WA surfing pioneer Steve Mailey started his ocean apprenticeship in the SLSC movement at North Cottesloe and Floreat beaches. He bought his first 16ft plywood Toothpick surfboard at age 13 and surfed Cable Station with mates who helped carry the board. In the late 1950s Steve started heading down south on surf trips with friends and played in Don Bancroft’s small band at hotels for beer.
Steve Mailey. “I played a Four Gallon Drum with a broom stick and a piece of string in the Vestibule, between the bar and toilet, at the Swanbourne Hotel with Don Bancroft, Jimmy Cook and someone else …. for beer. I think I did the same at the Highway Hotel, Bunbury and a couple of other times at venues. That is the sum total of my musical experience, though looking back I wish I had so engaged, we old surfers loved Jazz and still do.”
In later surf years, Steve opted for bigger surfboards with more paddle power.
1999 Steve Mailey on Trigg Beach with a hand-crafted Len Dibben surfboard. Photo courtesy Steve Mailey
Images of Steve’s 12ft surfboards with multi fins from Len Dibben and Sunova Surfboards.
1990s Len Dibben Surfboard
Circa 1990s Steve purchased a fiberglass 12ft x 5 fin board from master surfboard craftsman Len Dibben. Len is now retired and lives with his wife Wendy in Booragoon.
Troy Dibben (Len’s son). “Essentially, Len made this board which was/is from memory 11 or 12ft long, for an old customer Stephen Mailey around years 1990 to 2000, give or take.
I believe Steve rode it at Trigg’s for a number of years, then gave it back to Len to sell, but uncertain if Len sold or passed it back to Steve.“
2013 Len Dibben in Booragoon with Steve’s 12ft fibreglass surfboard. Photo courtesy Dibben family.2013 Len Dibben in Booragoon with Steve’s 12ft fibreglass surfboard. Photo courtesy Dibben family.2013 Steve’s 12 ft Len Dibben Surfboard in Booragoon. Photo courtesy Dibben family.
2010s Sunova Surfboard
Circa 2010 Steve purchased an epoxy 12ft x 5 fin ‘Elephant Gun’ board by Bert Berger from Sunova Surfboards.
The board didn’t improve Steve’s wave count so he sold the board to Yallingup surf pioneer Kevin Merifield, who subsequently on-sold the board to Cowaramup vintage surfboard collector/restorer Bill Gibson.
Bill Gibson. “Kevin purchased the board off Steve thinking he could ride it in solid waves Down South, but it didn’t work for him. Kev heard I was thinking of tandem surfing with my granddaughter Arabelle Gibson and sold it to me for that purpose. I had one surf on the board at Yallingup and couldn’t turn it, So, instead of using it for tandem purposes, I put it on display at the WA Surf Gallery, Aravina Estate Yallingup.”
2014 Sunova 12ft ‘Elephant Gun’ surfboard by Bert Berger with Kevin Merifield at Yallingup. Photo Jim King.2014 Sunova 12ft ‘Elephant Gun’ surfboard by Bert Berger with Kevin Merifield at Yallingup. Photo Jim King.2022 WA Surf Gallery surfboard display. L-R 2010s Sunova epoxy ‘Elephant Gun’ by Bert Berger with 1964 Brian Cole Malibu and Mick Marlin’s 1950s plywood surfboard. Photo Jim King.
Bill Gibson. “The Sunova board came with a Wet Dreams board bag and I’m sure it had ‘Elephant Gun’ written on the board bag. However, over time the sticker has peeled off and this is all that’s left.”
2022 Wet Dreams ‘Elephant Gun’ board bag lined-up next to 9ft long board bag for comparison purposes. Photo Bill Gibson.2022 Wet Dreams ‘Elephant Gun’ board bag logos. Photo Bill Gibson.
A big thank you to Steve Mailey, Troy Dibben and Bill Gibson for helping with research on the history of this matter.
WA surfing pioneer Steve Mailey started his ocean apprenticeship in the SLSC movement at North Cottesloe and Floreat beaches. He bought his first 16ft plywood Toothpick surfboard at age 13 and surfed Cable Station with mates who helped carry the board. In the late 1950s Steve started heading down south on surf trips with friends and played in Don Bancroft’s small band at hotels for beer.
Steve Mailey. “I played a Four Gallon Drum with a broom stick and a piece of string in the Vestibule, between the bar and toilet, at the Swanbourne Hotel with Don Bancroft, Jimmy Cook and someone else …. for beer. I think I did the same at the Highway Hotel, Bunbury and a couple of other times at venues. That is the sum total of my musical experience, though looking back I wish I had so engaged, we old surfers loved Jazz and still do.”
In later surf years, Steve opted for bigger surfboards with more paddle power.
Images of Steve’s 12ft surfboards with multi fins from Len Dibben and Sunova Surfboards.
1990s Len Dibben Surfboard
Circa 1990s Steve purchased a fiberglass 12ft x 5 fin board from master surfboard craftsman Len Dibben. Len is now retired and lives with his wife Wendy in Booragoon.
Troy Dibben (Len’s son). “Essentially, Len made this board which was/is from memory 11 or 12ft long, for an old customer Stephen Mailey around years 1990 to 2000, give or take.
I believe Steve rode it at Trigg’s for a number of years, then gave it back to Len to sell, but uncertain if Len sold or passed it back to Steve.“
2010s Sunova Surfboard
Circa 2010 Steve purchased an epoxy 12ft x 5 fin ‘Elephant Gun’ board by Bert Berger from Sunova Surfboards.
The board didn’t improve Steve’s wave count so he sold the board to Yallingup surf pioneer Kevin Merifield, who subsequently on-sold the board to Cowaramup vintage surfboard collector/restorer Bill Gibson.
Bill Gibson. “Kevin purchased the board off Steve thinking he could ride it in solid waves Down South, but it didn’t work for him. Kev heard I was thinking of tandem surfing with my granddaughter Arabelle Gibson and sold it to me for that purpose. I had one surf on the board at Yallingup and couldn’t turn it, So, instead of using it for tandem purposes, I put it on display at the WA Surf Gallery, Aravina Estate Yallingup.”
L-R 2010s Sunova epoxy ‘Elephant Gun’ by Bert Berger with 1964 Brian Cole Malibu and Mick Marlin’s 1950s plywood surfboard. Photo Jim King.
Bill Gibson. “The Sunova board came with a Wet Dreams board bag and I’m sure it had ‘Elephant Gun’ written on the board bag. However, over time the sticker has peeled off and this is all that’s left.”
A big thank you to Steve Mailey, Troy Dibben and Bill Gibson for helping with research on the history of this matter.
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1950-60s SW Surfing Memoirs by Steve Mailey posted 27 Feb 2016.
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