WET ‘N’ WILD WITH ROCKIN’ FIG:

Just happened to drop by our local Huntington Beach Surf Museum the other day, which has been around since 1990. It’s at 411 Olive Ave., a couple blocks up from the pier.

As I walked through the door, I was hit with a view of our father of surfing, a bronze statue of the Duke Kahanamoku and a bunch of old-school photos. The Duke from Hawaii spread the word of surfing all over the world, was in the 1912 Olympics and even hung out with Babe Ruth.

You might not know it, but the museum started the Duke stamp back in 2002 for the post office. The museum is run by volunteers, 13 board of director members. The founder and director is Huntington Beach’s one and only Natalie Kotsch. The city helps with the location and the donations from selling some of the T-shirts and trinkets, which keep things going on a monthly basis. My tour guides for the day were “Moon Dog” Randy Lyford, who has the coolest old 1950 Ford woody wagon, and Chris MacDonald. Both are all-around knowledgeable surf fans who are also both on the board of director’s team.

As I continue moving down the hallway I see all the flags of the countries that participated in the I.S.A World Surfing Games last year at the pier. Every few months the exhibits change. Currently The Beach Boys have the biggest display with 28 old albums, a guitar and more.

Celebrities stop by all the time. Dean Torrence of the group Jan and Dean was just in the other day. He’s donated lots of cool stuff. Dick Dale, King of the Surf Guitars, is a regular too and has a section in there as well. Local hero Robert August has his own corner with some vintage movie posters and even one of the old camera’s from Bruce Brown who filmed the Endless Summer movie.

There’s even a raffle where Robert will shape a board for ya and go out to dinner with you, too, if you win. In the women’s section there’s a nice photo of the “Queen of Makaha”, Rell Sunn, one of Annette Funciello, from “Beach Blanket Bingo,” the Gidget story who was Kathy Zuckerman is in book form, and a collage of photos which included Cally’s finest Jericho Poppler, and Surf City’s world long board champ Kim Hamrock are all mixed together.

There’s the oldest gal’s photo too, of 15-year-old Isabel Letham shot in 1915. There’s more, classic movie posters, like “Too Hot to Handle,” “Surfin’ Wild,” “Psyche Out,” “Barefoot Adventure,” all from the ‘60s.

Plus a rack of ‘60s skateboards with metal and clay wheels and an old Clark blank of foam, the cores that were the most popular used to make surfboards. And this could possibly be the highlight: some wooden boards, one with Hawaiian ancestry dating back to the 1800s, a paddle board from the Santa Monica Surf Club from 1908, and other 1930s wood models some with fins and some without.

There are about 200 boards in the archives, some being displayed at different times. There’s also a chunk of the old Huntington pier with the inscription 1914 on it. So lots to see, and next year they will be having Surfing Sundays again when things warm up, surf bands and surf music, like the Surfaris, The Eliminators and the Fabulous Nomads who played last year to name a few! So check it out.

Big surf this week. In Hawaii, Wiamea Bay broke and was 25 to 30 feet on the sets, up north Mavericks was huge, too, 25 plus. Here in Huntington Beach, the outer reef at the Cliffs Box Cars was breaking double overhead plus. Hope you didn’t bust your favorite stick in half.

Fig over and out.

RICK FIGNETTI is a 10-time West Coast champion and a longtime KROQ-FM surfologist. He owns a surf shop on Main Street. You can reach him at (714) 536-1058.