The One History Book You Don’t Want to Miss

They didn’t know it then but when Keith Richards met Mick Jagger at a train station, they were signing up for a lifelong ride that changed rock n’roll forever. The surfing version of this happened between American Dick Metz and John Whitmore, who would go on to become the “Godfather of South African surfing”, thanks, in no small part, to their encounter. 

That great story, and many others, are shared in a biography on Whitmore called The Oom by Miles Masterson. After having enjoyed the book myself over the past some weeks, I can wholeheartedly recommend it to all who have an interest in surf history or simply a fascination with travel in another era.

Below are excerpts from the book detailing Dick Metz’s travels and his meeting with John Whitmore.

“Dick had originally left Laguna on his global adventure with only a loose plan of where he wanted to go and no idea how long it might take, or how he would reach any of the destinations on his list. He had five goals. One was to go to Tahiti. Two was to go to Australia and surf. Three was to go to Africa and see the wild game and indigenous tribes. Four was to go to the Olympic Games in Rome in 1960. Five was to run with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain”.

At this point in his life, Dick had already been surfing for over two decades all around the California coast and in Hawaii. At that time, traveling to beat the crowds wasn’t necessary, there were no crowds. Prefacing his global adventure was a dreadful stint working 12-hour shifts in a liquor store, where Dick passed the time reading travel and adventure magazines. The fruits of his journey influenced the Endless Summer, but long before Bruce Brown’s film gave insatiable wanderlust to the surfing youth of the world, there was the meeting between Dick and John.

“The touring American entered South Africa sound asleep, oblivious to the incredible influence he was about to exert on the country’s isolated surfing scene. He was halfway through a three-year global journey, which started in his hometown of Laguna Beach, California, and had taken him through Central America, the Pacific, Australia, South East Asia and Africa”

On a whim, Metz decided to catch a ride bound for Cape Town and, instead of getting out at Victoria Falls (as planned) and then returning to Europe, he accompanied the driver to his final destination. It was there, at the beach in Sea Point, where Metz met Whitemore. He picked up the board that had washed up on shore. Having been on the road, Metz was disheveled and dirty, Whitmore, always clean -cut and self-assured, eyed him with suspicion as he examined his self-shaped board.

“The traveler had long, thick, dark, knotted hair, slightly streaked with blond, as was his dense, scraggly beard. He noticed John (Whitmore), looked up at him and (after a few exchanges) said in a distinctly American drawl…”This is the ugliest surfboard I have ever seen.” 

“‘What the hell do you know about surfboards?’ John retorted, offended and slightly indignant at the temerity of this scruffy creature, who smelled like he could do with a hot bath.

"‘Well, obviously more than you do if you made it because this thing stinks,’ came out the curt reply.”

What started as a tense exchange turned into laughter and a fast friendship. Of particular interest to the South African, was the American’s knowledge of surfing the board-building industry that was in bloom back in Southern California.

Metz was taken in by Whitmore, who housed him, fed him, introduced him to all of his mates and made him feel at home to the point of having serious deja vu.

“After several months in the African bush he had found himself in an unexpected, yet strangely familiar, place. Here was, among a group of chattering surfers and pretty women. Wine corks popped and glasses clinked beside beachside chacks. By fluke, he had stumbled into a scene almost identical to that of his native California” 

During his stay in Cape Town, Dick regaled John daily with stories about surfing in California, the evolution of surfboards and the rise of his inventive friend, known to all simply as “Hobie”. 

“'Hobie was a super craftsman,' said Dick, 'so talented and so creative. The rest of us were just trying to have fun, trying to get laid, trying to get some waves. But Hobie was serious about inventing stuff, and he made great surfboards."

Click here to order the book on Amazon.