I’m an ex-Northern Beaches surfer from 66 years back (late 50s to the late 70s). I surfed mainly between Dee Why and Palmie, especially loving the Dee Why to Mona Vale Basin stretch.

My first recollection of the name ‘Platt’ was from hanging around Dee Why and seeing what an amazing surfer Kevin was, and then later on with his mum opening the manufacturing and sale outlet for the boardies in the old scout hall in the park at Dee Why.

Although I never had one of Kevin’s boards or a pair of his mum’s shorts or other clothes she made, I always had the greatest regard for Kevin as a fantastic surfer.

So, now I’m 78, and I’ve been up at Lennox for 19 years, via Avoca for 28 years, and after retiring from the building industry about five years ago needed something to do between surfs, so I started doing a few restorations on old boards for friends and myself (I’d worked in the board making industry for about two years when I was 17 and loved it) which was sort of a natural thing for me to do as I’d already made about six longboards in my time up here.

A guy I knew approached me one day with KP board he’d located, which had a pretty badly done white gelcoat. The photos below show the progress, the changes (the client’s call), and the end result. The board was 9’11” x 21 3/8″ x 3 1/8″ but had no shaper or client info on it. It turned out pretty nice. Basic sand and ding fix, respray to what the client wanted, finish coat and mid-shine polish.