Oldie, but not so Goodie

by Rick
(San Antonio, Texas)

I began surfing in the Summer of 1960. My first board, for which I gave $30, was a solid balsa board,PAINTED with green spar varnish. It was of course very heavy, weighing in at over 50 pounds! It had a tendency to attract dings at any opportunity.

I began surfing at Huntington Beach, but soon moved north to the cliffs. I tried to "shoot the Pier" once. but the shape of the barnacles really scared me. My friend, Tom did successfully go all the way thru it one time. but, he was shaking afterwards. On really big days, we paddled out thru the pilings cause the waves were less pounding there. I remember going out one day when it was over 13 feet high. It took over an hour just to paddle out past the waves. The tops of the waves were hitting the bottom of the pier and the back spray was over the pier. I saw Tom take off on a wave and never saw him in the water again that day. I found him about a half mile south, walking back up. Our friend, Dave, wouldn't even go out that day. But Tom and I always believed if we died surfing, what a way to go!

I finally sold my pig to some hodad for the same $30 and bought my brother's 9'6" Hobie for $50. It was actually foam and glass, but also painted. The real problem was it was painted pink! It took me 3 months to sand off the paint. But it was worth it to see the Hobie logo and foam underneath. Well, actually, I only sanded on it when I wasn't surfing. That's why it took so long.

Today, my current best friend has a little surfbord shop at his house and he buys oldies for display. his favorite is a Dewey Weber in Prestine condition. He used to have a Donald Takiyama with a Step-Down nose. Now, there was a classic!

Hope you enjoyed my story