I first heard mention of Rincon in 1964 the same way most of the world likely did, when the Beach Boys exclaimed “…at Rincon, they’re walkin’ the nose,” as Surfin’ Safari riffed from the tinny speaker of a Zenith transistor radio hidden beneath my pillow.  Wherever this Rincon was, and whatever it was they were doing there, it sounded pretty darn cool to a six-year-old in central Ohio.

Turns out that Rincon has long been considered America’s gold-standard pointbreak.  Located on the border between Ventura and Santa Monica, about 75 miles north of Malibu, its elegant, right breaking point wave has hosted a pantheon of surfing legends since it was first ridden in 1938.   That lineup includes original big wave board designer, Joe Quigg, of the late ‘40s, and the builder that started the shortboard revolution of the late ‘60’s, George Greenough, aka “the barefoot genius,” then a resident of nearby Montecito.

With the “Rincon,” Surf Ohio’s Longboard Legends Collection pays homage to this classic break known as “the Queen of the Coast,” and those early watermen that her made famous, and vice-versa.  The Surf Ohio “Rincon” is a limited-edition of 100 hand-crafted 23” surfboards, each numbered and signed by Ron Kaplan and arriving ready-to-hang in your tiki bar, beach house, office, or wherever you hang ten.  Only $45 per board.    Buy any two boards for $80 (savings of $10), or all three styles with matching edition numbers for only $110 (savings of $25).  Priority Mail shipping is $12 for one board, or $16 for two-three boards.

The North Shore. Oahu.  “Pipeline.”  According to experts, it’s the world’s most photographed and filmed wave by far.  Perhaps that’s also because of a well-earned reputation as the world’s premier tube – and most dangerous surf spot.  Once called Banzai Beach, a pretty good moniker for the towering sets crashing onto an uber shallow reef of lava caves, in the early Sixties it was boardmaker Mike Diffenderfer who noticed the spot’s waves resembled the giant concrete pipes being used in a nearby road project. Before long, the “Banzai Pipeline” became known as the sport’s ultimate break and, many would claim, the ultimate test of a surfer’s courage, skill and luck.

Today it is simply called “Pipe,” but there is nothing simple about mastering its beguiling and bedeviling barrels.  In an attempt to provide a tutorial to surfers aspiring to conquer Pipe, one website offers this astute observation; “It’s not a matter of if you will wipeout, but rather when and how bad.”  According to the Encyclopedia of Surfing, on one December day in 1998 there were 30 injuries at Pipeline, including a near fatality.  But the photos? – they looked marvelous.

A roster of Pipeline masters would read like a who’s who of big wave barrel riders, from the likes of the early days’ Butch Van Artsdalen and Jock Sutherland, to contemporary tubists like Kelly Slater and the late Andy Irons.  And the annual Pipe Masters surfing classic today dangles a total purse of $425,000.  That’ll pay for a lot of stitches.  Unless, of course, you lose.

Surf Ohio salutes “Pipeline” and the legacy of the famous barrel riders who have mastered it with this Longboard Legends Collection limited-edition of 100 hand-crafted 23” surfboards.  Each is numbered and signed by Ron Kaplan and arrives ready-to-hang in your tiki bar, beach house, office, or wherever you hang ten.  Only $45 per board.    Buy any two boards for $80 (savings of $10), or all three styles with matching edition numbers for only $110 (savings of $25).  Priority Mail shipping is $12 for one board, or $16 for two-three boards.

A surf journalist once wrote that “Malibu is the exact spot on earth where ancient surfing became modern surfing.” When the lineup is crowded with every kind of surfer imaginable, from foreign tourist groms to reality show wannabes posing for paparazzi staked out on the shore, no doubt many Malibu regulars probably wish they could go back into time.

Back the day, Malibu was ruled by longboard icons like Dewey Weber, Mickey “The Black Knight of Malibu” Dora and Terry “Tubesteak” Tracy.  Dora’s riding style is still being copied by surfers today, and “Tubesteak,” well, he was the model for the Great Kahoona, made famous by surfer/actor Cliff Robertson in the movie “Gidget,” which was set in Malibu. That 1959 cinematic pop culture phenomenon catapulted surfing into the American youth culture, and waveriding at Malibu would never be the same.

Personally, I’ve found dozens of reasons to love Malibu besides the surf, not the least of which is the killer banana bread french toast at Coogies Beach Café, and then running into Dick Van Dyke and Pamela Anderson (but not together) while avocado shopping at the Ralph’s next door.

A fitting tribute to the original beachhead of American surf culture and the iconic surfboards of the day, the Longboard Legends Collection “Malibu” by Surf Ohio is a limited-edition of 100 hand-crafted 23” surfboards, each numbered and signed by Ron Kaplan, and arriving ready-to-hang in your tiki bar, beach house, office, or wherever you hang ten. Only $45 per board. Buy any two boards for $80 (savings of $10), or all three styles with matching edition numbers for only $110 (savings of $25).  Priority Mail shipping is $12 for one board, or $16 for two-three boards.

A fitting tribute to the original beachhead of American surf culture and the iconic surfboards of the day, the Longboard Legends Collection by Surf Ohio is a limited-edition of 100 hand-crafted 23” surfboards, each numbered and signed by Ron Kaplan, and arriving ready-to-hang in your tiki bar, beach house, office, or wherever you hang ten. You’ll receive all three styles with matching edition numbers for only $110 (savings of $25).  Priority Mail shipping is $16.