My story and the mini long board.  Seems to me we called them fun shapes in So Cal. during the yearly nineties, I could be wrong, But in Hawaii a fun shape is not a mini tanker... or mini long board.

Anyway originally I was asked to make a board in the 8'0 range that had an egg type shape. So I did and it was a pretty popular board.  This was around '92 - 9'4.  I moved to Kauai in May of '94 so that's how I can date the original iteration. To bad I didn't put a date on the outline template, then I'd have an exact start date... of course I could look in my shaping log book from that time but I've miss placed it. 

So, having taken my outlines with me to Kauai I started making the same tri finned mini tanker there and again it was pretty popular. I didn't have one for my self but did barrow them from a couple of my friends I'd made them for.    

Then after returning to Ventura in 2K2 and knowing that my 6'10 was not going to be enough foam for me as well as it being summer when I returned I decided to make myself an 8'0 mini.  Though I always made them as a tri fin the one I made for myself came out of the lam shop as a 2 plus 1. 

So I decided to surf the board as a single fin for awhile just for fun, and fun it was. Then after a time I put the side fins in the board.  As a 2 plus 1 this board really track a line in larger surf.  I still remember the revelation and looked forward to times when I could get the board out in better than head high surf.

After the quad thing started to gain some ground I thought I should drop a couple more fin plugs in the board and run it with a quad set up.  That's when the board really came alive in smaller surf and when the surf got bigger.  I thought the 2 plus one was good, and it was, but the quad was really good.

The only thing a can say about my 8'0 is I wished I never let it go... that was some 3 or 4 years ago.  I'm close to making myself another.

D.R. 

7'6"

 7'10"

Man, was it hot in So. Cal. this past week. Actually been hot for the past 2 weeks. Ventura on the beach was right at 90 degrees Thursday 5/15. 

Maybe sometimes in the early fall we see that kind of heat and then only for a couple three days. But, in May? Not... My shaping bay one day went from 70 degrees at 9 in the morning to just under 90 degrees an hour later. At that point all I could think about was going to the beach. Which I did. Small surf but cool in the water.

The hot weather brought on memories of my teen years being land locked inland in the summer months, hot, dry and even with a swimming pool in the back yard going to the beach was all I wished for.  A stroll to the local Dairy Queen was good but no where as good as getting to the beach.

Most of the time when the weather is hot the surf is not... or at least pretty small.  And really there isn't any thing better than pulling out the traditional long board, putting on a short wet suit ( water temps were upper 50's during the heat wave ) and having a cool fun go out.  The big boards catch everything, time your turn let that little wave stand up in front of you and step to the nose.

I learned how to nose ride as a teenager.  It's just as fun some 45 years later.

D.R

Travis Riley having fun