JAYBEE SURFBOARDS

JayBee surfboards was started around early 1957 when Rod Bedford and brothers Bert and Jim started manufacturing surf skis in Rod's backyard at Edwardstown. By the end of 1957 they had moved to a shop on South Rd at St Marys opposite the Chrysler factory. Around 1958 they were producing hollow plywood surfboards and then by 1959 were building balsa boards. During the early 60s they were making surfboards from Polystyrene using epoxy resin and also from the polyurethane foam that was at first only in limited supply.

By late 1963 they were producing surfboards entirely using polyurethane foam. In the early 1964 they started blowing there own polyurethane foam blanks and continued building boards up until 1968 when they moved into more industrial fibreglass work. During their ten years of board building Bert Bedford was the main shaper of the boards while Rod also shaped several boards during the busy times.

Jim and Rod Bedford building a surf ski in Rods backyard at Edwardstown