CORPUS CHRISTI - The Coastal Bend used to house a couple of Pat Magee's Surf Shops, where you could buy boards and wax, hang with friends and find out where the waves were breaking. A series of "fins" or "skegs" - the small, curved projections fixed to the rear bottom of surfboards for steering and stability - sits in a colorful row along a high ledge. "A lot of people don't think there's surfing in Texas - they think there has to be a hurricane or a tropical storm," says Hector Garza, a museum visitor who works as an electrician but surfs and builds boards on the side. The permanent display shows how surfboard makers, or "shapers," begin with a foam blank that is carved and planed, wrapped in fiberglass and coated with liquid resin. The museum has replicas of wooden boards made in the 1930s by Pacific Systems Homes, a home-construction outfit that doubled as a surfboard manufacturer.
But Garza says he has seen 6- to 8-foot waves "on a good, nice day."
Click on the link below to read the rest and see more images...
But Garza says he has seen 6- to 8-foot waves "on a good, nice day."
Click on the link below to read the rest and see more images...
