Crowd funding for a book chronicling the history of surfing in Port Macquarie is underway.
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Author and local resident Keith McMullen has given himself a month to reach the $15,000 target required to produce the two year project.
The high quality coffee book - Port Macquarie's History of Surfing - contains hundreds of images and over 70,000 words.
Keith started surf board riding at Flynns Beach during the late 1960s and early 70s and has interviewed over 100 people for the book.
His grandfather, Harry McLaren invented the surf ski in Port Macquarie in 1912.
"So I have a deep, personal involvement with surfing," he said.
Keith says surfing continues to be popular in Port Macquarie after reaching its peak in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
"We have produced world, national and state level champion surfers and body boarders over the years," he said.
"As a surf town, Port Macquarie did not have the reputation as renowned as Crescent Head, Byron Bay or Angourie. These were the celebrated surf breaks.
"So when you look at the highest levels reached by our professional and amateur surfers, for a town that is not one of those big surf towns, we have certainly produced far above our weight and outperformed those better known spots.
"What we have produced speaks to the depth of the quality of surfer and body boarder in this area."
He said Port Macquarie really reached its zenith in those early days, culminating in national magazines focusing stories on Port Macquarie and its board riders.
"But after the 1990s, surf board riding diversified away from the heartbeat of surfing gangs and mates surfing up and down the coast. The industry changed
But after the 1990s, surf board riding diversified away from the heartbeat of surfing gangs and mates surfing up and down the coast. The industry changed.
- Keith McMullen
"The internet brought surfing into homes and fathers, and uncles and even grandparents reinvigorated the diversification to a broad sector of the community.
"It gained a broader base," he said.
"All these changes were a dynamic for the sport."
Surfing and body boarding, he says, became a healthy sport and lifestyle to enjoy and participate in.
Keith says working on the book was rewarding and enabled him to meet a lot of old friends and meet and make new friends.
"It just blew me away just how deep and rich the story of surfboarding riding is in Port Macquarie," he added.
"It has shaped people's lives and given people a lifelong sport. It has had long term effects on people.
"And surfing has contributed quite significantly to making Port Macquarie the town it is today."
But it was not always that way.
Keith remembers surfing being shunned and resisted by civic leaders, employers and families.
"They were all opposed to it in the day," he says.
"This story is surprising in its drama and there are a few real twists. I think it is a good read.
"It is a pictorial history and will be a great book that will stand the test of time.
"The book is an historical account of the surfing and the town."
Keith says he is confident in reaching the $15,000 target with a book launch pencilled in for late August.
The initial print run is likely to be 500 copies.
To get involved in crowd funding to help publish the book, search Facebook for Port Macquarie's History of Surfing or go to the kickstarter page.
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