He opened the first professional surf shop in Manhattan Beach, California, in 1950, personally hand fashioning the surfboards from wood or synthetic material.
[1] After serving in World War II, Velzy returned to southern California and began his career as a surfboard shaper in Manhattan Beach in the mid-1940s.
He borrowed money to rent a former shoe repair store nearby, setting up what is usually regarded as the first commercial surf shop.
Velzy's early commercial designs were cut down from full pieces of balsa, rather than blanks, and sealed with fiberglass and resin by glasser Bev Morgan.
[3] As the industry boomed, Jacobs went out on his own in 1959, and Velzy expanded his business to several retail shops and production facilities throughout southern California.
The Dale Velzy Memorial was held at Doheny State Beach on June 14, 2005, with more than 3000 surfers going into the water in his honor.