One cool museum
It’s not a big place, a half-block off the beach in the heart of the Santa Barbara tourist zone, but it is crammed with surfing history and lore. Classic boards by Al Merrick, Dewey Weber and George Greenough, along with a variety of vintage surfing memorabilia, skateboards from back in the day and musical tributes to the sport of kings.
The nine-foot Yater that Lt. Colonel Bill Kilgore (Robert Duvall) rode through small arms fire on that crazy beach in the Vietnam War classic, Apocalypse Now… that’s on the wall. Along with Dick Dale’s guitars, balsa-and-redwood relics of varying shapes and sizes and a mother-of-pearl inlaid short board work of art from Dewey Weber that should be in the Louvre. It is a shrine to the magic and the power of the surfing experience and, if you’re in the area, is worth an hour or two of your time (and probably more than one visit.)
About Ken Campbell
New Release
A story of sea kayaking and science on the rugged coast of Alaska. Coming – Spring 2014.
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