Cape Cod
Surfing History

One Man's Timeline
of
Cape Cod Surfing History

Cape Cod Oldtimers
Longboard Classic
1974 - Present

Cape Cod’s surfing history has experienced many waves of transition, including what we surf, how we surf, where we surf and when we surf. So says Cape surfing pioneer Chick Frodigh, who grew up in Albany, N.Y., but summered in Eastham. Frodigh began surfing in 1966 after seeing his first longboarders at Marconi Beach. Impressed with surfers, Frodigh challenged himself with an “I-can-do that” attitude, and at 14 decided himself to become a surfer.
After poring over surf magazines given to him by Surf City shop owner Scoot McKinny, Frodigh bought a board with rubber rails and an aluminum skeg and spent eight hours a day – every day, all summer long – learning how to turn the heavy board in the waves. Marconi Beach was the place to be for his family – along with Newcomb Hollow, which Frodigh said had an unbelievable run of great waves for more than 10 years.
He had many great teachers along the way, as the Cape scene already featured incredible surfers such as Rick Weeks and his brother Gordon, Mike Harris, Jon the Con, the Fiasco Kid, Paul Fleming, David Childs, who was called Five-O because he lived in Hawaii when his dad was in the military. His brother they called 2-5. Frodigh’s favorite mentor was also one of his best friends, Arni Dyson, a notorious practical joker. Dyson would later become the youngest captain in the Texaco Oil Fleet but died of lung cancer far too young at age 39.

There were several surf shops in the early days, including McKinney’s Surf City, which in 1980 became Todd Walker’s Cinnamon Rainbows and is now the Pump House, operated by Matt Rivers. Frodigh fondly recalls Jaspers’ sand floor and acknowledges owner Mike Houghton and operations man Kevin “Foggy” Foley for holding the first contest action in the ’70s. Frodigh said they also held many infamous beach parties complete with bonfires, kegs, and “Willy’s Wipeout” – a libation that really packs a punch, he added. Today, the Old Timers Surf Contest, held annually in late August, is a surfing tradition that every surfer waits for all year – swell or no swell.

Lobsterman Bob Maraghy started Nauset Surf with a rental stand at the Nauset Beach/Barley Neck junction. Carpenter Jesse Kithcart and the late Pat McCarthy, both good surfers from Satellite, Florida, worked at Nauset Surf for Bob when it was at what is now Orleans Pizza. Owner Phil Clark present location off the Orleans rotary offers a the huge selection of paddleboards and surf gear making it a vital surf stop. Frodigh calls the Nauset Surf logo featuring a longboard inside the lettering is the best surf logo he’s seen.

Frodigh also recalls Ken’s Surf Shop owned by Ken Higgins, which existed where the present-day Dunkin Donuts is at the turn for Nauset Light. Later it became Overland Surf Shop, owned by a very hot surfer named Ted Torginson, a New Jersey and California transplant. A photograph also turned up that puts Paul’s East Coast surf shop circa 1964 also at this location.

Frodigh, by chance, became a member of a newly formed surf team sponsored by the Pamet Surf Shop in Truro, which was owned by Paul Boyer. The shop featured the new progressive short boards by Rick and Surfboards Hawaii. Frodigh heard about the team from his brother Peter, who worked with surfer Todd Walker at the Drive-In restaurant.

He nervously tried out in front of Walker, made the team, won his first four competitions and eventually was invited to the East Coast and U.S. Surfing Championships. The team was generously given gas money, hotel rooms and $3 per diem for food by Boyer. Frodigh drove with boards packed high on a VW Bug as they barnstormed up and down the New England coast from Wells Beach, Maine, to Newport, R.I., winning everything. Riders included brother Peter, Todd and Lynn Walker, Drew “Tube” Taylor, Gary Brooke and Robin Fleming. Frodigh still has his team jacket.

Frodigh, who designed boards for 15 years for Marbella Surfboards out of San Diego, recalled a few guys making their own boards on the Cape in the ’70s, but the most well known was “Silence Surfboards” by Steve Trapidlo. Today, the tradition is carried on by Sean Vecchione with his finely crafted “Vec” shapes. Another early local shaper Jim Phillips, whose “Cheeta” boards could be rented at Maurice’s Campground, still shapes and sells on both the East and West coasts and Hawaii.

When it came to surf forecasting, Frodigh had only two resources: a view of the ocean lows shown on the TV weather map and the buoy reports for Boston, George’s Banks and Nantucket, which were key. The problem was the weather guy generally stood in front of the ocean while giving his forecast, and even skipped the buoy reports due to time. But that didn’t stop Frodigh and his crew, who arranged a free, innovative way to get their wave reports (if just a little in the gray area).

They’d make person-to-person collect calls to “Dewey Weber” to an aforementioned shop. Whoever answered would tell the operator “Ah, sorry, Dewey’s not here right now, he’s out back glassing a board, he’ll be back around 4 to 5 (1 to 2, 8 to 10....).” One operator once told Frodigh, “Boy, Dewey must be one popular guy; he sure gets a lot of calls.” Frodigh also listened intently for the Randy surf report on WBCN to get a fix on where to head for surf while living in Boston in the ’70s.

When Todd Walker told Frodigh he was opening a surf shop, Frodigh felt the name Straight Arrow Surf Shop might not work, and instead had the guys write down suggestions and toss them on a table. One was the code name for a secret surf spot on an island off Puerto Rico (I’m not telling) that they’d all surfed before called Little Cinnamon Rainbows. And so it was.

Frodigh recalls surfing the only rocky break on the Cape called “The Point” at Nauset in Orleans into the early ’80s. Surfers needed to register and tag their boards with the town before taking them out on the beach in the ’60s. There were also movie nights in which the latest surf films – such as “Five Summer Stories” – would be shown at local town halls. From time to time, surf pros such as Skip Frye, Rodney Sumpter, Mike Tabling and others would make an appearance.

Once Frodigh watched a guy ripping up small surf at Four Mile (now White Crest Beach) and remarked several times to his friends about the guy. Later, Frodigh was floored when recognized the face of legendary waterman Mike Doyle as he walked up from the beach and said “Hi.” Frodigh is the definitive waterman himself with a wealth of knowledge about the surf conditions and how every local break reacts during the tides and swells direction. Frodigh surfs with his 15-year-old son, Charlie, and I’ve surfed with them both several times. They can definitely rip. Frodigh also hosts his own annual surf contest called the New England Longboard Classic, which he models after the Old Timers’ and is held at Nantasket Beach. At their off-Cape home in Pembroke, he uses a paddleboard in Duxbury Harbor (not in the waves) when not searching out swells from Rhode Island to Maine.

I’ve surfed for more than 25 years but feel like a gromm when around Frodigh, who definitely has earned his Kahuna status. Last Friday, Frodigh was selling a board and by Sunday had purchased a 9-foot Stewart, which he felt would hold some collectible value to surfers from the region. Today’s surfers such as Frodigh have a wealth of information at hand, including morebeach.com and its links to live cams at Coast Guard and Nauset. Other forecasting tools can detail every wave size and pulse as it heads toward the Cape’s coastline days before they get here. But Frodigh, with the family house and cottage just down the street from Marconi, still likes to get a visual.

Frodigh and I met at Marconi last Sunday to discuss his story and the surf. He said he thinks my own stoke for surfing would be a great asset to getting a surfing museum off the ground, but I just wonder who’ll be left running the show while we’re off surfing the collectibles.

I’d love to have my own team jacket.