Kneeriding–Alive and Well

Its 7,540 miles from La Jolla to Wollongong. But on Saturday evening, those two surf communities were connected by five decades of kneeboard history.

Rex at the Lounge – photo by Bill Benson

More than 100 super-stoked kneeboarders and friends attended the Kneefest, a Celebration of the History Kneeboarding.  The event, held at Bird’s Surf Shed in San Diego, was a virtual Who’s Who of California kneeboarding including Big Rock legends Rex Huffman, Mark Huffman, Marshall Myrman, and of course the host, Eric “Bird” Huffman.

Still, if not for Aussie kneeboarder and photographer-extraordinaire Steen Barnes, the evening might never have happened.  It was Steen who reached out to Bird nearly a year ago to let him know he’d be visiting and suggesting he could pull together a slide show with some of his best work.  Bird took it from there and the result was an incredible evening that included tacos, beer, music, classic boards, and lots of camaraderie.

Steen Barnes and Rex Huffman

Marshall put it best when he said “Why the f#@k did it take an Australian kneeboarder visiting to get us to all get together?!”

Regardless of how it happened, Bird’s Surf Shed – part surf shop, part surf museum – was the perfect venue.  Credit to Bird and his entire family for stepping up and making this event happen!

KneeFest2018 Inside the Shed – photo Dan Gribi

Barry Snyder GG Spoon with Bird and Steen

The highlights of the evening were two slide shows, one by Marshall and one by Steen, featuring some of the best kneeboarding on the planet.  Never mind that Marshall’s slides were almost entirely shot at Big Rock in the early 1970s and Steen’s were from Wollongong over the past decade – it wasn’t hard to see how one era influenced the other.  The performances by the Big Rock crew and Aussie standouts such as Simon Farrar, Albert Munoz, and Chayne Simpson are what got many of us started and why we still keep at it.  Seeing these images together, it’s clear the sport continues to evolve and thrive.

Goons Keep Out – photo by Marshall Myrman

The Surfers Journal Cover Shot by Steen Barnes

Afterwards, Scott Wessling showed his film Proto Kneelos which utilized old home movie footage of Bob DuBois from the 1965-70 era.  Narrated by Jon Manss, it documents how original Santa Cruz-area kneeboarders like Jack White and Gary Gtelepis along with Bob and Jon evolved the sport from paipos.  It was the perfect chaser.

More than just another gathering, Kneefest was part celebration part history lesson.  On either side of the Pacific, that history will continue to be written each time we paddle out.