Jimmyringo, I bought that board because of its design, the name means nothing to anyone I’ve spoken to but it could be something interesting…? or maybe a one-off backyarder board. But it’s an early twin because of the full nose and close set twin fins.
You could have bought it from the guy I sold it to.
BillThrailkill, no joke, I had 25 second hand board and a few nice ones , fins, and a collection of surfing stuff, crap we’d call it. 5, 10 maybe $15 000 if you had the right buyer. IF. And only on the best day of your life.
A friend has 9/10ths of a cake of wax in his lounge room from 1980 because it was used by Dane Kealoha when he came to Sydney and surfed at Bondi. And that’s an honest surf Collector. He doesn’t have the money to buy a board, never will, even a replica, but he cherishes that wax because of the memories and because of Danes surfing. Every time I visit him he proudly shows me the wax and I politely show genuine interest because he really cherishes it and waxes lyrically about the time he saw Dane use the wax on his board and then how each heat went in a contest called the Bearepairs Open ( named after a tyre repair company) and how good Danes surfing was and why he should’ve been the WC in 1980 and 81. And on and on he goes, but he lives the history of the item. No one knows more about that moment in time that him. He is me, but without the surfboards.
Anyway, another friend put me in contact with some kid, bleached hair and the ‘tude but not a surfer. Surfie yes, but not a surfer.
This kid had money and his story he shared was that he and his dad spend big money on whatever they want, rare cars , surfboards, whatever they like, whenever, highlighting their ability to throw money around. Neither of them showed they have deep roots in the history of surfing or the disparate evolution of surfboard design. Didn’t know about the Velzy Pig, Blake hollows, Transition period, Smirnoff Pro, Bustin down the doors, Nah, they just chuck money at shit they like.
Hello Payday !!
When they mentioned that they buy whatever they want, I thought , well I WAS happy to offload the boards and crap for an astronomical figure of $15 000 but let’s try $30 000.
He offered $25 000 and I said no sale, he whined a bit about the money, which is always insulting to someone who has risked their life on some of these gun boards in Hawaii, and then he thought about it for all of 1 day and then said yes to $30 000. Cash.
He only wanted a few of the best boards but I could see he desperately wouldn’t be denied so he bought the lot, some of the stuff was unrideable but he had to have the good ones so he paid for all the rubbish as well.
His dad then said he thought he would’ve got a better deal if he had negotiated with me but the kid was “the decision maker” so as long as I said 30 000, that’s what I was getting. If dad had got involved I would’ve upped the price again and that would’ve infuriated the kid to own the boards even more.
There’s 6 people who can verify the sale so I’m not bullshitting but it’s amazing how quickly someone can hand over wads of cash for old surfboards just because they have to have it.
They’re all genuine boards, but at the same time I could put together another lot in a year that’s just as good.
I love th money and it’s not the first time I’ve sold a number of boards for a good price but I also regret selling them to someone who will own them as a thing rather than tell a story about design and evolution and the characters involved. You don’t need to have lived at that time in history but you should have some genuine interest in things that have such a soul for the average and special people who rode them.
I let the guy with the cake of wax have his pick of my surfboards before the kid picked them up. I can’t let someone go through life with just a cake of wax to worship.
That’s just fucking wrong.