Howzit DMP, I don't know how far back you are referring to but in Hanalei we also had Larry Strada and Wolfman shaping before Brewer even lived on Kauai. Do you remember the Green Room surf shop in Kapaa, they sold boards in the early 70's. Even back then we had more shapers than glassers and Bobby Allen pretty much was it for the North side. Also back then Ambrose was in Lihue at the bottom of the hills between Hanamaulu and Wilcox Hospital and I bet he sold a few boards even back then. Most boards were custom and we liked it that way.Aloha,Kokua
Kokua,
Was not Brewer involved with the Hanapepe Surf Shop in the very early 1970’s? If my sun rotted memory serves me correctly, Wolfman was still on Oahu at that time, with Mike Turkington at Country Surfboards.
I have a T-shirt from the old Hanapepe Surf Shop in a box somewhere, pretty cool design.
I think Brewer was also with the Garden Isle Surf Designs, owned by or with Skip Harmon, also in the very early 1970’s. This too, was a pretty nice logo. If my recollection is on, I think this one burned down under “mysterious” circumstances.
I think RB moved to Kauai following LSD surfboards and the death of his son in a traffic accident.
Westside Boy
Bet I have more fun making a board than a machine does. When the machines start having more fun than me I’m giving up.
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Bet I have more fun making a board than a machine does. When the machines start having more fun than me I’m giving up.
I couldn’t agree more. Great post!
Mike
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Was not Brewer involved with the Hanapepe Surf Shop in the very early 1970's?
Yes he was… there’s a cool board from this era in the Surfing Heritage Foundation collection. The logo is similar to the Surfboards Hawaii one - Times in a rectangle box.
Yes, and then onto Garden Isle Surf Shop. Another great logo, with a seated “Buddha” figure in the logo. Geez, think I have one of those T-shirt’s in a box also.
RB also did some shapes for Shipley at Lightning Bolt around that time. Last time I talked with RB, he said he never did any boards for Bolt, but I had one. He did a few, but not many. Wish I would have held onto it, like many of my boards. It was one of those magic boards, one of RB’s first tri-fins (large center, two small sides, with no toe-in or cant and a small concave in the nose), glassed by Kelly Main. One day surfing Laniakea, I traded boards with a team rider for another shaper and it took me an hour to get me board back. Following the return of my board, he said he was taking one more. I asked where he was going, since the waves were excellent. He said he was going to find Brewer. Validated to me exactly how good that board was.
Kendall, boy do I have some RB stories! LOL
Westside Boy
Howzit Puamana, After writing my post It came to my mind that yes Dick was on Kauai in the 60’s, but not for very long. I was on Oahu from 1970 to 72 then moved to Kauai. My post was about the time after I got to Kauai in regards to shops selling boards here at that time. When I was on Oahu Dick was living with Betty at sunset point so I’m sure it was the late 60’s when he was on Kauai.Aloha,Kokua
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…may be, but do not have fine man craftmanship…
cause the machine shape ALL the difficult parts or steps
the machine is the shaper period
the guy dont do the intrincated parts of the design (and the hull has many) with their hands but with the machine hand…
By that logic, didn’t Clark’s close-tolerance blanks vastly diminish the soul of creating a board starting with a monolithic hunk of foam and a stick?
-Samiam
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so what is more “SOUL”? …
Your detailed post seems to have evaded the question of shaping machines :-> How does it affect your “soul” ranking if that local shaper is using some automated help? How is that modified in the event that you buy a used locally-shaped, machine-assisted board?
-Samiam
…well there re only facts
anyway, Im not afraid of shaping a non close tolerance blanks…
but in most cases the PU will be bland (due the thickness)
and in waste of materials (not good for anyone)
etc
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Howzit DMP, I don’t know how far back you are referring to but in Hanalei we also had Larry Strada and Wolfman shaping before Brewer even lived on Kauai. Do you remember the Green Room surf shop in Kapaa, they sold boards in the early 70’s. Even back then we had more shapers than glassers and Bobby Allen pretty much was it for the North side. Also back then Ambrose was in Lihue at the bottom of the hills between Hanamaulu and Wilcox Hospital and I bet he sold a few boards even back then. Most boards were custom and we liked it that way.Aloha,Kokua
I’m showing my age but I was 7 in 70’ surfing Hanapepe Rivermouth with Duke Wellington’s boys. We would roast a can of corn beef on the beach and that was it for lunch. We didn’t go to Hanalei much because my dad didn’t like all the hippies.
Howzit DMP, That’s funny about your dad not liking hippies. There were some around but it wasn’t like they were in abundance. Another factor may have been the road to Hanalei took almost 2ook 2 hrs to get to Hanalei back then. But the boys didn’t miss the crowds. Aloha,Kokua
one thing i know the machine does is save time…on a recent board i designed with pg, which came out insane after he fine-tuned it post machine cuts, he commented when he first started the fine tuning- " right now , to get the board hand-shaped to this point would have taken me 6-7 hours"…
I was picked up hitch hiking by R.B.
and given a ride to hanapepe west end with my 6’1’’
pedro point made ‘‘underground’’
board…
no LOGO
thirty three pieces of foam
221/2’’ wide
18’’ nose
10’’ tailblock
down railler
brewer said it would spin out
that was august 29 1968
[I arived on aug 28]
the hanapepe surf shop was full blown
boards contracturally glassed by skip harmon
some of which were being shipped hotcoated
hanapepe surf shop logos were already cult
lopez and reno comin and goin
hackman let a bustable infraction
limit his kauai time
brush with the aurhorities made brewer presence tempered
he was always a travelin’ man
wolfie dint come until after the big authorities
mixup with the wolf associates on the NS o’ oahu
perhaps as early as 1970…
I shaped and glassed
at a garage in kapaa next to kojimas
after school at the old KCC
then in anahola in a lean to at teddy williams
‘‘condominium’’
and 9 other houses in the nex two years…
all undergroun
…ambrose…