Brewers, Bertlemanns, McCoy’s… Oh my!

June Gloom be damned, the sun is shining bright in Dana Point this Saturday, and the crowd is out in full force for the 20th iteration of the Cosmic Creek event at Salt Creek, this year’s hosted by Vissla and featuring 50 singe and twin fins hand-picked from Paul Naude and the brand’s deep archive of vintage equipment. 

With a festival vibe setup at the southern end of Salt Creek’s gorg white sand stretch, Vissla’s rolled out all the stops for the event, Bear Flag Coffee, Mark Cunningham and Da Fin, and a busload of vintage equipment all hiding out from the shade in structures built from 4’x8″ panels of Thomas Campbell’s immediately identifiable sprays, as six-man heats of groms have at the waist-high wedges bouncing off the southern rockpile on Dick Brewers, McCoys, Sunsets, Larry Bertlemann Town & Countries, Terry Martin Hobies, Russells (Brotherhood Russell, not Rory Russell), etc…

There’s still plenty of time to get down to the beach for the day’s festivities (shaping demonstrations by Danny Hess, Nick Melanson, Travis Reynolds, and Donald Brink; natural indigo, turmeric, and beet dying sessions; live music on the sand during the day, and performances by TOPS and Night Beats up in the park above the beach at 6pm), but before we slipped on our singlet for the 24-35 division, we grabbed a few of the gremmies to pick out their favorite sticks from the Vissla collection.  

Simon Hetrick and his trusty 6’4 Willis Brothers.

Photography

Sam Moody

“It looks crusty, but she’s the one,” says Simon Hetrick of this 6’4″ Willis Brother single fin. “I rode this one both years I’ve surfed in the Cosmic Creek. The first year, I won, and the second year, I didn’t get this board in the final and the kid that got it, he won [laughs]. Everyone looks right past her, but she’s the one. I’m sticking with her.”

Photography

Sam Moody.

“I’ve got my secret boards stashed back in the corner, but this one should be fun,” says Gunner Day of the twin-single mutant ’70s Sunset.

Photography

Sam Moody.

Gunner Day

Photography

Sam Moody.

“This thing looks absolutely sick,” says local standout Nick Melanson of this mid-’70s Sunshine single fin.

Photography

Sam Moody.

“The outline is insane, the rails don’t look horrible, the tail’s nice and thin.”

Photography

Sam Moody.

“I’ve come down like five years in a row, just to check it out, and lucked into spots in the contest,” says Salt Creek and San-O rat River Covey. “This thing looks like it’ll go!”

Photography

Sam Moody.

“Oh, the Bertlemann, for sure!” says Cliff Kopono. “One of my all time favorites, no question. Him and Dane K., man!”

Photography

Sam Moody.

Cliff Kopono and a late-’70s 5’10 Town & Country Larry Bertlemann twinny.

Photography

Sam Moody.