i shaped a couple boards for this guy’s sons and he pulls this old surfboards hawaii out to show me. it needs some attention so we fixed up all the dings and now it is watertight and ready to surf again! anyone have any insight on this board - date made, shaper, etc? he got it from his cousin up in new jersey. funny to see that it still has the bungee cord/leather strap leash attached to the fin bolt - i dont think this baby has been surfed in a long time. anyways - it would be fun to tell the owner some background…
serial number is deckside closer to the tail and reads 32768
dims are 6’10 x 19-1/2 (6" up from center) 3-1/8 thick (thickest point right at the logo). nose is 13" and tail is about 12". the tail section is very straight but the foil of the board is very even and the rails are blended into the deck unlike a lot of these type of boards with a steep angled rail off a flat deck.
the bottom (inside of the cutlap) looks like it has a red gel coat that was probally added later on maybe to cover up some kind of damage?
My guess '71-'72. If it came from NJ it may have been bought at a shop in Pt. Pleasant (I can’t recall the name) just over the tracks where Rt. 88 meets Rt. 35 next to the Ark.
I'd say 70-71. That could be a Donald Takayama shape and Donnie Mulhern lamination; Mully was telling me some funny stories a couple of weeks ago, about working at SH in Encinitas right after he got back from Australia in 1970. This was right before he and Takayama split off to start MTB.
The Brewer-style box rail didn't really come around until 72-73. But not all shapers adopted it, so it's possible the board could be from that time; but the outline and the fin sure look like 1970.
Amazed that old bungie cord hasn’t turned into rubber dust. I don’t have the sharpest memory from that time, but that fin has got to be before 72. Am I wrong? Mike
My good buddy’s roommate (both very beginner surfers) picked this board up locally in Virginia Beach at a yard sale for 50 bucks. It came back to their house and was only taken out by myself once (no leash plug). This thing is magic. So, about a year later the board finally makes it into my hands. It’s in amazing shape considering how banged up it has been over the years.
Now. . . .
I took it to a friends glassing shop to hopefully repair some dings and to glass on a custom fin. The original fin got lost who knows when, but the previous owner glassed in what looks like a garage hand foiled plywood fin (as far as I can tell). The board is beautiful and weighs about 30lbs. It has a cloth inlay in the nose and pigmented rails.
So. . . .
Before I tear into this thing I wanted to know if it should be left in its current condition or if I should make it water tight and surf the piss out of it.
Pretty rare board. Noserider with a fabric inlay? Not many of those were made, I’d guess. It was probably made in 1965-66. It’s in decent shape for its age, despite the hack job repair in the nose. You should fix any open dings and ride it. Surfboards are made to be used in water.
