Antique Koa Surfboard Treasure


Antique Koa Surfboard

koa surfboardHard to believe, but one day Meredith happened by a local pawn shop in Lahaina and discovers what looks like a vintage Surfboard made of solid Hawaiian Koa hanging from the rafters. The board’s dimensions suggest it could be what the Hawaiian’s referred to as an Alaia Board (pronounced: ah-LIE-ah). It resembles a 1920’s Tom Blake “Waikiki 25” series board in overall shape, but its pristine condition and spoon style nose indicates it was probably made in the late 1940’s. You can see more history about these boards at this link – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaia.

Meredith fell in love with the board and tried to buy it on the spot, but the owner wasn’t going to part with it. The store owner said he got it from Dale Velzy, who had recently passed away, and with Dale’s son working in the store; it was probably an easy assumption to believe the owner was telling the truth.

Several months went by and she pursued the purchase every chance she got …until one day, armed with a friend, and as reluctant as the store owner may have been, he couldn’t compete against two pretty smiles. She finally convinced him to part with this surfer’s treasure.

She now had this beautiful 13 foot vintage surf board and wanted to decorate her home with it, but wasn’t sure exactly how to go about making that happen until she discovered a small California designer who makes unique handcrafted surfboard storage and display racks thru his company’s website: www.hawaiiangunrack.com,

Dennis commented; …“her home has high vaulted ceilings and long white walls in the main entrance that open into a spacious living room accented in rich Mahogany trim. It would have been a shame not to put it in the entrance of her home instead of up on a wall somewhere hidden deeper in the house”.

floor pedestalSo after several emails they agreed it should be mounted vertically along a particular wall at the entrance of her home. We came up with a design using a handmade floor pedestal made of Mahogany and a wave inspired etched glass front that would help to protect the tail of the board and add decorative features to enhance its display. We then “locked” the board in place with custom made wall clips that will hold the top of the Alaia in place.

So now in true “Aloha” fashion the board greets all of her guests as they enter this beautiful colonial style Hawaiian home. What a lucky guy!