Butch Van Artsdalen – Legendary Surfer – WindanSea Lot
Written by mac meda on August 31, 2009 – 7:51 am -
Legendary surfer Butch Van Artsdalen trades gash in head for keg of beer. Photo taken by Jon Sarrett,WindanSea Parking lot
Recently I attended a memorial service for Harry Phillips, the former owner of Flowers by Adelaide in La Jolla. I was having a conversation with some of the former delivery boys who worked for Harry over the years. Randy Miller, Harry’s nephew, told a Windansea Tale.
Legendary surfer Butch Van Artsdalen was holding court at the Windansea lot and Randy was with Charlie Broan in one of the Adelaide’s delivery trucks.
Broan was driving and his goal was to sneak up behind Butch and hit the horn. Something went wrong and Broan actually hit Butch and knocked him ass over teakettle. Butch came up with a gash on his head and needed to be taken to Scripps Hospital Emergency Room. The hospital was located then on Prospect across from the Rec. Center and Bishops School (on which now sits a huge butt-ugly condo project).
When Randy and Charlie got back to the shop, they had to tell Harry they had been in an accident and a guy had to be taken to the hospital. Harry wanted to get to the hospital to talk to Butch before any Insurance Agents got involved, which he did. After exchanging pleasantries, Harry said he would like to see if there was anything he could offer to Butch to keep the incident “Under Wraps”.
Butch said, “Yeah, get me a keg, delivered to [Windansea] beach in two hours and we’ll be even”.
Harry complied.
The Legend of Butch had another chapter.
Thanks to Dan Dameron for the post.
Meda Editors Note: The Photo was taken by Jon Sarrett at WindanSea Parking lot. We got the photo from Wikipedia (click on link above) our sincere apology to Jon, now we can give credit where credit is due. We hope Wikipedia does the same.
Tags: beer, mac-tales, Meda People, surfing
Posted in La Jolla Surfers, Meda People, WindanSea | 35 Comments »
By JON SARRETT on Sep 6, 2009 | Reply
How about a little credit for the photo?
By Hoyt Smith on Sep 28, 2009 | Reply
I have a wealth of Butch Van Artsdalen stories collected over the years from interviews with local legends such as Skip Frey, Carl Ekstrom, Donald Patterson and others. I would love to share them with you, if you’re interested.
- Hoyt
By Lew on Oct 5, 2009 | Reply
The last time I saw Butch was on on Marine Street on my Wedding day . We were going to a party at Dirty Eric’s. Surf was up. Butch kindly suggested that I dump my Bride so we could catch a few. Given that I had a Tux to return, we all went over to Eric’s on Bon Air Street and polished off a couple of cases of Coors. My new bride, who grew up in LJ, was very understanding. (August 15, 1964)
By BeachBall on Oct 10, 2009 | Reply
Pinky, a few more…Dan Irwin, Gary Cummings,Tom Damm,Jeff Mulllis,Mike Jones,Lester Steofen,Krug..if you want the info, I know some of the RIP’s….Sea Lane…body whomping at it’s best!bb
By BeachBall on Oct 10, 2009 | Reply
P.S…..Butch would come down to Sea lane when in town and a party was brewing(every day?)…When I moved to the North Shore, Sandy Woods,one of Butch’s best friends, Butch, Kimo Hollinger and I went to a lot of parties together..it was nice to have that kind of protection at an Island party..bb
By Jamie on Oct 10, 2009 | Reply
On Hawaiian protection…does anyone have any stories on Bla James?
Jack Mac had a classic photo of Bla James…on the back was written…’Bla James…toughest guy on the island…lives on an island with goats and picks up cars…’.
By Perry on Oct 20, 2009 | Reply
Per Hoyt Smith’s thread on the stories he has of Butch Van Artsdalen, I am very interested in reading them. Not enough has been written on him, his surfing, and his legend. If you would be able to post them, send me a link, or email them to me it would great. The dude deserves a solid tribute. Thanks. (pkrosen@gmail.com)
~Perry
By when crabs roar on Dec 19, 2009 | Reply
Here’s a quick Butch story.
A group of us were in The Bum-Bum Club in TJ, the club had a balcony overlooking the ahhh, lets call it the dance floor? The ceiling in the balcony was very low, only about five feet high and made out of sheet metal, I see Butch looking up at the ceiling and then all of a sudden he jumps up and puts his head through the ceiling, denting and ripping it open along a seam, not to be outdone, John Warren tries the very same thing but hits a spot where the ceiling is nailed to a two by four and goes down, it almost knocked him out.
By Annette VanArtsdalen Lucas on Jan 31, 2010 | Reply
Happy Birthday to my big bro Butch, may you rest in peace now!
By Jimmy the Greek's kid on Feb 9, 2010 | Reply
does anyone remember jimmy the greek kasanos from linda vista was in wind an sea but was training for pan am games with david manwaring for track cycling and then the boy’s club for judo instead he went to vietnam he used to tell me stories of butch and chuck I even heard some about bla james I guess butch wanted to smuggle my dad to the islands but when my dad refused literally he gave him the shirt off his back as a present i guess still have the shirt too!
By John K. Weldon on May 4, 2010 | Reply
Butch was tuff as nails, rarely sober, a fantastic switch stance surfer, won the first OB surf contest, Was really a nice guy to local grums…Used to be able to body surf at Wind n Sea then. He was also the first guy to really dail in Pipeline.
By garich on May 5, 2010 | Reply
Hey; I talked to sandy woods to get butch out to our fraternity at SDSU (kappa sig) and do a show about his Mr. Pipleine thing. Sandy can tell the rest of the story but everyone was real impressed with Butch. Also I can remember when Black Mike Jenner and I were in the PB surf club jrs and Butch would always come over to us and check in. “How’s my guys?” he’d always say. What a great dude. I’m a Doctor now and send all my blessings to butch on the other side. Beachball you used to block real well for me at the toilet bowl game at LJ high school. jg
By "Pointbreak" on Jul 25, 2010 | Reply
To me Butch Van Artsdalen was the ultimate old time surfer—-when men were men—when they would give you a wave but rip your head off if you disrespected them or showed no soul for the great sport that it is,something that I believe is really missing today. I never knew Butch
By "Pointbreak" on Jul 25, 2010 | Reply
To me Butch Van Artsdalen was the ultimate old time surfer—-when men were men—when they would give you a wave but rip your head off if you disrespected them or showed no soul for the great sport that it is,something that I believe is really missing today. I never knew Butch but hung with a surfer from La Jolla who knew Butch and had only the deepest respect for him. Of all the old greats,Mike Doyle,Fred Hemmings, Phil Edwards, “Mr.Smooth” Mike Hynson and scores of others, I put Butch right at the top and only wish I could have ridden a few tasty waves with him.
Aloha Butch
By Boop on Jul 26, 2010 | Reply
And he was really cute…
By Otis Benton on Jul 26, 2010 | Reply
I surfed the Shores for a while and at age 16 wanted to surf Windansea which was near my house in Bird Rock.
First day in the lot Butch comes up to me around noon and says hey Grommit go get me a six back of Ole and I’ll cut you some slack out in the lineup. He was 18 then. Very few people said NO to Butch.
There was a grocery store on Nautilus St and LJ Blvd where the cleaners is now. The grocery clerk was a Mexican lady who had a heart. She let me buy the Six which cost about $.79 and I delivered the beers to Butch. After that he really did help me when kooks or non locals would take off on a wave I was already in. I think that $.79 was a great investment; sort of like a harmless protection racket.
Otis
By Dan Talboy (aka MONK) on Sep 15, 2010 | Reply
I was a young grimmy at the time, when I was invited to follow the crew up to Peter Parkin’s house on Nautilus St., just up from the Wind-n-Sea parking lot. Bud Brown, legendary surf movie maker at the time, had a sound track he wanted everyone to listen to, for his latest up-coming movie, “Cat On A Hot Foam Board” about 1958 era. So about 20-25 top surfers, from La Jolla & coastal regions north, all walked up to Peter’s house after going on a beer run at Dick’s Liquor. We everyone was sitting around the reel-to-reel tape player listening to the great music, and Butch leaned over to me and asked, have a drink of beer. It was a quart of Olympia, in a brown paper sack, I took it and chugged down a few gulps, and handed it back to Butch, this was my real eye opening for me, into the LJ party scene, and also my first drink of beer, and most definitely not my last.
MONK
By Charlotte on Sep 15, 2010 | Reply
Butch sold me my first car – a red ford station wagon.
I think it was a 54′, and cost me $400. cash.
Since no surf racks were around back then, the back seat was gone. My dad was so mad. He thought I needed to get the seat back to make the deal.
Wish I still had that car.
By Ryan Dotson on Nov 23, 2010 | Reply
Hey guys,
Whats up for the past 48 yrs? Surfer here, grad LJHS in ‘63. Yeah, Windansea is the spot. Sorry for bailing on ya’all after H.S., but Hawaii was screaming. Yeah, just one of surf-diarlects who hung out in parking lot, took my turn in line with Diff, Butch, Haisley and other ner-do-wells, pissing off the cliff in the parking lot. When we sufficently pissed off the neighborhood folks, and the local police, we took our havoc south to the Long Bar. Things definetely went south there too.If you don’t recognize my name here, don’t feel bad.I was the 15 yr old sitting in the corner at the L/B with everyone asking, who’s the kid. General Answer, “Dunno… Some little grem buddy of Diff’s.” Because I was much younger than everyone and moved to Hawaii out of school, I was fussed into a time warp between that generation and hellraisers of the ’70s. Good to see authenticity here.Rock-on,Surf-on, while I
write-on…Right-on. Surfer/ Shaper/WnS Grem-Ryan Dotson
By Dan Taboy on Nov 25, 2010 | Reply
Hey Ryan good to see you still kicking, remember the old days at AJ Surfboards, and surfing together around La Jolla.
I’m now living in Thailand
By Stewball on Feb 28, 2011 | Reply
Ryan-
I remember you ripping at the Shores and Twang in the early ’60s when I was just a gremmie. You and Butch and Diff were my heroes. Hope da Islands are treating you well and life is good.
I finally got around to writing a novel about those days. Read it if you get a chance.
http://plowsharemedia.com/beep.htm
Stewball (still in LJ)
By oldschoolsurfer on Aug 23, 2011 | Reply
Odd how some people put themselves in places they weren’t just to say they were part of something they weren’t. Danny Talboy is one that was there. Danny, unlike some others, can be trusted to relate the old days as they were.
By Bruce Gorden on Aug 31, 2011 | Reply
Butch was a giant to me, cuz I was much younger. I played two man volley ball at PB Rec with Butch and Diff…I figured they were the baddest dudes on the planet. Till one night Butch was playing Basketball with Butch Rhodes. Rhodes was built exactly the same, only bigger. The two clashed, smaller Butch managed to keep his temper that time. We also played “Foul” basket ball with Chuck. Chuck was plenty aggressive then too. So, when the gremmies fouled it was a push or a block, Chuck knocked us on our asses. All in fun, well at least for him. Our surf club sponsored the PB surf contest one year. Between heats, Butch was at Maynards, preparing for the next heat. He and I played a lot of 9 Ball at Victory Lanes. Great memories
By Kurt on Sep 28, 2011 | Reply
Brud McGowen. Another Butch understudy. He is dead now. RIP.
By Kurt on Sep 28, 2011 | Reply
Remember the days of the Whale, the Butt brothers, Pat and Sue, Stan Hayes, Matty Welsh, Kirk Brown, Larry Burton, Tom Jones, Terry, and so many others—the bench, the wall, sunsets, beer and wine……..Those were the days………long ago and faraway.
By kirk brown on Nov 9, 2011 | Reply
fuc— the past no internet no ipod
no vicodin you can have it kirk
By Jody on Dec 4, 2011 | Reply
I met Butch when he lived in Haleiwa, Oahu with his wife, my best friend. He was a really magnetic and powerful guy. He saved her sister’s life. She died one night; she stopped breathing after a seizure and he resusitated her back to life after working on her for a long, long time. He just wouldn’t stop or give up on her until she started to breath again. She was only 14 years old. He brought her back to life that night. She loves him forever. He was a really great guy! He had a huge heart! He was like no one I had ever met before. He was strong and handsome and powerful. A one of a kind kind of guy.
By Ryan Dotson on Dec 24, 2011 | Reply
It was guys like Butch, Mike Diffenderfer and Jerry Stirnkorb who stoked me when I hung out in the Windansea parking lot. I remember seeing Kodachrome slides of Butch surfing at Waimea on the “Gray Ghost. The fin had a defect and the board wouldn’t turn right, so Butch merely switched stance…on a 25 foot wave–Whoa!But it’s what Jody said, “He was a one of a kind guy!”
By T-Dogg on Mar 12, 2012 | Reply
Butch was someone who I dont think we realize just how unique a human entity he was. Beyond this Earth.. Aloha RIP.
By Terry Tucker Rhodes on Jun 5, 2012 | Reply
I double-dated with Butch and his girlfriend Loli, in high school. I started surfing at The Wall in 1958 and first met Butch because he was a friend of my step-brother, John Hayward. There weren’t many other girls surfing then.
I made surfing trunks and did surfing paintings from photos for people. Butch wanted me to do one for him, so I went over to the house he was renting with some other guys to get the picture. I expected it to be a mess, but it was absolutely spotless.
When he moved to the Islands he became good friends with Rona Kaaekuahiwi who was married to Shannon Smith from PB, my old friend.
I knew about the fights and drinking, but he was always a gentleman around me, and I will always remember him with that wonderful smile.
By Bill David on Oct 8, 2012 | Reply
Terry,
Are you the younger sister of John Haywrd who surfed at North beach in PB? He was a member of PB Surf Club and graduated from Mission Bay High School.
If so, I’d like to touch bases with you, and get some info on your brother.
bill_david@hotmail.com
By norman mccandless on Nov 17, 2012 | Reply
interesting, because i knew butch from a few get togethers up pupukea.At lorens. an Bla with his turned down sailors hat, tro net an buckets. mo betta days ALOHA Peace
By norman mccandless on Nov 17, 2012 | Reply
does anybody remember Larry Felker? he was around then.
By Annette VanArtsdalen Lucas on Apr 16, 2013 | Reply
I am proud to announce that Bill Shrosbee was chosen by our family to do the
“Butch Van Artsdalen” board.
The board has Butchs’ full signature in it along with a nice logo designed by Bill.
If interested you can contact Bill, my brother, Marvin or myself.
With many wonderful memories and love for my Big Bro ❣
Always Butchs’ Sis
By Annette VanArtsdalen Lucas on Apr 16, 2013 | Reply
ButchVanArtsdalen.com