Beach Trading Blog

Body Glove founder Bob Meistrell stepped forward last Friday to offer a $5,000 reward for information leading to the safe return of the George Freeth bust and the arrest and conviction of those responsible for stealing the icon from the Redondo Beach pier in Southern California.

The bronze sculpture of Freeth, who is credited with bringing surfing to the United States from Hawaii 100 years ago, was snatched sometime overnight on August 6th from the pier, where it has been a fixture since 1977. Meistrell, who owns Dive N’ Surf in Redondo Beach, is distributing reward posters to other local surf shops, as well as to scrapyards where the artwork might wind up in exchange for money for its metals.

Redondo Beach police believe thieves knocked the bust loose from its concrete pedestal sometime between midnight and 5 a.m. last Thursday. The bust is thought to weigh about 100 pounds, but no monetary worth has been established.

Created by sculptor Terry O’Donnell, an El Camino College teacher who died in January, the bust was the city’s way of honoring the historic figure who popularized surfing both as a sport and a culture in the South Bay. Freeth came to California in 1907 at the age of 23. He also was a pioneer in lifeguarding, saving 78 lives.