As mentioned in another post, the boys at Carabine Surfboards in Wollongong and I have been restoring an early 70's Jackson single fin for some time now for my wife Bec.
The board was Bec's mum's board in the early 70's prior to her falling pregnant with Bec in late '74 and very sadly passing away 3 months after Bec's birth.
Since then, the board, which had been beaten about by Vicki back in the day, had sat on the timber beams of Bec's dad's garage and obviously after 42 years there, was in pretty bad shape all round.
Bec didn't actually realize it was her mum's board until I inquired about it's history last year and once we confirmed that it was a Jackson and secondly, it was actually Bec's mum's board, I had an idea to restore it as a gift to Bec, being a piece of her mum, to treasure, surf and pass down to our own kids.
As Jackson Surfboards at Taren Point closed down in late 2015, I first made inquiries as to whether Dave Mattinson, a former owner of Jackson Surfboards, would be interested in the restoration given other projects he had completed so amazingly however he's now busy in retirement so I discussed the project with Carabine who were super keen to take it on for me.
The board firstly spent 2 months in a heat room ensuring any water and condensation were removed, the original fibreglass sheets and fin were removed, repairs completed, an original logo sought from Jacko's, rails re-sanded, a new fin moulded using the original as the template before being glassed, tinted and polished.
While we wanted the board to look shiny and new, it was important that the history remained so certain repairs were left looking blemished and a back foot deck repair, which I'm sure has a story, whilst filled, still shows on the foam. We also maintained the original black fin base and leg rope plug (and have the original leg rope)
Shane, Lachy, Derek and Snake at Carabine Surfboards in Wollongong have all completed an amazing restoration for me over a 10 month period and ensured the board was ready for Bec's birthday which is today, 8th August 2017.
I'm really stoked to think that Bec's mum rode this board and now Bec can paddle out on it given they had such a short period of time together in this life and for me, completing this project for our family is what surfing is truly about !
DIMENSIONS;6'5 X 19 3/4 X 2 7/8.
BEFORE;
DURING RESTORATION;
COMPLETED PROJECT;