Jack, Diff and the Photo That Never Was -1989

I was lucky enough to travel to Hawaii in the Fall of 1989. My friend Benji had moved over a couple years before and was living right at Pipeline and I was going to stay at his house for a few weeks at the end of October and November. I was fresh out of school and surfing good, or so I thought. At that time the North Shore was still the benchmark for testing your limits. It still is. So with my ticket bought, my terrible surfboards, which I found out later were not made for hawaiian power, and a duffle bag filled with leashes, wax, trunks and a vest, I set off for my first real surf trip abroad. On the plane I sat next to a cool older dude who was reading a playboy and surf mags. We didnt speak for the whole flight. I saw him again on the North Shore a few days later and he remembered me. It turned out he was famous North Shore photographer Bernie Baker...small world.

Haleiwa Bridge

Anyway, I digress... I was met at the airport in Honolulu by Benji and his brother Jason. We loaded up my board box to the roof of Jasons little mustang. The drive out to the North Shore was the greatest thing I ever could have imagined. Pineapple fields, warm muggy weather and then as you clear the ridge of one last hill, the entire North Shore panorama reveals itself to you. Its one of the great feelings a surfer can experience. After all the years of reading surf magazines and hearing the stories, it felt like I was allowed into some secret party or something. Like I was on the inside. It felt awesome.

Benji and I at Jump Rock at Waimea Bay

The drive into Haleiwa was killer. There was Cafe Haleiwa where Dave Parmenter and Curren ate epic banana pancakes. There was the BK shop with Barry Kaniapuni behind the counter!  Pizza Bobs, Rosies Cantina and Matsumotos shave ice too.  These were the places that i had heard about for years from the mags and there they were. Then the Haleiwa bridge. Further down were the breaks Lanis and chuns. Jockos and alligators then the turn...Waimea Bay. We pulled into the parking lot and right away we beelined it to the jump rock. We proceeded to jump and swim in the ocean till the sun set over Kaena Point. I hadnt even surfed yet and I was in love with the place.

 Waimea Bay 1989

Getting to Benjis house, I walked onto his Lanai and there was an un obstructed view of small pipeline right out back. It was amazing. Over the next few days I would get to witness all kinds of surf stars on the rise and some on the way back down. I met all the local friends of Benji, many of whom would later become some of the worlds best surfers. Most of all i got surf really fun beach park and small pipe on the daily. Early mornings were my jam but the wind was always weird. I didnt really care, I was in Hawaii...life was good.

This leads me to an afternoon where during a post surf, we headed over to Benjis neighbors house a few doors down towards the beach park. We get there and I meet a kid a few years younger than me who went to school with Benji. His dad was an old 70's surfer named Jeff and he had a cool mom named Patty. I was learning guitar around that time and so was he. He showed me the chords the Cat Stevens song "Father and Son" and we jammed for a bit. I had something new to practice when I got home so that got me sparked. Years later that kid would become a world famous musician. Anyway, we all got to sitting on the back porch watching the surf when a friend of Jacks dad came over. Right away I knew who it was. It was the legendary Mike Diffenderfer.

Jack Johnson age 15

I grew up in PB and later worked in a shop next to Skip Frye. The guys at the shop educated me on all things surfing and I knew about all the heros on the Windansea Surf club from that famous photo. You know the one? Skip, Hynson, Dora, Edwards...all the legends of the sport including Diff. As a kid I quizzed myself on who all the people were in that picture to see how many names I could name. Anyway he was discussing how he was restoring an old board and wanted to bring it in to show Jeff. As Diff left the yard I ran back down to Benjis house to get my camera. I was excited to snap a picture of Diff and show it to Skip when I returned home.

The mightiest surf club ever

Getting back to the Johnson house I could see Diff showing Jeff a gorgeous Balsa wood gun, around 10' in length with wood strip inlays. When the timing was right I asked Diff if I could get a picture of him holding it so I could show the board to Skip. He was stoked I knew Skip and said how they were good friends. He went on to explain that the board once belonged to Ronald Patterson and was shaped by Pat Curren. Holy shit! A Pat Curren gun... Wow! So I back up to get the photo and Diff is holding the board on the porch. The Kona wind is blowing, the sun is out...its amazing. I get the shot and thank him. As the trip wound down I burned through a few more photos and was excited to take the film to get developed. So I open the back of the camera and there is no film... Nothing. All the great shots of the waves, pros, DIFF! Nothing. To say I was crushed was an understatement.

Mike Diffenderfer

As the years passed, so did Ronald Patterson, Jeff Johnson and Diff. I later heard that Pat Curren went to Hawaii to say his goodbyes to his old friend Diff before he passed away. As I read that, all I could think about was my missed opportunity to capture a legend in a special moment. I've recounted this tale a few times and have come to realize its almost that much better because the story, and what it meant to me, will never fade. Theres a magic in the islands and a continuous string that links all of us to the legends of our sports past. Many are now in their twilight years and those links are fading fast. Make the most of it and dont let a chance meeting with one of the remaining legends pass you by without saying hello.

The Sea Turtle -1976

My dad was a spear-fisherman and would go diving as much as his time would allow. Granted having a family cut into that time, but he would be gone for hours on the weekend. Sometimes diving for as long as 8 hours. He would come back with Yellowtail, Calico Bass, Halibut and Abalone. As a kid, I hated seafood. I wanted a McDonalds burger like all my buddies...I was so dumb. During my time growing up, he would share many stories with me and they became treasures that I now share with my kids since he is not here to tell them himself.

Anyway, One day he comes home from diving one day and we come running out to see what kind of stuff he had caught and we see something moving under a towel. He always had beat to shit cars. They had fish gut stains in the trunk and always smelled like bad feet. So in the trunk of his stinky VW bug is a sea turtle flopping around around. He takes it out of the trunk and puts it on the grass to wash off. We were tripping! No way, we got a turtle! I thought I had the sickest new pet and would be the envy of all my classmates! Neighbors came out, me and my brother were riding the poor creature like a mini horse. That poor creature...

One poor turtle wasnt so lucky

Our euphoria was soon blown up by one simple question. My mom asked "What are you going to do with that turtle?" Duh mom...we had a new pet I thought to myself. How did she not know that. I would name him sparky and take him to school and maybe we could buy a little pool for him so he wouldn't miss the ocean? Ah... the dreams of children are so simple.

But instead of any of those sweet sentiments my dad responded with a "Were eating it for dinner". What did he say... Eat it? Holy shit. My brother and I started crying...well I did anyway. We didnt want this new pet to be cooking in our house. For one, gross...but for two, it wasnt like the fish he brought home, this little guy was taking deep breathes and had big beautiful eyes. It was just felt wrong. We pleaded with our mom, begged our dad and sobbed like little babies for the freedom of the turtle.

Finally, my dad, who was known for his extensive vocabulary of foul language, short fuse and tough demeanor said "Goddammit!! If Sea World isnt here in 30 minutes the turtle is dinner... thats it"! He was so pissed. I believe the words Bullshit and sonofabitch were in there somewhere as well.

La Jolla Cove 1960

I was scared for the turtle so bad. My mom called Sea World and they came out with the nets and wrangled the turtle and put it in the back of their truck. We were so happy but my dad was inconsolable. Years later he told me how you have to shoot a turtle in the flipper instead of the head. If you shoot it in the head, they sink. Some 150lb turtle sinking sucks but if you shoot it in the flipper, you can steer it and swim it up. He said that Sea Turtles have these crazy organs and that the meats all taste different and they have a weird gelatinous texture. Sounds so disgusting to me but if it crawled, swam or flew, my old man was down to eat it.

Baby Sea Turtles on Tavarua. Watching them hatch was amazing!

I have no idea if it was legal but personally I think it sucks. My dad was from a different time though. Those first spear divers from the 40's and 50's were hunters and they shot and ate everything in the sea. To them im sure it was acceptable. Ive since got to surf with Sea Turtles in the water and watch them lay their eggs. One time I was lucky enough to see a nest hatch in Fiji. It was amazing. My love for sea turtles started for sure during my experience with my dads turtle.

Dad with huge yellow tail and shitty VW bug

It ended up at Sea World. We would go to there and check up on him from time to time. Back then, they had these cool entrances that looked like a South Pacific hut. When you went in you crossed a bridge over a small pond filled with sea turtles. These were rescued and rehabed sea turtles. we would stand there and look for our turtle, we knew we found him when we spotted the one with the hole in its flipper. For the first year or so it would still seep out a little blood trail as he swam. Eventually my parents divorced and we stopped visiting the turtle. Im not sure what happened to him but whatever it was, I'm sure it beat the hell out being served for dinner.