Surfing Center Has Tsunami of Treasures

Surfing Heritage and Culture Center

Celebrates Surfing

 First in a Two-Part Story

Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the exclusive rights to the following copyrighted material. For permission to reprint or excerpt it and/or link it to another website, contact them at  

surfwriter.girls@gmail.com

Looking for a real blast from the past? Then San Clemente’s Surfing Heritage and Culture Center (SHACC) is the place to go.

SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel couldn’t believe the tsunami of treasures that we found there, dating back to the early days of surfing. The center houses the world’s largest collection of historic surfboards and surf images.

Looking around the perimeter of the “board room,” we saw every type of shape, size and surfboard imaginable:

Longboards that belonged to legendary surfing pioneer Duke Kahanamoku, who introduced the world to surfing…

and Princess Kaiulani, a descendant of Hawaii’s King Kamehameha.

Dug-out canoe-style boards used by the early Polynesians...

vintage Hobie, Weber and Gordie surfboards from the 1960s.

The entire lineage of surfboards is displayed in chronological order – from 200 lb. wooden longboards that reach up to the ceiling…

to today’s light, bright foam and fiberglass models.

Studying each board, SurfWriter Girls Sunny and Patti tried to envision the people who made them and what it must have been like to ride the waves on them. 

In talking to Steve Wilkings, the center’s photo archivist, who gave us a tour of the facility, we learned that in ancient Hawaii the royals used servants to carry their longboards to and from the water since the boards were so big and heavy.

Visitors to the center and its website can find out about the different board shapers who have put their distinctive marks on surfboards over the years from early shapers, who worked on wooden boards…

to today’s high-tech shapers that use computer design and cutting techniques on polyurethane blanks layered with fiberglass sheets.

At SHACC’s recent Cooperfish Surfboard Show, highlighting board shaper Gene Cooper’s beautifully crafted boards, some of his coveted surfboards were made available for sale to the public.

Currently the center is holding an exhibit honoring legendary board shaper Donald Takayama, who passed away last year. Along with many of his surfboards, the exhibit includes photographs, memorabilia, and Takayama’s 1963 Plymouth Valiant. 

And, if you’re into longboards, stop by the center on Saturday, October 26^th (from dawn to 1 p.m.) when the Longboard Collector Club is holding its annual meeting there.

You’ll get to talk to long board surfing enthusiasts and check out surfboards and collectibles that are for sale or trade. 

The center is open Monday through Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, check its website: Surfing Heritage and Culture Center or call 949-388-0313.

Located at 110 Calle Iglesia, just east of the I-5 freeway, in the heart of San Clemente, the center’s spacious and airy quarters are right in the middle of where much of California’s surf history began.

To be continued – Join SurfWriter Girls Patti and Sunny for a look at SHACC’s photo and video collection.

www.surfwritergirls.blogspot.com

Please post your comment below. Comments will appear the next day.