Anyone help me track down relatives of the late, great board maker John Saffron? This post put up by his grandson son a couple of years back. Myself and a friend own JS boards and trying to piece together a history of a surfing pioneer who sadly died too young doing what he loved - surfing. Appreciate any suggestions:
Hi all. I'm new here and new to surfing full stop. Ive only tried it once in my life almost 20 years ago!!
Recently, and with thanks to this very forum, I came into possession of a 10'6 longboard that my grandfather John Saffron from Geelong, Vic which was made back in the late 50's to early 60's. It's had a colourful life outside of it's intended purpose of being ridden in water. Apparently it was destined for the tip, saved and handed to a member of this forum. It had been shot at, used as a table and god knows what else ;)
In the original owner's post, he asked if it was a balsa unit or not. It appears to be foam yet speaking to my mother (John's daughter) he made Balsas from his beginning in the mid to late 50's then moved on to foam. Either way, I am so happy to have this board back in the family but I would like to seek your collective advice on what to do with it.
It seems it may be beyond repair by simple patch work so what do I do with it?
a) Patch the holes only and leave as is as an heirloom
b) Cut the delaminated bits out and reglass them
c) Strip all the glass off, repair the foam and reglass completely.
Ideally I would like to keep it as original as possible but I would also like to be able to ride it (at least learn to).
Finally, having come into possession of this board has enlightened me to the surfing world as it were and I've decided to have a crack at making my own longboard. Ive started work on a 9'2" board which I intend to make from paulownia/cedar. I will try to have as little graphic/art on it as possible to keep the woodwork visible. I will call this the "GeeLongBoard" ;)
Anyhoo, enough rambling. Id love to hear your thoughts. Cheers,
Brett
