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news<br />
words by darren "curl" marks<br />
It was a much-needed community get-together<br />
featuring vintage surfboards, music, tattoos,<br />
art, photography, great food, tall tales, and<br />
cold ales.<br />
The inspiration came from a couple of mates<br />
with a scheme to pay their respects to the<br />
local surfing culture. Pat O’Garey and Lindsay<br />
Becker are both avid collectors of exotic<br />
watercraft, and thought it might be a good idea<br />
to put on a shindig that embraced both board<br />
and beach. But there is more to this story, and<br />
I’m not too sure if it's mere coincidence or<br />
cosmic confluence.<br />
If you’re an avid reader of Smorgasboarder,<br />
you may remember an article on Lindsay about<br />
a similar event he organised at a local holiday<br />
resort on Phillip Island a couple of years ago.<br />
The display he curated was an amazing<br />
effort that was sadly underappreciated by<br />
management. Their failure to see the benefit of<br />
securing permanent residency left his<br />
impressive collection now looking for a new<br />
home, and that was where Pat understood an<br />
unrealised opportunity.<br />
Pat has been a prominent member of Phillip<br />
Island’s hospitality industry for well over 20<br />
years now. He’s currently operating his third<br />
restaurant, which he runs with his 21-year-old<br />
daughter and business partner, Ebany.<br />
Bang Bang Restaurant and Bar pumps out<br />
delicious, clean, and healthy Asian-style<br />
cuisine with an equally impressive and eclectic<br />
drink selection. Unpretentious and welcoming,<br />
it has taken on a life of its own since opening<br />
five years ago.<br />
So even if you may be a couple of penguins<br />
short of a parade, you can see where this is<br />
headed. A couple of mates with a passion<br />
for vintage surfboards, an impressive surf<br />
culture display that has recently been rendered<br />
homeless, and one funky surfside restaurant<br />
and bar looking for a distinctive personality.<br />
So, with a handshake and a six pack, a<br />
deal was struck, and Bang Bang now hosts<br />
a permanent display of over 70 beautiful<br />
surfboards across its walls and ceiling.<br />
Currently, they showcase a combination of<br />
their board hoards, running at around 60/40 in<br />
Lindsay’s favour. The pair would have to have<br />
one of the best combined personal collections<br />
open to the public.<br />
Some of you who believe in fate and the<br />
magnetic powers of the universe would not be<br />
surprised to find out that earlier this year, as an<br />
incredibly talented tattooist, Lindsay was part<br />
of a collective that has taken over the<br />
retail space next to Bang Bang called Hectic —<br />
a shop full of art, tattoos, music, clothing, and<br />
more surfboards. It only seemed logical that<br />
both premises combined to present an annual<br />
event to be added to Phillip Island’s<br />
cultural calendar.<br />
The Phillip Island Celebration of Surf had<br />
something for everyone, collectors came<br />
from far and wide to show their manicured<br />
sticks, classic 70’s surf photography provided<br />
by Simon Chipper, indigenous art by Millowl<br />
elder Steve Parker, legendary surf stories from<br />
Dogga Luke and Bobby Matthews, and the<br />
official (yet late) launch of the Aloha<br />
Barry book, “Sand in my Crack: Life as<br />
a Beach Bum” (now available on the<br />
Smorgasboarder store).<br />
Live music by Nic & Adzy and the Laing<br />
Brothers provided a party atmosphere for surf<br />
lovers of all ages. Fans of lowbrow cultural<br />
pursuits enjoyed a pleasant afternoon that<br />
lurched haplessly into the haziness of evening.<br />
Delicious beverages fuelled the bullsh*t and<br />
bravado of worn-out stories between old<br />
friends, and a few pairs of dancing shoes were<br />
dusted off.<br />
What is so enchanting about admiring the<br />
sensual curve of a 70’s swallow tailed single<br />
fin as you recall feats of embellished aquatic<br />
courage and years of wasted youth and<br />
wanderlust? Old surfboards are more than<br />
cultural artifacts — they are a museum<br />
of your memories, past glories, and future<br />
possibilities. It was a great day to pause and<br />
show gratitude for our fortunate ability to revel<br />
in the ocean's abundance.<br />
# 59 // smorgasboarder //<br />
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