The Family Begins

Patty and Cory at Padres Game

Patty Whitlock – Family Matriarch

There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that the driving force in any family is the mom, the matriarch, the head or ruler of a family. Patty Whitlock leaves no doubt that she is, indeed, the driving force in this family. Divorced for many years, Patty and Rusty have two very distinct roles in the dynamics of the family personality and the family business.

It is this writer’s impression that Patty has been the glue that has held the family together through some difficult times. Not unlike many families, the Whitlock’s have had their difficulties. Trying to build a board shaping business in the late 60’s and early 70’s on Oahu was challenging. Rusty and the kids may have been living in paradise, but Patty was tasked with keeping the whole thing together. While Rusty was surfing, competing and building a board shaping business, Patty was having and raising kids and managing the money. Those are all stories we will explore as we get to know this family. But, first, there was a love story.

 

Surfer Girl Meets Surfer Boy

Her eyes take on a soft, faraway luminescence as the memories move her back through time. Her face is transformed, time and stress slipping away. The beauty and youthfulness of a young girl hums around her as she tells us ‘I was 17 when I first saw him. He was walking out of the ocean after a competition.’ She smiles at the memory and said, ‘I knew at that moment he was mine. We did not talk until later that evening. When we did, we were never apart again. ‘

I don’t know about you, but that story took my breath away. The look in Patty’s eyes told me, without a doubt, the truth of that moment in time, about 45 years ago.

The Story

Those first moments were magical, sparking the beginnings of a family that would span 3 generations in the surf world.  The story will broaden, covering this family’s joys and tragedies, woven through the world of surfing from the days when the brands and competitions we all know today were just forming. Their family story closely linked to the transformation of a simple surfing lifestyle into the high powered, fierce, competitive world of professional surfing, as we know it today. This family was there, at the beginning. This family is there today, even now shaping the way we surf.

A Man Walks Into a Surf Shop....



Over a year ago, I walked into this surf shop down in Carlsbad, CA, not knowing what I was in store for. My name is Cory Patterson and I’ve been surfing my whole life and I’ve been filming and photographing surfing for years. Walking into RW Surf, I was met by Cory, who I learned was the oldest son of Rusty Whitlock. I was given an introduction to the Whitlock’s by BoardWarrior, who I do some filming for.  My friends at BW thought I might enjoy getting some pics and catching some waves with their old friends at RW. It was an amazing day. We went out and shot some pics, went surfing and shared stories.

 


Keith Halterman, Cory Whitlock,
Cory Patterson, Rusty Whitlock
 


Well, mostly I just listened, absorbing story after story of all this surf history, like I was reading a book. On my surfed out drive home, back to LA, I called my friend Keith (BW’s videographer). Stoked about the day, I told him we need to start documenting this shop immediately. We need to get the history recorded before it’s lost. So, over the course of the past year, I have been shooting with the Whitlock’s, while working with BW to develop a great story we are calling 50 Years of Shaping; The Story of a Surf Family.

The stories this family shares, about living and growing up on the North Shore, pro surfing careers, tragedy and rebuilding, injury and unbelievable comebacks, both inspire and amaze. Through it all, never forgetting that Rusty keeps shaping one of the best surfboards out there. He has been innovating and creating boards, with his own hands, since 1963. Not in a big production factory, but in a one man shop. A shop that has surfing in the corrugated tin walls, shavings on the floor and the smell of resin and fresh salt water in the air.

Rusty and Cory working in the shop.

Through a lifetime staying true to the soul of surfing, Rusty is, to this day, one of the nicest most stoked out dudes I have ever come across. The whole family lives for surfing, doing what they can to keep themselves surrounded by surf culture and the ocean, no matter what life throws at them. But never losing the kindness and the ability to be a real human being in and out of the water. You won’t find flash or trendy here. They are just who they are and that is it.

With Hollywood and corporate surfing trying to sell an image of what a surfer should look like and surf like, Rusty and RW Surf live their own truth. Surfing is freedom. A way to express yourself as a person, as an artist and not giving a flying fuck about what the next 30 dudes in the lineup think of you. Remember earlier on I said "They are just who they are and that is it". Cory said in one of the 50 Years interviews….’we live a million dollar lifestyle, without the million dollars.’ That, my friends, is the soul of surfing. Well, at least in our eyes.

Rusty has been shaping boards for 50 years!

 Documentary in Development

The Kickstarter campaign to raise the funds to complete this documentary will be live in late May. Watch for it. You’ll be able to see a short trailer of the documentary that we hope to release by early next year. We’ve said from the beginning that this is story that needs telling, and we are going to tell it!, So, keep your eyes peeled and keep your stoke.  

  

RW Surf Board

Cory Patterson filmed the 2014 Mavericks Invitational for BoardWarrior. This is his account of  the day. See the video at  BoardWarrior.com

 

Mavericks Invitational, keeping his eye on a building WNW swell. With it peaking on January 24th, Mavericks was called, running at 12 ft at 19 sec, and wave faces running between 25 and 30 ft. It was on. Loaded up all my gear and jumped in the car and ran up the coast. I hopped on a boat at 6:00am, on Friday morning, the 24th, taking off out of San Francisco Bay. The boat was running with energy. Rollers so big we had to hook out over 5 miles just to get around them. As we wrapped around Pillar Point around 7:30am there was Mavericks in all its glory, pumping with rocks, great whites and peaks pitching so hard. 24 of the best big wave surfers were called and put on one amazing show.

Lets pause here and tell a little back story for those of you who don’t know about the history of Mavericks. Mavericks is located at Half Moon Bay a half mile out off of Pillar Point. It has the potential of reaching heights of 60 ft. In 1975, Clark was the first person to ever paddle out to Pillar Point and ride Mavericks. The Mavericks Invitational was founded in 1999.

The contest was stacked with some of the best big wave surfers in the world, with names like Greg Long, Peter Mel, Shane Dorian and Grant “Twiggy” Baker. In the end Twiggy dominated the final heat to pull off the win. Mavericks is a one-of-a-kind place and when it’s pumping there’s no place gnarlier than that. To witness that first hand was incredible. Thanks mother nature for an amazing show. See you next year. Mavericks 2014

Cory Patterson

http://www.corypphotography.com/
    

 

Feb6

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