My journey from Belly boarding as a child to standing Surfing then at 62 going back to Belly boarding started out the same way. Short surf and knee board s. So far twin fins way back on the tail. Keel fins with the back raised off the board for more flex.
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In Spanish when two friends with the same name greet each other they say Túcallo. (I'm working on the proper spelling, stay tuned) I am a 4th generation Californian having grown up in Huntington Beach and have been living in Leucadia California for 40 years now. My first experience with billboarding started with Riding my Mom's custom Gordie twin fin at the pier mixed with riding hard as a rock surf matts from our friends beach concessions. Later I would run into my childhood bully towing a giant longboard on the back of his bike with a home made surfboard cart. In that moment I knew I had to get a surfboard and start surfing. After spending the next 55 years surfing I was starting to see surf mats becoming popular again so I purchased one and spent a number of years in the slow learning curve and then finally really enjoy it. I was still surfing at that point so unless the waves were perfect for matting I'd be on a surfboard. I had alway considered myself to be a pretty good to really good surfer as I had always been very inconsistent but I had my moment. When I reached the age of around 60 I started to notice my ability to get to my feet was getting worse. A very serious rock climbing accident at didn't help. At about 64 I noticed my brain started not not tell my body it was time to get up and I found I was starting to have a very loud screaming internal dialogue that only I could hear. STAND UP ! GET THE F*ck UP!. To no avail , My love of big waves turned into a few head bashing on the deck of my board. Loosing years of confidence to the point it just wasn't fun anymore. I had always planned to go back to billboarding at some point but never thought it would happen so soon. Heck it had only been 50+ year so far. At that point I started to do research on tradition fiberglass boards and quickly realized they would be way to small and thin for what I was trying to do. I wanted the feeling of a surfboard. The Paddling, taking off, Dropping in , only laying down. I was on a new journey not know what the outcome would be. My first board was actually a small knee board that didn't float me very well but I was able to go out on a 2' day, Catch a little grinding barrel, pull in, get tubed and come out ! It was at that moment I knew it was going work out. Now I was truly inspired to find that MAGIC board. I started my internet search by find a BING board called the "Speed Square" which was inspired by a Chris DeMoro boogie board he had as a kid. My friend Mat owns Bing so we got together and figured out what I wanted. It turned out to be a pretty good board for flotation and catching waves but due to it's bottom contour it sucks at dropping into waves so the search continued. I was working fir Rusty Surfboards make custom signs for them. My friend Royce was working there and he knew about my journey so he suggested talking to Rick Hammond the head shaper. I showed the Speed Square to Rick. We talked about what worked and didn't work. He was so excited about it ! He even told me that he really needed something like this because he was getting old too. I left him my board to copy (I had a spare SS) .In a few month I get the call the boards done. I was stoked at how it looked . He totally redesigned the bottom. I took it out and it blew my mind ! It's everything I had been dreaming of. I am able to use all the years of wave knowledge to go to the next level in my surfing. Mind-blowing ! The current best board I have is 4'8" Flat nose 11" @12" 20 3/4" Mid 23 3/8" up 12" 21 5/8" tail 17 1/2. Slight rocker in the front with single concave to a double concave starting in the middle going all the way through the tail. Fins are NVS Apex series keel fins . I call the board "The Screamer" Hope you enjoy the story and I glad to share the experience
Bob Green
Very slick photographic effects. Where does the Wegener fit into your story?
Rod Treece
Good eye and great question.Having surfed for decades it was always easy to find people to get surfboards from. You found "Your" shaper and you could get some really great boards. When I started my journey to find a magic Bellyboard I found it much harder to find what I was looking for. Most "Surfboard Shapers" were not even interested. Where I live in Leucadia California there are quite a few shapers that have a following that includes Handplanes, Wooden Billboards and Alias. I had bought my first board which was attactualy a knee board from A very nice young woman Christin who is a local shaper. I really like her and tried many times to get her to make me a bellyboard but it never happened. I knew John Wegener from the Beacons parking lot and surfing at the same spots. I talked to him about making a board and finally he got interested in it . I showed him my board, told him how great it was and I said "Do your thing". He took my board and kept it for awhile. After a month or so I finally called him and he said he hadn't even had a chance to look at it yet so I went over to his house/shop . He took some measurements and I left. Never heard back until a few months later he texted and said the board was done and to come over and check it out. Well , he did his thing for sure. The board other than being small and wide in no way resembled my board. It didn't even have the fin sit up I had asked for. He told me to take it and try it. If I didn't like it to bring it back. I made the mistake of being on the spot. I took it out 5-6 times and it preformed poorly . I loaned it to a friend who rides a copy of my board and she thought it was bad as well. I had decided to sell it and I knew John had help some mutual friends get connected with Patagonia to place their board in the shop to sell. So I called John and asked him if he could help me out to get the board in the Patagonia shop and his answer was "Whatta Ya want me to do". I just said "Just make a phone call that all" . He blew me off and that was the end of it. The journey to find great inspired shapers that love making My style of boards has been difficult be my relationship with Rick Hammond & Rusty is well worth the waiting and cost.
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1 June 2023
https://www.facebook.com/groups/paipobe ... 371625080/
I'm looking for any photos of a Gordie bellyboard similar to my Mom's. It was I think 2-3 stringer clear white, squaretail twinfin. It's where it all started for me.
Rod Rodgers
The only known advert was in International Surfing Magazine, 1967-Dec/Jan, v03n01, p010. Found as part of my Twenty Years of Surfing Magazines research project. Paipo Research Project.
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