chris Stimpfl
Surf future looking up for Chris Stimpfl It’s a picturesque, four-foot, offshore, low tide beautiful afternoon looking more like Waikiki Beach than the Palos Verdes Cove. Ben Fortun and I are stroking out after a few go-behinds on an outside left when this 4-foot blond, goofy-foot, grommet fly’s off the top right in front…
Read MoreLiving the Dreams of the Past: Local teenage Longboard Sensation, Josh Gilberts’ Profile
Living the dreams of the past To make matters worse, an octopus had taken hold of his leash and right leg One day, when Josh Gilberts was just 13, he decided to paddle out with the locals at ElPorto during an 8-foot swell It took him a half hour just to get past the shore…
Read MoreIn celebration of Donald Takayama: Donald and the Hawaiian Invasion
Donald and the Hawaiian invasion It was because of Donald that other big name Hawaiian surfers came to Hermosa Beach In 1950, the first issue of Surfer Magazine hit the stands with a bitchin’ photo of Donald Takayama in full flight, crouching with his front foot extended toward the nose racing through a thick Ala…
Read MoreGentle Ben: Ben Fortun brings the Aloha spirit to his old school longboarding
Ben Fortun, a 19-year-old, 5-foot-9, 180 pound Redondo High grad, looks like an Ala Moana local. His dad looks like one of Buffalo Keaulana’s Makaha surf bro’s. “My father Tony started shoving me into little waves at Redondo’s Saphire Street before I could walk,” Fortun said. “He was such a good windsurfer that…
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