"
The title of first-ever-pension-aged-surfer must go to 65-year-old Ray “Salty Dog” Hawthorne, who also blew in from Palmerston North in 1970 to check the surf. Ray came up in his Hillman Minx, looked up Ivan, moved in with Doug, Chocka and Red for a few days, bought a Bob Rasby shape from the fledgling Surfboards Gisborne, and also refused to go home. Apart from a few stints in Aussie, Ray has lived and surfed in Gisborne for nearly 40 years, ten of them in his flat along Moana Road, which he now shares with Anne his new bride of six months. Ray is quite proud of his status as the oldest-Wainui-surfer-still-surfing, but defers to Eddy Rare as probably the oldest Gisborne surfer."
Eddy still a hard man it is wise to defer to.....a stroppy young shortboarder who dropped in on him learned the error of his ways....especially after he did his "what are you gonna do about it?" speech
Ouch!!
