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Narrabeen |
 The Largest Surfing EncyclopediaA-Z: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Advertisement
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Of all Australia's many performance schools, none -- for sheer longevity and range of ripping -- has surpassed the original and best, North Narrabeen Beach. It is possible that more surfers have learned to pull vertical off-the-lips here than at any other surf spot in the world. It is probable that no single group of surfers has even come close to the Narrabeen crew's beer consumption, or their foaming lust for life.
Narrabeen -- part of Sydney's famous northern beaches stretch -- lies at the northern end of a broad three-mile stretch of sand, bounded at its southern end by Collaroy Beach and a massive rock tidal platform known as Long Reef. The coastal geography is typical of Australia's east coast. A short, thick headland to Narrabeen's immediate north gives way to a narrow, tidally affected entry to a small lake and wetland reaching back behind the dune. (Narrabeen is an Australian Aboriginal word for "a place of eels," referring to one of the lake's numerous fishy residents.) Beyond the lake mouth, the beach curves off toward Collaroy, setting up a chain of occasionally excellent beachbreaks. The distinctive North Narrabeen left wall is formed by a regular sandflow out of the lake mouth, which stacks a big triangle sandbar about 200 yards offshore, tapering off to the south. The sandbar's form can be unpredictable, relying on the lake's outflow, tide and swell to maintain itself. But when a strong north-angled swell -- intensified by a submarine canyon just offshore -- hits, the left becomes a long, roping barrel with a super juicy bowling end section. A quarter-mile south of the lake mouth and 500 yards offshore, a deep "bombora" reef draws more south-angled swells onto a shallow bar, forming fierce, very hollow and powerful right tubes (and a lot of closeouts). This wave is known as Carpark Rights, since it grinds off right in front of Narrabeen's beach parking lot. A south swell will often create a fun little rip bowl right running off the main sandbar back in toward the lake mouth, where a persistent rip forms whether or not the lake mouth is open. This rip -- quickest way outside on bigger days -- is called the Alley, and the wave is called Alley Rights. Narrabeen's surf history goes back as long as any beach in Australia. People were swimming and vacationing here in the 1860s; a volunteer surf rescue club was formed 40 years later at the beginning of the 20th century. Big "toothpick" hollow boards were being made at Collaroy as early as 1919, and plenty of surf club members were riding waves on the massive, scary craft off Narrabeen in the '30s and '40s. Through the same period, the area experienced something of a population boom as less wealthy Sydneysiders looked for outlying regions where they could afford housing. Narrabeen was perfectly poised to become a surfing mecca, and after the arrival of the Malibu board in 1956, it began producing the finest riders in Australia -- beginning with Bob Pike, giving Nat Young (a Collaroy boy) a training ground and finally showing its full form with the unbeatable '70s crew of Simon Anderson, Terry Fitzgerald, Col Smith, Ron Ford, Grant Oliver and many other surfers who made names locally and internationally. Narrabeen's powerful, steep hotdog waves were perfect for the kind of ultra-creative surfing practiced by this crew; many features of what we now consider to be modern high-performance surfing got their first real workouts here, particularly the vertical elements both frontside and backside. Equally ferocious was their defense of the break. Localism at Narrabeen has taken many forms, including the notorious enforcer Maurie "Pig of Steel" Fleming's habit of teeing off golf balls from the dune straight into a crowded lineup. On a different scale was the Grommet Pole, a light pole in the middle of the parking lot, where cheeky young surfers would be tied and left overnight, or subjected to horrid rituals. Perhaps the only safe time to surf Narrabeen was on Sunday afternoons, when the crew would tap a keg of beer behind the surf club and forget about surfing for a few brief hours. Narrabeen in the '80s was a hotbed for champion kneeboarders, including two-time world champion Michael Novakov and the incomparable Simon Farrar, who patrols the beach in summer as a top city lifeguard. The Narrabeen crew had enormous influence on many of Australia's next generation of greats, including Tom Carroll, Damien Hardman, Barton Lynch, Pam Burridge and Mark Occhilupo. The beach still produces highly successful young pro surfers such as Nathan Webster, Mark Bannister, Joel Fitzgerald and Nathan Hedge being recent examples. -- Nick Carroll, November 2000
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