Rincon Surf Pioneer: Ken Kesson (1928-2015)

By Vince Burns

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Ken Kesson at Rincon Point, ca. 1957. Note the Rincon emblazoned shirt Kesson wears was handmade as the big surf clothing and merchandise brands had yet to emerge – and in the background, the artificial Richfield Oil Island (construction completed 1958).

• Courtesy of Steve Halsted

Photographer Jason Lumley at Rincon Point, ca. 1962.

• Courtesy of Steve Halsted

Jason Lumley’s 1957 inscription in the Rincon surfing scrapbook included Christmas well wishes to the Halsteds.

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• SA well-worn scrapbook of photographs and enthusiastic musings about the Rincon scene captured a pivotal moment in surfing’s rise in California, just as it began the transition from an outlaw sport for rebels like Dick Metz to a mainstream activity backed by a just-forming wave of films, television and music. Created by frequent Point visitor Jason Lumley, the scrapbook was given to the Halsted family in 1957 in thanks for hosting Lumley at the Point. Filling its pages are photos of Lumley’s buddies taking to the Rincon waves more than 60 years ago. 

A well-worn scrapbook of photographs and enthusiastic musings about the Rincon scene captured a pivotal moment in surfing’s rise in California, just as it began the transition from an outlaw sport for rebels like Dick Metz to a mainstream activity backed by a just-forming wave of films, television and music. Created by frequent Point visitor Jason Lumley, the scrapbook was given to the Halsted family in 1957 in thanks for hosting Lumley at the Point. Filling its pages are photos of Lumley’s buddies taking to the Rincon waves more than 60 years ago. 

One of the surfers featured in the document is Ken Kesson (1928-2015) who in the late 1950s was fast becoming one of Santa Barbara and Ventura’s founding fathers of surf (we’ll describe some prominent early women surfers in a future article). 

Kesson taught Steve Halsted to surf at Rincon Point in the mid-1950s. By 1960, Kesson was among a group of pioneers to found the Santa Barbara County Surf Club (SBCSC), along with Reynolds “Renny” Yater and other surfing royalty. In August of the same year, Kesson appeared in the Carpinteria Herald explaining how Hawaiian Duke Kahanamoku had brought the sport to California. 

“Surfing is addicting like no other sport I know,” Kesson said in the article. “When the surf comes up a dentist friend of mine cancels his appointments. Surfers drive over 200 miles and others sleep on the beach. The joy and thrill, the perfect mental therapy of the cold water and the racing board, this exhilarating effect makes surfing one of the most purely relaxing sports I know.” No doubt, today’s wave riders agree.

In another contribution to local surfing, Kesson is credited with the opening of Hollister Ranch as a favorite destination for SBCSC members. Kesson went on to compete in still-iconic surf contests, including the U.S. Surfing Championship in 1964 at Huntington Beach and in Peru the following year at the World Surfing Championship. He then discovered and mastered another risky hobby he could have fun with at Rincon: hang gliding! 

Again Kesson helped found a club, teaching many in the early 1970s to take to the air from the bluffs and hills between Carpinteria and Ventura. Along the way, Kesson pioneered the use of helmets in the sport. Kesson then traveled the world with Judie, is wife, in a VW camper (did any early surfer not own a VW?), among many other adventures. The Kessons ended up in Baja California where they lived for many years and founded the Baja Scholarship Foundation to provide grants to disadvantaged children in northern Baja (contributions always welcome: bajascholarshipfoundation.org. 

Back to the yellowing scrapbook: amongst the inside jokes and banter, Lumley recorded the popular culture which was already attaching itself to surfing and which would eventually lead to the rise of the big clothing, surfboard and wetsuit brands. Note that the Rincon-emblazoned shirt Kesson wears in the nearby photo is homemade, not the product of mass marketing and foreign manufacture. 

Lumley referenced the sport’s growing popularity, quoting from “Gidget“ – "a book about a rather notorious girl who hit Malibu in the summer of 55" – and accurately predicted the coming explosion of interest in surfing and its California lifestyle. 

A unique treasure, both for the history of surfing at Rincon Point and as a snapshot of a California surf moment when enthusiasts still took to the waves in handmade surf shirts and cutoff jeans, with only military-surplus wool for warmth. It was a simpler time, just before the Gidget-besotted gremmie invasion. 

Local resident and historian Vince Burns is researching, writing, and collecting historical photographs and accounts for an upcoming book on the history of Rincon Point. He is actively seeking photographs from the community for the project and is grateful for submissions of photographs for possible inclusion. Vince will promptly scan and return your photographs. He can be reached at vinceburns805@gmail.com. 

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