Fred Wardy - Wardy Surfboards

When Fred Wardy was about 15 years old, his father would take him and his brothers to the beach at Malibu. They had one large, heavy surfboard that they would take turns riding. He enjoyed the sport and finally moved to the beach in the Malibu area where he started making surfboards. One day he was talking to John Severson about surfing films when John mentioned the good response in the Pasadena area. Wardy thought this over and opened a shop in Pasadena, which worked out very well for him.
His favorite surfing spots are Trestles, Malibu, and St. Anns. When we asked him his favorite surf size and type of waves, he was very much to the point. "Just good waves!"

Wardy enjoys surfing purely as a sport," Which is what it is. Surfing can get out of perspective. Some kids think it is a complete way of life. They should take it like any other sport_surf, then go do the other things important for a full life."
Wardy plans to continue building surfboards. He has had teaching experience and perhaps may go back into that someday. He thinks that "Surfing is finally coming into its own as and accepted sport, recognized not only in Southern California and Hawaii, but throughout the United States and other countries. I believe it will remain as such and continue to grow as long as there are sports-conscious people with leisure time."
The following is a Wardy advertisement taken from Surfer Magazine

A FEW WORDS ON SURFBOARDS...

Since Mr. Severson has gone to considerable time and trouble preparing such a wide assortment of photographs and drawings for this magazines, we've decided to start separating the photos from the advertisements and to tell you a little about our surfboards - in other words rather than pictures. If you're already well informed on the subject, please bear with us while we tell the others.

To start from the beginning, our surfboards are make from high density polyurethane foam blanks manufactured by Clark Foam Products (his ad's in this magazine). We use this excellent quality foam because - well, because his shop is just down the street from us and it's very convenient. We also make a lot of balsa wood boards - much to the agony of our shapers. Since balsa must be shipped from South America and requires considerable more time in shaping, these are more expensive. The finished product, however, is well worth the extra cost. Next, we use an isopthalic resin which is 25% stronger than most resins: double layers of tightly woven ten-ounce fiberglass: and an all-glass skeg which is securely inserted into the redwood and balsa centerstrips and guaranteed against breakage for six months. In fact, the entire board is guaranteed.

Well, now that you know something about our surfboards, we hope you're interested enough to find time to visit our shop in Laguna Beach. Better yet, we hope you'll find our shop - it's rather un-centrally located on a back street, looks like and old red barn, and has a "showroom," and we use the term loosely, which is filled to maximum capacity with six medium-sized people. We don't sell the usual accessories and paraphernalia, such as trunks, photographs, etc. In fact, we don't sell anything but surfboards really.

One more thing - in case you're closer to our shop in Pasadena, don't be alarmed if you're confronted by a vacant lot instead. You see, it's such an eyesore that the local citizens have voted in favor of its demolition So please watch for the opening of our new (and maybe even worse) shop - probably sometime in December.
Laguna Beach
525 Forest Avenue
HYatt 4-0345		 Pasadena
806 E. Colorado Blvd.
SYcamore 6-1065