Lately I have been thinking a lot about what I call “micro moments in surf history.” Last week it was Skip Frye, Mike Hynson and Ron Stoner’s trip to the Ranch, and today it’s Tom Curren riding a 5’10” Skip Frye fish (AKA the Litmus board) at South Africa’s Jeffreys Bay in 1993.

The Curren / Frye combo is bound to garner attention, given it pairs one of California’s greatest surfers with one of its greatest shapers. But as I wrote on Instagram, what interests me the most about this moment is not just the headline of two superstars, but the strata of surf history lurking beneath.

Curren’s journey to South Africa is one that brims with significance well beyond the usual sponsor photo trip. Australian Derek Hynd, former pro turned writer and all-around legend, and the man who created The Search campaign for Rip Curl, famously helped facilitate the Frye / Curren exchange. Hynd had already taken a few trips to San Diego, where he met Skip, surfed with him, and became familiar with his shapes. Skip originally shaped the Litmus board — a nod to its role in Andrew Kidman’s film / book project of the same name — for Hynd to surf J-Bay. Hynd determined the board would be a better fit for someone else, and when Curren showed up in South Africa after years of boycotting pro tour events in the country in protest of Apartheid, he found the perfect pilot. Curren rode the Skip fish in Searching for Tom Curren, one of the standout surf movies of the 90s, filmed by the late Sonny Miller, and the rest is history. One cannot mention Searching without referencing Curren’s first ever wave at J-Bay, which is the closest thing to perfect surfing any mortal has ever achieved. (Note: There were two separate trips. Curren’s first wave at J-Bay was in 1992; and he rode the Frye fish on a return trip in 1993, which was documented in the November 1993 issue of Surfer.) Between the gravity of the soft-spoken Curren’s moral stand against Apartheid, the pent up anticipation of seeing him unleash his surfing on one of the world’s premier right hand point breaks, and his iconic purple wetsuit, Curren’s early 90s South Africa chapter stands out as a high water mark in his career.

San Diego and its rich tradition of surfing, surfboard design and homegrown manufacturing helped set the stage for Curren’s trip to J-Bay beyond just his equipment. It all starts with none other than Steve Lis, the San Diego kneeboarder who invented the fish design and its signature swallow tail so that his swim fins could better fit on the board. Lis’ invention was considered niche at best for many years, mostly known to a small crew of local surfers. Now, of course, the fish has proven to be one of the most durable surfboard designs almost six decades after it was first invented, still omnipresent in shaping rooms and lineups across the globe.

Another San Diego fixture who played a role in getting a Skip Frye fish beneath Curren’s feet is shaper Hank Warner. Warner was Skip’s partner in the old Harrys’ Surf Shop, which was named after both men, and he also was the American licensee for Hot Buttered Surfboards, for whom Hynd was a longtime team rider. Hynd not only has a deep respect for Warner and his shapes, but also credits Warner with being a critical piece of the puzzle in terms of Curren riding the Litmus board at J-Bay.

Much of the information in this post comes from an excellent blog post written by Ken Lewis, who grew up in San Diego’s surf scene and counts Frye as a friend. Lewis’ post, which is required reading, also fills in the gaps of the story of Curren and the Litmus board in ways that haven’t been publicly discussed. You could argue the entire story starts in 1990, three years before the trip to South Africa, when Curren was in San Diego for an autograph signing at a now-defunct surf shop named Windansea Beach An’ Surf. During a break, Curren was looking through the boards at the shop when he happened across a Skip Frye egg. He began talking to Lewis about the board and Skip. Lewis informed Tom that Skip could be found a short walk away from the signing at Harrys’ Surf Shop. Lewis and Tom took an unsanctioned break from the autograph event and hopped over to Harrys’, where Tom and Skip met and spoke for the first time.

It’s a fascinating moment that set the stage for much bigger things. Who knows what would have happened had Curren not played hooky from signing autographs for an afternoon? In his aforementioned blog post, Lewis wonders out loud if Litmus and …Lost’s 5’5″ x 19 1/4″ and the entire fish revival of the 90s would have still happened had it not been for that chance encounter between Curren and Frye. It also reminds me of what I love about the casual yet essential part of surf history that revolves around a unique oral tradition, kept alive by people hanging out and talking story in parking lots and watering holes along the California coastline.

Unfortunately, the Litmus board burned in a fire at Derek Hynd’s place a few years ago, along with archives of much of Hynd’s work. It is sad to think this piece of surf history no longer exists, but there’s also something poetic about it, which is easy for me to say since my house didn’t burn down. It’s almost as if the Litmus board was an object that was too powerful for this world, like a treasure that Indiana Jones temporarily unearths, only to have it swallowed up by the earth once more by the time the credits roll. Yes, I realize that’s a ridiculous analogy, and no, I’m not changing it. The legend of the Litmus board lives on.

Last but not least, I’ve collected all the links I’ve been able to find on the Litmus board and put them in one place. See below:

• Footage of Curren riding the Skip Frye fish in “Searching for Tom Curren”
• The best and clearest photos of the Litmus board I’ve seen
• Derek Hynd talks to Jamie Brisick about giving Curren the Frye fish at J-Bay
• Ken Lewis talks Curren, Skip + Hynd

A special shout out to Ken Lewis, who has not only answered all of my questions about Skip with grace and generosity, but wrote a really informative and entertaining account of Curren’s chance encounter with Skip Frye. Check out his latest project, The Surfboard Rack.

Photo at the top of the page by Lance Slabbert and via Surfer Magazine; second photo by Ted Grambeau.