BRIAN Jackson wasn't the first person to make surfboards at Cronulla.
That honour probably went to manufacturer Graham Ferris but after Jacko made Bobby Brown a board in the old Wanda surf club in 1957, there was no looking back and 50 years later he is still going strong.
Brian, who now spends most of his days in his Crescent Head house, still has a Cronulla residence.
A Leader August 26 article about the search for Duke Kahanamoku's board sparked a memory.
It wasn't unusual for people to contact Jacko and say they had a surfboard or two for him to look at, and when in the late 1970s or early 1980s, Tony McSweeny was mowing a lawn in Cronulla's Nerang Road he saw something that he thought Jacko might be interested in.
Just like in a movie, they pulled the old wooden surfboard down from the garage's rafters. It was covered in dust, spider webs and old snail shells, recalled Jacko "and there was a hole drilled through the tail where it would have been tied up in a surf club rack".
The old lady, who Jacko surmises would have been in her 80s, said: "That's my son's board — the Duke made it for him".
Jacko, seeing it for what it was, offered to take it to his Taren Point factory and restore it, making it clear that it would always remain her property, but it would be on display in his shop.
This was going to happen until one of her sons, a doctor who lived in Hume Road, made it clear that this wouldn't be happening and that it was going to be donated to North Cronulla Surf Club.
"It shouldn't be too hard to find out the woman's name," Jacko said.
This old piece of wood might not be the long-lost board but as the time ticks down to the 100 years "Surftenary" being held at Cronulla next year, it is another lead to follow in a hopefully not futile quest.
