"Everybody Took Every Wave": Windansea According To Mike Hynson

Surfing legend and "Endless Summer" icon Mike Hynson passed away last week at the age of 82. The free-spirited board builder, hot-dogger, and master of style became a symbol of counter-culture throughout the '50s and '60s.

Hynson's life as a surfer began along the shores of San Diego, California where he eventually became a founding member of the ever-rambunctious Windansea Club. A fixture at the storied La Jolla reef break, Hynson spent much of his time trading waves with the likes of Skip Frye, Butch Van Artsdalen and Joey Cabell.

One of the spot's most notorious exports, Hynson is a main character in the new historical book "Windansea: Life. Death. Resurretion," written by surfer and author Chris Ahrens. In honor of Hynson's recent passing, Ahrens has given SURFER an excerpt from his book that was told to him by Mr. Hynson himself:

"Skip Frye was working at this little market, and he got a car. After that, we started traveling but never went to Windansea much. Skip never hooked up with Windansea, and I do not know why.

About six months into his having a car, we went to a party. I knew he was drunk, but he’d made it before. Well, he didn’t make it this time. He crashed. I felt so guilty that I couldn’t get myself to visit him until he was out of the hospital. Luckily, he didn’t hold a grudge about it. The doctors told him he would never surf again. I said, ‘If you’ve got a bad leg, we’ll make something for it; we’ll figure it out.’ It was painful for him to surf for a while, but he did it. Man, that was cool. During Skip’s absence, I began surfing Windansea, whether anybody wanted me to or not. I stalked that place. When the sun came up, I was there. 

One of the main guys there, Butch Van Artsdalen, and I became good friends. I’d irritate him once in a while, usually when alcohol was involved. And I have to admit I was a brat. But there were times when we were a team out there. He’d go left, and I’d go right. You go there with a friend and have so much fun. Man, we’d show up with the ‘Red Fin’ crew. Barry Kanaiaupuni, Darryl Diamond, Jon Close, David Rullo, Billy Hamilton, everybody took every wave, and we’d just drive them crazy. 

When Barry Kanaiaupuni first came here from Hawaii, we surfed together a lot. He and Skip were influential in the boards I built, and they helped influence how I made my rails. Years later, Herbie Fletcher and I started using down rails. We used to ride them at Backdoor Pipeline before anyone else ever surfed there. Down rails were made for rail turns, not pivot turns."

To find out more about Hynson and the rest of the Windansea gang in Ahrens new book, click here.