HONOLULU. Two Sydney surfers, Robert McTavish, 19, and David Chidgey, 17, were ordered yesterday to be deported from Hawaii as illegal visitors who stowed away in the 

District Judge Martin Pence, in “a spirit of Christmas goodwill,” agreed that Federal charges against the youths would be dropped so long as they returned to Australia.

They will be sent home aboard a Pan American Airways flight today.

 in Sydney on November 5, and had been “surfing and sleeping” at Sunset Beach since November 16.

They were caught by Immigration officials after a chase along the beach on Tuesday afternoon.

SYDNEY. Two young stowaways to Hawaii were returned to their parents yesterday, thanks to a lenient Honolulu federal judge, Martin Pence. But Robert McTavish, 19, and David Chidgey. 17, both of Sydney, may not be treated so kindly in their hometown. They face a possible legal action by the P&O Orient Line which operates the 

 McTavish and Chidgey stowed away on the 

 on Nov. 5 and arrived in Hawaii Nov. 16.

Deputy Chairman JD Bates of the shipping company said his firm may sue to recover a $2,000 fine imposed against his company by Judge Pence and the $880 airfare from Hawaii to Australia. Bates condemned the boys’ actions as “childishly irresponsible and discreditable” and said the young men ‘‘have caused P&O and the United States authorities much trouble and expense."

He said the young men had knowingly broken the law and must face the consequences.

McTavish and Chidgey were apprehended by U.S. immigration officials at Sunset Beach, Oahu, on Tuesday and appeared before Pence on Thursday. Local charges were dismissed when immigration officials completed arrangements for their return to Australia.

The boys weren't very talkative when their Pan-American jet landed at Sydney.

While in Honolulu, however, the boys talked freely with reporters and even managed to laugh at some of the things they did while on the 

At Sydney, McTavish and Cliidgey refused interviews and were rushed home by their parents who met them at the airport.

McTavish's version of events, as recalled in 1995.

 steamed out of Sydney with perhaps ten Aussie surfers onboard. Most had paid passage; Dave Chidgey and I were stowaways. We simply strolled up the passenger gangway and stayed as the ship pulled out of port. During our subsequent five weeks on the North Shore, Chidgey and I were pretty well into the whole Sunset Beach scene. We ended up inheriting a couple of fairly nice guns from our ex-shipmates, as the majority of our countrymen discovered a preference for riding Makaha with their hotdog boards. At night we crashed on the floor at a friend’s place. During the day we worked painting Val Valentine’s house on the sand for a buck an hour, and clocked off to go surfing whenever we wanted. Chidgey and I were more or less fearless at the time, having handled all the big surf the east coast of Australia could offer, and we found Sunset to be big and thrilling, but also smooth, safe and predictable. A piece of cake! We surfed maxed-out Sunset alone, many times.

Therefore we were a little surprised at the relatively stiff and average surfing of many of the big-time North Shore names. In Australia we’d have written them off as total eggrolls. Sure, that kid Hakman was good, as were Ryan Dotson and a couple of others. But the rest were pretty lame. Nice guys, but average surfers. Poor equipment, I felt, was a big part of this. I’d been ready to bow down to American board design and technology, but quickly realized that these guys didn’t have any great authority on what would or wouldn’t work.

Chidgey and I rode two boards: a flat-bottomed 10'4" Farrelly, and a bowl-nosed Jackson (from Cronulla, in Sydney). The Hawaiians didn’t give a second glance to the former board, as they were all fervent Bob Shepherd/Pat Curren “bowl believers.” But Chidgey and I, from experience, constantly fought over the Farrelly.

After five weeks of Sunset, Laniakea, Kammies, Sunset, Makaha and more Sunset, we got busted just as we were about to start a job at Dole Pineapple in Town to earn the $75 to get to California. Dotson had promised me a shaping job there, probably at G&S. Ah, well! Instead, our Hawaiian sojourn ended when we were unceremoniously deported back to Australia.

[Top: 1950s postcard of the SS Orsova. Above: Bob McTavish back in Australia, at Noosa. Photo: John Witzig]

MCTAVISH '63: BAREFOOT FUGITIVE

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