Surfboard Shaping
1962-63 Hobie Longboard Possibly Shaped by Mike Hynson
There’s all sorts of cool shiz on Craigslist this time of year, but this one takes the cake - a very cool story follows. This guy in San Diego is selling a 1962 Hobie Alter Longboard, pictures shown here.
The size is roughly 9″8″. Says our intrepid Craigslist seller: “When I got this board I was just looking for a vintage rider, what I ended up with is likely something else. When I looked at the number on the stringer (as pictured below) I noticed an “H” had been carved in the stringer long with the number. I know a bit about surf history and realized that, as far as I knew, the only person shaping for Hobie at the time with an “H” in his name was Mike Hynson. Is this possible, I thought. To check it out I went to a friend of mine who did a lot of business with Hobie. He arranged for us to go down to the Hobie factory in Dana Point and meet up with Terry Martin who has been working and shaping there since around 1964. Mr. Martin was gracious enough to give us his time and take a look at the board for me. Terry told us that the board was made before he got there in 1964. He said Mike did a lot of shaping there before he left in late 1963 to film the Endless Summer.
The fin on the board also seemed to lean a lot more to the style of the board mike surfed in the endless summer. The Lam and the serial number also matched the period. In addition, Hobie Atler himself really was not doing much shaping anymore at the shop and that was the only other “H” he could think of that shaped there from the period. Terry’s final conclusion was that Mike had most likely shaped the board, but there was no real way to be sure. And that’s the story of this board. A vintage 1962-63 Hobie possibly shaped by Mike Hynson.”
All of this to say - no matter who shaped this board, be it 
Mike Hyson or Hobie himself, this is a pretty damn cool piece of surfing history.
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My husband has a board very similar to this one. Do you remember what was the asking price on Craig’s list? The ad is no longer posted.
I love this comment above! The wife is not really interested in the surf history, just the monetary value.
I would be interested in the value of the boards? Does anybody know what the value would be?
I too have a board similar to the one shown above…It’ss a nose rider bought bach in 1964 in San Diego.
I have a board that looks just like this one, only not is as good condition. Try to find the value. Inerested in selling for cheap.
Also, decal logo does not have the Dana Point location listed on it. Can’t find a serial number on the stringer. I’m in Hemet ca. rt66cruiser@verizon.net
I guess everyone must have one of these sticks! I have one with 6 Dana Point logos on it (under the glass). It has a balsa/redwood/balsa stringer & the skeg appears to have been painted black by some modern thinking shredder many years ago. It’s 11′2″ obviously a gun for those big days before they destroyed the point.Oh yeah, it’s also glassed in orange. If anyone has or wants info, hit me back @ the EM address or catch me when I’m camping @ Doheny.