The Florida surf Museum recently received the donation of a very special Salick twin-fin surfboard from Cocoa Beach local, Suzanne Denney. Suzanne bought it, used, from her neighbor in 1977 and rode it for many years before retiring it as decoration in her home. Years later it would take on a special meaning in her life.
The board is six feet long with a canary yellow resin pigment deck and a surfscape on the bottom, airbrushed by Rich Salick. The fins are a rare set of Star fins in clear smoke polycarbonate. Restoration was done by Chris Ahola of DingDang Surfboard Repair.
Twin brothers, Rich and Phil Salick began surfing in Bradenton on the west coast of Florida in the 1960s. They were noticed by Mike Tabeling while on a sales trip and he brought them over to Cocoa Beach to ride on his Dewey Weber surf team. They later opened up their own surf shop, Salick/Carson Surfboards, on 3rd street North. The beach across from the shop became a hotbed of surfing talent for their team, including Kelly Slater, Matt Kechele, and Greg Taylor. In 1973 Rich was diagnosed with kidney disease. Phil donated his kidney to his brother and started a small contest series to raise money and awareness of the disease. This evolved into The NKF Surf Fest which, since 1985 has raised millions of dollars for the National Kidney Foundation. Rich passed away from kidney failure in 2012.
In a twist of fate, Suzanne was diagnosed with kidney failure-
“I am on a kidney transplant list. I’ve been on it for four years now. I’m currently on dialysis. Growing up in Cocoa Beach, the (Salick) brothers have Inspired me. Now that I have the kidney disease-as to what I can do- it’s possible to live a healthy life after a transplant or a donation. The National Kidney Foundation has been a big help in their grants and what they offer with their help and their monetary grants as well. It’s a tough process, but with the help of the Kidney Foundation I can get through this until I get a transplant.
I’m fortunate to still live in Cocoa Beach and I’m happy to donate this board to the museum. It means a lot to me.
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