I ran into Steve Reilly today at Grandview. We got to talking and he started telling me about a 7'10" single fin he had shaped by John Kies in 1976 that he still owns. I told him to snap a shot and send it over. Here is what he sent alone with the story. Enjoy.
I had it made in 1976 by the recently opened Encinitas Surfboard shop. I was living primarily on the central coast at that time, in Los Osos attending Cal Poly SLO, working on a master's degree, but was down here for the summer. I was introduced to John Kies, co-owner and (then sole) shaper by a
friend of mine from UCSB days, Kenny Bernard, who had gone to San Diguito HS with Kies.
[Kenny would be another good story tangent for the Leucadia Project, but I think he's still living in Australia. He is one of the most talented surfers I've known. He grew up around north county, surfed for the Hansen team in the 1960s, started with his brothers the Swamis surf club. His mom was even the "den mother" of the club. His older brother had a surf shop on the coast highway in downtown Encinitas for a number of years. For a while in the '70s his mom owned a house on the bluff just south of Beacon's. The house had a separate cottage slightly down the bluff (since fallen and gone), a great place to check the then-uncrowded Leucadia surf conditions. I lost touch with Kenny in the 1980s at some point, after he'd sailed his boat to Australia, hooked up with Simon Anderson who had recently invented the thruster, and was spending lots of time surfing the western Pacific with him. Came by my house in Cardiff around 1982 or so and gave me an incredible slide show of the then-unknown spots they'd been surfing from his sail boat, and the incredible things that could be done with the "new" 3 fin
design...John K. knows Kenny's whereabouts, I'm pretty sure].
But I digress. I told John about the macking reef breaks I was surfing along the central coast and he designed & made this board for me. At the time the general style was called a "California Semi-Gun". It was designed for waves from about head-high to as big as you've got the cojones to surf. Its about 7'10", very thick as boards were then, down rails, stable and fast. Has the de rigueur wings near the tail to loosen it up a bit, but man can this thing fly on a long open face. Color is balsa tint on the bottom and rails, clear deck with red pin strip. Simple and clean design, I've always admired it. Still have the original single fin. The board never had a leash plug (weren't yet invented in '76) but I did add a fin screw with an eyelet in about '77. Mostly surfed it leashless, even on the reefs. Used it down here as a winter swell board for a while, but it ended up on the rafters about 25 yrs ago, and its aging nicely.
Let me know if you're interested in taking some better shots and I'll bring it by your place.
Steve
p.s. really like what you've been doing with the Leucadia Project web site. Very nice.
p.p.s. I've also got a circa 1963 Con longboard hanging in the garage. 9'0" rounded pin. Picked it up in 1981 when I moved back to Cardiff before the modern longboard era began. Placed an add in the Pennysaver and got it for $35 from a guy a couple blocks away whose son had left it in his garage since about '65. Shape's not as pristine but an interesting, fun board nonetheless.
Photo by Steve Reilly
