Seaview Road Board Riders (SRBR) was formed in 1964 at a time when there were only two other independent surfing clubs in South Australia - Four Point and Day Street. These established clubs catered for an older age group of surfers who were probably the first 'wave' surfers in South Australia but the sport also appealed to an emerging younger generation. It was from this younger generation that SRBR (later to be known simply as the Roaders) emerged as a recognised surf club in the state. At about the same time other clubs formed like Oceanside, Sand-n-Sea and South Bay.

Members from the club used to go down to the mid and south coasts on the Friday night for the whole weekend and the first official meeting was held at the café of the Esso Garage at Darlington which was aptly named "The Tampering Shop" for obvious reasons. At that first meeting were the two 'Robbo' brothers (Daryl and Peter),the two 'Davo' brothers (Graham and Brian), the three Foreman brothers (Brian, Graham and John) and Barry 'Baz' Young. After officers were elected and they had worked out how the club would be run, they decided on the club colours (black and white) explored some logo ideas and then they were off down the coast to the business of the day - surfing!

The concept of the club was to keep it a tight group, they even considered keeping the membership to a maximum of 10. In fact the Davo's parents donated board shorts to the initial club members - certainly a collectors item these days! As time moved on the club decided to selectively grow its membership in order to build up its surfing strength in surf competitions which were pretty big back then. However, to become a member required an 80% approval from the membership which made those who had made it feel really special. Some guys were kept on a 'probation period' for up to a year after joining - a cruel joke but taken in good spirit by all. Other surfers to join about that time were 'Hindu' Thompson, 'Speed' Spencer, 'Gnat' McBride, 'The Bleachos' (Phill and Glen Nesbitt), 'China' Forbes, 'Gordie' Rogers, 'Tex' Keeland, 'Parpy' Smith, Dabby Dabernig, 'Goose' Hockley and later 'Gorgo' Chandler, Greg 'noddy' Webb, 'Coon' Forbes and George Knight - nicknames were almost mandatory and in some cases we only ever recognised guys by their nicknames.

Surf clubs were becoming more popular with the media and you would see the occasional newspapers running surfing columns and reporting club contest results etc. The whole beach and surfing culture became 'groovy' to the sound of the Beach Boys and other surf music bands topping the charts in the late 60's. Radio 5AD sponsored the club at this time and as well as the usual club parka and board shorts they gave the club this incredibly huge old funeral hearse spray painted lime green and black and that the guys affectionately called 'the Charger'.

The Charger became the club room. It was nothing to see 10 or 12 guys in it every weekend hitting the parties at night and parked where the surf was best during the day. It was not unusual to see the Charger role up to the Pt Elliot drive in theatre with two people inside and 8 or more surfboards on top only to be magically full of Roaders on the way out! They took it in turns to keep the Charger at one Roader's place on the Sunday evening - that poor volunteer always got the job of cleaning it out after a weekend of surfing fun. Of course maintaining the Charger was an issue so the club held several fund raising events (pissups really!) that kept the Charger on the road.

There were many club surf trips made in the Charger but the most notable were the Bells Beach Australian Tiltles, the SA vs VIC Contest at Pt McDonald and the trip to end all road trips, the Tunerama Contest at Pt Lincoln. The flower bomb and shit bomb fights between our Charger crew and the Sand-n-Sea bus were legendary stuff. But mostly the Roaders would wake up Sunday morning at Seaford or Middleton buried under a pile of sleeping bodies in the back of the Charger recovering from the night before. They would all be grateful to be there ready to go again for the next day of surfing. The Charger was always central to the Roaders when they congregated at the beach not to mention the many sing a longs they would have on route.

After many years of use and abuse the Charger finally gave up the ghost - although the club did suspect foul play from some other surf club! However, the club did buy a second one because the tradition was now so strong. Radio 5AD, now over the surf music phase, had flagged the club, so the crew emblazoned "The Roaders" on the sides. There was a new generation of Roaders coming through which had to make their mark on the club. Surfers like Andy Inkster, Mick Higgins, Mick Miller, 'Waldo' Hartley, Gerry Wedd, Phil Binns, Kim 'Roader' Thompson, 'Freckles',Frank Schuetze and others. These guys armed with the new Charger and the Roaders spirit and tradition carried on the SRBR brand into a new era which grew the club to the dominant club it is today.

The Seaview Road Board Riders or The Roaders as they are called today is a surf club with a long heritage and many wonderful memories. They have had over forty years of this tradition and it continues today.

We will be placing information about upcoming Roaders events here - stay tuned ....

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