he Last Chapter
L-R AB’s first tow-board, donated by
Sasha Stocker, the board is thought to be
one of the first tow-boards ever shaped
and was made for Allan and Darrick Doerner to surf Peahi (Jaws) in the mid 1990s
- The last AB, and its outstanding spray
job by Christian Chapman, glassed and
finished of course by Dale Wilson - David
Scard’s 7’10’’ elephant gun built for big
Pipe and Indo freight trains - Tom Carroll’s
6’1’’ six channel special. Tom wrote of AB
- “I’ve always loved AB’s boards ... they
were always so different from all the other
boards I rode.” The four boards brought in
a staggering $38,500 for AB’s family.
Wiping the tears away and remembering the life of AB, we were treated to a special
extended screening of AB footage from the Lost In Paradise film - and in particular an
incredible interview with Al shot recently in which he, perhaps uncharacteristically,
unloaded his feelings and thoughts on life and death, on family and his spiritual
connections. He recounted his near death health scare and gave an insight into
how he had been given his second chance in life. Al was ready to take it on with
all his might.
After all was done we shared a few words with Spike - “Yeah, I wanted it to go back
to the family the whole time ... we were mates, our families are friends. It’s special
because we saw AB’s words on the screen and he’s not just a master shaper and
built surfboards, but he was a learned man in life and very soulful. I didn’t know he
had all that to say, it was amazing.” And on what could now be the most expensive
board ever sold in Australian history, Spike simply lets us know that for him, “It wasn’t
about the money, it was about helping a family ...”