According to Jamie O’Brien, getting surfboards stolen is common on Oahu’s North Shore. Photo: YouTube//screenshot
If you’re surfing on the North Shore, you’d better find a safe place to store your surfboards. On the latest installment of the Jamie O & Mason Ho Show, they brought on guest Kimo Leong, owner of a security company in Hawaii, and the three started talking about all the surfboards they’d seen stolen on the North Shore.
Leong starts the discussion by recalling a time when all of Sierra Kerr’s boards were stolen during a Volcom party that his security company was working.
“They came into the WSL house, broke through the fence in the back, and started shoving the boards through. All five (boards) and a spear that Balaram (Stack) owned,” said Leong.
Leong said he made a phone call, and all the boards were returned the next day. He said he felt guilty because it happened under his watch.
O’Brien then interjects, saying that it was common for years to have dozens of boards stolen from the surf houses.
“There were years and years, guys would show up at the Billabong house and steal 30, 40 surfboards,” said O’Brien. “Literally the whole team’s quiver, gonzo.”
Ho, who had also heard the stories of board theft, said Sierra Kerr’s five boards stolen were “light” compared to some of the other board heists that had taken place.
According to O’Brien, a thief has to be pretty brazen to want to steal on the North Shore.
“It’s kind of crazy to think that someone would want to come and try to steal on your guys’ clock too,” O’Brien said. “Let alone even the Volcom house, there are some gnarly dudes around there, and guys will come in and steal 20 surfboards. I’ll hear the rumblings from next door, like, ‘Jamie can you rewind the cam? Some guys stole like 10 surfboards last night.’ This is kind of happening on the regular.”
Leong said his business started to boom as theft increased on the North Shore, hired to run security at events and at the team houses.
O’Brien has also been the victim of surfboard theft. Last year, a board was stolen from his Waikiki surf school. After posting the CCTV footage of the theft on his Instagram, it only took an hour for the internet detectives to identify the thieves and retrieve the board.
