New member long time appreciater. Hope im posting in the right place. I just found what i think is a 60’s yater longboard that i need help i.d.ing or dating. Its just under 10’ has a split wedge stringer and the yater logo that says yater surfboards above santa Barbara surf shop in the triangle/eye/martini glass shaped logo. It looks to me that it has had a glassed on fin replacement not done very well so im having a hard time seeing if it was originally glassed on or what kinda box it had if any. It looks alot like a spoon in terms of outline but without a step deck. Its pretty beat and brown and has had acoupe crumby hotcoats slapped on it over the years. I just wanna ride it its not for sale but im curious about any history/info i can find. I guess what im worried about is if this board is from the 60s i think i should let one of the ding/resto guys in santa cruz have a crack at it rather than me tearing into it with my shade tree ding repair skills. i dont want full restoration just a solid rider. Thanx in advance if anyone sees this or can offer any info. Ill try to upload some pictures but im not too optimistic about my tech abilities.
Let’s see a pic.
Ive been trying to post pics from my phone all day ill have to try it on a real computer this weekend i reckon
It has a wood tail block. No initial with the serial number either
Wedge stringer
Tail block, wood?
Hum…
If the tail block was grèen.
I would say spoon for sure.
Ill get pics up soon but yea single solid peice of wood tail block. I can make out the grain kinda looks like balsa not redwood i dont think. The foam in the center of the stringers is way less browned from the sun compared to the rest of the foam. Makes me think high density foam inbetween the wedge stringers?
Yes, that would be high density foam in the stringer.
But, a post like this is pretty much a waste of time without any pics.
Yater has been doing boards that fit the description you give since the mid 60s. The fact there’s no initials means it may be old, but even that is not always the case.
I don’t know about Androids, but pretty easy to post a pic with an IPhone. Yater didn’t sign or initial anything in the 60’s and the Wedged String doesn’tmean It’s a Spoon. He has used those stringers for years and still does. These days he signs his boards. I have seen a lot Yaters with T-Band Stringers as well. John Eichert and another guy I can’ t off the top of my head remember the name of (Tuthill?)Ghosted a lot of Yater’s boards. They also glassed and did other duties in his early Shop. Pre Clyde Beaty. It wasn’t necessarily that Yater was super busy as much as he Fished and Lobstered. Probably needed extra help during the Season. At 10’ not likely a Spoon. But one look at the Nose would tell the tale.
First of all thanx everybody for takin the time to respond sorry if im wasting time due to my ineptitude at posting pics. My android phone is not into it. My girlfriends apple stuff hopefully will do the trick. Mcding, this board has NO stepdeck. If its pre or post spoon i just dont know im sure you guys will figure it out with a few pics if my dumbass figures out how to internet
The board has very little rocker and super soft 50/50 rails the whole length. Little bit of belly on the bottom too it seems
Probably pre Spoon. Without seeing it I am suspect of the idea that the center Wedge is High Density Foam. Most likely Balsa. To date the origin of the Spoon all one has to do is figure out what year Rich Harbour unveiled the “Cheater” or what year Noll & Dora came up with “Da Cat”. The Spoon predated both of those boards by a couple of years. And they Both had their origins in the Spoon.
Hell man I couldn’t post pics on this forum for several Years. And took a lot of crap about it from other members. When I got an iPhone a couple of members helped me out and now it is fairly easy to “choose a file”. Good luck with it. Certainly would like to see some pics. Lowel
It’s sad , but I know where there is a nice early 60’s Yater one owner sitting in the rafters. Been up there for years. He went to the original Yater shop and ordered it. Went back a few weeks later and picked it up. T-Band Stringer. Can’t remember what the fin was. I’m thinking wood. I’ll have to make a more fervent effort the next time I’m in Calif. to see If I cam come up with it. Not a Spoon, but a rarely ridden no signature 61 or 62 Yater
Thats a bumner about the relic in the rafters (at least when it aint your rafters) good luck on the hunt mcding. is it a rider? Ask the guy let you ride it if he wont let it go. He might reconsider if you come back all stoked??
I’m not knocking the board… and you should take this all with a grain of salt as I’m not an expert. To my eye, the tailblock looks to be an ‘add-on’ - likely spliced on during one of the repair sessions. The original glass immediately ahead of the tailblock looks kind of bruised and the foam was showing signs of being water stained. It looks to me as if the tail was cut off, the wood added and the tailblock area reglassed with fresh material. Also, the signature on his boards appears in different ways and places at different times. As an example, some of his more recent boards have a cursive style signature on the foam alongside the stringer while some of his older boards simply have a block style “Y” immediately beneath the logo. There were some ghost shapers, as mentioned, and they were known to place a single letter under the logo as well. Sorry - I don’t know the secret code on those. Here are a couple of pics showing at least two variations of signature.
The Spoon came out in 1964. Around that same time Yater changed his logo. The original logo said “Santa Barbara Surf Shop” in the oval area and Surfboards by Yater below it.
That is definitely a high density foam wedge t-band. Yater didn’t stick to a strict numbering sequence and that won’t help dating the board.
But given the looks of it, and the logo used, my guess is the board was built around 1964-66.
Image of original logo. Colors varied.
If deadshaper chimes in he can set us straight on all this. I’m pretty sure that the change in the logo had to do with the change or changes in ownership of Santa Barbara Surf Shop/ The Beach House etc. I’m assuming the owner of The Beach House/Santa Barbara Surf Shop is still Roger??? Last name. He and Yater have had a longstanding and profitable relationship over the years. PS Roger Nance
Yes the center strip appears to be high density foam. It could have been painted. I probably wouldn’t swear to that without seeing it in person. I had a 10’6 Yater that had a wedged stringer. Four inches to zero at the nose. The stringer was regular foam, but painted black. People asked me all the time if it was high density foam. The center strip could be regular foam that was painted Green or Yellow and has faded to Off White. I agree with JM that The tailblock May have been added later. Yater did tailblocks, but not every board. And when he did they were usually contrasting colors to the blank. So in this case it would have been a dark wood. Also Yater was meticulous at putting those blocks on. So if it looks sloppy, Renny probably didn’t do it. I’m not convinced the board is from the 60’s. But you should try to get ahold of Roger (if he is still around) at The Beach House on State Street in Santa Barbara. If anyone has any knowledge of the numbers other than Yater it would be he. The #’s usually designate a production run. They have significance, but only to those who may have been involved with boards produced in a set period of time. PS After looking a second time at your pics, I’d have to say mid sixties because of the Cutlap Volan.
Congrats! Thanks for the pics. Just for curiosity sake, can you post one of the fin/tail. A good find and worth a restore and water time. A lot of board to whip around, but probably a good rider. Lowel