Why Do We Collect Vintage Surfboards?
Author: Marcus Maraih (@marcus_ocean)
Do you know why the team behind Surf Museum Hawaii (SMH) started the project? So we’d have a place to store all of our surfboards! I’m kidding of course (sort of) but it does speak to the spatial inconvenience experienced by vintage surfboard collectors. Life would certainly be much easier if we were into shot glasses and stamps, but also a lot less fun (sorry philatelists).
So why do we go through so much trouble? Why are our basements, rafters, garages, crawl spaces, and storage facilities filled to the brim with polyurethane, balsa, and redwood planks? Science will tell you that the “feel good” hormone known as dopamine can be credited for our relentless hunt of wave riding antiquities. The act of acquiring a sought-after board triggers a rush of dopamine, rewarding us with a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. This feeling persists as we share our new score on Instagram and await accolades and praise from fellow collectors. However, the feeling subsides with time and in an effort to generate more dopamine we return to scour Facebook Marketplace for what’s next. At least that’s what scientists report. But these are the same dopes who tell us that love is nothing more than a neurotransmitter cocktail of serotonin, oxytocin, and vasopressin.
Nope, there’s more to us vintage surfboard collectors than that.
8 Reasons Why Vintage Surfboard Collectors Dedicate So Much Time, Effort, and Money to the Life
Reminds Us of Our Youth
If you’ve been on this planet for more than five decades and you started surfing when you were young, then the hunting and gathering of craft from your wonder years is a motivator. It reminds you of your youth in the same way an old song does. Collecting as many of these vintage boards as you can is akin to creating the ultimate playlist from your glory days, albeit a little more expensive.
While this motivation checks out for the salty dogs out there, it doesn’t account for younger surfboard collectors who have a ravenous appetite for vintage craft. Keep reading.
Connects Us to a Time We Weren’t Around For
Do you ever feel robbed by being born in your generation, feeling as if it was so much more magical in the time period prior? I have no doubt that people who grew up on music from the 1990s/2000s curse their misfortune of missing the greatest era of music ever (the 80s).
When it comes to surfing, nothing will ever compare to the period that ran from the late 40s to the early 70s. Without Doctor Emmet Brown’s time machine we can’t know what it’s like to hang with the likes of Doc Ball or Doc Paskowitz, so we’re left to collect the things that they left behind. The boards of a bygone era keep us connected to the mana that passed from Kūhiō, Freeth, Kahanamoku, and Blake through to Simmons, Quigg, Noll and Brewer and everyone between.
Thrill of the Hunt
Consider the amount of time spent combing through online auctions, marketplaces, and estate sales. Add in the hours attending coastal swap meets, and even pulling over to check out antique malls when other methods have proven fruitless. The hours add up to days which add up to weeks and even months of a lifetime for hardcore vintage surfboard collectors. Meanwhile, the boards gathered are admired for a few minutes and tucked away for safekeeping, sometimes not looked upon again for years. Therein lies the key – it’s the thrill of the hunt that makes it all so fun. Furthermore, the better the price we get a barnyard find for, the greater the rush we feel.
A study conducted by San Francisco State University looked to define new type of shopper profile, for whom bargain hunting was akin to athletic competition. Researchers O’Donnell and Strebel defined a “sport shopper” as someone who often can afford the items at market value, but who bargain hunts for the thrill of it. The individual is competitive and enjoys outsmarting the system. Sound familiar? And if the board is especially rare? Chee-hoo!
Functional Collectibles
One thing that separates us from other types of collectors, aside from being way cooler (sorry, not sorry) is the fact that our acquisitions had/have a highly functional purpose. Paddling out and riding a surfboard that was built decades or even a century ago has nary a comparison. Randy Rarick’s “Summer of ’66” project was an excellent example of this:
There’s an unspoken rule among many vintage surfboard collectors to take a recently salvaged board out on the water at least once, before hanging it up for display. Of course, before we can do so we generally need to get them restored. Keep reading.
Restoration Project
Restoration completion at Ed Searfoss’ shaping bay in Haleiwa
This motivator is analogous to what collectors of classic vehicles enjoy. It’s one thing to rescue an old board from a dilapidated shed, and another to see it restored to resemble what it looked like when initially built. For many vintage surfboard collectors, the thrill of the restoration process, whether DIY or by the hand of an expert, is the juice that makes the squeeze worthwhile. If you have no idea how to restore a surfboard you can check out our resources section for a referral, right here.
Connects Us to a Community
Annual shows such as Wavecrest in Encinitas, Doheny Wood at Dana Point, and Woodies on the Wharf in Santa Cruz feature hundreds of classic surf wagons crowned by vintage single-fins. Meanwhile, monthly meet-ups and swap meets put on by the Vintage Surfboard Collectors Club can be found up and down the SoCal coast. These events bring together the collecting community, giving us all the opportunity to buy, sell, trade, and most importantly – connect to one another and talk story.
*SMH plans to bring the bring this mainland concept to Oahu. Stay tuned for updates in 2025 and beyond.
The Investment
Return on investment (ROI) may not be a romantic notion, but it’s a potion that attracts a large number of collectors. A rare board scored for a great price and restored can fetch thousands of dollars in an auction or private sale. It’s never a purist collector’s motivation, but it’s always on our minds.
Then There’s This
“A ‘transcendental experience’ – from the Latin transcendere, meaning ‘to go beyond’ – denotes a brief, uncommon, ecstatic and revelatory period in which we are able to loosen our hold on our characteristically narrow ego-specific concerns and can identify with a totality that is larger, older, greater and deeper than we are – and feel intensely unburdened and liberated thereby.”
School of Life
Yeah, it’s like that.
