Board Meeting

A couple of weeks ago Hubby and I went to visit the Surfing Heritage and Cultural Center in San Clemente. 

The centre has a very large collection of boards lined up with labels that trace the various developments in surfboard design and innovation.

These two boards are reproductions of the early Koa wood boards used by Hawaiian surfers.

This board was made in 1907.

Those below are other early boards which are very heavy.

Duke Kahanamoku was an Olympic swimmer who is credited with popularizing surfing.

Here is the very board from the photograph above.

The size and shape of boards changed as did the type of wood used.

This tail end of a board was used by a friend, Barrie, and her surfing partner, Pete, as champion tandem surfers.

Snarks and surfers often share the same water and not always in a friendly way.

Eventually, lighter-weight materials for surfboards were developed and they became more colourful.

The Weber Performer design is still widely ridden by surfers.

A mock-up of a board shaping workshop.

Barrie and her next surfing partner, Steve, (whom she married) continued to win surfing championships. Their surfboard shop Infinity Surfboard Co has been a fixture in Dana Point for many years and is the home of continuous innovation in surfboards, stand-up paddle boards, and other boards. Steve (aka Master Boehne) made me a custom board, part wave ski, part stand-up board especially for paddling sitting down on flat water.