With a streak of more than 40 years, the Northern California core lord has gracefully kicked out.
Some records in surfing feel untouchable. Slater’s 11 world titles. Eddie Aikau’s rescues. And Dale Webster’s 14,642 consecutive days in the water — a run so absurdly committed it might never be matched.
Dale, known to many as Daily Dale or The Daily Wavester, passed away at 76, after a life that was as saltwater-soaked as they come.
Born in 1948 in Northern California, Dale first stood up on a board in 1961. As a teenager he shook Duke Kahanamoku’s hand at the U.S. Championships in Huntington Beach — describing it as “liquid sunshine pouring over me.” In 1973, he moved to Sonoma County, where the raw, sharky, wind-lashed coast would become both his playground and his crucible.
The streak began almost by accident in September 1975, during a long south swell. After 85 straight days, a friend joked he should go for 100. Dale hit 100, made the local paper, pushed for a year, and never looked back. His personal rule: at least three waves to the beach every single day, fin dragging in the sand.
Inspired by Doc Paskowitz’s philosophy and Phil Edwards’ style, Dale made no exceptions — not for kidney stones, thyroid problems, savage storms, or even the day his wife passed from cancer. The Pacific didn’t care, and neither did he.
Surfing Sonoma year-round is no postcard fantasy. Water temps in the low 50s, winter storms, lurking Great Whites. But Dale was always out there. For locals, he wasn’t just part of the lineup — he was the lineup.
Over the years, his reasons for keeping the streak alive shifted — from beating the previous record of 5,280 days, to seeing if he could “surf for a full lunar cycle” (he thought it was 40 years; turns out, 30 days). In 2003, Dana Brown’s Step Into Liquid introduced his story to the wider surf world. Even Kelly Slater gave him a nod:
“I once knew this girl who didn’t miss a day of high school in four years. I thought she was weird. Dale Webster hasn’t missed a day of surfing in 14,641 days and I think he’s awesome.”
The streak finally ended on October 5, 2015 — 40 years, one month, and one day after it started — when Dale had to step back for a minor medical procedure. But he kept surfing for another decade, still finding joy in less-than-perfect conditions:
“You have to surf the waves you have on hand. It may not be barreling, but putting on a suit, going out there, and just being in the water feels wonderful.”
Dale Webster lived a life anchored by the tide and measured in waves. No trophies. No sponsors. Just an unbroken line of days doing the thing he loved most.
The ocean will remember.
