The pump would get so hot that you would have to dip it in the water to cool it off. You'd feel the water coming up to your nose. I can't tell you how many times we had to bail out of that thing. It's a wonder we didn't get an air embolism. We used to march around in some of the local lakes at depths of about 15 feet," recalled Bob.
In 1944, the Meistrell family packed up and moved to Manhattan Beach, California. Bob and Bill enrolled in Redondo Union High School. After a year and a half the boys transferred to El Segundo High where they took up football and swimming.
The Meistrells fell in love with the ocean despite the pollution problem. "At Manhattan Beach you couldn't swim because it was so polluted," says Bob. They got into surfing just as balsa boards were starting to catch on and were among the first to apply fiberglass to protect the nose of the foam-filled plywood boards.
During high school the boys bought a genuine diving helmet for $25, after the owner was killed using it. "We marched all over the breakwater with that thing, one at a time while the other would be pumping. There were no wetsuits in those days so we would be freezing. The helmet was only good for looking around. You couldn't lean over and grab anything. Maximum depth was 20 feet. There was clear water with a white sandy bottom and lots of fish. A whole other world!"
After graduating El Segundo High the Meistrell twins became full-time lifeguards, but shortly after Bill was drafted into the Army. Bob, thinking he would be deferred because of a broken back sustained while playing football, was drafted in the Army two months after he was married. They said, "You're warm, you're breathing, you're in the Army now." Bob stayed in the reception center in Monterey and Bill went to Korea where he received a Bronze Star. "I lived in Santa Cruz and hitchhiked back and forth to the Monterey Army Base. I lived one block from the beach at Pleasure Point and surfed by car light without a wetsuit almost nightly. There were no other people, but a little seal would sometimes jump up on my board and surf into the beach with me at the river mouth."
Bob and Bill needed to find a way to combat California's cold water. They tried a variety of ideas, including electrically heated flyers' suits from the war surplus but those would burn up and wool sweaters lasted only as long as they were dry, which wasn't too long. Finally in 1953, they found insulation material that was used in the back of refrigerators. This material was called neoprene and with it the Meistrell brothers fashioned the first practical wetsuits.
In 1953, Bill's friend Bev Morgan, a Los Angeles County Lifeguard who later went on to successfully manufacture a line of dive gear, made an offer to Bill to buy into a share of his local sports shop called Dive N Surf. Bev owned the shop with Hap Jacobs, who later pioneered the modern surfboard, but Jacobs wanted out so Bill accepted the offer on one condition, that his brother Bob be brought in as a partner as well. Bev agreed and Bob and Bill borrowed $1800 from their mom and each bought one third of the business. "Business started out slow. At first I thought, wow, this business is really taking off!" Slowly but surely business did get better, although during the first few years bringing in $100 a day was a goal not a reality. To keep themselves afloat the twins continued lifeguarding on a part-time basis. In 1957 the Meistrell brothers were able to buy out their remaining partner.
In 1955, Bob was part of the UICC (Underwater Instructors Certification Course) Class #1. These watermen were the first people in the world to become certified scuba instructors. Some of the other class members were: Bev Morgan, Al Tillman, Ramsey Parks, Andy Rechnitzer, Bill Walker, E.R. Cross and Herb Barthels. Bob's Certification number is 1UICC #13.
The Meistrell brothers also owned a company called Dive N Surf Marine Photography. They did commercial diving down to 255 feet on straight air and used to swim through ½ mile salt water intake pipes for the Southern California Edison Company. Their interest went even deeper however, submarines! Bob and Bill were involved in a company called Undersea Graphics. The company had a single man, 750-foot capability sub and a 2-man 2000-foot capability sub. They do pipeline inspection and recover objects lost in deep water.
In 1990, Bob and Bill were inducted into both the Diving Hall of Fame and the Pioneers of Surfing. "We were among the first surfers. We spent years and years along the beaches. We were selected not because we were great surfers, but because we were the ones that brought out the wetsuits. Without them there would been a lot of drowning."
In 2006 the diving and surfing world lost a valuable member, Bill Meistrell succumbed to a long battle with Parkinson's disease. He was a true pioneer in the watermen's world and is missed everyday. On July 30th, 2008 Bob turned 80 years young and in honor of Bill's memory and their birthdays he spent the day diving and surfing.
