Bump.
I want to hear the story. This thread is is pretty interesting.
I went back like 5 pages
and am getting tired of reading.
did anybody mention the simmons
on display in the state street shop
with the step in the deck?
and did it have the handles?
that was the swing weight variation
for simmons g-arm.
…ambrose…
Brose--- You are no doubt "chronic". Let's see if we can string a couple of sentences together in a coherent manner.
I owned a black colored Da Cat board that also had a green/blue 5 inch stripe around it. It came from Greg’s Shop up on PCH in Hermosa and sent to Charley Galanto, who was running the Greg Noll Shop in Kaimuki in the 60’s, where Downing Hawaii, later moved in. Loved that board! Stepping into the “nose deck”, would get you hoots and incredible nose rides at places like #3’s, Queens or Haleiwa.
Well I'm sure that board was cool. But in your heyday you could have surfed an ironing board and made it look good. In your case brudda; "It's the singer, not the song".
ok mc your chastizing has been wearing on me for a day or so .
I admit to being a bit cryptic but chronic in the stretched sense
of eating all my children or asthmatic or perhaps soy marhijuano?
Zeus dint make me regurgitate my kids,I am not asthmatic ,
and third the last
time I smoked dope was 1982.
so here goes.
In the yater shop on state street when picking up
my yater standard with a spoon template in like 66-68
as I had more than one,linda fredrucks ,stu’s wife,
told me the story of the archaic surfboard on display
in the showroom .
It was a steped deck built of balsa by bob simmons
the story was that it was stepped or scooped out
to reduce the weight for turning ease and transportation
as b.simmons’ injured aka gimp arm left limb mobility and strength an issue.
I dont remember if it had the storied hand grip handle that was an inovation
also introduced by the simmons design lab for holding on in push throughs.
…ambrose…
I hope this helps decode the cryptic post previous.
Aha! Much better. That is the essential evolution of first generation stepdeck noses. Yater hung out with Simmons early on and was no doubt influenced .
This took place in April 1995. I bought one of the fakes, and realized it was not original, I contacted the Los Angeles Detective and helped him solve the case. I have the Daily Breeze article dated 4/8/1995 that explains what happened.
Too bad it took you so many years to run across this thread and site. It had more relevance back when. Most people who post on this site these days have no idea what we are talking about. It was a fun happening back then. Greg is gone, so I can say it. Those “Da Cat” model boards were not cats at all. They were real “Dogs”.
One ad was denied by Surfer mag. The one with Dora posed in front of crossed boards as if he was crucified. The remaining ad campaign for Da Cat did not run in Surfer at all.
A few were pretty classic, too.
And since this topic has been resurrected once more…
Did anyone see the recent auction where a glass off “restored” Cat sold for $30k?
Seriously, 30 thousand for a board that has had more “work” than Cher. Some people have lots of money and little sense.
There were many other boards in that auction which were far more desirable and sold for much, much less.
I"m going to respond to a few comments since I brought this topic up again. Obviously, someone paying $30k for a foam 1966 model board that has been restored, not original or rare has money to burn. Plus how much has that board been restored? Glass taken off, new logo, reglassed and pigmented, redone fin; not a1966 board. For us collectors back in the 80’s and 90’s, it was all about being original, how clean, and the rarity of the board. Like I said before, I was the one who contacted and worked with the LA Detective on the fake da cats in April1995; I have an article from April 8, 1995 The Daily Breeze. When I brought home my black cat from the guy it was a quick transaction off the freeway ramp. When I got it home, I realized it was not real comparing it with my other two 1966 DaCats. To set the record straight on how many fake ones there were; only four. Shortly there after I sold my entire surfing collection for 2 reasons. Danny Brawner, Randy Lewis, Auctions, Longboard Grotto, someone trying to make copy DaCats or people begging me to sell them one of my boards that didn’t even surf. To me when I collected in the 1980’s and 90’s it was fun to learn and share information and trade with other collectors. Someone made a comment about DaCats being a “dog”, It is true I rode one of my DaCats in the 90"s not my favorite board to ride for many reasons in the design/shape. But what 60’s boards can you compare to longboards now days. It is true that Dora took the Yater Spoon idea and incorporated it into his board. I made a comment that they posted in the Daily Breeze back in 1995; “There’s a trust thing among those who love the old surfboards. You trade and sell and have fun with it. But this has left a dirty taste.”
This was a fun thread. Lots of good stuff…