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Surf museums have always been a tough sell —
how do you appropriately translate an activity enjoyed under the sun and in the
water to the hushed halls of a respectable institution? Well, the crew at Cocoa
Beach Surf Museum has figured it out: combine detailed local history, a
reverent East Coast focus, a bright, open display inside coastal Florida’s
biggest tourist draw, and a dedication to research unusual in the surfing
community, and you’ve got yourself a winning formula.
Founded in 1999 by Cocoa Beach legend Sean O’Hare,
the CBSM has blossomed in recent years thanks to space generously donated by
Ron Jon Surf Shop and hard work provided by a large crew of volunteers.
Executive Director Tony Sasso gave EasternSurf.com an exclusive tour of CBSM’s current exhibit, The Big Board Show, comprised
of over 70 collectable surfboards and historic paraphernalia culled mostly from
Oceansports World owner Roy Scafidi’s impressive collection. Roy’s wife Pam
helped curate the display, which opened on September 19th and runs through the
end of January.
“For most openings, we have a live band and
refreshments outside, and that’s where everybody congregates,” Sasso says. “But
for this one, everybody was packed inside here reminiscing and ogling the
boards.” Don’t think the collection is limited strictly to Cocoa Beach’s
prodigious history, though: The Big Board Show starts with Tom Blake
paddleboards, several 1960s Duke Kahanamoku bellyboard and longboard models,
and even an authentic wool bathing suit from Duke’s private collection.
From there, a veritable timeline of early surfing
history hits all the important mileposts: countless Hobies, including an
Easter-blue early foam prototype, a flawless ’57 balsa restored by Randy
Rarick, and a priceless Phil Edwards model; Bing, Yater, Doyle, Gordie, Weber,
Hansen, Morey-Pope, Velzy, Con, Noll, and Nuuhiwa longboard classics; a handful
of ‘70s-era single- and twin-fins by Mark Richards and Shaun Tomson dangling
beautifully from the ceiling; a shortboard ridden in Puerto Rico by
Midget Farrelly at the 1968 World Surfing Championships; a reverse step-deck
Greek Liquidator that Bob “The Greek” Bolen himself said was one of only 35
ever produced; and even a limited-edition Jeffrey Dale longboard painted by
acclaimed artist Piet Mondrian that once hung in the Museum Of Modern Art.
Paper goods are also given their fair due, with
vintage Surfer and Surfing issues, original surf movie
posters, and Hawaii ephemera from bygone days. The real shockers came in a
glass case, though: an original copy of a 1776 Gentleman’s Magazine with Captain James Cook’s first mention of waveriding;
an 1833 Polynesian Researchers book
with early drawings depicting surfriding; and copies of Popular Science from 1935 and 1939, which contain the Tom
Blake-penned paddleboard plans that set the modern surfboard revolution in
motion.
The East Coast’s phenomenal history is represented as
well: Greg Loehr and Gary Propper Hobie models; Claude Codgen’s original CC
Rider for Con Surfboards; beautifully painted Loehr and Ocean Avenue
single-fins; three different Kelly Slater boards from the ‘80s, ‘90s, and ‘00s,
along with signed CJ Hobgood and Lisa Andersen sticks; Rightside-produced
Challenger and Oceanside shapes; the paddleboard that Cocoa Beach lifeguard
Wyatt Werneth used on his Florida circumnavigation; and the gem of the bunch, a
pristine black Greg Noll Duke Kahanamoku model shaped by Cocoa Beach legend Pat
O’Hare.
The hands-on nature of The Big Board Show doesn’t
overshadow CBSM’s commitment to academic research — they’ve recently
teamed with historians from Florida Atlantic University and University of Central
Florida to contribute to the “Surfing
Florida: A Photographic History” project, and they’ve broadened their
international scope by linking up with the United Kingdom Surf Museum and the
Brazilian Surf Museum. “We’re never going to lose our community spirit,” Sasso says.
“But surfing is international, and getting visitors in here from all 50 states,
as well as Brazil, Spain, Peru, and the UK is integral to the museum’s
continued existence.”
After January 31st, CBSM Board Member Melody DeCarlo
and 2010 East Coast Surfing Hall Of Fame inductee Sharon Wolfe Cranston will
usher in a Women of Surfing display. Sasso also has plans for a far-ranging
Dick Catri exhibit that will honor the man who many call the “Godfather of East
Coast Surfing,” just in time for Catri’s long-running Cocoa Beach institution,
the Easter Surfing Festival. And with National Archives-trained volunteer
Dennis Bennett working alongside computer whiz Jeff Cranston to digitize the
museum’s holdings, the 21st century looks bright. So bright in fact, Sasso can
barely contain his enthusiasm for the CBSM, even as it’s balanced with his
duties as a Vice Chairman of Surfrider Cocoa Beach Chapter, a politically
in-the-know former Cocoa Beach City Commissioner and Florida State
Representative, and a knowledgeable maritime security expert. “We have one law
at the Cocoa Beach Surf Museum,” Sasso laughs. “If we’re not having fun, we’re
doing something wrong,”
Find out
more about the Cocoa Beach Surf Museum by visiting www.cocoabeachsurfmuseum.org.
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