Found this on the council hard rubbish collection on the drive to work this morning.
5’10" x 20" x 2 7/8". 11 1/2" nose and 16" tail widths. 4 1/2" nose rocker and 1 1/2" tail rocker. Flat into fairly heavy vee bottom. Flat deck. Heavily sloped but full rails with a hard tucked edge running the full length of the board. Pointed beak nose. Triple tail flyers. Pretty much perfect condition for its age.
Islantis is based on Phillip Island in Victoria, Australia, and the shaper Russell Francis has been shaping there for decades now.
I thought you might chime in on this one given your history on Phillip Island. But wouldn’t have imagined that this board would have actually passed through your hands. I can assure you that it won’t be thrown away again.
I don’t surf thrusters much anymore but this was my favourite era for them. I have to decide now if I surf it, or just keep it to look at.
There is a rumor that a guy who worked at the landfill in Los Angeles started collecting longboards that had been thrown away when shortboards became popular. Supposedly he has quite the collection.
I’ve personally seen an old hollow wooden kook box standing up next to the trashcans on pick-up day. A friend came by and said, “Hey! Someone’s throwing out a surfboard!” - We rode our bikes over, looked it over and decided it was just an old piece of shit.
Today that thing is probably worth some $.
Confession… I also stripped and reshaped an old Hobie balsa board that I bought used for 5 bucks. It wasn’t a bad board actually. It ended up as a coffee table after a friend mysteriously decided that it was his after I joined the Air Force. I had left it in the rafters of his parent’s garage for safe keeping.
