Dan worked full time as a production supervisor in a chemical laboratory to support his wife and two children. He surfed every chance possible while not running the shop. Weekly contests became a challenge with shop sponsored teams competing vigorously against one another. He coordinated several competitions and never missed qualifying for the East Coast Championship in Hatteras along with his team.

Dan Heritage began manufacturing boards on a full time basis. Because of limited experience in board manufacturing on the east coast, Dan had to teach all of his employees every aspect of the process. This included shaping, glassing, sanding, pinning and glossing. He became known as one of the best pin men on the east coast. Everything Dan accomplished was self-taught. He worked endless hours with a persistence and determination to be the best he could. He was never afraid to try new ideas. When Ross Houston opened up the first Surf Expo in Virginia Beach, Dan was among the first supporters. He was considered one of the east coast’s few avid supporters of the surf industry.

Dan built his main retail location in Sea Isle City, NJ. It was then that his wife and children began getting involved with the business. Skateboards had been making a big comeback. While Dan made wooden and fiberglass kicktail decks, the rest of the family was assembling, packaging and shipping them to other dealers. Since Dan’s Dad was an artist and photographer in the advertising field, he lent his expertise in the promotion of Little Wave’s products. “What better name to give your boards than your own?” he said. Dan’s dad then designed the family crest logo for the first Heritage Surfboard decal. From there after Little Wave was known as Heritage Surf & Sport.

A second retail location was established in Ocean City, NJ. With the business growing, everyone in the family found themselves involved. Dan taught his son Brian how to shape while Barbara, his wife, taught daughter Tracy how to run the shop. About 500 boards a year left the Heritage plant. Most were sold at our own store while others were wholesaled at other locations up and down the east coast.

A third location was opened in Stone Harbor. With three locations, Heritage Surf & Sport became a source of local pride for east coast residents. Heritage Surfboards are being distributed throughout the East Coast and employing a small group of core surfers and shapers in the area.

Tracy completes her Bachelor of Science degree in marketing from the University of South Florida and meets the man of her life Jim Hennessy. Jim formerly employed by Honeywell in Florida moves to New Jersey to join the Heritage family business. Tracy and Jim put their education background to work and begin buying for the three stores. Tracy and Jim are married in September of 1987. It is not long that they recognize a better growth opportunity and decide to relocate the Stone Harbor shop to Margate NJ. They also expand the Ocean City location to embrace the growing female market

After nearly two decades of shaping surfboards and working with chemicals and resin, Dan began to scale down the manufacturing operations. As one of the early pioneers of surfing in the east, Dan retired in ’89 due to health reasons. His son Brian, continues to shape boards for the family stores. The shops continue to be family oriented. In fact, Dan’s wife Barbara along with Brian, Tracy and new son-in-law Jim continue to carry on Dan’s dream. Dan continued to check in on the family business occasionally but preferred to spend most of his time near the ocean. In his remaining years Dan seemed to have caught more fish than he did waves.

In February of 1996 Dan received a letter from the staff of Surf Expo. It was an invitation to attend a ceremony in his honor. During the ceremony Dan was inducted into Greg Noll’s East Coast Surf Legend’s Hall of Fame. Longtime Ocean City manager Randy Young takes over the reigns at the Margate location. He helps to start The Pearl Classic Surf Contest in Longport which leads to 14 years of developing the best talent from Absecon Island. Those who directly benefit from the Pearl include team riders Frank Walsh, Ben Graeff, and Zack Humphreys.

In February of 1997 Dan Heritage passed away. Today, Heritage Surf & Sport continues to thrive on the determination and pride established by its founder. The family decided a perfect tribute to Dan’s memory was to rename the Heritage contest series to the Dan Heritage Memorial and run it as a pro contest to enable local surfers to surf against the best in the world. It grew to a ASP 3 star WQS event that drew world class surfers such as Tom Curren, Bruce Irons, Rob Machado and Ben Bourgeois. Although the event stopped in 2004 due to unrealistic financial pressure from the ASP it is still on of the most impressive South Jersey traditions to date.

Ocean City and Margate expand to keep up with the growing surf market, including a brand new surfboard room. Along with the growth of all their stores is the growth of the Heritage family management team and the Hennessy’s family with the addition of their youngest daughter Dara. Tracy and Jim continue their involvement in running the Ocean City Surfing Association in which all of their four children participate and often bring home trophies. Popularity of the surf lifestyle is at an all-time high and Heritage helps to spread the message through surf lessons, contests and fashion shows.

Hurricane Sandy hit leaving Ocean City and Margate prompting major repairs and renovations from incurred from over three feet of water flooding each store. Margate built up, adding a second floor and bringing an amazing new “Urban Industrial” look to the shops design. Our Sea Isle location got lucky with only 8 inches of water in the store however they still had to undergo necessary repairs and renovations. The way our communities pulled together after such a devastating storm continues to make us proud to be serving our community, and proud to be Jersey Strong