What Was Your First Surfboard?

My first board was a 5'11" narrow lil arrow, about the worst possible board for a beginner.

Fortunately, it got stolen while I was still learning and it was replaced with a 9 footer that I've kept.

My first sponge was a Morey Boogie 132 baaaaack in the mid-80s.

My first skateboard had clay wheels. First snowboard a Skates On Haight deck in the late 90s, back before step in bindings.

Who still has their first board(s)?

First surf stick - a loaner and beat-to-shit 6'6 Hamilton thruster in Kauai.
First skate - Santa Cruz Rob Roskop monster/snotty face design
First snowboard - Kemper 155 back when tails were still flat.

I would kill to have that original Roskop deck back and have repeatedly contemplated getting those deck graphics tattooed.

I remember that graphic.

I had a Hosoi Hammerhead, a Banzai aluminum deck (I later worked with the inventor), and the black Santa Cruz deck with white barbed wire and bright green wheels among others BITD.

You know you're oldskool if you had at least one board all decked out in coping for curbs and pools... =)

If you haven't seen it yet, peep out the Hosoi documentary. Not as good or intense as the Gator one, but still pretty interesting and informative with a lot of rad old school geriatricks.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0782079/

First board was a garage job given to me for Xmas from Tap Plastics. It was such a difficult job for me at the time at 13 y/o. Used way too much resin, and it barely stayed afloat at 9'0". So, my next board was a 9'10" Gordie of which I purchased less than 1 year new for $75 from a friend. It can be seen in this old pic at the Bo', second board from the left. Still unable to remember what happened to it.

I remember the first skate deck I got had $50.00 written in sharpy on the tail because it was absolutely expected that you'd get the big old tail skid pad on it as well as all the rest of the matching stuff....nosepad, copings for the trucks. It was Lester Splat made by Sims. First surfboard was a Santa Cruz single fin pintail which I've still got. Old at the time when I picked it up.

16 or 17 years old, bought a kit from Fasco plastics in south Florida. Longboard blank with a 1" wide stringer w/cloth, resin pigment and fin included. Shaped a 9'2" pintail with an aquamarine blue racing stripe down the middle. Pretty crude job with a nice fin buzz every time I turned. Watertight and heavy. Swam a lot. 1967 or 68, something like that. The next one I made was 7'10", next one 6'6", next one was a store bought 5'11". Things were changing quickly.

6' Lightning Bolt in 1992. Waterlogged, too much foam but I loved it anyways.

12' Waikiki rental circa 1982 (white OP shorts manditory) bright red & big enough to land helicopters from Pearl...
Was the only family member to get on my feet & ride
which is probably for the best

Fatnewt, that is the most awesome board ever, and I hope it still sees some time in the water. I got a board kinda like that, which is intended for vacation days off on a weekday. The "damn it all, f work I'm outta here, there's solid OH swell and I'm headed to wa-rhymes with swell".

My first board was a 5'10 McCoy Lazor Zap. My mom bought it for me at Live Water Surf Shop in 1986? She had originally gone to Wise Surf Shop, which was then located on Vicente Ave. Funny thing is that she said the guys at Wise were such assholes that she didn't want to give them any business. That was a horrible board to learn on, but man do I wish I still had it today.

Several years ago, while down in mainland Mexico, I was sitting on the tip of an unnamed point, talking to this older guy with long blond hair. We talked for a while about life, where we were from, etc. He tells me he used to shape boards for a living, but doesn't much anymore, except here and there for friends or old customers. As it turns out, this guy I was talking to made my very first surfboard, as I remembered his name written on the stringer. I ended up hanging out a bit with him and his buddies and towards the end of the trip, I asked him if he would be willing to make me another board? 3 months later, I picked up a board in San Clemente made by the guy who made my very first surfboard. A classic 80's board, glass ons, thick and pretty flat. Classic small world stuff.

Squaretail G&S with no foam (or glass) in/on either the nose or the tail. Bought it for fiddy cent off a guy who was putting it into a dumpster. If you squeezed it, water would shoot out the top, which was fun. Learned to surf on it...then sold it to a kid littler than me for a nickel.