Toots Anchinges sanding a surfboard in his workshop
Shape Shifter

Surfer and board shaper Toots makes his mark on the Waikīkī lineup.

Text By
Martha Cheng
Images by
John Hook, AJ Feducia & Eric Wehner

Any given day at Queen’s surf break in Waikīkī looks like chaos: Shortboarders slaloming around tourists learning to surf, longboarders cross-stepping to the front of their boards, and young surfers duck-diving through whitewash. Then Arthur “Toots” Anchinges takes off on a wave. The cacophony of surfers pauses for a moment to watch as Toots, in retro boardshorts that hit mid-thigh, channels the 1950s Waikīkī Beach Boys’ hot-dogging style.

There goes Toots, sailing down the wave with his back arched, his body curved like a bow, his feet planted firmly with all 10 toes over the nose of his board—a perfect “hang ten.” There’s Toots as he squats low, his feet squared off, body tucked in, arms stretched out. There is no missing Toots when he’s in the water.

If you met Toots outside of the ocean, you might guess that he was a mixed martial arts fighter, compact and brawny, covered from his neck to his knuckles in tattoos. But in the water, the tattoos seem to disappear into his wet brown skin, which has been tanned from six-hour surf sessions. “I don’t even paddle out if it’s less than three hours,” he says.

This juxtaposition of intensity and carefreeness carries over to Toots’ life out of the water. The surfer shows me his personal tattoo machine and points out the spider web he tattooed on the palm of his hand last Saturday when he was bored. Inked higher up on his arm, a bird that artist Heather Brown drew one day when they were hanging out after an art festival. His body is like a wall tagged by himself and others passing through. “No regrets” says one. Another, from Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead, reads, “Freedom: To ask nothing. To expect nothing. To depend on nothing.”

Born in the Philippines, Toots moved to Hawai‘i 22 years ago, picked up surfing six years later, and surfboard shaping soon after that. His apartment is located on the top floor of a three-story Waikīkī walk-up not far from Queens. In front of it leans his latest board, which looks unlike any other. Shapers usually receive foam blanks already made in the rough form of a surfboard: for longboards, an oblong shape with a slight lift in the front and a wide nose and a narrow tail. But Toots took a blank and reversed it, giving the board a wider tail and a sharper nose, and more rocker (the bottom curve) in the back. Just that morning, Toots had taken this board out for the first time, and he was delighted with the results. Often, large boards can be difficult to turn while riding a wave, but he found this 10-foot, 6-inch board to be surprisingly agile. Toots’ mind is as active as his surfing style. “Sometimes, when I’m surfing, I can’t wait to finish this session so I can shape,” he says. “Then, when shaping, I can’t wait to surf.”

His surfboard silhouettes tend toward the experimental, though he also makes some old-school styles: hulls, gliders, and heavy logs, like the one that weighs almost 20 pounds, which he pulls down with ease from the surfboard rack near the ceiling of his bedroom. Almost all shapers sign their boards, their names or logos displayed prominently, but Toots refuses to do so. Instead, the only mark of a Toots board is a small, gold-leaf square on its underside. “You gotta find your own style,” he says, “or you just look like everyone else.”

Find Toots’ surfboards at Salvage Public, located in South Shore Market at Ward Village, or follow him on Instagram @mr._tOOts.

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Toots Anchinges wearing a breathing mask covered in sawdust

Archinges in his workspace. He admits he’s often torn between surf and studio.

Shape Shifter

Season 1 Episode 3
Watch Episode
Toots Anchinges sanding a surfboard in his workshop
Toots Archinges sanding a surfboard

The production behind Toots Anchinges’ experimental and retro-style longboards.

Toot's hand sanding a surfboard

The production behind Toots Anchinges’ experimental and retro-style longboards.

Toots sanding a surfboard

The production behind Toots Anchinges’ experimental and retro-style longboards.

Toots brushing sawdust from surfboard

The production behind Toots Anchinges’ experimental and retro-style longboards.

Newly sanded surfboard while Toots sits against wall in background

The production behind Toots Anchinges’ experimental and retro-style longboards.

Toots Anchinges surfing waves in blue water

Anchinges glides with style and ease.

Toots Anchinges surfing in waves

“You gotta find your own style, or you just look like everyone else.” –Arthur “Toots” Anchinges in Waikīkī.

black and white photo of Toots kneeling on surfboard in ocean

Queens, a regal, sloping left and right break, in Waikīkī.

Toots Anchinges surfing at sunset
Toots Archinges surfing in the sunset

In silhouette, Anchinges cross steps at sunset.

Shape Shifter

Surfer and board shaper Toots makes his mark on the Waikīkī lineup.

Text By
Martha Cheng
Images by
John Hook, AJ Feducia & Eric Wehner

Any given day at Queen’s surf break in Waikīkī looks like chaos: Shortboarders slaloming around tourists learning to surf, longboarders cross-stepping to the front of their boards, and young surfers duck-diving through whitewash. Then Arthur “Toots” Anchinges takes off on a wave. The cacophony of surfers pauses for a moment to watch as Toots, in retro boardshorts that hit mid-thigh, channels the 1950s Waikīkī Beach Boys’ hot-dogging style.

There goes Toots, sailing down the wave with his back arched, his body curved like a bow, his feet planted firmly with all 10 toes over the nose of his board—a perfect “hang ten.” There’s Toots as he squats low, his feet squared off, body tucked in, arms stretched out. There is no missing Toots when he’s in the water.

If you met Toots outside of the ocean, you might guess that he was a mixed martial arts fighter, compact and brawny, covered from his neck to his knuckles in tattoos. But in the water, the tattoos seem to disappear into his wet brown skin, which has been tanned from six-hour surf sessions. “I don’t even paddle out if it’s less than three hours,” he says.

This juxtaposition of intensity and carefreeness carries over to Toots’ life out of the water. The surfer shows me his personal tattoo machine and points out the spider web he tattooed on the palm of his hand last Saturday when he was bored. Inked higher up on his arm, a bird that artist Heather Brown drew one day when they were hanging out after an art festival. His body is like a wall tagged by himself and others passing through. “No regrets” says one. Another, from Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead, reads, “Freedom: To ask nothing. To expect nothing. To depend on nothing.”

Born in the Philippines, Toots moved to Hawai‘i 22 years ago, picked up surfing six years later, and surfboard shaping soon after that. His apartment is located on the top floor of a three-story Waikīkī walk-up not far from Queens. In front of it leans his latest board, which looks unlike any other. Shapers usually receive foam blanks already made in the rough form of a surfboard: for longboards, an oblong shape with a slight lift in the front and a wide nose and a narrow tail. But Toots took a blank and reversed it, giving the board a wider tail and a sharper nose, and more rocker (the bottom curve) in the back. Just that morning, Toots had taken this board out for the first time, and he was delighted with the results. Often, large boards can be difficult to turn while riding a wave, but he found this 10-foot, 6-inch board to be surprisingly agile. Toots’ mind is as active as his surfing style. “Sometimes, when I’m surfing, I can’t wait to finish this session so I can shape,” he says. “Then, when shaping, I can’t wait to surf.”

His surfboard silhouettes tend toward the experimental, though he also makes some old-school styles: hulls, gliders, and heavy logs, like the one that weighs almost 20 pounds, which he pulls down with ease from the surfboard rack near the ceiling of his bedroom. Almost all shapers sign their boards, their names or logos displayed prominently, but Toots refuses to do so. Instead, the only mark of a Toots board is a small, gold-leaf square on its underside. “You gotta find your own style,” he says, “or you just look like everyone else.”

Find Toots’ surfboards at Salvage Public, located in South Shore Market at Ward Village, or follow him on Instagram @mr._tOOts.

Share:
Toots Anchinges wearing a breathing mask covered in sawdust

Archinges in his workspace. He admits he’s often torn between surf and studio.

Shape Shifter

Season 1 Episode 3
Watch Episode
Toots Anchinges sanding a surfboard in his workshop
Toots Archinges sanding a surfboard

The production behind Toots Anchinges’ experimental and retro-style longboards.

Toot's hand sanding a surfboard
Toots sanding a surfboard

The production behind Toots Anchinges’ experimental and retro-style longboards.

Toots brushing sawdust from surfboard

The production behind Toots Anchinges’ experimental and retro-style longboards.

Newly sanded surfboard while Toots sits against wall in background

The production behind Toots Anchinges’ experimental and retro-style longboards.

Toots Anchinges surfing waves in blue water

Anchinges glides with style and ease.

Toots Anchinges surfing in waves

“You gotta find your own style, or you just look like everyone else.” –Arthur “Toots” Anchinges in Waikīkī.

black and white photo of Toots kneeling on surfboard in ocean

Queens, a regal, sloping left and right break, in Waikīkī.

Toots Anchinges surfing at sunset
Toots Archinges surfing in the sunset

In silhouette, Anchinges cross steps at sunset.

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