VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — If you've lived in Hampton Roads for any length of time you've probably caught a glimpse of the wave-surfing dolphins symbol. Maybe you've seen it on a car bumper or a t-shirt. It's the logo for the Wave Riding Vehicles surf shop.
Marty Keesecker is the main board shaper at Wave Riding Vehicles Surf shop in Va Beach.
He was the first board shaper at Wave Riding Vehicles, hired by local surf legend Bob White more than 57 years ago. We thumb through old newspaper clippings and pictures of when Marty competed in surf competitions while shaping boards at WRV.
“This is a picture back when I had hair and a waistline,” laughs Keesecker.
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He tells me he’s technically retired but on most days, you’ll find him here at the WRV shape shop. Why?
“I know somebody is gonna be happy about it. They’re going to paddle out on that board and nothing will get you out on the water quicker than a new surfboard,” said Keesecker with a smile on his face.
He and the other board makers turn out nearly 1500 boards a year.
“I just love to shape em. It just really makes me feel good,” said Keesecker.
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And that enthusiasm for the sport seems to be the driving factor for all of those early WRV board makers, including Les Shaw.
“My dad was exposed to surfing in Hawaii. His father was in the Navy and so they were stationed out on Oahu and he got exposed to surfing through his teenage years, moved back and graduated high school here and was hooked on it,” said LG Shaw, President of Wave Riding Vehicles.
LG Shaw’s dad, Les is now retired from the business, but his son tells me his dad loved surfing so much, he went to work at WRV as a glasser in the late sixties. A glasser laminates and seals surfboards with fiberglass.
The elder Shaw ended up buying the surf shop in 1974 and grew it into the global brand that it is today.
“Parents brought me in here to buy my first board,”
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Beach resident Corbin Johnson has been shopping at WRV for the past 17 years.
“My parents brought me in here to buy my first board. That logo is like the Nike check for our area to the point where it doesn’t have to say WRV but you know who it is,” said Johnson.
A logo that originated in the 60’s when Bob White and his investors developed the concept.
“They all hung out at the North End where the families lived and saw the dolphins playing and the guys surfing and they designed the logo and the name pretty organically back then in the 60’s,” said Shaw.
And today, you’ll see the surfing dolphin logo on car bumpers and t-shirts all over Hampton Roads. That’s because LG’s dad Les made sure that it was front and center on all of their products. Most agree that Shaw's love of the sport and his sharp marketing skills took WRV to another level becoming more than just a surfboard company.
“Through the 80’s it exploded, womens bikinis. We didn’t sell those in the beginning days so all of those products we just responded to our customers’ needs,” said Shaw.
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“Leashes came into existence, all of these products began to grow out of the surf industry that was developing,” said Shaw.
WRV was the first to carry mens swim trunks on the East Coast.
“There was no trunk, surfboard trunks, bathing suits it wasn’t a thing. Bob McNight who owned Quicksilver in America drove his VW bus to the shop on Norfolk Avenue in the 70’s and sold my dad trunks out of the VW bus and that was the beginning of trunks in the shop,” said Shaw.
And since then, the surf shop has continued to grow with clothing, skateboards, shoes and more.
“It's not all surfers, right? it's just people that enjoy the ocean and the lifestyle,” said Shaw.
And while the company has expanded with shops in the Outer Banks, Puerto Rico and Japan with dozens of retailers who sell their gear as well, Shaw says the mission is still the same.
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“We’re really lucky in that the true heart of Wave Riding Vehicles has always been surfboards. Everything that has flowed out of that has been organic,”
They are currently the largest surfboard maker on the East Coast and one of the largest in the country.
While the last names of the WRV players may be different over the years, it's very clear that WRV has always been a family of surfers who love the sport and love sharing the lifestyle.
And while Marty isn’t surfing these days, he gets a twinkle in his eye telling me about his grandson, a competitive surfer, who is now riding boards *he* shaped.
“My grandson Finn is tearing it up right now. He’s way better than I ever was, that’s for sure,” said Keesecker.
And another generation continues the Wave Riding Vehicles story. Family-owned and still local makes WRV Positively Hampton Roads.
