Received a very interesting email from ex AV local Tony Bear.
Won't tell you anymore... just read it.

"Hey Howzit Alex?
Man i love gettin' ya Bluesnapper every week aye. My name is Tony Bear mate, i grew up in Avalon from 1970 to 1980 and now i'm livin' in costa rica, in Playa Hermosa, cool place mate but av was and still is my most favourite beach ever. Av has so many different breaks for such a tiny beach,yet it goes off at 15' to 20' 2 or 3 times a year, so many great memories bra, me and terry cow and pretzel, tony dom on the patma mat were the very first guys to paddle over to L.A and surf it with single fins and no leashes, i think in about 1972-73, before us was an aboririnal guy called flipper who use to body surf it all by himself,and he'd surf like a dolphin,so good this guy,in the day.we use to make big fires and rotate how many guys went out each time, god can you imagine, then you'd come in and thaw out around the fire and we'd fire up a chillem of black afghany putty, then go out again, hehehe those were the real surfin days mate,and the chicks would clamber over the rocks to save ya board from certain destruction, all in the name of love, hehe, really f#$kin' dangerous sometimes when lil av was bombin' all day long.

We'd live for those magic days aye. At L.A .there was a guy called terry two bob,and he'd rip sh*t on his patma mat, like carving under the lip into the pit every time, ripping mate and then midget started comin' out on a george greenough spoon board and catch a few too ,if we let him, hahaha, yeah but he loved lil av too aye.

Then there was butch cooney,who was one of the very best tube riders in the day, oh and sh*t i nearly forgot the steen brother's, john (maggot's), peter and big rob, incredible surfers. And kimbo bradley before he went and lived in bali, and the guy who started aleeda wetsuits was a hardcore lil av surfer too, Greg Curtis,and that was the original l.a. crew right there mate, long before leashes, hahahaha, bunch of pussy's these days, hahaha, so mate just thought you might like and old av story, oh and ted spencer and russel hughes a few times, but the backbone was me, drippy, cowy, pretzel, two bob, domo,g ary bott, maggets,rob and peter steen, greg curtis and then midget a bit later, after watchin' us guys, but i can't remember midg surfin' a board out there. Me and Cowy used to shape boards for the crew,hot,hot single fins,and i use to make concave decks with concave foiled fins,long,long before they did nowa days eh mate,that time was absolutely amazing for surfboard innovations, with all the best shapers workin' in brooky or mona, all legends today aye, mctavish, ted spencer, terry fitz, timmy rodgers, nigel coates, me-tony bear, mitchell ray, glen ritchie, rod hocker - mona boy, ronny wade, midget, jimmy pollard and keyo, like i said mate incredible time to grow up around Av.

Hope you like my yarn Alex, keep up the great work mate, hope you guys start gettin some crackin' swells this summer eh.

Cheers mate ..pura vida ....

tony bear.......

p.s. and i nearly forgot me mate leon wagner, sorry bra. peace...love ...respect...surfin"