Neighbor gave me this board, it’s in pretty much perfect shape. I tried surfing it a couple times on some smaller/mushy days. Seemed like it wanted more juice so didn’t get a great feel for it, any info would be great! Most I can find is it’s a closed surf shop in Santa Monica.
The Signature says “Rodrigo Senores…6 3 #3288” Although not sure about that last name.
Apologies if there is a better spot for this topic, new to the forum.
Hi Jeremy,
To answer your questions, Horizons West Surf Shop was at 2003 Main Street in Santa Monica at the corner of Main Street and Bay Street, two short blocks from the beach. In fact, you could stand at that northwest corner and do a surf check of this very popular surf break, known appropriately as “Bay Street”. The shop closed several years ago and is presently the Dogtown Coffee shop. Horizons West was a popular surf shop and hang out for many years prior to its closing about 10 years ago. It was owned by Nathan Pratt (a prominent surfer/skater Z-Boy/Zepher Team member) and the shop was managed by Randy Wright, PSA professional surfer. It was one of the last true “Mom & Pop” surf shops left in L.A. The building itself is a designated historical site because it was the Zephyr Surf Shop prior to becoming H.W. That shop was owned by Jeff Ho and run by Skip Engblom and Craig Stecyk during a good part of the 1970s. Historically, this place is extremely revered by surf/skate culture. Your surfboard was built at the now defunct Aqua Tech Glassing / Anderson Surfboards factory in Marina del Rey, CA, just a few miles south down the beach. I used to work there. The person who shaped this board is Rodrigo Pires, and his “G” logo has a yellow giraffe because his nickname reflected his long neck and lanky physique at the time. Rodrigo was the sander at Aqua Tech, but he also liked to shape and was coached by Scott Anderson and Gino Candinho who also glassed and shaped at the factory. Sadly, Scott passed away a few years ago and the factory moved down to Hermosa Beach and is now run by Scott’s wife and son. I hope this is useful information for you.
@kendog sure is lots of history behind that shop.
I didn’t know Scott’s son was also helping run things at Aquatech now.
Hope you’re doing well and to hear you’re still around!
Good to read your reply, Florian. Yes, local surfer/boardmaker-legend Scott Anderson’s younger son Drew is following in his late dad’s footsteps. I’m elated to know that.
Thanks for the good wishes, I’ve dodged a few bullets, but will be back surfing soon.
Imua, braddah.
Thanks for taking time to write such a detailed response, it was a cool surprise to see this after posting so long ago. Board is sitting in garage still. Might have to put it on the wall now that I have some history to go with it. Cheers!
