On board with surf history

Everything you ever wanted to know about surfboards can be found inside the arts pavilion at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa.

The man responsible for the 40-some surfboards and surf memorabilia on display there is Rich Harbour, an avid surfer who’s been making boards since he was 16 years old.

Now in his 60s, his enthusiasm for the sport has not waned.

To look at Harbour’s magnificent collection, however, is to peer into the past.

It was a time when surfing was just getting going in the 1950s, and was considered a sport relegated to the relatively crazy few who chose sand and surf over thin neckties and black Wingtips.

Harbour, who grew up in Seal Beach, was making surfboards long before the sport became trendy. He was fashioning them long before short boards came along, and, worse yet, all the posers driving fancy cars.

If there’s anybody who’s the real deal, it’s Harbour.

“I consider Rich Harbour a master sculptor and engineer,” says Andrea Harris-McGee, director of the Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion, where the exhibit opened last week.

The exhibit will present “a behind-the-scenes look” into the history of surf culture and the exact process that Harbour embraced when making the boards, she said.

With an enrollment of more than 24,000 students, many of whom live near the coast, Harris-McGee said the exhibit definitely, without question, has “a special local feel” to it.

If You Go

What: “Harbour Chronicles — A Life in Surfboard Culture” Classic and contemporary surfboards designed by Rich Harbour

When: Through April 9; hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesdays.

Where: Orange Coast College Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa.

Cost: Free

Website: occartspavilion.blogspot.com