< Previous30 COASTMONTHLY.COM | MAY 2025 is on display next to a light balsa wood board made by Galvestonian Ben Reyna. The boards and the information cards next to them give museum goers an in-depth look at the history of surfboards and surfing in Texas, Brown said. A noticeable decrease in the size of the later boards occurred when surfers decid- ed to try smaller versions with more fins. But larger boards are better in Galveston’s waters because the waves are small. After storms, when the waves are more powerful and higher, some surfers choose to ride on smaller boards, Brown said. Also on display is a red, white and blue surf mat, which during the 1960s was available on Galveston beaches to rent. The canvas mats were blown up and beachgoers could “ride” a wave on these mats. “It is how a lot of people got introduced to surfing, being a mat rider,” Kelly Daugherty, board secretary, said. “They could catch a wave but also chafe their skin. They were rough.” And because many surfers would hone their balance skills on skateboards, the surf muse- um features a display of the early sidewalk surfboards, including one from 1963 with steel wheels and another with clay wheels. The Galveston museum originally was to be an outpost of Corpus Christi’s Texas Surf Museum, but in 2022, that facility closed and gave the Galveston group permission to use the name for its independent location. Island museum organizers have spent more than a year preparing the space for the exhibits, first clearing the building of debris and then constructing walls and galleries to FEATURE (Above) The first surfboard built in Texas, the R.W. Ellisor surfboard, is displayed at the Texas Surf Museum in Galveston. (Right) Missouri Wilkinson, assistant manager at the museum, drops a toy surfboard into a wave machine to demonstrate how surfers catch a wave. The wave machine is on loan to the new museum from the engineering department at Texas A&M University at Galveston. COASTMONTHLY.COM | MAY 2025 31 house the collection that has been assem- bled. Many local businesses joined in as sponsors. The museum weathered several setbacks from city officials who required the building be up to modern-day codes and safety regulations. But the team of volun- teers forged ahead, checking off each new requirement and readying the space. Part of the museum’s mission is to enlight- en, encourage and educate the public about the benefits of surfing. Surfing is a healthy sport, Brown said. The museum also displays colorful posters about beaches, waves, the environment and water safety. The plan eventually is to invite school groups to the museum for lectures and seminars on everything beach-related. “We are all about the environment and keeping our beaches clean,” Brown said. “We have 383 miles of free coastline in Texas and we need to take care of it.” One of the rooms of the museum will be for rotating exhibits, and the first one will be the definitive look at the work of Henry Fry, a Spring Branch resident who built surfboards in the early 1960s for friends. Eventually, Fry’s hobby became a success- ful business and he’s credited with making thousands of boards, each signed by him. Late additions to the collection include a rescue board once owned by Leroy Colombo, a deaf Galveston lifeguard credited with saving more than 907 lives, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. He also is credited with teaching Galveston-born Dorian “Doc” Paskowitz how to surf, giving birth to surfing in Texas in the 1930s. Paskowitz moved to Cal- ifornia and gave the board to Colombo to use as a rescue board. Although Paskowitz gradu- ated from Stanford University with a medical degree, he quit his practice and became world famous for his nomadic lifestyle and hosting surf camps with his family. He also wrote a book, “Surfing and Health.” “Every board has a story and we want to tell those stories,” Brown said. “But we also want people to be educated about surfing and hope they carry it on forward. We want folks to know what it is about and not just a bunch of yahoo, hippie beatniks on the water. Most of us are professionals in our careers, but we love the sport.” Brown is reminded of a quote from Kelly Slater, an American professional surfer, best known for being crowned World Surf League champion a record 11 times. “Surfing is like the Mafia — once you get in you don’t get out,” Brown said. “Even retired surfers still consider themselves a surfer. Always.” (Clockwise from top right) Surfing-inspired artwork surrounds a bright red surfboard known as the Blue Ribbon Special, the most successful board in Texas history; a rescue board that belonged to Galves- ton’s Leroy Colombo, a world-famous lifeguard, is part of the museum’s collection; the evolution of surfboards is displayed at the museum. 34 COASTMONTHLY.COM | MAY 2025 TREASURE TROVE ‘SUCH A SPECIAL PLACE’ Sea-Arama souvenirs and memorabilia on display at Rosenberg Library story by SHANNON CALDWELL | photo by JENNIFER REYNOLDS Each month, Coast Monthly highlights an intriguing relic or antique on the upper Texas coast. Sea-Arama Marineworld collectibles are part of the collection at the Galveston & Texas History Center at Rosenberg Library in Galveston. COASTMONTHLY.COM | MAY 2025 35 BESTTITLECOMPANY 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 BEST LAW FIRM 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 BEST ATTORNEY 2024 | 2023 | 2022 BEST ACCOUNTING 2024 6710StewartRoad,Suite200 Galveston,TX77551 409.744.0727Office SouthLandTitle.net ExperienceMatters! G enerations of Galvesto- nians remember Sea-Ar- ama Marineworld as the place for summer fun. The 25-acre marine animal park, 91st Street and Seawall Boulevard, opened in 1965 and entertained locals and visitors for 25 years. Ahead of its time, the park was famous for its animal shows, marine education and such features as a man-made lake and a 200,000-gallon aquarium. Galveston’s Terry Moore worked at Sea-Arama for 11 years as a gardener, animal trainer, performer in the ski show and then owner of the show. “I could talk about Sea-Arama for hours. It was awesome, such a special place for locals.” TERRY MOORE “In my 20s, I performed with the dol- phins,” Moore said. “They had wonderful individual personalities. I swam with Nemo the pilot whale and got to ride Mamuk the killer whale. He felt like a tire inner tube and was round so it was hard to hold on.” Moore also wrestled alligators, which isn’t as dangerous as it sounds thanks to training and ensuring the alligators were well fed, he said. “I trained with a small gator, whose mouth was taped shut,” he said. “One day, they took the tape off — that was an interesting day.” Moore’s fondest memories are of perform- ing in the ski show. Each season, Sea-Arama crews would learn four or five fully scripted shows acting out stories told by the an- nouncer, responding to sound effects and lip-synching songs. “I could talk about Sea-Arama for hours,” he said. “It was awesome, such a special place for locals.” Galveston & Texas History Center at Rosenberg Library, 2310 Sealy St., in May has an exhibition of Sea-Arama souvenirs and memorabilia. 36 COASTMONTHLY.COM | MAY 2025 CURRENTS | ART ‘NO END IN SIGHT’ Sailor turns his talent for knot tying into works of art story by BARBARA CANETTI photos by JENNIFER REYNOLDS I f islander Dave Hedgepeth tells you he’s tied up in knots, don’t worry — it’s a good thing. Hedgepeth ties knots around bottles and jars, creating glass sculptures wrapped in a variety of cotton threads. Knot tying is nothing new to Hedgepeth. He grew up in Mount Vernon near Washing- ton, D.C., and after high school enrolled in the Texas Maritime Academy, which is now Texas A&M Maritime Academy. He went on to serve in the Merchant Marines. Expert knot tying on ropes and lines is required for every sailor, and Hedgepeth continued practicing the skill long after he left the service. He channeled his skill into a hobby he enjoys and can do while he’s watching TV or relaxing on his Galveston porch or boat. “It’s just something I like to do,” Hedgepeth said. “I’ve been doing it for about 45 years.” Among the interesting things about his knot art is that the grid he weaves on the bottle actually is just one knot — usually a Turk’s head or sailor’s knot, which is a decorative knot with a variable number of interwoven strands forming a closed loop. A close examination of any bottle he has worked on doesn’t reveal where the weaving began or ends. “If you can see the end, then I have not done a good job,” said Hedgepeth, who doesn’t use glue or cement to adhere the cotton fibers to the bottle. He weaves the cotton tightly to cling snugly to the glass. “The key is to make it where there is no start or end,” he said. Hedgepeth tells people to look at the bottom of the bottle, which usually has an intricate design that’s different from the rest of the bottle. COASTMONTHLY.COM | MAY 2025 37 Dave Hedgepeth turned the knot-tying skills he learned in the Merchant Marines into a hobby. He covers bottles with knotted cotton threads.38 COASTMONTHLY.COM | MAY 2025 CURRENTS | ART Unlike macrame, which is a series of knots to form the design, his work mostly is weaving to complete the one knot that covers the bottle. Each bottle he creates takes from 60 to 100 hours, although he doesn’t work straight through on any project, he said. He spends a lot of time redoing a design if it doesn’t meet his expectations, he said. “If I don’t like how it’s coming out and it doesn’t work, I pull it apart and start again,” he said. “That takes time, too.” When Hedgepeth and his wife, Roxanna Gipson, are invited to weddings, they give the couple a bottle filled with a beverage the newlyweds are sure to enjoy. “And then later, we see the bottle in their home,” he said. “That makes me feel good.” Hedgepeth gets many of his bottles from Spec’s in Galveston, which has a wide selec- tion of wines, liquors and alcoholic beverag- es in interesting bottles. “When I shop for liquor, it is based mostly on the bottle,” he said. Friends also give him appealing looking bottles, which he appreciates. Besides the bottles, he also knots select pieces of jewelry, such as a pair of nautical earrings, symbolizing sidelights on a boat: port and starboard — red and green. He uses the monkey’s fist knot for those, which is an ornamental knot that looks like a paw or small bunched fist with over- laying strings. He sells his wares on his website, with a clever and quirky name that makes people laugh: DaveDoesKnotWork.com. When he isn’t knotting, he’s sailing on the TSC Jeanne Marie, a catamaran he charters to visitors who want a luxury sail around the Galveston area. “Look at these bottles from any angle, and they look good,” Hedgepeth said “There’s no end in sight.” DaveDoesKnotWork.com (From top right) Dave Hedgepeth holds one of his knotted bottles as he explains the interwoven cotton strands are just one knot; Hedgepeth shows an intricate design on the bottom of one of his bottles; Hedgepeth creates unique, knotted designs on bottles of all shapes and sizes.Next >