Combining his love of both surfing and woodwork...Stuart was very excited when approached to restore an Australian classic 1950's wooden hollow surfboard... The board as shown below was in a fairly bad state of disrepair and needed significant restoration and restructuring.
This fantastic retro board is an Okinuee . The Okinuee, is the Australian version of the iconic Malibu Surfboard. These surfboards were first made just after The Melbourne Olympics in 1956, when Aussie surfers, unable to source Balsawood used Hollowed Plywood instead and so the Okinuee was born.
The only distinguishing future on this particular Okinuee is the name Babs ;inscribed on the front.... The name is most likely to have been a tribute to the maker or the surfer for his girlfriend /wife... lucky Babs !!
The extensive restoration and repair process included; repair and reglue centre structure, repair to centre rails, modifications to the crossbeam, nose and tail sections to secure the main frame. Plywood panels were then fixed with screws and glue, and a draining plug added.
An extensive sand, and repolish completed the overhaul of Babs.
