Great Lakes Surf Magazine  Winter 1989

Glory Days

You really should have been there

By DAVID H. SEIBOLD, DDS

Grand Haven, MI

   After graduating from the University of Michigan Dental School in 1954 my wife and I spent two years in Hawaii.  During my undergrad years at MSU I was on the varsity swimming team so bodyboarding was a way of life at any time I was near waves.  But board surfing was for those who could afford it!

   On Waikiki, in those days, several fellows — one by the name of Hoby Calder —had set up their saw horse and fashioned surfboards.  Here’s how it was done:  After WWII the islands abounded with surplus war gear; among this surplus were Navy life rafts which were made of balsa wood.  You could buy them for $15 to $20 a piece.  The outside rubber would be stripped off, the sections of the raft cut into planks, glued together and then shaped with knives and sandpaper.  Once that was done they would be fiberglassed and ready for the surf.

   Competition was hot among those beach saw-horse “surf shops.”  Each one — local Hawaiians or California ex-patriots — could produce about one a day.  Styles evolved rapidly.  They were all big boards — 9 to 11 feet.  Removable skegs were an option.  The Malibu nose to avoid “pearl diving” became standard.  Cost?  I can’t remember but they couldn’t have been more than $60 to $70.

   The bug bit me so I built my own.  I spent so much time out at Makaha that the assistants at the dental clinic where I worked called me (and still do when I go back to visit) Dr. Makaha (MAKAHA is my personalized license plate on my Corvette.)

   When we moved back to Grand Haven in 1955 I brought my board with me.  I started surfing with it in the Fall of 1955 my knowledge it was the first time anyone had tried it on Lake Michigan.  I’ve had several other boards but the original Waikiki board still hangs in the garage — its active days over.  One of the great surfers of the Fifties era — George Downing — has talked about putting a surfing museum together out in Honolulu and asked that I contribute my board (that old balsa wood style is rare.)   However, I think it should remain here and I will someday put it in our local museum for display. ■

Below - Suggested picture / caption that could be used with this article:

   Dr. 'Makaha' Seibold shown here with the board he built on the beach at Waikiki at a Tri-Cites Museum surfing presentation in the fall of 2006.