Surfing Through History at the Alila Marea Beach Resort

If you were to visit the Alila Marea Beach Resort—the breathtaking hotel perched upon the bluff between Carlsbad and Encinitas—and walk into its poolside bar area known as The Pocket, you’d glimpse the history of surfboard design along the surrounding sapele mahogany–lined walls.

Encircling the bar and the coastal-inspired lounge area are 17 hand-shaped, surfboard-esque wall panels—each over seven feet tall and nearly two feet wide—that pay homage to board design of the late ’50s and ’60s. Each panel boasts a different resin colorway—vintage reds, teals, whites, and so on—using pigments found during that era of shaping.

The installation is crafted by Brian Szymanski, local shaper and owner of the long-established surfboard repair shop known as The Ding King. Rather than simply creating replicas of historic designs using today’s board-building technology, Szymanski wanted to craft each panel using the materials and methods that were authentic to that era.

“The type of resin that we used, the pigments that we used, the spread of the stringers, and the different types of wood that went into it were all extremely specific to that time period,” says Szymanski. “I had guys that were building boards during that time help me put together some of the wood boards and hand- mix some resin color so they were authentic to the ’60s. Those traditional techniques are only really known by the people that were doing it—or someone lucky enough, like me, to be trained.”

Over the past 30 years, Szymanski has fabricated custom shapes and done production work for big hitters in the surfboard industry like Channel Islands, Rob Machado Surfboards, and windsurfing company Starboard. Having learned to handshape all types of boards from local Encinitas legends like Tom Eberly and Ed Wright of Sunset Surfboards, Szymanski worked hard to create an installation that honors the craftspeople who paved the way and gives visitors a brief look at the area’s rich surf culture.

“He was always eager to learn,” says Eberly. “He is a great surfer and very intelligent human being, so it doesn’t surprise me that he wanted to replicate those boards as perfectly as possible. He knows his surfing history and he knows who came before him. [If ] you don’t know your past, [you] won’t know your future. He knows the difference between making a surfboard and making a quality surfboard.”

Perhaps one of the most recognizable pieces in the installation—a gorgeous glue-up of balsa and redwood— is an ode to the late Pat Curren’s celebrated rhino chaser that he rode at Waimea Bay (the famed big-wave spot on the North Shore of Oahu). Curren, in addition to shaping icons like Ben Aipa, Jim Phillips, Renny Yater, Mike Diffenderfer, John Kies, Gary McNabb, and more, once shaped boards in the same building Szymanski now works out of.

In alcoves of the hotel, Szymanski created additional resin pieces that highlight the typical colors, tints, and pin lines of surfboards from the ’70s, tapping the founder of Moonlight Glassing, Peter St. Pierre, to do the pin lines. With both projects, Szymanski’s main goal was to celebrate the cadre of artists and experimenters who have molded the direction of board design over the decades.

“With a beautiful hotel going in on the beach, it’s important to represent that part of the community. I mean, Encinitas is known for surfing,” says Szymanski. “I [chose to do this] out of respect for all the craftsmen before me. It’s a tight industry. There’s a comradery, passion, and respect for each other. It’s just a big family of board builders no matter where you end up going. I pay a lot of respect to the people who took the time to teach me.”