Robert August is
one of the world's great surfers and board shapers.
Winning numerous awards during the 1960's and 70's
especially, August succeeded in spreading the joy of
surfing by creating fantastic surfboards for years
to come. This Southern California surf legend is
featured in many films such as The Endless Summer, a
surfing film classic.
Robert Alan
August was born in 1945 just as World War II ended.
This was the era of growth, new wealth and a surfing
boom. As the son of famed surfer Blackie August,
Robert was born into the surfing scene. His dad was
a renowned lifeguard and one of the first surfers to
ply the waves of Redondo Beach. Blackie was a
friendly, social man who loved to host parties,
introducing young Robert to many of the nation's
best surfers during an era of in which the culture
was being shaped with great promise, much like the
boards to come.
Robert August
learned to surf in Seal Beach as a 6-year old kid.
So natural was his style that he gained a reputation
and by 14, he appeared Bruce Brown films, traveling
extensively while maintaining his grades at
Huntington High School. In his senior year at HBHS,
he was elected student body president.
August threw his cap into the air at his high school
graduation and with that toss, embarked on a world
tour of the great surfing spots as one of two young
guys featured in a surf film classic, The Endless
Summer. Along with Mike Hynson he traveled with a
film crew and producer to many areas that had
never seen a surfboard. The film played throughout
America, giving August the name recognition that
would serve him in business. August received
no royalties for his efforts but holds no regrets
for the experience of a lifetime.
Bruce Brown
made films about surfing beginning in the late
1950s. Released in 1966, The Endless Summer was his
first film to receive nationwide exposure. The
narrated surfing documentary is one of the finest
examples of cinematography from that era. Compared
to today's surfing films where the waves are
super-sized and the music played full volume in a
theme popularly known as Xtreme, the sound track
which featured music from The Sandals offered an
honest look at surfing without a lot of Hollywood
glam. Innocent optimism in Brown's narration that
with enough time and money, you could literally
follow the summer around the globe, Robert August
and Mike Henson, decided to do just that. Their
surfboards were their luggage as August and Henson
traveled from one coastline to the next, trying the
waves in Hawaii, Africa, Australia, Tahiti, and
other countries where natives had never seen a
surfboard. Along the way, August and Henson learned
about people while they searched for the elusive
perfect wave.
Back in
Southern California, reality came crashing like a
wave as Robert August had to earn a living. With an
endless passion for surfing, he worked in Jacobs'
Surf Shop in Hermosa Beach. He loved shaping the
longboards popular during the the early days of the
surfing but the shortboard revolution rendered the
longer styles obsolete. Dewey Weber, Hobie and Noll
quit the business when their boardshaping skills
were no longer needed. After one restaurant business
venture that left him tired and hungry, Robert
August knew he had to get back to his passion. He
made shortboards in his Robert August Surf Shop
which opened in Huntington Beach in 1974. It later
merged with Huntington Surf and Sport. When Bruce
Brown made Endless Summer II in 1994, August
returned for a cameo appearance. Today Robert August
continues to surf the local beaches but enjoys a
vacation home in Costa Rica where the surfing is
great, allowing him the pleasures of a near-endless
summer.
