This is my idea of a surf era wagon. The 2nd image has it in the background when we shot the 2000 ABC-TV Movie “ The Beach Boys-An American Family” The last 2 are for @jnaki with my “Yater long board” from Santa Barbara Surf Shop. It’s autographed .
I referenced this thread on Ryan's thread about Greg Noll today but it's such a bitchin thread, thought I'd bump it.
Hi guys, I just acquired another surfboard from a local For Sale venue. I was drawn to it because of its classic stripes of that (my) time. It’s a Bob Hayes surfboard shaped by Bob. I have learned a little history. Bob was a local Huntington Beach pier rat. He made this board for a guy that went on to win the local HB shoot the pier surf contest. To get to the point of this narrative is that I drove my 56 wagon to go pick it up. The guy I bought it from was blown away to see a Classic on Classic. So keeping true to the”Vintage Surf Transportation” theme here are some pictures.
Good looking skate board. I enjoy woodworking as much as messing cars and boats and I build a small batch of these every year for gifts. Most are 48" long. Ironically my bad back won't let me ride them. (SS machine screws/nuts are not tight in the pics so they're not timed yet)
Those are sweet!!!!!!!! Man, I need to be your friend . That’s artwork right there!!!!! I know that I’d totally appreciate those boards.
So Last Saturday I went for a ride in the 34 Roadster with Sharon to “ The Lion’s Automobilia Collection” in Carson-Rancho Dominguez to meet up with David & Court driving my 32 Roadster. There were L.A. Roadster Club guys there as well. We went “The Chowder Barge”after that. Did the fish n chips…..The girls did the clam chowder. Upon leaving the parking lot, we got stuck in the lot by a stopped UP freight train down off Henry Ford Ave, back where some of our faves were built till 1956. After getting past the train and some derelict motor home parked under PCH, We shot over to @ flyin-t’s place on the north-east end of Long Beach to pickup this extremely beautiful & well thought out hand laid awesome “Sidewalk Surfing Transportation”, as he kept his word and gifted the above board. “flyin-t and wife are awesome people!!! What I thought would be a 20 min visit turned into a 3hr. visit. I cannot believe that I received such an awesome gift!!!!!! Quoting Toad in AG “I’ll honor and cherish this ride until death do us part”. Thank you again Rich!!!!!!
Thank you for the kind words. I really like the way the grain turned out on that board. It's interesting that your other board is built with a slight concave running length wise. I glue up mine, the first 12 or so were just flat, with crown built in. I can make them a little thinner this way, and as they flex the board gets stronger with the birch 5 layer ply underneath...at least that's the way they work in my pea brain. I like those decals on the other board too, I should do something like that. I was going to order a little branding iron with my initials to mark each board. Just never got around to it. Great meeting to guys too!
That's great work Rich. Go with a logo style (my crappy quick paint version). Someone has to do a better one .
Hello, Your wood boards are pretty fantastic. But, this caught my eye when reading this cool thread/posts. Back when my son was a little toddler, we were into skateboards since before he was born. But, when he got mobile and our neighborhood kids were doing skateboards, we decided to make something for him that would be a little safer to use anywhere. I took one of of my old skateboards, use metal “L” brackets, a 2x2 wood pole with a drilled hole in the top and put in a cut down oak broomstick handle. I put on some bicycle hand grips, and attached the whole thing to the 4 hole skateboard truck holes. The trucks on the front required a little longer nuts and bolts. It was a fast afternoon’s work and my son was scooting around the concrete sidewalks all around the house and yard. old, original design Then on one turn he pitched forward into the bushes and did not like that. The way I had attached the 2x2 pole was right over the front truck and the pressure of the body leaning forward and grabbing the handle moved the weight too far forward and pitched my toddler son into the bushes. So, a fix was in the works. Figuring out the down weight of the rider and handle location was the next step and I utilized two new holes in front of the 4 pre-drilled holes. Now, the force of the rider, the turning motion of the handle was forward of the balance point of the skateboard. It was like a lead weight added to a lightweight front axle on a FED. 1965 El Camino double duty So now, the design became safer than it was, originally. I got some plumbing parts that allowed me to screw in long tubes for the down pole a “T” fitting for the top and short pipes threaded into those holes to make the cross handlebar. The whole ‘T” handle now could be screwed into a threaded round base plate that fit into the two new holes and two of the trucks original screw holes. I made three sizes, a toddler size, a mom size and a dad size with all threaded pipes and coordinated matching paint for each model. Red/yellow for the toddler/kid size, the red/natural wood for the mom size and black/silver with flames for the dad. The 30 inch dad version worked well for 90% of dads. It allowed me to move even with back aches and various pulled muscles from dad activities. Surfing, basketball, skateboards and general yard work were all in the mix. ads in the Action Sports Retailer Catalog/Magazine Within two weeks of sales and rentals in skate shops, our factory had to make a recall. The pipes were breaking at the threads and there was no fix for the threads. So, all sales had to be given a refund and we brought back every one we sold to those shops and local families. After another week of redesigning the handlebar pole, I found a machining/welding shop that had chromemoly pipes and they tig-welded up a measured 4 hole plate to the bottom of the different size “T” handle set up. Now, it was strong enough to withstand any side force or activitiy. The first one I made was for me. It was 34 inches tall, very comfortable for a 6 foot tall person and after a long session in a neighborhood park, my back did not suffer any aches or pains. The second one was a 20 inch version for my toddler son. And the last one was a 28 inch version for my wife. The design needed one last thing for safety. when my son got on his skateboard/scooter, he was so happy and stood on the tail end. It promptly made him go backwards into his favorite bush. So, a redesign was necessary to make up the space between the tail and the ground. It worked on my adult size board. A real skateboard wheel with bearings and ability to turn on the shaft. The wheels were old street use wheels and were not the highest quality Sims Street Wheels. But, they functioned as a wheelie bar, a brake and my son used his as a slowdown/turn on the wheel action going around sharp corners. Jnaki Now we were in business again and the only thing that stopped us this time was insurance. The outlay of payment of a company insurance plan was so much and we could not afford to pay that out of our accounts. Our friend, a corporate lawyer told us that a $1 million dollar insurance was necessary. But the cost was horrendous and the business shut down. There was no end in sight and the family came first and now we had the coolest skateboard/scooters in the whole OC area. So only my son, wife and friends used our scooter/skateboards under strict guidance and locations. future surf transportation 1965 station wagon With your hot rod building skills, a simple metal pipe and base plate attached to your custom boards would allow you to resume skating along on any smooth surface with a smile on your face. The base plate with holes is in front of the front axle making it safer and more balanced. The color inlay shows the pole and handlebar welded to the steel plate, bolted to the deck as shown. Added nose guard, under board protection rails, Oakley soft grips and a motocross bicycle “T” handle protection pad does it all for me. You ride it like a skateboard, while the handle gives support and comfort to make directional changes with ease. YRMV
Thanks for your post. Those handles are pretty common now on skateboards, you were ahead of the curve. My grand kids have them. I can't ride because I can't afford to fall and end up back in the hospital...again. If I was going to try and do something that I can't do anymore it'd be water skiing. Use to ski before going to work and after work in either the hot water channel, L.A. river which was always a little dicey (saw a vw bug floating by us one morning) or Marine Stadium. Weekends we'd be at the river. Still have dreams of skiing, so real that they'll wake me up. Weird. I'm pretty lucky, surgeon told my wife after the first surgery that if I'd gotten hurt 10 years earlier I wouldn't be walking. So a few minor adjustments in life are no big deal. Easy to say this now, for 3 years after the accident I was not a happy camper. Love to build things with wood, very therapeutic. @Irish Mike has crazy wood working skills and built a replica Tom Blake hollow board then offered to loan me his patterns. Pretty cool of him. Be fun to build one of these but it'll probably be just a wall hangar unless my son wants to ride it. Would look good in the back of the '34 woodie that @Cyclone Kevin owns, era correct.
Hey FT, One year, a South Swell came into the opening channel between the Breakwater openings and as far South as the Alamitos Bay opening in the Belmont Shore Peninsula. It was a good size swell as we had surfed the Seal Beach side big and fast, previously. So, we saw this peak in the middle of the LA River Channel and stopped our 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery to catch the most unusual wave. We figured out that when the swell came in, it hit the wall of rocks on the Terminal Island side and came back to the Long Beach side of the river. On the way over to Long Beach, it hit the shallow muddy bottom in the LA River and made this short bottom turn/cutback wave that had great shape with some power. We felt funny parking our Sedan Delivery in the Long Beach side and paddling into the LA River. But, the unusual waves were worth it. The next summer, our friend with the Howard hull 406 Ford motor took us to the marina and said we should all go water skiing in the Shoreline area. He also mentioned that he would like to see me water ski with my 10 foot long surfboard. So, we did. He said he would tow me into the channel as I was cutting back and forth. But, when I ran to the nose and got 10 over, he decided to go towards the Anaheim Street Bridge. The bottom was about three feet at Ocean Blvd Bridge, but was unknown farther back into the river. Well, we got about 1/2 way there and he turned around. I made a wide circle to follow him. He took me right over one of shallow areas and plop... I got a face full of mud... yuck. But, the outside deeper areas were fine for the rest of the day on our surfboard and single skis. We had no idea of pollution concerns as teenagers. We used to play in the white sand back closer to our house near PCH. A word of warning... that outlet of the LA River is the most polluted waters in the whole coastal area. The levels are so bad that some boat bottom cleaners will not work the Shoreline Marina area because of the pollution. When it rains in So Cal, that water is one of the major outlets from the inland areas to the ocean. Jnaki As the location, like Alamitos Bay and the Marine Stadium come into play, the water gets better as the ocean churns everything up as it moves down the coast. Stay safe...
Ya, gets pretty nasty in that LA river when it rains. Howard Brown, Howard boats, rented a house from my parents in the '60s. My dad built boats and of course I built them for 30 odd years including Howards who's shop was up on Lakewood blvd. I also worked there after he retired and then the shop was in Irwindale, just East of the Miller Brewery. His first shop was on also Lakewood when he started out building boats, he was in the same little buildings as Genes Chrome, Larry Watson and Paul Stratton. I had a nice '65 Howard flat (in the '90s) with a 428 Cobra in it, great hull.
Roy’s Market (building) and the Trailer park are still there…I had Gene’s put turbo mufflers on my 351 Cleveland powered ‘55 Ford F100 in ‘76….
I'm gonna guess these cats finally said fuck it and trekked with their boards to the beach for a session. Worry about getting the car out later.
“Congressman Richard M. Nixon delivers a stump speech from the back of his "Yellow Woody" Mercury Station Wagon during his successful 1950 U.S. Senate campaign, Garden Grove, April 28, 1950.” Hello, Not a surfer himself, but he was responsible for making one of So Cal’s most popular surf breaks into a world wide name. Add that to the 1969 purchase of one of the historic home properties in all of South OC, made eyes open wide. Cotton’s Point was/is a great Summer break picking up some South Swells like no other place. Big, thick peaks and a good long line for some exciting turns and cutbacks. During the Winter, the swell changes, but brings almost as good as it gets there. But, the consistent waves were a paddler’s nightmare. The surf? Some of So Cal’s best. The old Cotton’s Point surf was located just below the Western White House, sitting on top of the cliff, overlooking all of the great ocean views South, during this storied, presidency. The big problem was that before he came out West, it was a sanctuary from those roving U.S. Marine patrols in Jeeps and water incursions. During the early days, if a U.S. Marine beach raid was in full force, we all ran into the water with our stuff on the longboards. Then, if the marines in their funny looking patrol vehicles did not leave the beach, we all sat out there gently riding waves, ready to pounce on our boards so we would not lose them to the Marines wading in the shallow waters. If they really persisted, which they did a lot, then we paddled approximately a mile up the beach North to Cotton’s Point. There was a barbed wire fence leading from the Marine property to the water’s edge. And that was our goal. A free safety zone on the other public San Clemente side. Free from capture. The marines would follow us along the sand, while we were paddling in the water between riding waves. By the time we got out of the water at Cottons Point, they came right up to us, but could not touch us on public property. Ha! So, the base of the tall cliff was the sanctuary point. When the odd looking wheeled vehicles left, we took a nap and within an hour or so, paddled back to Cotton’s Point surf break to ride some of the best waves along this coast. We could still see those little vehicles waiting on the sand at Lower Trestles, so going back on the beach was not a good thing, on those days. Jnaki But, in order to get back to our hidden vans and cars in the thick jungle, we had to cautiously walk onto the Marine property at Cottons Point and gently step in the swampy water. That was a place even those Marines did not venture. We paddled across the swampy water, found our secret trail and went back to our hidden vehicles until dark. They never found our secret hidden place inside of the thick jungle. Until, that in one day, the whole area was completely black and was burned down to bare nothings. In 1969, it was going to be a state park, but with the Western White House sitting on top of the ocean view cliff top, the security of the USA was in jeopardy. So, no state park until he resigned later after the scandal. What did surfers do during the Western White House days? There was usually a small destroyer or a Coast Guard Cutter anchored in the water in front of the tall cliff. So, no surfing at Cottons or Uppers. But, 2 miles down, Lower Trestles was patrolled and between the patrols some surfers did make an effort to ride the best waves on the California coastline. Where were the old hot rods, vans and station wagons? Either parked up on the side of the freeway, as the state park property ran into the anchored Coast Guard Cutter on the trek South along the beach. Near the I-5 Freeway overpass going south to San Diego… The Cotton's Estate (Western White House) was perched high on a hill overlooking the southerly coastal surf line, just across the I-5 Freeway (San Diego Freeway back then) from this makeshift parking lot. Many young surfers got caught and taken to the Provost Marshall's office in Oceanside. We were very lucky in all of those years of surfing those prime surf spots, we never got caught. Once, we did have to paddle from Lower Trestles to Uppers to Cottons, approximately 2 miles in the ocean, to stay out of the Jeep capture range. Once over the fenced in public beach property at Cotton's Point, we could actually talk to the Marine Patrols on the beach sand, without being arrested. The wire fence kept us apart... Lucky us... We waited on the sand (took a short nap) until those Marine Patrols gave up and drove away back on the sand to Oceanside. Then, it was safe to go back across to the secret trail that led back to our vans and a sedan delivery so we could drive out of the padlocked gate to home. In a way, the Western White House being on the coast line here at the Northern Camp Pendleton property was good and bad. Good, in that it kept the masses from the great surf, when the cliff top compound was occupied. Bad, there was a Coast Guard Cruiser or a small Destroyer anchored just off the coast, with patrols going up and down the beach. (Including ship to shore inflatable patrol boats, really, not good.)
Hello, The last week was one of the best weeks for surf in a long time. During the Summer, most of the swells come mainland Mexico storms/hurricanes. But at times, a long distance swell comes from the Southern Hemisphere… the New Zealand/Tahiti region that hits perfectly on the South facing beaches in So Cal. Where? Everywhere a beach, rocky point or palisades is facing the Southern Pacific Ocean. It has been national news and the recorded photos/films showcase the powerful swell. So, what happens in So Cal? The surfers come out in droves to prove to the public that they like the large consistent swell hitting the local spots. Malibu Point July 2022 Trestles, perfect, Malibu, outstanding… even the Wedge in Newport Beach had large pounding waves for all to see. What about popular places like Doheny? All over Manhattan And down Doheny Way Everybody's gone surfin' Surfin' U.S.A. Doheny? It sure seemed like the whole world was at Doheny State Beach for the week long swell. From beginners inside to the more challenging waves outside, there must have been several hundred+++ out in the water from the jetty to the rivermouth. Jnaki The swell, the sun and great weather as long as it lasted, brought out the masses to the coastal waters. We saw several old truck with surfboards sticking out of the back. But, there was one 1956 Chevy Station Wagon in front of the local dentist’s office for who knows? Hobie Surfboards sticker, American Racing Equipment 5 Spoke Wheels and All!!! So Cal surf styling...
The Jalopy Journal
