FRESH TRACKS
In the context of the relatively staid 1960s surf scene, George Greenough was perceived as an eccentric loner, a quirky mad-scientist type who rode waves on his knees and had a penchant for invention, like the go-cart he built then raced around the Montecito hinterlands at upwards of 120 miles per hour.

It is ironic that the guy who had the greatest influence on surfing in the 1960s–who pioneered in-the-tube water photography, created the modern surfboard fin, inspired the shortboard revolution, and broke new ground in surf cinematography–hasn't stood on a surfboard since 1961.

Descendent of the great American sculptor Horatio Greenough (1805-52), nephew to the great soprano Beverly Sills, son of the heir to a railroad fortune, George was born in Santa Barbara and survived open heart surgery as a boy to be raised in a Montecito mansion. He says he's only worn shoes three times in his adult life, and since George doesn't tend to exaggeration, that's probably exactly right.

By the late '60s, short boards had swept away old logs, and George was already a surf-culture legend, cruising the coast in his California Highway Patrol black-and-white Dodge 440 or the Channel Islands in his modified 16-foot Boston Whaler (the foam and fiberglass shell was made from old surfboards and gave the boat rollover capability), checking his lobster traps or shark fishing on the way to his secret surf spots.

For over three decades, Greenough's life was an "endless winter" as he alternated residences between his family home (with its copious workshop areas) and the Byron Bay area. Either way, he enjoyed the relatively uncrowded and powerful winter swells. His vehicle of choice, more often than not, was a canvas air mattress on which he was faster than anyone on a surfboard. His surfing made him a legend down under, too.

After his first experiments with water-housings and still photography yielded tremendous results, George developed the cameras, lenses, and mounts to capture movies of surfing in the tubes of incredible waves, as revealed in his groundbreaking first firm, "The Inntermost Limits of Pure Fun" (1970).

"Crystal Voyager" (made with Australian filmmaker Albe Falzon in 1972) was built around George's exploits aboard his sloop, Morning Light, a Gary Mull-designed Santana 37, which Greenough modified into a four-berth aft-cabin setup with a central cockpit. He conceived and created a 100-volt wind generator to power all the boat's operations.

His next film, "Echoes", was envisioned as a sequence for Falzon's "Morning of the Earth", but Greenough released it as a short film in 1973. It was very well received by surfers and non-surfers alike, and Hollywood film director John Milius soon enlisted George to lead the water crew in the filming of "Big Wednesday" (released in 1978).

Regarding his latest film project, "Dolphin Glide", George comments: "Its shot POV [point of view] the dolphins with modified full-aperture 35mm camera (a high-speed Mitchell), and the housing's shaped like a baby dolphin, so it moves through the water like a dolphin, so I can keep up with them underwater."

Today, Greenough lives full-time near Byron Bay and remains unconcerned with any sort of acclaim as he continues to surf, and capture the moment.

– Drew Kampion