Casey Surf Designs - Custom Surfboards from Mike Casey

Master Craftsman Mike Casey
Re-shaping Hawai'i's Past and Present, Through Surfboard Design

Surfboard Craftsman Mike Casey Creates Replicas Of Hawai'i's Rarest Surfboards

By Keoki Ching
eNewsHawaii Staff

Master surfboard shaper and craftsman, Mike Casey.

Posted 6:25 p.m., Wednesday, Dec 13, 2000

Surf. That's all people ever talk about in Hawai'i. Surf. It's just as common a topic of conversation as "how are you," or even today's weather. "How's the waves," is almost a standard greeting among locals, which necessarily follows a simple "hi" or "how's it."

Surfing has been a part of Hawai'i's culture since ancient Polynesian times. It is certainly one of the most popular aspects of Polynesian culture that has spread worldwide. The face of surfing has changed significantly since then, but one thing remains the same: Hawai'i is the root, foundation, and source of all modern surfing. As surfing continues to grow worldwide, collectors of the surfing world continue to return to Hawai'i in search of that unique piece of surfing history.

Casey with one of his works in progress, a pre-contact style polynesian surfboard and the wiliwili wood from which it is made.

Meet Mike Casey, master surfboard craftsman, who is recreating the surfboards of Hawai'i's past. Some may consider Mike Casey himself to be a piece of surfing history. He has been crafting surfboards since 1967 and currently supplies T & C Surf, one of Hawai'i's largest surf retailers, with high performance boards of all styles.

Casey's focus has recently turned towards making the surfboards of old Hawai'i. At his shop in Pearl Highlands, Casey has been drying rare cuts of old growth red wood and hard to find pieces of locally grown Balsa and Wiliwili. Casey has a limited supply of wood, much of which is not available on the market today simply because of its large size.

Typically, a lot of wooden surfboards are made from six to eight smaller pieces of wood, all glued together. "The rarest and most difficult to find wooden surfboard is one that is shaped from a single piece of wood," says Casey, "and I have enough redwood boards for only eight one-piece surfboards."

From the redwood planks, Casey plans on making the old style finless redwood surfboard that the famous Duke Kahanamoku and Waikiki Beach Boy rode, which was used from about the turn of the century until the early 1930's. From the Hawaiian Wiliwili wood, he plans on crafting the smaller pre-contact Polynesian surfboards as well as the ancient Hawaiian "olo," a 12-14 foot surfboard which Casey says, "probably hasn't been made since ancient Polynesian times."

Rarest of the rare for any surfboard collector: a surfboard fashioned from a single piece of wood. Casey poses with the start of a collectors item.

Casey spent time researching and studying ancient Polynesian surfboards at the archives of the Bishop Museum. "The boards that I make are accurate replicas," he says, adding that few people have actually spent the time studying the surfboards of the old days. Even fewer are the people who actually have the background, skill, and ability to replicate the old boards.

Casey admits, "I was really lucky. In 1967, I started with Channin and Diffenderfer surfboards, and at that time in history, Channin and Diffenderfer surfboards were some of the most highly regarded boards with a world wide reputation. I got to work there for ten years, learning from the best." In 1977 Casey moved to the Oahu's North Shore, where he continued to shape and develop surfboards with the world's best.

With his broad background, he commented "I can shape any era that surfboards have gone through, from the old 50's style tankers, to the modern three-fin thrusters, or even pre-contact Polynesian boards."

Classic waimea gun surfboard by Mike Casey.

When asked about his career as a surfboard shaper, he said, "Surfboards are always evolving -- I'm always learning something new, so this way it doesn't get old for me. Surfing allows us to have that one on one experience with the ocean, which in turn enables us to be childlike, even when you are old like me," he laughs.

"It's the same way with building surfboards, from each new season new design concepts arise; and like children, we are constantly learning new things, applying it to the future, hopefully to make more progressive surfboards."

His history and mastery of his art seem to ensure that any surfboard created by shaping guru Mike Casey will surely become a highly prized item for any future surf-history collector.