Hank Cobia, the oldest of the Cobia brothers, going for it at The Cross – Pensacola Beach 50 years ago!
In some ways surfing was better back then. In some ways it’s better now.
The equipment has improved – better board designs, better wetsuits, anything goes as far as what you ride. Nowadays no one cares if you ride a longboard, short board, single fin, 5 fin, Bonzer, etc. Everyone is pretty open minded about surfboard designs.
But there was something special back then. Maybe it was the sheer passion for the sport. Maybe it was the fact there wasn’t much else to do. It seems like everyone just hung out together more. There was no internet, cell phones, video. There wasn’t much surf media, therefore we Pensacolian’s were always on the verge of surf starvation – we couldn’t wait for the east wind to begin to blow! We also had the benefit of Ft. Pickens – the Point and the Bay. If the east wind blew and it was super choppy, it didn’t matter. Just drive to the Point and hopefully catch some long, clean lefts.
Dave Skelton captured this moment in time – from January 1975.