Back in the day the way to make a surfboard was by hand, though there were a couple of pop out type manufactures in the sixties. As a matter of fact, I worked for one of them. It was early in the year of 1967, before I started working at Morey-Pope.

The company was Ventura Plastics and they made the Tiki and Ten Toes surfboards that were sold all over the U.S. When I worked for them they had licensing agreements with a number of big name surfers and mass produced models like the Duke Kahanamoku model, the Joey Cabel model etc. Something similar to what some of the molded board companies are doing today. They had a fairly large shop on Calens Rd. in Ventura and produced boards in mass. 20 or more sides laminated at a time. Which is probably nothing compared to what Thailand and China factories do these days, but none the less plenty of boards.

As surfing grew into the late 60’s some of the big name labels were making large numbers of boards. By 1969 Morey-Pope was pushing close to 200 units a week out of their Saticoy factory with a board some may remember… the Camel. I worked with two other guys in the shaping department doing Camels. One guy would route outlines on special close tolerance blanks. Me and the third guy would rough the boards out, rough sand them and turn the rails. Then they’d go back to the first guy who would then fine sand them and route the fin box. I would usually spend not more than 20 minutes doing my part.

MP was not the only label doing large numbers. My question is… where did all those boards go? And… why couldn’t those labels continue with that kind of production? More questions… Where are all the thousands and thousands of boards going that are being produced in China and Thailand now? And… how long will these companies be able to sustain the numbers being produced? There is a thing called market saturation.

Even though there are some nice mass produced boards, one thing is for sure, the boards that are mass produced don’t have the emotion of the hand crafted high end boards. Why? Because the high end hand crafted boards are being made by artisans. Making surfboards is an art craft. Art has emotion and that emotion is seen and felt in the hand crafted board. Most people call it soul, and that’s fine, but it’s really emotion.

D.R.

The tail of a RP2.
Chocolate and cocoa butter lamination with soft green and yellow pin line.

My story post 7

From day one of my surfing experience I’ve only had one surfboard that I didn’t make or shape for myself. It was a Phil Edwards model Hobie I bought used and surfed between 1965 and ’66.

Phil Edwards was well known and a very good surfer back in the day and his signature board was the real deal. Having one of his boards was kind of a prestige thing, it was a good thing to have and ride.

Now, you might think having that board would give me a great opportunity to do a little copying or borrowing for making my own boards. And you’re right but, I didn’t borrow anything. Never took the outline, or measurements. Honestly I don’t think I was smart enough to think ‘hey I’ve got this killer board here, let’s just take some numbers and use them to make a killer board like it’. I was to busy hacking away on my own, didn’t really know what I was doing, just did what I did.

Today I’ve got tools to measure boards I never thought of as a kid. Today when I need to or want to make one board the same as another I’ll measure the width from nose to tail in 6 inch increments, and the same for the thickness as well as rockers. Never dreamed of doing that as a kid. Back then it was… look at the blank…think surfboard… and hack at the blank until I had what I thought was a decent surfboard.

A good way to get a feel for a surfboard is via repairs. When you have to fix dings you’ve got to look at the board, handle it, run your hands over the areas on the board that need fixing. Feel if you’ve feathered out your patch job etc. All that can give you sight and touch memories that can be transferred into actually making one. That’s what helped me, it was the repairs I did. I looked at, held, ran my hands over a fair amount of boards which helped me see in my minds eye what a surfboard should look like. Once you’ve got the picture in your head of what a surfboard should look like you can take a blank and cut away at it here and there until the picture in your head is something you can see and feel in real life form.

Shaping surfboards is what I call an alphabet thing. You can’t just start with A then go to B then C until you get to Z and be pau ( finished ). You’ve got to see the whole alphabet all at one time. Yeah, you still start at A but when you are working at A you see B, C, D all the way through all the stages.

Somehow as a kid I could see the surfboard I wanted to make. Then went and made it… good or bad I just wanted to make it. Today I’m still amazed at the process.

D.R.

My story post 6

Thinking back to my teen years and making surfboards I've got to say I was very fortunate to have parents that supported me and my interests. Without it I would have never gotten that initial experience. All be it self taught.

The church that the family attended was growing and had just finished building a new sanctuary and church campus. There was a small modular building on the church grounds that was used for the construction office and was no longer wanted or needed at the church grounds after the project was completed. The word was put out that it was available. So I asked my parents if maybe I could get one of the modules. I was offered the middle section of the building that consisted of 4 pieces. The sides, floor and roof.

I thought if I got that building it could be put up against the back workshop of the house we lived in and all I'd need to do was make a front with a door and I'd have my own little enclosed place to make and repair surfboards. What a great Idea! I couldn't believe it, my parents said yes!

I don't know how we got that small building the 5 miles from the church to our back yard, but we did. Got the thing standing up and against the back work shop, made the front so it was enclosed, put the stands in it and started working on boards.

And work on boards is what I did. My older sister, 2 years my senior, said because of my little surfboard business she liked me. Why? "You always have money in your pocket" she said. My mom on the other hand…she could get so aggravated. I'd get a fair amount of phone calls, mainly over surfboard repairs. So she would have to go out back and tell me "you've got another phone call". I'd go in the family room where the phone was with sticky fingers from resin and the sticky resin would get transferred to the phone. Then she'd go use the phone and get sticky resin on her hands….DENNIS.. she'd scream. One of these days when we visit I've got to show her my cell phone, before I clean the sticky resin off of course.

D.R.

Learning to surf, a shapers view. Post 2

I went for another Sunday afternoon surf. Sunny, warm, and a fair amount of people out in the small low tide surf. Included in all the people there were a number of beginners or novice surfers in the water.

Once again I noticed how poorly the beginners paddle their boards. One of the things most people say to beginners is start on a longer board. But, even at that if you don’t paddle the thing in trim you will not catch waves. There were a couple guys paddling around on long boards with the noses stuck up out of the water…not in trim. I watched one of the guys paddle like crazy to catch one wave…just wasn’t going to happen with his board/body positioning…sorry.

So anyway, I’ve mentioned judgment. That’s being able to tell how fast you are moving in the water when you’re paddling, whether or not you should maneuver while paddling one direction or another to avoid colliding with someone. If you need to paddle faster to get past a breaking wave, paddle faster or slow down some in order to catch a wave.

Because surfing is about movement, having the knowledge to move freely in the water and being able to tell how your movement will affect yourself and others in the water is judgment.

Example: you‘re paddling out to the lineup, there is someone coming down the line on a wave. Depending on where you are, and the rider is, you should be able to judge if you will get in the riders way and paddle in the right direction at the right speed to not get in the riders way. At the same time if you’re the rider you should be able to judge while you’re sliding down the face of a wave if, when, and how you may need to maneuver so as not run over anyone in the water.

Well, it all that starts with paddling. So what about equipment? Yep, having the right board can make all the difference in the world.

D.R.