Found REAL old plank surfboard

General Discussion
1

A friend dragged it out from under his house, was his wife’s brother’s board, from (maybe) the 40s(?) in Makaha.

The board is about 8’6" x 22 (or so), alternating 1-1/2" strips of redwood and balsa, glasses, with a really ugly fin on it. The board has been ridden a lot and has some dings with attendant minor rot/discoloration. Rails are pretty straight, and there’s not much rocker, but it’s the real thing. And it’s kinda heavy, but not what you wouldn’t expect from a solid wood board.

I’m wondering whether this board (which I view as a wallhanger, not a rider) would be better refinished with a high gloss auto urethane, or just “fixed” to make it “rideable”.

How says the council?

2

Cool got any pics?

3

No pix, gotta contact Dave again about what he might do with it.

4

In the wooden boat magazines I’ve seen some thin epoxy advertised (“Git rot”) that sucks in to rotten wood and stabilizes it. Maybe a way to preserve what’s left without gouging the old stuff out for repair? Check with the “Rot Doctor” - he says there’s some other stuff that works even better…

http://www.rotdoctor.com/L/BoatL/Bqa.html