Surf Cat

HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) – After losing his surfboard two years ago, a Hawaii-based photographer has found it.

Now he just needs a way to get it back.

Doug Falter says he last had his board at Waimea Bay in Feb. 2018.

The 35-year-old told Surfline that his leash came off, and the board vanished.

So he turned to social media in hopes that someone on the North Shore, or even Kauai might find it.

Turns out, someone did — but not someone in the state. It ended up some 5,200 miles away on a tiny island in the Philippines.

Giovanne, a teacher in the Philippines, contacted Falter’s shaper, Lyle Carlson, about 3 weeks ago.

“You could barely tell it was my board, but you could tell it was mine,” Doug Falter said. “It was kind of a real bummer when I lost it because that board meant so much to me. But now it means even more knowing that it might go in the hands of a guy that wants to learn how to surf.”

Falter says the board was extra special, because he rode it the same day as the Eddie in 2016.

He hopes to meet the man who found it and teach him how to surf, once some of the travel restrictions are lifted.

Falter has set up a GoFundMe to ship some surfing supplies to Giovanne and his students.