Known by many as the “Father of the Modern Longboard,” Steve Walden shaped his first surfboard in 1961, at age 13, and never looked back.

Eight years later, the native Southern Californian opened his first board factory and store in Huntington Beach, then moved to the North Shore of Oahu in 1972, where he made a name for himself as a prolific longboard shaper. While the rest of the surfing world was fixated on short single-fins, Walden continued to faithfully hone his longboard designs. Over the years he shaped for prestigious labels like Lightning Bolt, Local Motion, HIC, and Channel Islands, but it was always his own boards that set him apart. By the early 80s, Walden returned to California where he unveiled his wildly successful Magic Model with its radical rocker, down-turned rails, and super-fast Turbo … Read More »

Pick a surfing stereotype from smuggler to savior and you’ll find a piece of Dick Catri. Widely considered “the godfather of East Coast surfing,” this Floridian has influenced the sport for more than 40 years. Competing, coaching, repping, retailing, shaping — some would even say, shystering — Catri never missed an opportunity to promote the surfing lifestyle at home and abroad, crossing paths with renowned watermen from the venerable Duke Kahanamoku to modern wonder Kelly Slater.

Born in New Jersey, Catri [pronounced CAH-tri] moved to Miami as a boy. Upon graduating from high school in 1957, he began working as a beach attendant where he met a stunt diver named Jack “Murph the Surf” Murphy, who later achieved infamy for stealing the Star of India, the world’s largest sapphire. The California native introduced Catri to surfing … Read More »

Thomas Victor “Tom” Carroll (born 26 November 1961 in Newport, New South Wales) is a former professional surfer from Sydney, Australia. He won the Australian Junior Title in 1978, the Pro Juniors in 1977 and 1980, the 1983 and 1984 ASP World Tour, and the 1987 Pipe Masters. He became the first surfing millionaire after signing a contract with Quiksilver in 1989.

Carroll made the finals of the 1979 Pipe Masters as a world tour rookie, finishing 24th in the world that same year. He continued to ascend from 17th to 10th to 3rd before taking the world title in 1983 (winning 6 of 13 events) and distinguishing himself as the first goofy foot world champion.

The following year he … Read More »

Surf Line Hawaii was a shop in Honolulu that during the 60’s was a dealer for most popular mainland brands.  With the move to the shortboard revolution, they shifted to production and had many of the top island shapers working for them.  Dick Brewer, Reno Abellira, Gerry Lopez all pre-Bolt.  After the start of Lightning Bolt, a number of shapers left Surf Line Hawaii for Bolt, leaving the main shapers as: Dennis Pang, Rick Irons, Ryan Dotson, Randy Rarick, Buddy Dumphy among others.  They stayed in business until the early 80’s.

KEY: O= Original, R= Repaired, RF= Refurbished. Condition of board rated: 1(worst)-10(best)

Length: 8’0″
Width: 18 3/4″
Thickness: 3″
Condition: (O) 10

Sparky was a staple shaper for SH during their peak. This beauty has been totally restored by Randy Rarick and was slated for his … Read More »

Video may have killed the radio star, but for Chris Ward, it made the surf star. In another time, Ward would have been another hot kid from Southern California. As it is, his legend has followed — and perhaps even surpassed — that of his San Clemente neighbor, Matt Archbold, another worldwide sensation who never seemed to fit in a contest jersey.

The Wards moved to San Clemente from Galveston, Texas, when Chris was nine. Martin Potter had clocked some hours at T Street in the mid-’80s and ignited a freesurfing frenzy that began with Archbold and Christian Fletcher, filtered through international stars like Shane Beschen and rubbed off on kids like Ward. As Ward entered his formative years, the area was already synonymous with radical, outside-the-lines surfing. Rumors started circulating in the mid-’90s about … Read More »

My travels to Hawaii found me in a position to be able to hang and talk story with Legendary Hawaiian Watermen of the 70’s and early 80’s: Michael Ho, Buttons, Dennis Pang, Bobby Owens, Ken Bradshaw,Reno Abeliera and others. These names listed may be lesser known in comparison with names of today like Jamie O’Brien, John John Florence, Mason Ho, Bruce Irons, Mark Healy, but these Legends are just a few of the many Golden Breed that were king during the 70’s and 80’s. Today, their personal vintage riders sell in excess of thousands of dollars at Randy Rarick’s Hawaiian Vintage Auction held every two years. The value of their boards alone says a lot about who these guys were and are – waterman who rode mountains of water in the Hawaiian State.

Results are in and it was an amazing event at Sunset Beach, Hawaii.  The Legends Expression Session was attended by Michael Ho, Buttons Kalulokalani, Ken Bradshaw, Dennis Pang, Kalani Foster ( for Marvin Foster), Reno Abellira and Bobby Owens.

” I was so honored to be standing with all these guys with combined Hawaiian surfing of over 300 years. These guys were my idols back in the late 70’s and to be standing with them on stage handing them cash for expressing their fun and aloha at Sunset will be an unforgettable experience.” – Buggs.

More to come.