As you may have heard, Australian film actor Heath Ledger died a couple of weeks ago, cause of death is unclear. Heath featured in many great movies, such as Brokeback Moutain or A Knight’s Tale. And beyond Heath’s fans it is also a sad news for the surf community. Heath, who was featured as “One of the World’s Most Intriguing Surfers” in the 2004 Big Issue of SURFER Magazine spent his childhood in Yallingup, Australia as the magazine recalls.

One of Heath’s most outstanding performance was linked to surfing when he played Skip in “Lords of Dogtown“. Dogtown is an area of West Los Angeles - the poorer, slum area on the south side of Santa Monica that covered Venice Beach and Ocean Park Beaches.
Skip and the Z-boys surfed the abondonned Pacific Ocean Park Pier. It was a very popular pleasure pier from 1956 to its closing in 1967. It featured a pier, rides and attractions, shops, a strolling promenade, and a large ballroom. Love that old school tone of this video:

To have an idea of where all this takes place, here’s a map of the area. If you didn’t know you would never guess that a gigantic park that was competing against disneyland was standing at this spot.

Agrandir le plan

Today, the only parts that remain of “POP” are some broken pilings that are underwater and a few warning signs. Back in the 70’s, the Z-boys gave the name “The Cove” to this spot, due to its shape. It was a short break, hidden in between rusting piers and spiky concrete pilings. Indeed it was a dangerous place to surf, but the rusting sharp as knifes elements under the water weren’t the worst part of it. If you weren’t part of the Z-boys you just couldn’t surf the spot. One of those places where the term “locals only” takes all its meaning.