In the 1960s, a “miracle mile” of surf shops on Pacific Coast Highway and the Jacobs, Bing, Rick, Weber, and Noll surfboards factories were all in Hermosa Beach, establishing the city’s claim as the original “Surf City, USA.” While other beach cities have battled in the courtroom over the title of “Surf City, USA,” Spyder Surf founder Dennis Jarvis knows his city is the real deal. Jarvis will be inducted into the Hermosa Beach Surfer’s Walk of Fame on Saturday.
“Hermosa Beach created the DNA, the nuclei of what we now call the action sports industry. Our city had the same effect on surfing as the Gutenberg’s press on literacy,” Jarvis said.
“Back during the ‘60s, the cities that now deem themselves Surf City, USA had a majority of South Bay surfboards in their line-ups,” he said. “While they had local surfboard manufacturers, they were all influenced by the South Bay board builders.”
Jarvis knowledge of surf history comes from having lived through surfing’s explosive growth. His Spyder surfboards and his two stores have been critical in carrying on Hermosa’s Surf City legacy.
Javis is a self-acknowledged loner who used his humble beginnings to stoke his success.
“I was the the biggest poser and kook when I started surfing,” Jarvis said, laughing.
Jarvis’ introduction to surfing was seeing his dad surf for the first time on a new Rick surfboard at Topanga.
“It was right before my parent’s split up and we were living in Topanga,” he said. “I was there with my brother and sister.”
The waves were two- to three-foot. His father dropped into a wave and wiped out.
“My dad came up with a three inch gash on his forehead,” Jarvis said, “I was only four and it scared the crap scared out of me. I was like ‘Forget surfing, you can cut yourself and there’s sharks.”
After his parent’s split up, Jarvis was shuttled between his mom’s in Long Beach and his dad’s in Hermosa Beach.
“My dad was a wildman. He had all of us kids crammed into his one bedroom apartment across from where Becker’s is now,“ Jarvis said. “He played bass at the Lighthouse and Pier 52. We would be out all night with our Shirley Temples, falling asleep in the big booths.”
Jarvis’ next introduction to wave riding was on a surf matt.
“My brother had a crush on the Sea Sprite Motel owner’s daughter Rebecca Greenwald and I would tag along with him,” he said. “I’d help around the motel in exchange for being allowed to borrow a surf mat.”
When his mother moved to Redondo Beach to be closer to the kids, Jarvis had more time to be at the beach.
“Even though I never ridden a hardboard, in my mind I was a surfer,” he said. “I was buying my surf threads at Zodies.I had no idea.”
His middle school years were a major turning point. While many notable surfers went to Pier Avenue, Jarvis went to Adams Middle School in Redondo Beach.
“Adams Middle School is where the lowriders and gangbangers went,” he said. “I was terrified to start school.”
His new school clothes — flip flops and a green and teal Hawaiian shirt — got him laughed out of first period.
“To top it off, I even put white zinc on my nose. Only it wasn’t white zinc because my mom couldn’t afford it,” he said. “It smelled like cod. When I realized how kooky I looked and tried to wipe it off, it wouldn’t come off and I smelled all day.”
Jarvis was befriended by the real surfers at the school, anyway, including Jim Cressup, Joe Carter, Byron and Dana Dansler. A few weeks later, they invited him to go surfing. Decades later, when he was asked by Hurley Clothing founder Bob Hurley what the pinnacle of his life had been, Jarvis pointed to that moment.
“I bought a $15 garage sale, no name board. And having no surf trunks, I borrowed my dad’s volleyball shorts,” he said. “The problem was that the volley shorts were cut high along the sides of the leg, so to cover myself I wore not what you think I would have worn, like underwear or speedos. I wore a jockstrap.”
Once in the water, Jarvis noticed the line-up laughing at him, including some of the eighth graders. After Jim and Joe started laughing, Jarvis paddled in, only to realize his trunks were see through, revealing his choice of undergarment.
“My buddy’s chased me down and started beating me up, playfully, like a hazing. I had vaseline (wetsuits gave gnarly rashes then) in my hair that I couldn’t get out for weeks and was turned into the ultimate sugar doughnut covered, wind sand,” he said. “ I didn’t cry. Instead,I vowed to myself that I’d become a better surfer then my friends. I was going to smoke them, something I’d accomplish in no time.”
That experienced fueled his outlook for the rest of life.
“I’ve used that experience to influence all aspects of my life,” he said. “At time same time, the ocean has been sanctuary, my escape from my reality.”
To be continued.
