In Peak to Peak Part 4, we pick up with Don living on the North Shore of Oahu as he works to grow his surfboard shaping business to support his growing family.

After moving back to the mainland to work as a shaper for Hap Jacobs over the summer, Don took a job working for Hobie Alter shaping boards by hand at Hobie’s shop in Dana Point, California. Don found himself working two full time jobs - working long days at Hobie’s shop, and returning home to North County San Diego to work late into the night in his own shop to build the Hansen Surfboards brand.

The job with Hobie didn’t last too long, as Don became increasingly focused on perfecting the craftsmanship of his own Hansen Surfboards. In 1961, with nothing but a $1,500 loan from a family friend, Don made his dream a reality and opened the original location of Hansen Surfboards in a vacant building in Cardiff by the Sea, California. Although Hansen’s surf shop has since moved north to Encinitas, the original building is still there and is now the home of The Kraken bar.

Hansen Surfboards has come a long way in the past 55 years, but some of Don’s original board models from the beginning are still in production today!

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