Have you ever wondered, "what in the world is a spindrift?"
 
 
According to nature writer, John J. Rowlands, author of Spindrift from a House by the Sea (1960):
  

"Spindrift is the misty spray that flies from the cresting waves when the winds blow hard and the seas run high."

But, of course, we Oceanside Sailors know it as the name of our most cherished high school souvenir ― our  yearbook. Until now, it has been the most complete record and collection of memories from our time at Oceanside High School, particularly our senior year. (One classmate fondly called it "The Old Book.")

Aptly titled, Spindrift was our parting gift to each other as we prepared to leave the safe harbor of our high school and sail off into the stormy seas of adulthood and the real world. 

        
 Our Spindrift never explained the hourglass on its cover, but with hindsight, we can now surmise that it symbolized the small amount of time we had left to be together then before sailing off in so many different directions.

       

Here's Howie
Our 1960 Spindrift described itself on its opening page as "a pale commentary compared to the many warm memories in your minds."  If you count the faces pictured under that activity and do the math, Spindrift will also tell you that 112 seniors (22% of our class) labored on its preparation, far and away more senior Sailors and, in fact, more Sailors than were directly involved in any other single school activity that year. They did this, they said, with the goal of making "those fond memories a little more distinct and a little more alive."  It makes one wonder:

  • Could we have known back in 1960 how far and wide we would disperse (more than any generation before us) and how we would necessarily lose touch with one another?

  • Could we have known back in 1960 how distinct and alive those memories nevertheless would be, how important they would be to us and how much pleasure they would give us ― over 40 years later?

  • Could we have known back then, in 1960, how much less distinct and alive those memories might have been ― as we all approached our seventh decade of life ― without our Spindrift?

 

Many of the images and bits of information on this cyber- come from Spindrift, and we gratefully thank theSailors among us and those from earlier classes who had the foresight to preserve them for our lifetimes ― in Spindrift ― so they could always be our harbor lights, and guide our return to port where we can drop anchor any time we might care to navigate its pages. And what a trip it has been! 
 


In July 2008, our class association came into possession of the only pristine condition, unsigned 1960 edition of Spindrift known to exist that is not maintained under lock and key at the Oceanside Public Library.

 


 
Yearbook Online

For those among us who have lost their precious yearbooks as the years sailed by, worn them out or just don't want to dig them out of mothballs, this site presents a full set of senior portraits with all the commentary that originally accompanied them ― 57 authentic and complete pages right out of your 1960 Spindrift ― and more!!  What else, you ask??  How about group photos taken from the 1958 and '59 Spindrifts of our class as sophomores and juniors?

 
Click on the little
Spindrift for
  Yearbook Online

   

        

 

      

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