Doyle Surfboards

Doyle Surfboards The Legendary Waterman: Mike Doyle. This is the official page for Mike Doyle Surfboards and

12/22/2025

Happy Holidays from Doyle Surfboards.🎄

Yana Cabell's Pink Party from 2024. It was the place to be! -boy  
11/08/2025

Yana Cabell's Pink Party from 2024. It was the place to be!

-boy  

…An excerpt from “Better Surfing Through Chemistry” Page 99…"Waxmate was our first product, a surf wax we invented with ...
10/24/2025

…An excerpt from “Better Surfing Through Chemistry” Page 99…

"Waxmate was our first product, a surf wax we invented with the help of Steve Knorr, A Del Mar surfer and third-generation angle-maker friend of Rusty's," recalls Murphy. "We needed stickiness and Steve provided softeners and was-making expertise. We researched wax products, mostly from Indonesia, and came up with a three-part formula that really worked for warm, cool, and cold waters. The was was slow-melted in 44-gallon drums with gas burners used for chocolate and poured into wooden molds we built ourselves. We dyed the bars purple, added a pleasing bayberry scent and designed the labels with life-instructing sayings on the flip side. We were in business."

The pocket-sized wax bar (later immortalized as a glowing psychedelic talisman by Rick Griffin on the Five Summer Stories poster) was an instant hit. Despite the higher cost (retailing at .25 cents a bar), surfers immediately recognized Waxmate’s advantage as a purpose-built surfing tool. The first year, Surf Research Grossed $25,000 in wax sales. The second, they rocketed up to $240,000. To keep up with production they hired their first employee, Bill Engler, and jobbed out packaging to Kathy and Cindy Leinhardt, two surfing sisters from Leucadia.

More than anything, Surf Research is remembered for its innovative Surfer ads, starting with a utilitarian quarter-page in early 1967, but skewing increasingly goofball yet ironically cool with each issue. Shot with a secondhand camera and using found props, the ads caught a certain wacky zeitgeist of the late 60’s as Doyle hammed it up as a seaweed-draped crazy or an imperious Pharaoh blowing magic smoke over a bar of Waxmate.

“It was kind of shock pop, like, “What the f**k? Nobody does that!” says Doyle. “People thought we were smoking dope or something. But it caught a lot of attention.”

Special thanks to (Larry Castruita) for the photo.

Strangely, our junior high school library carried a subscription to Surfer magazine. We weren’t anywhere near the ocean,...
10/13/2025

Strangely, our junior high school library carried a subscription to Surfer magazine. We weren’t anywhere near the ocean, but those glossy, untouched pages opened a world I’d never seen. Two names appeared again and again—Mike Doyle and Joey Cabell. To me, they weren’t just surfers; they were the faces of surfing, familiar as old friends, even though I only knew them from print. Fast forward to 1971. I was standing at a stoplight in Encinitas when I spotted someone who looked like Mike Doyle. I nudged my surf buddy and said, “I think that’s him.” “I’m going to ask for his autograph,” he replied. “He won’t give you the time of day,” I shot back. “Six-pack says I’m right.” We crossed the street, my friend asked him the time, and Mike kept walking. I turned and said, “You owe me a six-pack.” My first impression wasn’t flattering. Years later, when I retold the story to Mike and Annie, she laughed and said, “He probably didn’t hear your friend.” Knowing what I later came to know of Mike, I believe her. I was properly introduced to him through our mutual friends, the Lyman’s. Chris, Elaine, and I were walking up Gr**go Hill when Mike and Nat Young pulled up. We were invited to dinner, where Mike and Nat made us feel like old friends. Later, they asked us to join them for a dawn surf. I hardly slept that night, thinking about whirlpools, drowning, and whether I’d be good enough to surf with my heroes. By morning, the ocean was alive. I set up my tripod and camera, knowing Mike and Nat had a flight to catch. While they surfed, I watched and waited for the tide to drop. Eventually, I paddled out, caught a clean wave, and pulled into my first barrel of the day. As I kicked out, Nat grinned wide and shouted in a flurry of Australian slang. I only caught a word or two, but I knew what he meant: you’re in. Out in the lineup, talk shifted from waves to snowboarding. Mike was already into it. I admitted I couldn’t figure out my heel-side turn. He told me: “Meet me in Aspen next week, I’ll help you fix that.”
Continued below 👇

🎉Throwback to April 1964! Check out this epic shot from the first SURFER poll, legendary Mike Doyle (standing, 6th from ...
09/25/2025

🎉Throwback to April 1964! 
Check out this epic shot from the first SURFER poll, legendary Mike Doyle (standing, 6th from left) is alongside surfing icons Joey Cabell, Greg Noll, Rick Grigg, Phil Edwards, Paul Strauch, John Peck, Hobie Alter, Butch Van Artsdalen, Corky Carroll, Mickey Munoz, Pat Curren, L.J. Richards, and Dewey Weber. 📷😎

#1964

Painting of Annie Doyle by Chris de Korte. 😍Painted from a photo taken by Larry Castruita aka
09/18/2025

Painting of Annie Doyle by Chris de Korte. 😍

Painted from a photo taken by Larry Castruita aka

Take a listen to the David Lee Scales, Surf Splendor podcast interview with Joey Cabell. Joey tells his version of swimm...
09/10/2025

Take a listen to the David Lee Scales, Surf Splendor podcast interview with Joey Cabell. 

Joey tells his version of swimming the Na Pali coast with Mike Doyle.

The podcast just posted. 
https://surfsplendorpodcast.com/568-joey-cabell/

Special thanks to Larry Castruita  for all the info and pics.

Photo: CastruitThe after stoke glow of having had an incredible surf session of large waves at daybreak. L,R, Mike & Jac...
08/27/2025

Photo: Castruit

The after stoke glow of having had an incredible surf session of large waves at daybreak. L,R, Mike & Jack, Jeff King, Don Miller, T-boy, squatted, Kenner Schneider.

Hanging out with Mike sometimes felt like being a kid again. On our way to the Pacific side, heading toward Cabo San Luc...
08/27/2025

Hanging out with Mike sometimes felt like being a kid again. On our way to the Pacific side, heading toward Cabo San Lucas, the highway is four lanes wide. Mike would push the front seat back as far as it would go. The back windows were tinted. Whenever a car passed on the left, Mike would honk the horn and lean back. The driver of the passing car would look over to see who had honked—only to see Jack Doyle, Mike's dog, behind the wheel, and nearly run himself off the road in surprise.

Thanks to Larry Castruita for the pic and story!

🌊 Throwback vibes! 🏄‍♂️ We dug up some epic shots of Mike Doyle heading out to surf a contest, with PT in the mix too! ...
08/14/2025

🌊 Throwback vibes! 🏄‍♂️ We dug up some epic shots of Mike Doyle heading out to surf a contest, with PT in the mix too! 🏝️ Can you name the event, location, or spot any other surfers in these pics? Drop your guesses in the comments! 👇

Gone but never forgotten. 😔
04/30/2025

Gone but never forgotten. 😔

Address

27758 Santa Margarita Pkwy, #318
Mission Viejo, CA
92691

Telephone

+19499163334

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