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g.b. shaw : 1st board, muizenberg, 1932

George Bernard Shaw : First Surfboard, Muizenberg, 1932.

George Bernard Shaw:
Surfboard riding at Muizenberg.
South African Travel News, March 1932, page ?

Introduction.

Biographic Overview
Literary Works.

Bathing and Surfboard Riding.
TO REWRITE
These reports provide (a unique personal account of sea bathing in England and) surfboard riding in Muizenberg, South Africa, in the early 20th century.

He arrived at Cape Town, South Africa, on the ??? (and immediately took to sea bathing at Durban), and was introduced to prone surfboard riding, at the age of seventy-five, at Muizenberg.
Also see:
1921 Lord Hamilton : Surfriding at Muizenberg, South Africa.
1922 Agatha Christie : Torquay, Muizenberg, and Waikiki.
Postcards: South Africa, circa 1925, below.

Eric Rosenthal notes:
"Surfboards were used at Muizenberg in 1904.
They were made by H.W. Porter, a local boat builder, from 2.2 cm (1 in.) pine shelving.
The dimensions were 1.5 m (5 ft.) long by 45 cm (18 in.) wide."

- Rosenthal, Eric, Total South Africa (Pty) Limited: Total Book of South African Records Delta Books, 1982, page 141.

Shaw left South Africa in May 1932 ???? for (an extensive tour of Australia and New Zealand before arriving in (Honolulu) on 5th August???.

The Three Degrees of Surfing

G.B.S.'s Initiation

Photograph 1. (not reproduced)
Thanks to his habit of early rising, Mr George Bernard Shaw has the usually crowded
Muizenberg beach to himself for his initiation into the delights of surfing.
[Shaw, back to camera, walks along Muizenberg beach towards the point, Cape Penisular?]

Photograph 2.

Armed with the first surfboard he has handled in his crowded seventy-five years of life, Mr Shaw poses for the photographer.

Board portrait with surf and riders in the background.

Photograph 3. (not reproduced)
A few minutes practice, and he becomes as adept as the the exhilarating sport as many of its younger devotees.
[Shaw and board in the surf with other riders in the background.]

[We are indebted to the Cape Peninsular Publicity Association for the photographs on this page.]

G.B.S. originally intended to stay for only a fortnight in South Africa, but to such an extent did the attractions of the Cape Penisular appeal to him that he delayed his departure for six weeks.
He then motored along the Garden Route to Kenya, where the peaceful seclusion and delightful climate so fascinated him that he decided to stay in South Africa for a further month.

South African Travel News March 1932, page ?
George Bernard Shaw at Muizenberg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:George_Bernard_Shaw_at_Muizenberg_South_African_Travel_News_March_1932.jpg

http://www.britainunlimited.com/Biogs/Shaw.htm
"1932: Made a world tour accompanied by his wife.".

Shaw was certainly active in "exhilarating sport", while in South Africa he ...
"soared into the clouds, for the first time in his life, in actuality, when he saw the beauties of the Cape Penisular from the air."
Photograph caption: Shaw in suit and hat leaves airplane hatch (marked Union ... Air Mail)
Smith's Photo Service
S.A. Travel News February 1932, page
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hilton-t/4456599925/in/set-72157623559976195

Also note
S.A. Travel News February 1932
"Surfing at Muizenberg"
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hilton-t/sets/72157623559976195/detail/

Postcards: South Africa, circa 1925.

Surfing at Muizenberg, circa 1925.
Valentine and Sons Publishing Ltd.
PO Box 1685, Cape Town.
British manufacture.

Hand tinted.
Timber prone boards, Muizenberg, South Africa.

Bathing Enclosure, Durban, circa 1925.
Valentine & Sons Publishing Co. (S.A.)
P.O. Box 1685 Cape Town.

Hand tinted.
Timber prone boards, Durban, South Africa.

One example noted with handwritten message:
"This is where we going surfing on boards during the summer time at our Beach. Note the way the surfboards are put flat on the water & the force of the waves pushes it along until you strike the sandy shore. Love from Vi, 1926."

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Geoff Cater (2011-2014) : George Bernard Shaw : Muizenberg, 1932.
http://www.surfresearch.com.au/1932_GB_Shaw_Muizenberg.html