Terry Martin, a legendary surfboard shaper, has passed away in Capistrano Beach after battling melanoma for two years.
With a 60-year shaping career, Martin started creating boards at Hobie Surfboards factory, back in 1963, where he would produce ten planks a day.
Gary Propper, Corky Carroll, Gerry Lopez, Wayne "Rabbit" Bartholomew and Joyce Hoffman enjoyed the touch and feel of Terry Martin, under their feet.
The North American craftsman shaped more than 80,000 surfboards during his life and he got the nickname "The Machine" for that. "I'd just go do my six in the morning, go surfing or riding, come back in the afternoon and do the other four. Then go surfing again", he told recently.
On the 20th May, at the Ocean Institute in Dana Point, there will be a celebration of Terry's life and his legacy at "The Terry Martin Project" event "A Body of Work From Wood to Foam".
What were his favorite surfboards? "I like them all. I've done it so long I've made all of them - little boards, big boards, tandem boards. I'm still doing this because I like it and they keep asking me to make these darn things. I love the polyester foam", said Terry Martin.
"The only thing I haven't made so much of is the stand-up boards. I don't like epoxy. I've made a few, but avoid it if I can help it. It doesn't like tools. I like sculpting; I like shaping and that stuff just does not like you to mess with it".
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