Doug Haut and his brother Dan went to Hawaii in 1963. Doug started working for Mickey Lake at Inter Island Surfboards as their sander, hot coater and did some glossing. Dan Haut was laminating for Dick Brewer and would do some work for Inter Island.

The people who were working at Inter Island Surfboards during this time were Mike Diffenderfer who was doing the shaping along with Mickey Lake, Wayne Land, Kenny Tilton and John Kelly. Joe Kuala was doing the glassing, and Jim Campbell doing the glossing.

Diffenderfer taught Doug how to shape. Having Mike to show him the ropes while climbing the different levels in shaping was a big help. Haut and Diffenderfer shared a house in Honolulu while working at Inter Island. Doug had a old Woodie that he cruised to work in and used to check the surf in town and the North Shore when the surf was up.

During lunch Doug and others would go to a café nearby the shop. Doug recalls what he would order, “They gave us a huge plate for a buck and a half, 3 scoops of rice, spam, teriyaki chicken, macraroni and some other thing”. After lunch it was back to work. When it got to calling it a day, they would have the resin buckets filled with beers and covered with ice. The stories would flow, but Doug didn’t drink much and would soon be heading home or towards an evening surf session.

In the summer of 1964 Doug and Mike Diffenderfer gave their 2 weeks notice and left Inter Island Surfboards. They would be crewing on a sailboat that was being returned to California after competing in the Trans Pac Race.

The time spent on board was 28 days. Within this capsule of time, Doug, Mike and another guy from Newport Beach were the crew, Wayne Coker was the captain. They were in very rough seas for about a week, in a calm that lasted 2 weeks, and some fun sailing the remaining days before returning to Monterey, California.

The beginning leg started at the Ala Wai Harbor, traveling west northwest around Barbers Point, then north to Kauai. It took a day to get to Kauai, after which the boat anchored in Hanalei Bay for 2 days. After departing the first week was pretty rough. The boat was going to weather. (the boat pointing into the wind as they made their way north) and everyone on board took a pounding.

During the rough weather Doug was designated to be the cook. He was the only one who could go down below without getting sick. Doug would strap himself to varies objects in the galley so he wouldn’t get tossed around while cooking. Looking back on it Doug got a good laugh remembering the moments.

The gimbal stove was swinging, holding a pot while stirring, sensing the next smash as the bow of the boat plowed through the wave. Thinking ahead while placing the ingredients into the pot or pan.

After the first week they couldn’t take anymore of rough conditions. They made a turn towards California. By doing so they had entered a Pacific High with no winds and calm seas. The diesel motor on the boat was not working, so they drifted across the Pacific with a drifter and mainsail traveling a half- knot an hour.

Some days they were going nowhere, a dead calm. During the night they would look over board see reflection of stars. They felt like they were traveling in space with the stars above and below, it was very surreal to all.

With their thoughts drifting with the days they inch their way out of the high pressure system. Wayne was keeping track of their location and the crew kept a log of distance made good. Once out of the doldrums the winds picked up. The days became cooler as they approached California.

Readjusting the course once near land, the boat made its way down to Monterey Bay. Through the fog and the chill of the Central Coast they tied up to the pier at Monterey Harbor. The weary crew greeted the docks with their wobbly legs. Doug says his legs felt like they were rocking for days afterwards. His body had become accustom to the rolling of the boat and it would take some time to get use to the land again.