Surf history is still in its infancy. Just a couple of decades ago, the institutional effort to preserve an study the spread and impact of wave-riding culture was hardly measurable. Outside of Hawaii's Bishop Museum, the gathering of artifacts, literature, imagery and art was driven by a small but passionate community of sentimental hobbyists -- most of whom had been forever changed by their own surfing experiences. Spencer Croul was one of them. He began collecting boards and other surf-related