Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Da Bull Live Over the Edge by Gregg Noll Da Bull: Live Over the Edge by Gregg Noll. Pioneer big-wave surfer, , was called Da Bull by his fellow surfers for his stubborn, straightforward and aggressive approach to the sport. His approach to life in general wasn’t much different. His life revolved around and everything the sport engendered. He made and surf films. He pioneered modern surfing in Australia. He discovered Mazatlan as a surf spot. He as the first to ride the fear-some waves at and Outside Pipeline on ’s North Shore. He brawled and caroused with men, charmed and entertained women.Above all, he was Da Bull, one of the bravest and best of the big wave riders of his or anyone’s era. Part of Greg Noll’s motivation for riding big surf came from the camaraderie he enjoyed with his elite and rowdy peers. The other part came from with: "I just wanted to ride a bigger wave than anybody. I wanted to do something none of the other guys could or would do." One day in December 1969, he did just that when a storm from the Aleutians drove monstrous swells onto the shores of Oahu and created a day like no other at Makaha Point. There, Greg Noll met the wave that had beckoned but eluded him for twenty years. State Senator and former World Surfing Champion, Fred Hemmings, was out in the water at Makaha that same day. Afterward, he described Greg Noll’s experience as "a death-wish wave. If it had been anyone else in that situation, he would have died." One day Greg Noll gave up his reputation, his business and his lifestyle and disappeared into the Alaskan wilderness. He later reappeared in Northern as skipper of a sixty-five foot steel hulled commercial fishing vessel. In his mind, he never "quit" surfing: "Surfing is a feeling that never leaves you. I’m still part of the ocean. I just turned my attention to other challenges." Noll challenges anyone who wants to know what the life of a big wave surfer is really like to "get a board and paddle out there, point your board down the face of a grinder and make a commitment. That’s where you find the truth." [From the jacket cover - Da Bull-Life Over the Edge] Greg still lives in Northern California, but travels all over the world. He’s making boards again. really beautiful replicas and originals. There’s no comparison. Greg Noll. Greg Noll (born February 11, 1937), nicknamed "Da Bull" by Phil Edwards in reference to his physique and way of "charging" down the face of a wave, [1] is an American pioneer of [2] and is also acknowledged as a prominent longboard shaper. [3] Noll was a member of a US lifeguard team that introduced malibu boards to Australia around the time of the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games. [2] Noll also produced a "legendary" [4] series of 5 [5] Search for Surf movies. Contents. Early life. Noll was born in , California. At the age of 3, Noll moved with his family to Manhattan Beach, California. Noll began surfing age 11 [1] in the South Bay, Los Angeles, he was a member of Manhattan Beach Surf Club where he learned board shaping from . Noll was a member of the Los Angeles County Lifeguards and competed in paddleboarding. [2] Noll developed his big wave surfing in Palos Verdes at breaks like Lunada Bay. He moved to Hawaii in 1954, where he finished high school, and lived and surfed at Mākaha, Hawaii. [1] Big waves. Noll became known for his exploits in large Hawaiian surf on the North Shore of Oahu. He first gained a reputation in November 1957 after surfing Waimea Bay [6] in 25–30 ft surf when it had previously been thought impossible even to the local Hawaiians. He is perhaps best known for being the first surfer to ride a wave breaking on the outside reef at the so-called Banzai Pipeline in November 1964. The wave I caught at Outside Pipeline that day walled up twenty-five-feet high about half a mile in front of me. It broke to the left, so I was riding with my back to the wave, goofyfoot, and it was a god-awful uneasy feeling. Instead of getting smaller as I rode it, the sonofabitch grew on me. It got bigger and bigger, and I started going faster and faster, until I was absolutely locked into it. I felt like I was on a spaceship racing into a void. At first, I could hear my board chattering across the face of the wave in a constant rhythm. As my speed increased, the chattering noise became less frequent. Suddenly there was no noise. For about fifteen or twenty feet, I was airborne. Then I literally was blown off my board. It was later at Makaha, in December 1969, that he rode what many at the time believed to be the largest wave ever surfed. After that wave and the ensuing wipeout during the course of that spectacular ride down the face of a massive dark wall of water, his surfing tapered off and he closed his Hermosa Beach shop in the early 1970s. He and other surfers such as Pat Curren, Mike Stang, Buzzy Trent, George Downing, Mickey Munoz, Wally Froyseth, Fred Van Dyke and Peter Cole are viewed as the most daring surfers of their generation. Noll is readily identified in film footage while surfing by his now iconic black and white horizontally striped "jailhouse" boardshorts. The surfing exploits of Noll and other big wave legends were chronicled in the documentary Riding Giants . Noll (with and Jeff Clark) also provides his entertaining perspective on Hawaiian big wave surfing that is indexed as a commentary track found in the Riding Giants DVD. Board shaping. Having shaped surfboards since his youth, and having founded his own business in the 1950s which reached a high level of commercial success; [5] Noll changed to two decades of commercial fishing, [1] the resurgence of longboards brought Noll back to resume shaping and organize events. [2] Today Noll lives in Hiouchi, California with his wife and shapes re-creations of some of the historic boards from the sport of surfing. Some of these are: Olos and Alaias, a replica of a Duke Kahanamoku board, Malibu Chips, Guns, Da Cats, Pacific System Homes and others. Da Bull: Live Over the Edge by Gregg Noll. Written by Greg Noll and Andrea Gabbard. From learning to surf at age 11 in Manhattan Beach, to "The Biggest Wave Ever Ridden", to major board production, to now. Read about it straight from "Da Bull's" mouth as well as the mouths of other "legends" such as Velzy, Dora, and more. Greg Noll/The Art of the Surfboard, by Drew Kampion. Beautifully written and illustrated, this book ". zeros in on Greg Noll and the art of surfboard craftsmanship, and does so with savvy and good humor." ---Honolulu Star Bulletin, 3/07. Da Bull: Life Over the Edge. Pioneer big-wave surfer, Greg Noll, was called Da Bull by his fellow surfers for his stubborn, straightforward, and aggressive approach to the sport. His approach to life, in general, wasn't much different. His life revolved around surfing and everything the sport engendered. He made surfboards and surf films. He pioneered modern surfing in Australia. He discovered Mazatlan as a surf spot. He was the first to ride the fear-some waves at Waimea Bay and Outside Pipeline on Oahu's North Shore. He brawled and caroused with men, charmed and entertained women. Above all, he was Da Bull, one of the bravest and best of the big wave riders of his or anyone's era. Part of Greg Noll's motivation for riding big surf came from the camaraderie he enjoyed with his elite and rowdy peers. The other part came from with: "I just wanted to ride a bigger wave than anybody. I wanted to do something none of the other guys could or would do." One day in December 1969, he did just that when a storm from the Aleutians drove monstrous swells onto the shores of Oahu and created a day like no other at Makaha Point. There, Greg Noll met the wave that had beckoned but eluded him for twenty years. Hawaii State Senator and former world surfing champion Fred Hemmings was out in the water at Makaha that same day. Afterward, he described Greg Noll's experience as "a death-wish wave. If it had been anyone else in that situation, he would have died." Book Details. Author: Greg Noll and Andrea Gabbard Paperback: 195 pages Publisher: North Atlantic Books; 2nd edition (February 1, 1989) Language: English ISBN-10: 1556431430 ISBN-13: 978-1556431432 Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 7 x 0.6 inches. South Bay History. The Daily Breeze's Sam Gnerre looks at the way we were in the South Bay. Greg Noll’s legendary surfing exploits began in the South Bay. Ten athletes, coaches and a broadcaster were inducted into San Pedro’s Sportswalk To The Waterfront in 2009. Inductee and former big wave surfer Greg Noll has a laugh at the start of the event. (Daily Breeze staff photo by Scott Varley) When Greg Noll, then 66, spoke at his induction into the inaugural class of Hermosa Beach’s Surfers Walk of Fame in 2003, he observed how strange it was to be honored for spending his life doing what he loved. Modesty aside, few deserved the honors as much as Noll, who was not only a pioneering big wave surfer, but a legendary board shaper, a filmmaker, a commercial fisherman and a successful businessmen and entrepreneur who became one of the sport’s most respected figures. Charter members of the Hermosa Beach Surfers Walk of Fame, from left, Hap Jacobs and Greg Noll, center, join Pioneer member Leroy Grannis, right, during the dedication ceremony at the Hermosa Beach Pier in 2003. (Daily Breeze staff file photo by Scott Varley) Nicknamed “Da Bull” for his muscular 6-foot-2 frame and aggressive surfing style, Noll was born on Feb. 11, 1937, in San Diego. His parents divorced when he was 6, and Noll moved to Manhattan Beach with his mother. The young Noll loved the beach, and found a job cutting bait for fishermen at the . He gravitated toward the Manhattan Beach Surf Club, a group of surfers that included surfing pioneer Dale Velzy. The surfers had a small clubhouse that the city allowed them to use located underneath the pier. Noll used to drive Velzy crazy by hanging around the clubhouse watching boards being shaped, picking up tools and trying to figure out how it was done. He would also watch Velzy, Jack Wise, Larry Felker, future Body Glove founders Bill and Bob Meistrell, and other surf club members catching waves by the pier. Seeing their exploits inspired him to buy his first surfboard, made of solid redwood, for $15 at age 11. In his autobiography, “Da Bull: Life Over the Edge,” Noll writes about his struggle to get the board, which weighed at least as much as he did as an 11-year-old, down the steps at the pier and into the ocean, a process that could take 45 minutes. Riding it also was a challenge; Noll claims to have spent most of his first summer mastering the art of riding the huge board. He also served an informal apprenticeship in board shaping under Velzy, who eventually opened the first retail surfboard shop in the world in Manhattan Beach in 1950. Greg Noll, wearing his trademark black and white striped shorts, eyes massive waves at Waimea Bay in 1957 in this iconic surfing image. (Photo by John Severson) By his junior year at Mira Costa High School, Noll was hopelessly hooked on the surfing life. He had a friendly rivalry with a group of Hermosa Beach surfers, who told him about the North Shore of Hawaii. Noll somehow convinced his mom that one of the older Hermosa surfers, Billy Meng, could act as his guardian if he moved to Makaha in Hawaii, where he promised to finish his senior year of high school. He managed to do that at nearby Waipahu High, but he spent most of the time exploring the fantastic waves at various spots along the North Shore. Hawaii’s big waves captivated him, as they did the generations of surfers who followed in his footsteps to Makaha, Waimea Bay, Pipeline and other legendary island surfing spots. Torrance Herald, Sports front page, June 28, 1962. (Photo: Torrance Historical Archives database, Torrance Public Library) In 1956, Noll was a member of an American surf paddling team invited to participate in a contest being held during the Melbourne Summer Olympics. By then, he had graduated to shorter, lighter balsa wood boards, which his team introduced to the Australians, who had never seen them. The modern boards helped turn the country on to surfing, and it eventually became one of the sport’s most important locations. While in Australia, Noll also began his career as a surf documentary filmmaker, shooting footage of his friends catching waves. (In a future post, we’ll explore the pre-“Endless Summer” surf film phenomenon.) He married his wife, Beverly, whom he had met while at Mira Costa, after returning from Melbourne. He credits her with inspiring him to open a surfboard business. He was working as a Manhattan Beach lifeguard, and spending his off hours shaping new boards in his garage. Greg Noll Surfboards on PCH in Hermosa Beach during the 1960s. (Photo by LeRoy Grannis) After opening small stores first in Manhattan, and then in Hermosa, Noll went all in and built a 20,000-square-foot surfboard factory and storefront at 1502 Pacific Coast Highway in Hermosa Beach in October 1965. Greg Noll Surfboards thrived at the location for six years, until Noll closed up shop in 1971. One of his workers at the shop was a young surfer named Eddie Talbot, who credits Noll for giving him the knowledge and experience to open his own surf shop in 1972. E.T. Surfboards went on to become one of the most successful surf shops in California, and is still going strong at 904 Aviation Boulevard in Hermosa. In 1964, Noll did another kind of film work as the stunt man doing the actual surfing at Waimea Bay for actor James Mitchum’s character Eskimo in the Hollywood film “Ride the Wild Surf.” But the surfing exploit that truly made him a legend occurred on Dec. 4, 1969. The 32-year-old Noll had now been riding big waves in Hawaii, especially at Waimea, for more than a dozen years when he woke up one morning to hear what later would be described as “The Swell of the Century” hitting the North Shore. Undated photo of Greg Noll, circa 1960s. (File photo) He watched as giant breakers pounded the shore, and knew he had to head to Makaha Beach. He noticed some surfers in the roiling waters, but none outside where the waves were the biggest. “I just figured I had an edge, since all my surfing had been devoted to big waves,” he wrote in his autobiography. The wave he paddled out and caught has since passed into legend. He described it as 10 feet higher than any wave he’d ever ridden, perhaps as high as 40 feet. To this day, most surf historians agree it was the largest wave ever caught by a surfer paddling out on his own power. (Big-wave surfers at Mavericks and other spots have caught plenty of large waves since, but are usually dropped in by helicopter or towed to the waves on jet skis.) So why not check the footage and/or photos of this incredible ride to verify it? Because none exists. No photos or video of the ride have ever surfaced. In a curious subplot, South African surfer was watching from shore that day, and shooting movie film of the incredible conditions with his Super 8 movie camera. He may or may not have captured Noll’s legendary ride on film. If he did, he’s not talking. Filmmaker Stacy Peralta approached Tomson while making his 2004 documentary, “Riding Giants.” Tomson shared his reels of film from that day with Peralta, the footage leading right up to Noll’s ride before the film went blank. “I think it’s better that myths are shrouded in secrecy and the unknown,” Tomson told the Steve Hawk of the L.A. Times in 2004. “That’s what myths are all about.” (Note: Noll’s name is misspelled in video title. The video is an excerpt from Stacy Peralta’s 2004 big-wave documentary, “Riding Giants.”) However big the wave might have been, it secured Noll’s place forever in surfing history. And he almost didn’t make it back to shore in the wave’s violent aftermath. The experience seemed to cure Noll’s fever for riding big waves, and may have led to his decision to close his Hermosa Beach shop and move to Northern California, where he became a commercial fisherman in Crescent City. He also has continued to shape boards over the years, producing a line of high-end replicas of historic wooden surfboards. Now 79, he has been inducted into surfing halls of fame not only in Hermosa in 2003, but also in Huntington Beach, and has a marker on San Pedro’s Sportswalk to the Waterfront. He still lives in Crescent City. He told Daily Breeze reporter Phil Collin in 2009, “It’s a neat thing to look back on it and say I had a good life. I owe it all back to the ocean.” Sources: “Da Bull: Life Over the Edge,” by Greg Noll and Andrera Gabbard, North Atlantic Books, 1989. Daily Breeze files. “Greg Noll: ‘Da Bull,'” from the Legendary Surfers: A Definitive History of Surfing’s Culture and Heroes website, by Malcolm Gault-Williams. This site is a must for anyone interested in surfing history.