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Early Sunset Beach
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Edward Ryon Makuahanai "Eddie" Aikau
Fred Hemmings and Eddie exiting the water at Waianae, HI. Photo from the Fred Hemmings' Collection.
Edward Ryon Makuahanai "Eddie" Aikau (May 4, 1946 – March 17, 1978) is one of the most respected names in surfing. He was the first lifeguard at Waimea Bay on the island of Oahu. He saved many lives and became well known as a big-wave surfer. "Eddie" was a true symbol of Aloha.
Born on the island of Maui, Aikau later moved to O'ahu with his family in 1959. In 1968, he became the first lifeguard hired by the City & County of Honolulu to work on the North Shore. Not one life was lost while he served as lifeguard at Waimea Bay. Eddie braved surf that often reached 20 feet high or more to make a rescue. He became very famous for surfing the bigHawaiian surf and won several surfing awards including First Place at the prestigious 1977 Duke Kahanamoku Invitational Surfing Championship. The local saying, "Eddie Would Go," refers to his stoke to take on big waves that other surfers would shy away from and his courage to make a rescue in impossible situations.
"Eddie" became involved in perpetuating his Hawaiian heritage. In 1976, the Polynesian Voyaging Society sailed the Hokule'a on a successful 30-day, 2500 mile journey following the ancient route of the Polynesian migration between the Hawaiian and Tahitian islands. In 1978, a second voyage of the traditional sailing canoe was planned. At 31 years of age, Aikau was selected for this voyage as a crew member. The Hokule'a left the Hawaiian Islands on March 16, 1978. The double-hulled voyaging canoe developed a leak in one of the hulls and later capsized in stormy weather about twelve miles south of the island of Molokai. In an attempt to get to land to save his crew and the Hokule'a, Aikau paddled toward Lanai on his surfboard. Hours later a commercial airplane spotted the Hokule'a and the rest of the crew was soon rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard. Aikau was missing at sea. Despite great search efforts "Eddie" was never seen again. (excerpt from the Eddie Aikau Foundation website)
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New "Collectibles" Section on Our Website
Click HERE to see what's currently available.
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SHACC Limited Edition Portfolio Available Now!
The California Gold Edition Portfolio is currently on display in our rotating exhibit space.![]()
The California Gold Edition Portfolio of ten classic surf photos is being exclusively offered by Surfing Heritage.
Tom Servais: Tom Curren, Backdoor, 1991
Art Brewer: Phil Grimes, Newport Point, 1977![]()
Leo Hetzel: Too Much Beer, 3 M's, Baja, 1963
Bob Barbour: Kevin Reed, Steamer lane, January 1976![]()
Art Brewer: Evan Slater's quiver, Todos Santos, Baja, 1992
Leo Hetzel: Howard Cooney surf check at Lowers, 1964
Tom Keck: Miki Dora, Hollywood Palladium, 1966
Art Brewer: Salt Creek, 1971
Steve Wilkings: Donald Takayama, Hermosa Beach, 1966
Dick Metz: 1st Point, Malibu, circa early 1960s
Included in this amazing collection of iconic images: 1 photo by Bob Barbour, 3 photos by Art Brewer, 2 by Leo Hetzel, 1 by Tom Keck, 1 by Dick Metz, 1 by Tom Servais, and 1 by Steve Wilkings. Only 12 portfolios are left, please remember, when the edition is sold out, no more will be available. Every photo is hand-embossed with the SHACC logo and each set includes 2 photographer bio and photo description sheets hand-signed by all the photographers,all housed in a custom, laser-etched aluminum case. At only $800 for all 10–11x17" photos, the portfolios are sure to sell out.
Here is what SURFER magazine had to say about Servais' Curren image:
"Tom Servais' iconic image of Tom Curren at Backdoor Pipeline is one of the most recognizable surf photographs ever taken, and yet until now it has never appeared on the cover of a magazine," explains SURFER Editor Brendon Thomas. "When we decided we were going to tackle the greatest rides of all time, it was a golden opportunity to right that wrong." And sure enough, the image appears on this year's "Big Issue," just hitting the newsstands now!
Please call us at 949.388.0313 or email Barry@surfingheritage.org to reserve your portfolio.
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Great Turnout for Cyrus Sutton's "Compassing"
"Compassing was a chance to take the surf trip I'd always wanted. We departed at the beginning of May and lucked into the run of south swell that slammed the west coast in 2013. Mexico is less affected by the digital age. When you are in the countryside you are disconnected from everything. Raw displays of life and death around every corner. Living amongst all this is like stepping into the sun after a long cold winter, it feels uncomfortable at first. After a while you start to wonder how you survived otherwise."–Cyrus Sutton
Thank you to Cy, our volunteers, and everyone who turned out for the screening! We raffled off some great prizes including goods from Reef, Yakima, Leatherman, and Goal Zero as well as some SHACC swag. Thank you as well to Primo Beer and Longboard Vineyardswines!
Click HERE for photos from the event.
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Pristine Dana Point
This is a slightly more recent shot, illustrating the crystal clarity of the water. That's Gordon Clark's (of Clark Foam) A-Frame on the hill side. Photos from the collection of Jim Gilloon. You can click on the photos to see them in greater detail, please be aware these images are ©2013 Surfing Heritage and watermarked and may not be reproduced without permission.
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A Pat Curren Spear
Dick Metz with the Pat Curren gun. Dick drove to Santa Barbara to pick this board up.
If you've been up to The Endless Summer Bar at the Santa Barbara harbor and eyed the Pat Curren gun, you already know what a gem of a board it is. If you haven't, well now you can see it by visiting our museum in San Clemente. This thing is a spear, solid balsa, 12' 1.25" long, 3.625" thick, 20.5" wide, nose 14.25" and tail 9.5", weighing in at 33 lbs. The board was just donated by Bev Morgan.
Tom Carlin and Pat Gluing up the balsa blank. Photo: Collection Bev Morgan
Pat with template and blank. Photo: Collection Bev Morgan
Tom Carlin looks on while Pat Glues up the balsa blank. Photo: Collection Bev Morgan
Dale Velzy, Hap Jacobs, Bill Meistrell, and Bev Morgan, in front of the Dive N' Surf Shop, 1955.
Bev was Velzy's first glasser to use sun cure resin. He invited Velzy to join him in his pursuit of the growing diving market, including the sale of rubber wetsuits, however Velzy declined the offer stating that "no surfer is ever going to wear one of those goddamn rubbers." In 1952, Bev started the first scuba instructor's program geared for the public. He also is credited with writing the first diving textbook. In 1954, he worked with the Meistrell brothers to develop Body Glove wetsuits. Bev went on to design and manufacture underwater photography equipment and life-support systems and also assisted with the development of the Purisima diving bell. He also has made the public aware of the effects of soaps and Detergents on our environment.
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Harry Chandler and the Surfing Chandler Family
 This evening, Thursday February 21 at 7 p.m., Harry Chandler will talk and present slides and film clips on the surfing history of the Chandler family, and from his book, Dreamers in Dream City. The Chandler family and its surfing is legendary; it is said that Otis Chandler, publisher of The Los Angeles Times, would often suspend meetings at the newspaper when the surf was up.The Chandler family also had a beach house in Dana Point and frequently surfed there. Harry will show rare footage of his parents, Otis and Marilyn, surfing K  iller Dana and Dana Strands. Otis Chandler (1927-2006) was the publisher of The Los Angeles Times between 1960 and 1980. He developed TheLos Angeles Times into one of the nation's leading dailies and was considered one of the most powerful men in the country. In The New York Times obituary on Otis, Jonathan Kandell noted that: "His critics [the Eastern news media establishment] could not understand his enthusiasm for surfing, big-game hunting, motorcycles and sports cars-obsessions that several times nearly cost him his life." Harry Brant Chandler is a fifth-generation Southern Californian who has had a successful career as a movie executive and internet executive, and is now an artist. His publication, Dreamers in Dream City, (Angel City Press, 2009), presents his stylized portraits and biographies of sixty of Southern California's most inspirational individuals. The photographs were the basis of exhibitions at the California Museum in Sacramento and the Autry National Center in Los Angeles. |
Admission is $10 and the program starts at 7 p.m. at Surfing Heritage Foundation, 110 Calle Iglesia, San Clemente, CA 92672. |
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Hollow Wood Surfboard Building Class at Surfing Heritage
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Grain Surfboard Building Class at SHACC · Jul 31-Aug 3
Build your own wooden board with Grain
We had such a great response to our last class held back in February, that ![]()
we're doing it again. The boys from Grain are doing a West Coast tour and will be doing it in style in their new van.
Students will have their choice of building any shape we offer as a HomeGrown Kit. Each student takes home his/her own board home ready for glassing and finishing on their own. Materials used in the board and those to be taken home with the student are the same as used in Grain Home Grown kits - sustainably grown cedar, zero VOC bio-epoxy, etc. The cost of all materials, supplies and selected pages of detailed instruction on glassing and finishing ($520- $820 value) are included in the course. The glassing supplies are also included as is use of all of the tools needed during the class. We also throw in a practically-gourmet breakfast and lunch each day. Each student also receives a one year membership to the SHACC with the tuition for the class (which includes a pair of Rainbow Sandals, SHACC tee, Sticky Bumps wax, Swell.com gift certificate, etc.)
Students are responsible for their own dinner costs as well as accommodations, although we're happy to recommend some nice places around the area. Click HERE to reserve your spot!
we're doing it again. The boys from Grain are doing a West Coast tour and will be doing it in style in their new van. Students will have their choice of building any shape we offer as a HomeGrown Kit. Each student takes home his/her own board home ready for glassing and finishing on their own. Materials used in the board and those to be taken home with the student are the same as used in Grain Home Grown kits - sustainably grown cedar, zero VOC bio-epoxy, etc. The cost of all materials, supplies and selected pages of detailed instruction on glassing and finishing ($520- $820 value) are included in the course. The glassing supplies are also included as is use of all of the tools needed during the class. We also throw in a practically-gourmet breakfast and lunch each day. Each student also receives a one year membership to the SHACC with the tuition for the class (which includes a pair of Rainbow Sandals, SHACC tee, Sticky Bumps wax, Swell.com gift certificate, etc.)
Students are responsible for their own dinner costs as well as accommodations, although we're happy to recommend some nice places around the area. Click HERE to reserve your spot!
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Surfing Heritage is open from 11AM until 5PM, Mon-Sat
The exhibit is down and will be at the Inspiration show at the Grey Goose Hanger at the Queen Mary, Long Beach!
CLICK HERE to order your copy of Surf To Skate online!
The authors of Surf To Skate have installed an exhibit featuring over 100 vintage original old school skateboards at Surfing Heritage. The show will only be up until February 6, so be sure and come by to see one of the best collections of unique classic skateboards around! As part of the exhibit, we're screening an edited version of the first major skateboard film Skaterdater. It's an American short film written and directed by Noel Black, done in 1965. It won the Palme d'Or for Best Short Film at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Short Subject category. You can check out set-up and event photos HERE and some of the skateboardsHERE.
CLICK HERE to order the book online.
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Vintage Bodyglove Wetsuit
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Kelly May Have 11 World Titles...
13,000 and counting
By Drew Kampion
![Daily]()
Sounds like an ad:
Winds: 39 mph
Water temp: 49
Swells: 18 foot
13,000 days in a row surfing (as of April 6, 2011)
Sounds like an ad:Winds: 39 mph
Water temp: 49
Swells: 18 foot
13,000 days in a row surfing (as of April 6, 2011)
Dale Webster (aka “Daily Wavester”) has been surfing a minimum of three waves a day since September 3, 1975. To get at the root cause of Dale’s life-defining quest would require a misreading of the concept of the “lunar cycle” and an appreciation of the rarity of fifth Sundays in February. Suffice to say that it took enormous dedication, a modicum of madness, heaps of help from friends, and a huge pile of O’Neill rubber to get him from then to now. Surely, Dale’s quest will go down as one of the most incredible feats in the history of surfing.
And a quote from the LATimes :The Ironman and the Sea
Bill Plaschke
"This is, after all, a man whose consecutive games streak is more than those of Cal Ripken Jr., Lou Gehrig, Everett Scott, Steve Garvey, Billy Williams and Stan Musial ... combined."
Now consider both of these pieces were written nearly a decade or more ago! And Dale has continued to surf every day since then (and they said Captain Ahab was a man possessed), 35 years and counting....
Dale's board that he rode when he broke the 13,000 day mark is currently on loan and displayed here at Surfing Heritage.
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Lance Carson Portrait by John Durant
Photographer, John Durant, donated this amazing portrait of Malibu legend, Lance Carson at home in his other element, the shaping room. Lance's "living room", would be on the nose of a surfboard. Click on the image to see it larger, and click HERE to see John's portraits of other iconic shapers.
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100 Year Old Book on Surfing
Shortly after A.R. Gurrey closed Gurrey's Art & Photo Supplies in 1923, his home suffered a fire and flood that is believed to have destroyed his original negatives. This book is one of the few records of Gurrey's photographic work and of early surfing in Hawaii.
Gurrey's The Surf Riders of Hawaii will be included in the forthcoming Surfing Heritage Vintage Surf Auction California Gold presented by the Quiksilver Waterman Collection. For more information: CLICK HERE
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Gordie "Banjo" Model
Gordie Duane, shaping a board, April 26, 1963. Photo: LeRoy Grannis
Surfing magazine published a “shapers tree” that documented our surfboard industry’s shapers up to that point in time. There were countless unknown Hawaiian shapers in the early history of our sport. But not much is known about surfboard craftsmen until after 1900, when surfing was popularized in Waikiki by the sport’s official ambassador, Duke Kahanamoku. Amongst Duke’s peers, there was a great waterman and surfboard shaper named Able Gomes who taught Gordie how to shape his first board. Gordon Duane was very proud that his name appeared in the shapers tree in the third tier right below Duke Kahanamoku.
Surfing Heritage's Founder, Dick Metz, picked up this unique Gordie at our recent auction. Here's what the auction catalogue had to say about the board: There are plenty of ‘unique’ surfboards on the auction block and this Gordie ‘Banjo’ model definitely falls into that category. First designed by the ever- flamboyant Dale Velzy the ‘banjo’ was basically an exaggerated pig shape, with the wide point moved way back of center. Essentially a gimmick, with not enough made to qualify as an actual model, this Gordie is one of the only examples of the design from a major label. That being said it’s an absolutely beautiful example, with some fine pigment work and pin-lining applied to what today has to be considered one of the most interesting boards on the collectable market.
Early Gordie ad in Surfer Magazine.
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Surfboard For Our Next Auction
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Nearly 40 years ago
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Cooperfish Surfboard Show
EXHIBIT OPEN THROUGH MAY 8
Gene Cooper and Cooperfish Surfboards make some of the most sought-after, beautifully crafted surfboards that you'll find anywhere—if you can get your hands on one that's been personally shaped by Gene, you're among an elite few. We're proud to showcase 6 of his latest creations here at Surfing Heritage in an exhibit that opened on Saturday, April 20. All the of the boards are already sold, but the blue tint agave is going into our May 11 auction at the OC Fairgrounds. CLICK HEREfor AUCTION INFO and HEREfor additional board photos.
With beverages provided by
110 Calle Iglesia • San Clemente • CA • 92672
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Surfing Heritage Vintage Surf Auction • Sat, May 11!!!
CLICK HERE to watch the entire auction online now,
CLICK HERE to see the Live Auction results, and
CLICK HERE to see event photos on our Facebook page!
Randy Rarick talking up the ultra-clean 1967 Weber Performer. That's auctioneer extraordinaire, Joe Teipel looking dapper on the right and Andy Cowell holding the board. Photo: Tom Servais
Surfing Heritage Vintage Surf Auction
presented by
presented by
Surfboards, art, and memorabilia with a California flair!
Saturday, May 11, OC Fairgrounds
And an overdue Thank You to all the volunteers, sponsors, bidders, participants, etc! If we've left anyone out, please let us know so we can add you. An extra big Thank You to Scott and Katrina Bass, Randy Rarick, and Joe Teipel for a smooth running event.
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