Surfer Miki Dora

[s6u6r6f6]

In 65 I bought a Phil Edwards model Hobie. ten-three three stringers with a laminated fin. My old man lent me the money. 130.00 from some guy who had it in the paper: The Virginia Pilot. I paid him back ten a month. I loved that board. Then I traded it in on a 9-6 Cat with a tophat fin : Asbury Park. They gave me 130 on a trade in! The board was 186.00 so I paid 56+tax and rode the shit out of it until Bahne came along and 20 others later...but the 'Cat" ??? Thats the one I wish I still had

[island007100]

As unlikable as this guy was, it's easy to see why so many people find his story interesting. Billy the Kid, Butch Cassidy and Jesse James weren't nice people either, but the Wild West wouldn't have been the same without them. 

[RadAlarm]

this dude seems cool. my favorite part was where it said "unrendered."

[MrZebos]

for Dora fans, there is incredible footage at this You Tube: "Steve Walden's Magic Model Interview With Peter Townend"

[RoyStewart]

Apparently his no clone message didn't get through !

[Surfwriter2]

Like "msneverquit" I've had the pleasure of sharing water-time and beach-time with Miki. I loved his surfing and found his mind both challenging and entertaining. He lived his life his way and paid the price for being his own man. Semper culti in memoria

[toiseywoisey]

Pure Poetry!

[ecnalubma696969]

Would it even be possible to live any more in the way Dora describes here? It just seems like there is less to go around of everything.

[videopoo]

Great surfer....total douche bag!!

[1400deadwood]

@videopoo - I read his bio & while he seemed to be a very interesting person, I wouldn't trust him with my kid sister or my money. He was a very paradoxical guy, a bit morbid at times, bit of a faker as well. But I guess this is often true of rebels - people who just don't seem to fit in with all else. Ah, but let's face it - it's people like him who make the world what it is is. We certainly don't everyone to be alike as that would be quite boring. I'd like to meet him - but only once. :)

[deweypug]

He rocked life...

[Kessav]

Ooooiuyytrewq.

[vinorama58]

Dora surfed ok but I was hoping to see some classic Sarlo footage.

[Surfwriter2]

@vinorama58 - Sarlo who?

[Stratocaster05]

R.I.P. Miklos, R.I.P. Scooter Boy.

[rhinohippo]

Only guys who rode those heavy longboards of the early 60s, which were a TREMENDOUS improvement on anything previous, weighing only a quarter of the weight of most previous boards, but still very heavy compared to the boards to come, can truly understand the nimble footwork with style and grace, how minimalism was wu-wei, actionless action, smooth like silk, well you get my drift. Just a joy to watch the Master, thanks

[juniorfats]

Saw Da Cat at Rincon on an eight foot low tide day . It was him and Bob Mctavish on one of the first generation deep V bottoms. What a show that was ,raw power vs. style and finesse. Dora took it hands down.

[obhesh]

Always in the right place, no unnecessary movement, perfect footwork, no stupid tip-time phony pseudo soul pose. Listen up laddies, if you want to ride the longboard proper, then study the Dora.

[mr01FABIO]

DORA... NUMERO UNO !!!!!

RIP MAN .

[TheGreatCorneliuski]

I am the number one legend here. Even if it's going to just be a legend in my own mind. I'm working on a museum now

[DJAntiWack]

RIP DORA

[lalaboards]

I'm sorry to break the news to you,but Dennis Jarvis is as real as they come.He surfs better than all your longboard heroes combined.Dennis started his shop with the earnings from a surf contest he won.He is self made and has more class on one finger than Dora had in his bloodline. Dennis didn't run away from his life like a pussy.

[lalaboards]

Oh so Mickey never mimicked anyone else?? He had to watch someone in the beginning.Why doesn't Lance Carson or Glenn Kennedy get any legendary status.?Oh that's right they were honest and had respect and class and never stole from anyone.Thaaaaats right.I forgot

[mentawais101]

nice of you to mention kennedy

[1FiNsUp1]

Who cares about all the Bull shit with his life, ect ect...Look at Dora the surfer...in that sense it's as pure as it gets...leave it at that

[jerbearsdeadman]

snwbrdr65 you are so stupid...dora didn't have asperger's. aspergers doesnt make you a visionary or a two faced liar or a hypocrite. it puts you at a bad social disposition because you can't recognize the expressions on other people's faces. thats all it is. it doesnt make you into a cult hero like dora. he just had his problems and he had a lot of them, but youre a fucking idiot if you think they are because of aspergers. he just didnt like people.

[snwbrdr65]

@jerbearsdeadman Love you too dude.

[snwbrdr65]

Learn to recognize the signs of Asperger's Syndrome. Miki is a textbook example. Described as an alien, an anti-socialist, an outcast, a visionary, a two-faced liar and a hypocrite, etc. etc. etc. And, a genius. Learn to recognize the signs of Asperger's Syndrome.

[seccaman3]

@snwbrdr65 It's sad how people that "stand in line", nod at stupid shit and lack character feel so content with their lives. Miki was a pioneer. He spoke his mind and actually "lived" his life on his own terms. Whether you like it or not he's got more balls than 99% of this fucked up society that worry about washing their SUV's and the latest and greatest cell phone...RIP miki and scooter boy

[SandySummers]

@seccaman3 That's why he went to prison because he was so great. A true sociopath.

[hadenough48]

@SandySummers, I know he had wealthy parents and still wonder if they financed a little through an entire life of surf bumming. I surf and talked with him a few times at Malibu.

Craig

[SouthJerseyMatt]

"...and behind me, all the shit goes over my back " Say what you want about Miki, he is what he is, but that quote sums it all up. Surfing is the greatest escape in the world, the best drug. Nothing else matters on earth except you and that wave. Not youre friends out there hooting you on. But being alone gliding and tubed; Man's most intimate relationship with nature.

[djlew2]

mickey dora was in movies, he was a contradiction of himself, a hypocrit. not someone you want as your role model. how can you be so selfish as to not want to share surfing (the best thing in the world) with other people. surfing has changed my life since i started in 8th grade. if i could help pass that on to someone else then im a better person for it. dora surfs well tho, cant take that away from him

[muttonbuster]

I dunno, man. If you talk to anyone who surfed Malibu back then; when he and his entourage showed up, as far as the atmosphere was concerned, it was like opening up a carton of expired milk. Then again, the way Hollywood came in and raped the scene, you are going to be getting many rides without some aggression.

[muttonbuster]

"not" going to be getting many rides. We need a revolt. Other than your local shaper and store, shun the whole industry. Heck if we burn down a few contest tents, start kidnapping Quiksilver execs, and institute a full bore Chinese one woman one child policy; we may just get it all back! :O

[deweypug]

Miki Dora and Phil Edwards were the true individuals of surfing. Almost opposites in a way - but there was no ignoring their beliefs and/or respecting their philosophies. I too, like Edwards, do not think surfing is, or should be a contest sport, as Phil once said, how could you judge individuality? How do you judge who is having the most fun? Eerily similar to Dora's stance on individuality and overcrowding, over commercialism and overexposure of a great pastime.

[Moviebro]

Dora is my hero.

[TidelineVideo]

I was a boomer/gremmie at Malibu,1959-present. ..seen them come and go...I would take off in front just to say I got pushed off a wave by Mickey...but I never got tired of watching him surf, listening to his dialogue..and I never saw him in a fight...he would only push and when someone would get serious he would disappear or pull a stunt...one of a kind genius in his own way...so unique and most of us did want to surf, or even act like him (Mike Nader should play him in the movie). Complicated.

[4eva2cool]

omg talk about classic footage. when the hell is this dvd coming out!!!..

this is Surfer's Take Two right?

[lorduenon]

If you ever spoke to Mickey during the 60's,

this video brings him back to life in a sad kind of way. There was only one Muhammad Ali in his prime and there was only one Mickey. The two of them were the greatest and now Ali is just a shell of his former bombastic self and Mickey is gone forever.

[6749er]

"Hes probably the most notable California surfer in history. If you had to pick one surfer that epitomized California surfing in the 20th century, it would be Miki Dora.everything that was wrong with it and everything that was right with it."

The Zen Trickster wasn't just This or just That-as a person-He wasn't that easy to put in a box. He sure could surf & dance

into the flow the smoothest-The Best.

[6749er]

born 1934 must have S P A C E D out

[6749er]

ulaman1971 whiney rant about Dora being a whiney baby boomer is amusing being Miki was born in 1932. ulaman if you were born during those times you'd still be ulaman & he's still be Miki Dora. Well he's dead now you can be

ulaman Mr. Maibu.

Da Cat a baby boomer...Thanks for the Laugh ulaman. sure the Zen Cat would too who was surfing during WW-2

You don't know who or what your talking about. Love to see you get in his way. You ask any baby boomer here what would happen to ulaman if he did.

[6749er]

I love this-I was one of the early 60's Cal

Surf Craze kids-Miki's right it was an Iinvasion & everybody I knew from Santa Cruz to San Diego wanted to surf like Da Cat-He didn't have to push people off his waves at his surf spot for most of three decades till the Hords & Clones showed up-The Iconoclastic Icon Legedary Revoltionary & Nortious #1 Pure Surfer.

Good & Bad he was an American Classic

" I wanted to be left alone. So I left alone. Now I dont want anything. M.Dora-1932-2002

[HERKISSABLE]

ypur ALL mental mwargahahahahahaha.....

[rhinohippo]

actually the mik turned down a lot of stuff because it was inauthentic. He was a first class jerk and and a god at the same time. you didn't have to like him, but every time we drove by Malibu on the way to Secos we stopped to see if he was out, we never saw him so thanks for the vids

[sectionmaker]

he still Rules, better wave sense then all the kook slop hoppers put together.

[SirRob7]

lol what a kook

[ulaman1971]

Fuck U Dora, U got Lucky ... if I was born during those times I could say the same things,,, why not fight to preserve the beaches ..instead your just anothe whiney baby boomer telling us how groovey it was...Fuck U!!! The Ocean Lives On,,,and your just another fucking loser that claims your the first...Die a lonely Death!!!!!

[subsamadhi]

you have a point. Miki Dora doesn't even take into consideration that surfing was essentially stolen from a group of people and was told to them initially that it was a sinful activity to do. But I have to say that he is right about many things.

[2far2drive]

fight to preserve the beaches huh? you sound like another "go green dream" person... too fucking hypocritical to really see the picture. You send your money to surfrider and maybe drive a "hybrid" and your green. the earth could stand to loose a couple 5 billion to really save her. sell your house, clothes, car, shoes, everything and then you can say ... you saved a beach. dora knew this as you obviously dont. fantasy land bro. earth is fucked. for more ideas read Ishmael by Daniel Quinn

[Mr47211]

yep,

lots and lots of PRETENDERS around these days,

in FILM, MUSIC.....

[longboarder1960]

"Head first into the fuckin reef"

I love it!

[longboarder1960]

ahh, the man behind the myth...

the truth shall set you free!

great footage

Thanks, William

[prawn1111]

hero worshippers love a good bullshit artist

[NickV409]

Yeah man! Mind you, I'm a bullshitter too, why let the truth get in the way of a good story!? He managed to get a bit of surfing done too- wish I had today- offshore but stuck working.

Keep the dream alive.

[deyoungparker]

Ask anyone who ever actually knew Miki and they'll tell you the same thing: he was the most full of shit guy in history.

[2far2drive]

Loved the book and I love this interview video even more.

I just sit here at work, and keep watching this thing over and over. It keeps my spirit strong....Reminding me that every damn hour here is just more money in that pot to get the hell outa here. time is getting near now....

[msneverquit]

Any true pioneer leads a lonely existence and the further back one goes in recorded history, the more bizarre it gets. Dora was driven by PASSION. It appears things got wierd only when he spoke about them, then he hated the interviewer. I shared water-time with the master in the early '60's and being on balsa boards at the time, we were all blown-away by his grace and intuitive understanding of waves. You never "dropped-in" on Dora more than once, that much I can tell you. RiP Mik

[MarcS4R]

thanks for sharing your memories..Marc

[clarkewi]

@msneverquit Yeah man. Miki led the charge. I saw him many times as a grom at Malibu learning to surf back in 60's. He ruled the place no shit.

[GalaxyDaveD]

@msneverquit  Awesome post!From your experience,did anyone ever confront Miki physically after an altercation out in the ocean?From reading up on Miki and his life,I haven't found if anyone took him on.Just curious.It really doesn't matter.He laid the groundwork for pure surfing and that is what counts for me.

[overheadmovies]

I was out at Staircase this weekend, surrounded by 50 people and I'm thinking, "What the fuck am I even doing out here?" Gotta get away, got to find a better way.

[slaminjustin]

His Philosophy sounds a lot like Col. Kurtz off of Apocolypse Now. Not an insane fellow but still just has been through a lot and seen so much, very interesting and admirable at the same time.

[mentalrevenge]

the David Rensin book is very good if anyone wants more Dora (it's absolutely hilarious in fact).

[bonesdome]

Classic Dora! I still have a letter he wrote framed on my wall. I penned about living spontaneously, for me, especially through playing music. He responded positively. A great role model, & one of me hero's he remains. I was usually inspired by what he had to say, & always by how he surfed!...Bones

[ironduke2000]

Um, okay. I read the transcript, I once saw the clip drunk, and now...I'll need at least a week for it all to fully take hold. Even so, I'm a believer.

[onlytheheartsees]

this is exactly how I imagined him - raw, honest, funny,a little crazed...but sensitive too - beautiful! 'nature's son'. So many people worship at the altar of Dora but I wonder how many of them really get it...not that many from what I can see

thanks for posting this, its pretty special

[titostacos]

Just started the Rensin book. This ISN'T how I imagined him. He seems revved up, agitated, ethnic. I thought he was supposed to be laidback like James Dean. Strong silent hipster type.

[Lexi1126923]

first view.

first comment.

you're jeal.