ASK THE EXPERT/ SURFING
by corky carroll

Question: I just bought a vintage Corky Carroll model Hobie surfboard. It is 8'2" and has a big square tail. the bottom is red and the deck has a sort of paisley looking air spray. The Hobie label is big and psychedelic looking across the middle of the board while there is a small square Corky Carroll model logo on the right hand side closer to the nose.
Under the Corky logo it says "super mini." Can you tell me when this board was made and any other details about it?

ANSWER: That board was made in 1968, the year that shortboards totally took over the market. The original mini model came out late 1966 and sold all through 1967. In '68 we modified it with a slight Vee in the bottom and they got shorter, going from the 8 to 9ft range down into the 6 to 8 ft range. Your 8'2" must have been early in the year.

Question: There has been a lot of news about shark attacks recently. What do you think about all that?

ANSWER: Some years back there were a slew of attacks in Florida and then they went away. Also in Hawaii. Honestly I don't think you can predict or explain a lot of this stuff. They live in the ocean. Sometimes they bite. It is, however, more dangerous driving on the Southern California freeways. I am not worried about it.

Question: I have heard that you spend a lot of time down in mainland Mexico. What is the best time of year for surf down there?

ANSWER: Yep I do. The best time for surf is March through November but the best time for weather is Oct through May. If you don't mind rain then August and Sept have lots of surf. If you want perfect weather and smaller surf then December and January. I like the OC in the summer and Mexico in the freezing winter months when it’s too cold here and is nice and tropical down there.

Question: I have heard you mention in your column that when you started surfing the boards were made of wood. What was THAT like?

ANSWER: Yes it's true. But I came along at the very end of the wood board era and by then they were made of balsa wood and were fiber glassed. They were big and heavy yes, but not as big and heavy as the one hundred plus pound redwood planks that came before balsa wood. Balsa is a light wood. Especially back then when there was still good balsa to be had. My first board was 8'7" and weighed 47 pounds. Today the same size board is like 7 pounds. It's better now.

Question: What do you think was the most important thing in the evolution of modern surfing?

ANSWER: Well, there were two things that made huge impacts on the surfing. The first was the release of the movie "Gidget." This film gave the general population around the country their first look at surfing. The result was that surfing went from something done by only "a few water brained beatniks along the coast" to a huge national craze almost overnight. The other was the evolution to the short board in the late 1960's. That opened the doors to the current style of surfing.

Question: We have seen a very big increase on the amount of women surfing in the past decade. Do you ever see women surfing at the same level as men?

ANSWER: This is a loaded question. There are some fantastic girl surfers these days, no doubt. And many women surf better than men. But NO, I don't see women surfing at the same level as the top men. But then I always thought that I would never see a woman who could surf better than me and probably in recent years I have had to eat that theory. Humph.