One In A Million Man

Arriving at the Santa Ana John Wayne Airport in Orange County, I found out that my plane was delayed an hour. In larger airports, I can visit the many shops but this airport has a few shops and not much to do. After looking in the two shops, I decided to walk from Concourse C to D. Exercising by walking is always a good thing. As I walked, looked at the travelers, I began to notice the displays on the wall. One huge display was about a man named Hobart Laidlaw Alter.

There were surf boards, skate boards and pictures of sail boats cresting large waves. Ummmm, I thought, this looks interesting and I began to read all about the man. He had invented a surf board made out of foam and fiberglass that was lighter than the wooden ones being used. Instead of having two men carry the board, one person could now handle the surf board. He then invented a catamaran called The Hobie Cat. The catamaran could be handled by one person and could handle large waves.

His inventions of polarization of sunglasses, skiing equipment, apparel trends, and golf gadgets kept him busy until he passed away on March 29, 2014 at eighty-one years of age. His company was located in Dana Point and that made me perk up because I had spent Christmas with friends at the beautiful town of Dana Point!

I had killed about thirty minutes reading about Hobart Laidlaw Alter who is considered to be a one in a million man!  The free standing glass displays had many reflections and I was unable to get any pictures that hung on the walls.

The rest of the time while I waited, I people-watched, read and walked. A long day when a flight is late and instead of getting home at 3:50 p.m. I arrived home at 8:40 p.m. The good thing is that I now know all about Hobie Alter!

"I took Al Unser out on a Hobie

the day before he became the 

first auto racer to go 200 mph 

around a closed circuit track. 

We were only going about 18 mph

and you should have seen him 

hanging on for dear life!"

Hobart Laidlaw Alter