What happened to 2015...?

 It's been an El Nino year, when SST's  ( that's what the weather guys call sea surface temperatures ) are higher in the northern pacific.  And because ocean temperatures affect weather, for us Californians it means we could have a very wet winter.... and maybe plenty surf. Stay tuned to that.

As far a that water temps.... I only wore my winter wet suit once all year, not counting the week spent at Secos. The water was so cold that first week in June while we were camping.... a 1 hour surf was all I could handle. As opposed to the year before? I wore a spring suit the whole week. A real head scratcher... if that's a word. The water has cooled now though, we've had wind. 

A few surfboard things this year.  I did a reissue of the very first surfboard I made as a teenager and called it the Model 50. And, added 2 more models, the T&G Slider and the Dream Bar Double "E". Both of which I'm really happy with. I made myself a Double "E", I've only gotten it in the water  a couple times so far, and a nice ride it is.

Maybe the most significant thing for D.R. Surfboards this year....?  to some anyway,  I finally entered the 21 Century late July and got myself a smart phone.... it was a business decision. And ok, I like having it, so far anyway. The nice thing about the phone is the camera. I can take pictures all the time, and amazingly enough, I think there are some 284 pics on the darn thing already.

The other thing about the phone and entering the 21st century.... I got tired of my son bugging me about the social media thing, finally gave in and started an Instagram page. I'll be posting pics there as I acclimate.        

That's 2015 in a nut shell. Thank you to all my customers through out the year and all that have followed my blog, or is it notes from the shaping bay?... If you've just surfed into this spot, come September 2016 will mark the 10th year I've been doing this, a fare amount of writing and reading fyi.

Happy New Year!

D.R.

Model 50 photo by David Puu

Having a surfboard blank, the first step in making a surfboard is shaping the darn thing. Most people interested in surfboards shaping is the part they're most interested in.

The finish of a surfboard is the last step. It will be either sanded or polished. People interested in making surfboards are seldom interested in the last step of making them. Shaping a surfboard is considered the creative part. Though I'd argue that if the board is CNC cut then the creative process is done already and finishing the CNC cut is more labor than creative. Sanding and polishing a surfboard definitely fits into the labor part of surfboard construction... So who cares about that?

In the old days we didn't polish our boards the way we do now. The process of glossing a surfboard ( the final coat of resin ) leaves a seam along the rail apex that needs to be sanded and then polished. In the old days the seam was sanded and then just the rail was polished, we called it rubbing rails.

Now the whole board is polished from rail to rail, nose to tail, deck and bottom. And it's a lot of work. especially if you want to get all the tiny scratches out from the very fine sand papers that are used before the rubbing compound is applied and polishing starts.

In my area Cooper Fish surfboards really set the bar high for polished surfboards through the fine work of Jeff Pupo's very shiny without a scratch polish jobs.

I've never really liked polishing.... it was stressful. Aside from being hard work and taking a fare amount of time, and back when we started polishing the whole board many boards had glass on fins, some with 3 glass on fins. If you caught the polish pad on a fin while it was spinning at 5000 rpm the board could get thrown across the room from the force. Those heavy Milwaukee grinders can do some serious damage.

Now with the removable fin systems it's not so stressful. There is some time to the process but the end result... a shiny new surfboard... it's worth the effort. I've got these cool ear muffs now that have an audio input so I can listen to music while polishing. Smooth jazz... I remain focused on the job unaware of the time passing and relaxed. It's still hard work though.

D.R.

If this plane could speak.... what would it say?

I bought this Block Plane in 1969, and first used it during my days at Wilderness Surfboards. My little trusty and usually dusty plane has been pushed across every surfboard I've shaped since the day it first was put in my shaping bay at the old Wilderness shop on Cabrillo Bl. in Santa Barbara, and has been in every bay I've worked in since.

That little plane has cut a lot of foam and wood, covered some ground and water, having gone back and forth between Hawaii and California a few times.

Over the years it's gotten a few new friends.  Though I'd gotten a couple other block planes ole number one was not replaced but complemented.... I'll have 3 planes set up each with a different depth of cut so I don't have to mess with blade depth adjustments while I'm working. Makes life easier for a production set up.

Block planes are a shaper's friend. I'm always on the look out for them when out at a garage or estate sale, flea market or swap meets.  Ole number one is the only block plane I've bought new. Don't remember what the asking price was back then, these days a nice Stanley plane can be 100 bucks new. Even refurbished ones can catch $30.

Wednesday the 18th Suzi and I went to the mid week swap meet at the fair grounds. There are usually plenty guys selling used tools, seen a few block planes there in the past but never anything that nice for the price.  

This time I see a box of planes... I stop... look over the box, pick one up and ask "how much for this plane?" The seller comes over looks down at the box and says "why not buy the whole box?" I say "I like this one.. but" seller says "I'll make you a deal you can't refuse... let see" as he counts out how many planes are in the box. " Ok, there are six plus some parts, how 'bout 35 bucks for all of them, you can have the parts too?" I say "deal" and hand him the money before he changes his mind. When I get home with the box I find the parts make up another plane. In all I end up with 7 planes.

I've really quite the quiver of block planes, finger planes and razor planes now. And, ole number one will still be number one. All be it with a number of stand bys.

D.R.

What happens when you take the rocker curves, deck lines, outlines, rail profiles and rail apex lines from 3 different surfboards mixed together with a couple new ideas?....  you get the Dream Bar Double "E".

D.R.

Two  9'6 Dream Bar Double "E" each with wedge stringers and abstract deck ribbons.

The on going story of Ventura Point.

Part of the development of what the city of Ventura has named Surfers Point was the installation of a parking area at the end of Figaroa  St. Planters with palm trees in them were put on the beach side of the promenade that runs in front of the parking area.

It's all real nice but there is a problem.... it comes from nature and is called erosion. The problem is exacerbated by a couple things.

1. When we have little to no rain for a few years no new sand is deposited on the beach from the Ventura river.

2. The winter long shore currents scrub the point more now because of the revetment that the promenade sits on from the pier to the point.

A couple of years ago the city of Ventura spent time, energy and money in a attempt to stop the erosion. Dumping tons of cobble stone at the top of the point, in front of the palm tree planters. The idea being this would keep the ocean at bay. It was really only a very short term solution.... if a solution at all.

Waves and beach currents have a way of moving things. Cobble stone? Nature moves them with ease. Think about it... the cobbles on the beach in Ventura have migrated down the Ventura river from miles up stream. Winter storms wash and roll those rocks onto the beach and the ocean waters move them and place them along the coast. The reef at the front of Ventura river is cobble stone, as well, the point is cobble stone.  

All these cobbles were way up at the top of the point. 

Actually on the back side of the point.

So, the cobbles dumped at the point aren't there anymore. The ocean has moved them from the top of the point to inside point. They are on their way south to the pier. No protection for the palm tree planters now... a few of them most likely won't last the winter.

There are some cobbles left in front of the planters.

Obviously not enough.

The Ventura Marina inlet has been dredged in the past because sand would move around the seventh jetty and fill the opening of the marina. So to keep that opening... open... the sand was vacuumed up with a dredge and dumped on the south side of the south jetty so it could move on down the coast..

Maybe the city could do something similar with the cobbles. During the afternoon minus tides that we get every couple weeks a big dozer could be used on the beach to scoop up the cobbles from inside point and drive them up to the top of the point and deposit them where they were originally put. It could be an on going thing... every couple years when the cobbles move back down the point move them back with a dozer.

Yeah, that's the ticket... your tax dollars at work.

D.R.

Anybody new to surfing in So Cal may think that the ocean is quite nice to play around in these days as far as water temperature goes. It may be why there seems to be more people at the point with their Wave Storm surfboards paddling around with out a wetsuit on. The entry price for surfing is much lower if you don't need a wetsuit.

The past 4 months has been a great time to start surfing around here. Why? Because the water temperatures have been unusually high... down right pleasant.  The biggest deterrent to wanting to surf, besides no surf, is cold water. And we haven't had any cold water for awhile.

I had forgotten how nice it is to surf in warm water, being 10 years since moving back from the tropics.. 1. you don't have the restrictions in movement from a wetsuit.... I've been wearing a short john.... short leg sleeveless. 2. You can stay in the water a lot longer. I've been having 2 and 3 hour sessions without getting cold at all.... love that.

Of course no one knows how long these water temps will hang around. I'll put my bid in.... how 'bout forever?

I can't remember water temps to be this high, well maybe at the peak of summer, but into fall like now? never in the past 50 years. But maybe all the years of colder water has frozen some brain cells.

Is there any data on ocean temperatures over the years?  Been looking, but haven't found any. What I did find is average temps for the various locations along the California coast...... Average temps for October in Ventura.... 65 to 62. Today the Anacapa buoy read 73, and the  east Santa Barbra buoy read 73 as well. Can you say 10 degrees above average?

No complaints here.

D.R.

It had to be the summer of 1966. I went off for a day of surfing with my brother in-law... though he wasn't my brother in-law yet, just my sisters fiance. We went to Stables.

It was a Saturday, late morning before the wind got on it to much. We pulled up and stopped in front of the stables, walked between a couple of the horse stalls checked the surf, walked back to the car got our boards and went out. The surf was small... about waist high.

Why I remember this I don't know. But, it was a nice day, there was some clean small waves and not unlike any other day there were only a few guys in the water. Me and Jerry being 2 of the few guys.

The other of the few guys actually took off in front of me on a wave. I caught up to him and gave him a casual tap on his lower leg with the nose of my board to let him know I cared that he'd taken off on me.

No big deal. But odd that with enough waves for all of us and, the whole area with just a few guys to surf the guy would have a need to surf right where Jerry and I were.

After remembering this, a few days ago now... like at 3 in the morning when I was having a hard time sleeping, I thought 'what a difference almost 50 years makes'.

The stables are long gone, well, they're not on the beach but inside the Fair grounds. Yeah, the stables were relocated and now you can park facing the beach right where they once were. Lets qualify that.... you can park after you pay 2 bucks for the day or have a $75 annual permit to park.

As well, it's absolutely amazing how many people pay to park at stables on a nice sunny summer Saturday to surf the place when there is anything that resembles a wave. If there is surf.... yikes.

O well. I did get to surf the place a week ago with just a hand full of people in the water. 1. It was a week day, but sunny and warm.  2. The surf was waist high for the most part, with almost too much south bump on it to be surf-able.

Not quite like the old days.

D.R.

A view of the tri plane hull.

What do you prefer when it comes to surfing style?  The radical fast vertical stuff on shortboards? The slow direction moves of traditional longboards? or ??

When asked, my wife will tell you the sport she likes to watch most is surfing. Not sure why,  someday I'll have to ask her... if I can remember. Or maybe I have asked but don't remember her answer.

For me it's all about style. Good surfing is all about looking smooth even if you are doing radical maneuvers... the good surfers make it look easy, effortless, stylish.

One of the things we all wanted to accomplish when surfboards began evolving shorter was riding tight in the pocket. In, around and close to the curl.  It isn't exactly easy to ride tight in the pocket and be stylish at the same time.  The new board model I've been working on is designed for that cool trim and glide type of surfing that can keep you tight and in the pocket. Even though it is a longboard.

I can get so immersed shaping a new design that once the board is completed I don't want to let it go. Which of course is crazy because usually someone has ordered the board and is waiting for it... so I'm obligated.

I've finished 2 Trim and glide Sliders this past week and both have been hard to let go of. Ok, I could make one for myself but I won't, at least for awhile. Why?  Because I'll be starting another new design next month and the first one is going to be mine.

D.R.

The T and G Slider for in the pocket surfing.

Saw this question on one of the forums this past week.... Shapers that can't use a planer, does it matter really?

Of all the responses only one came back "no".

Watched a movie yesterday called Ride, about an over bearing mother and her son... a surfer. Helen Hunt is the mother. She directed and wrote the screen play. Seems she did her own stunts in all the footage of her learning how to surf in the movie... interesting take on  California and surfers.  Kind of Hollywood....  of course.

So a swell shows up for the holiday weekend. Supposed to hold through Monday and another due Tuesday. I couldn't hold back and went down this morning... I got a couple.

Got back to the van and the guy that parked next to me comes up... he'd just gotten out of the water too. He says ' that was a nice start to the day. I wasn't expecting much and it was actually pretty good, I got a couple nice ones.'  I say ' anymore I think coming to the beach with low expectations is the best approach... that way you won't be disappointed if the surf sucks or you have a bad time.'

I wish I could do that, it seems more times than not my expectations aren't met. Is there a therapist for this problem? 

I've got a couple new models coming. Just finished one, very stoked about it. Funny... I get back to making surfboards and the unmet expectations of going to the beach completely fad away.  That's therapy.

D.R. 

One of my current favorite action movies is Jack Reacher.  There's a scene toward the end of the movie where Tom Cruise ( Jack ) is talking with Robert Duvall about Duvall's  ability to shoot his rifle accurately. Cruise is concerned a little because of Duvall's age and says.. "sharp shooting is a perishable skill".    

Because there has been such little surf this summer I haven't surfed much... My guess is a lot of people haven't surfed much... anyway, I notice it seems the board I've been riding latey I don't ride as well as I used to. So I start thinking the above comment probably relates to surfing as well and maybe that's why  it seems I can't ride the board as well as I used to.... surfing is a perishable skill.

OK, the old guys can't surf like they used to. Does that mean we can't have as much fun as we used to? The big problem is we don't surf as much as we used to. You loose it if you don't use it.

Sometimes I go for a surf check and see less than exciting surf... actually for a couple months now there has been less than exciting surf for the most part... But I'm looking at the surf thinking it really doesn't look that good, even though it's a nice warm sunny day, I go back in the van and drive off.

Wait, wait, wait...  when I was young I would have been all over what I just walked away from. So what if it wasn't perfect. There were waves enough to ride.  But now??? it's not good enough for me.

So, where do I get that young kine motivation??? I think I've got the answer. I need a new surf board!

D.R.

Since it's summer time going to the beach you always see people that are just getting started in their surfing experience. These days the novice surfer may have one of those boards with the soft top. Though the boards will get you in the water and perhaps catching a few waves. They aren't very well proportioned. Some of them actually look like poor examples of surfboards.

I started thinking after seeing a few people with soft boards that learning to surf on one is certainly doable... wouldn't it be easier to learn on a good surfboard? 

A well made surfboard will paddle well, catch waves easier, glide on the wave face well, and be easy to maneuver. All things that help your surfing not hinder it.

I get the price thing about getting a surfboard... someone wants to start surfing and find an inexpensive surfboard  so why not get the board and give it a go. When you start surfing you really don't know if the equipment you have is helping or hindering your experience. But one thing should be understood from the start.

Having a good surfboard will not hinder your learning experience. No one should hesitate getting a good surfboard to learn on. It really should be a no brainer...  If you take care of a good surfboard and find you aren't that interested in surfing after a time you can always sell the thing and get a good chunk of your money back.

D.R.

 A 7'10 Gadget

A 8'0 Custom Gadget

I'm reading a couple articles in an old Surf Guide magazine from April 1964, and find some really great quotes.... here's one.

 " I can remember camping under the pier for two or three days, completely engrossed in the miseries of learning to surf."

After learning to surf and advancing your abilities you tend to forget what it took to get where you are.  That line really says a lot about what we forget. Like being so excited to be able to carry a surfboard into the ocean, fumbling around on the darn thing attempting to paddle with some kind of control. Being knocked around by the surf. And then trying your hardest to catch a wave... just one wave.

Then you finally get one and try to get to your feet only to fall. Eventually you get a couple more and actually get to your feet for a couple seconds... After that you are completely hooked, and determined that 'you can get this'. 

At the end of the day you're really tired but really pumped. "Tomorrow I'm going to do it again". And you do. Pretty soon you can catch a wave and angle down the line. On you go until you forget.... "the miseries of learning to surf".

D.R.

After 50 years it's still a challenge to shape a surfboard. Or maybe I should say after shaping thousands of surfboards the next one I shape will still be a challenge.

Shaping one surfboard after another after another.... the challenge for the production shaper used to be making all the same cuts over and over again to maintain consistency. Now that consistency is done by a CNC cut.

The low numbers guy that doesn't use CNC... consistency can be a challenge. Now that I'm a low numbers kind of guy the challenge for me is getting those fine details of my shapes to look just the way I'd like them to look.

No 'oops', can't have any 'oops'. Like darn it I just pulled a little to much foam off that rail band. Or, thinking you've pulled enough foam off and after the board is glassed you look and think darn it, I should have pulled a little more foam of the tail.  You know the saying... "the devil is in the details". Well, the details can drive a guy nuts.

I like the challenge. I was talking with one of the local shapers this past week. He was telling me having a board CNC cut is great. You can make a board for a guy save the file and a year later make the same "exact" board again when the guy comes back for another board. That's great for him, he does a lot of boards. Me... I don't make a lot of boards and find no real challenge fine shaping a CNC cut.  They're nice but, cleaning them up can be a bit boring. And besides I know how to replicate.

It is hard work getting a surfboard file just right for a CNC cut though. And, to get the details just right it's possible to go through 3 or 4  cut blanks to reach just the right shape so all the details are what you like. And that's the challenge... even with CNC cuts, getting the details of your shape just right.

One way or another, getting your shape to look just the way you'd like can be a real challenge. And when you're finished with the shape and all the details are just right... the challenge met becomes satisfaction.

D.R.

Being a surfer guy dad with a surfer guy son. 

It probably all started because my son liked the beach and, like most boys want to be like their ole man or do the things that dad does when they're young. So my son  Robin wanted to surf same as his dad.

Robin started getting in the water with a surfboard when he was around 6 years old. His interest in surfing grew as he grew. And lucky he lived just a few blocks from Ventura point until he was in the 11th grade. Then lived on Kauai.

Now that Robin is a father himself with 2 young girls, and responsibilities, the guy he hangs with surfing is his dad. It's a father and son surf buddy thing. He'll text me when he's down at the point on his lunch break and tell me to get my butt to the beach if the surf is good. And vise versa. Honestly it's a really cool thing for me. Seeing my son grow up and enjoying surfing together. 

This year was the 7th year doing our surf - camp out during the first week in June. And as usual we got surf. There was a swell in the water the whole week. The lineup got really crowed this year for some reason which made things a bit hectic. Being a dad surfing with my son I had 2 memorable moments this year that where apart of surfing but didn't directly involve riding a wave. 

One was watching Robin move into a crowded hectic lineup eyeing a set wave. Paddle threw the pact with confidence and look of determination. As I watch, seeing the pack of guys back off any inclination that they would stroke for the same wave just in case he wouldn't make it or just drop in on him as the wave scoops him up and off he goes.

The other time during that same session was when a good sized set wave I started to stroke for with Robin just a little inside my position. With Robin's site line into the crowd  he could see if anyone going after that same wave was either not going to make the drop or catch the wave. So he gave me the 'go dad go' signaling me that the coast was clear. We were not only surfing together but with the crowd, surfing became a team effort.

That all may sound corny. But Robin and I have been surfing together on a regular basis for over 30 years. I'm allowed... and besides, it's Fathers Day.

D.R.

Robin took this pic of me from his skateboard. A surf check via skateboard.

Below is a paragraph from the second post I did in September of 2K6.. it's about the blank I got to make a surfboard when I was all of about 13.

Dave Sweet made his own blanks in the sixties and made them available retail.  My parents with the help of my older sisters boy friend Jerry, a surf guy, got this bright idea to get me one of the Sweet blanks for a Christmas present in ’62. I still remember that Christmas day. Everyone opening presents including me, then I get maybe a shoe box size gift. I open it to find a key inside and am told it’s a key to the lock on the garage door.  Everyone says go out unlock and open the garage door.  I have no idea what is going on but go ahead and go out side, everyone following me and open the garage door and what do I see?  A surfboard blank! I was so stoked, a blank put me one step closer to having my own board.

So yes, it was Dave Sweet that made it possible for me to have my first surfboard. I have no idea how I actually figured out how to cut the blank down the middle, glue in a stringer, get the resin and fiber glass laminated on the blank with color, get a fin on it and then get it all smooth and ready to surf.... some how I managed.

I remember going in the Sweet shop in Santa Monica a couple times and vaguely remember talking with him. I was a grom, that's what groms do, go to surf shops all excited, gawk at surfboards and talk story with the top dog if possible.

It would be interesting to know how many of Sweet's blanks were bought to do just what I did. Then I wonder how many guys went on to work for a surfboard company or start their own label.  

I'd have to say Dave Sweet impacted my life in surfing. It's sad that he passed away last month. The surfing world will continue on but once again without one of it's icons.

R.I. P. Dave Sweet.

D.R.

The model 50. A recreation of my first surfboard that was made with a Dave Sweet blank. 

The old school colored board.... color with pigmented resin. In the old days we would tape the board off, apply the color coat and as soon as it had gelled do the clear gloss. One side at a time of course.

Now days it's a different process. Tape the board off, apply the color to one side, let it cure, flip to the other side, tape the board off, apple the color to the second side and let that cure. Then with both sides cured lightly sand the color coat making it ready to receive the clear gloss. Gloss both sides of the board and when the gloss coat is cured sand and polish to a nice shine.

It's a big process and the results have the authentic cool unique look of the old days.

D.R.

.

A custom Imperial nose rider with pigmented color 

The pigmented color Model 50

I got the opportunity to take the 3 hour drive down the coast to Del Mar and attend the Boardroom Show yesterday.

The main reason I wanted to go was to see the 4 surfboards built for the Ultimate Craftsman project. Basic premise... 4 guys each build a surfboard of their choosing from start to finish, no help, each guy does all the work himself. You can see videos here.

Really, there are very few surfboard tradesmen that can do that. Especially at the caliber and quality of the four that were chosen. All 4 of the finished boards were very impressive.

The show was very well attended and it was great to see and talk with guys I don't get to see very often... another reason for going. One person I was happy to see at the show was Tom Morey. We talked story a little and reminisced. He asked "how old are you now?" "66" I said and "you're like 10 years older than me right?" He answered " I'm 80".

I didn't realize he had reached that age. It's hard for me to get my head around it.... just seems like it wasn't that long ago that I had a job working for him and we would be around each other all the time. Even though it was in the '60's.  Makes me stop, think and stare.

D.R. 

Cosmetic... serving an esthetic rather than a useful purpose.    

A surfboards useful purpose is for catching and riding waves. Most of the performance short boards we see are fabricated  just for that useful purpose. No color, not shiny, just the basics.

Many other surfboards go beyond the basics. With color and shiny finishes, sometimes with colorful fins, special wood combinations for stringers, pin lines or striping. Long boards could have nose and tail blocks. All this stuff can and does make a surfboard look nice. But in reality it's all cosmetic.

Cosmetics are used to make things look beautiful. For the surfer a well shaped surfboard is a thing of beauty. A well shaped surfboard doesn't need cosmetics because it looks good with out make up.

 But you know what? There isn't anything wrong with taking a well shaped surfboard and dressing it in it's Sunday best. Sometimes you can have a hard time waxing  a new surfboard dressed in it's Sunday best, have second thoughts about getting it wet.

Yeah, and then over time the Sunday best starts to look a little rough or tattered. No more pretty shine, some patches here and there, dirty wax. It once looked really good... but the cool thing is it still rides really good.

   

It's OK because what's under the cosmetics is a well shaped surfboard. And all the rough and tattered part... it's called character. The well shaped surfboard with character has a story to tell.

D.R.

Have you ever had a magic board?

The magic board. The one that works for you so well it seems you can do no wrong when you surf it. You never have a bad session when you surf it. And, it seems to allow you to make waves you normally might not, do maneuvers you normally can't pull and generally make you the total fantasy surfer.  I think if you've got one or have had one you're lucky.

What would be nice is to know how to make a magic board.

I've made plenty of magic boards, typically though, the board wasn't magic until it had been ridden, it might not have been magic until it had been ridden  several times. Funny thing is, it wasn't something I set out to do and I never knew it was magic until some time after it was in the hands of it's owner.

Yes, I always strive to make the very best surfboard I possibly can and hope the board rides like no other. But, I don't know anyone that can set out to make a magic board and have the board they make be magic.

As well, The magic board you might have is impossible to duplicate. Sure, you can do a digital scan and replicate your magic board in every detail. Then go surf your magic replica and find it just doesn't surf quite the same as the magic original. Why is that?

Why is one board magic and the other one not magic? How come some people get a magic board and others don't? When will you get another magic board? Or when will you get your first magic board?

I can't answer any of those questions. But I can answer this question.... What makes a board magic?

Answer.... Magic.

D.R.

A 7'6 Gadget... kind of rhymes with magic.

Found some short video clips from a few years ago. This one is Travis Riley riding the PSQ prototype. I'm guessing this was shot around June of 2K9. That's what... coming on 6 years ago.

You sure can see how responsive that board is in this little 60 second clip. OK, Travis is a good surfer, but still that boards is responsive.

I know I like it.

D.R.

The evolution of surfboards from long boards to short boards got its start, for the most part, in 1967.  All during 1968 boards were going shorter and shorter. Through out the year of 1969 it wasn't uncommon to see boards in the low 6 foot range.

Through out the seventies surfboards continued going through design changes. When the tri fin design surfaced and with it the board design that seemed to fit with the tri fin surfboard design began to slow and refine around the tri fin board design.

But, through the seventies there were board designs being made and ridden then passed over for something else.  There are a couple old board designs from the evolution days that have come back. They fit into the alt board category but are really from the early days. Back in the day there was a lot of experimentation and short design trends that would get started and not last.

You may see some of the old board designs and think they are cool... and they are but the ones that really worked well have made a come back. The two? the fish and the hull.

The hull has had a following from day one really but that following was pretty limited to a hand full of guys in Southern California. The only other board design I can think of that started in the early '70s and has continued to this day is the Bonzer.

As far as long boards.. the boards designs of 1966 and '67 and there contemporary reissues have come back as the long board of choice for many.

Good design stands the test of time.

D.R.

My son Robin and his Fish

My story and fins

The first surfboard I owned I made and, I made the fin for it too. In 7th grade wood shop. It was made of mahogany wood and had a Maltese cross cut out in it. Since it was 1963/64 it was a 'D' fin. Like all the other surfboards of the day.

I don't remember how I foiled that first fin. I don't remember laminating it on my surfboard either. With all the experience I have making surfboards now and knowing the fining process it's hard to imagine how I pulled off getting that first fin on that first surfboard, I didn't have anyone to show me how. Somehow I managed.

All the other surfboards I made while a teenager with me little surfboard business had glass on fins too. I wish I could remember where I got the fins for those early surfboards. Did I make them, buy them?

It wasn't until 1967 when I went to work for Morey-Pope the I got exposed to the removable fin.  Morey had one of the first removable fin systems back then with several fin shapes. The system gave you the opportunity to change your fin and see how your surfboard responded with a different shape fin.

The Morey fins were made of polypropylene. It was possible to reshape some of those polypropylene fins too. So I'd experiment with fin shapes of my own by reshaping a few of the fin shapes that were available at the time.

When we started making our boards shorter the old long board fins were replaced with new fin shapes that worked for the shorter boards. All my early short board fins we made by laying up fiberglass panels. Then cut and foiled a fin from the panel then glass the fin on the board. It was a big process and a fare amount of work.

I'd forgotten how much work goes into making a surfboard fin by hand. It all came back to me this past week when I glued up some wood, cut out and hand foiled the fin for my new Model 50 surfboard. It's a 'D' fin like the one I made for my first surfboard. 

D.R.

Thought I'd look through some pictures from about 4 or 5 years ago. 

It's fun to do boards in food colors.  Tangerine, candy apple, butterscotch, caramel, lime.  Here's a pic I found, a dark one... deep chocolate brown....   with a cream pin line. yummy.

 Since I'm working on my Model 50, how 'bout a picture that's a good fifty years old.

D.R.

On the promenade at the point in Ventura is a sign that has a list of do's or don'ts telling the reader how to act in the water while surfing.... the Surfers Code.

If you do a search you can find other lists for surfers ethics but I'd like to focus on what seems to be the number one item on a couple of the code or ethics signs we are supposed to adhere to.  That one thing is... The surfer closest to the peak ( or in the case of a point break, the surfer farthest out or closest to the takeoff zone ) has the right of way.

Having spent some time in the water this past fall when the line up was pretty crowded and seeing surfers aggressively move about the lineup to get position for "the right of way" or another way of saying this would be priority, I started thinking. Is that closest to the peak right of way thing gotten confused with ones ability to move around to out position others in the line up for priority?

Then I remembered how surf meets followed that closest to the peak rule too. But after watching a few ASP events and reading some of the ASP rules I noticed that they have a different priority rule, and not just with man on man heats but even in their elimination heats.  When a heat is started the closest to the peak rule holds but after the first wave is taken the remaining surfers have priority over the surfer that has got a wave. In a 3 man heat if 2 surfers have gotten a wave then the 3rd guy has priority. If the first 2 wave takers get back to the lineup before the 3rd surfer gets a wave they must yield to the 3rd surfer.

So if you're in the lineup with a dozen other surfers and all the other surfers have gotten a wave but you, all the other surfers should yield to you. Or you have priority for the wave of your choice, if the ASP rules were followed.

Personally I think there should be wording in these Code signs that says something about yielding to others in the lineup. But you know what?  In most lineups if you wait your turn you'll be lucky if you get at turn.

I'm still amazed by something that happen to me a few years ago while surfing one day during our annual family surf and camping trip. I was sitting in the lineup with a few other surfers when another guy paddles up, says hello and sits up and looks out for any coming waves. A wave begins to march toward us and since he has set himself up above my position I look at him and say 'you going'? He looks back at me and says " no you go, I just got out here " I didn't hesitate and took off.  How nice was that?

I also had a couple times this past summer when there were surfers yielding position or considered priority to others.  You know it doesn't happen often but the lineup is so much nicer when it does.

D.R.  

Sometimes in casual conversation you can be given some pretty good advise albeit all by accident or just circumstance.

I'm thinking it was sometime in the early '80's I got to talking with one of the local pros in the water on a cold winter day. I'd notice the guy, Davey, was wearing booties. I commented how I never wore booties because I figured it would be hard to feel my surfboard under my feet and consequently not be able to surf to well... though I really didn't like numb feet. "Numb feet? hard to surf with numb feet. So you may as well wear booties." he says.

With that comment I decided to get some booties.  It did take a few go outs to get my footing but when I did I could surf  the cold winter days without numb feet. Numb feet.... yeah, aside from not feeling your surfboard it feels like you've got stumps on the end of your legs when you walk out of the water. And, you have a tendency to cut your feet up on the way in because you can't feel anything, like the rocks you usually walk over with caution, doing your best not to stumble, stub a toe or cut your feet on a sharp rock.

After booties there were no more numb feet. Sure I'd go through the adjustment from fall into winter and spring into summer but, what a difference that one comment made.

Something similar happened last weekend.  While at the Ventura Surf Club Luau I got to talking with Spencer Kellogg and he mentioned he had surfed Rincon that Friday.  I said 'Rincon? really. What's that like? Crowed enough for you? ... geez I haven't surfed Rincon in maybe 25 years.'

His answer.. "actually I had a good time, it wasn't that crowed and I got some waves." Then says " I looked a Pipe and the crowd there then decided if I'm going to fuss with a crowd why not go up to Rincon, at least the waves I'd get at Rincon will be better than Pipe. The crowd wasn't to bad, I got some waves and the waves I did get were great... way better than any waves I would've gotten at Pipe in or in town Vta."

I said ' wow I'm surprised'. Spencer says "It's worth it, and you know the waves you're going to get at Rincon will be the best, even if you only get a couple. You should try going up there again sometime."

I haven't acted on this one yet but what Spence said made sense. Actually, I told him the next time he was going to do Rincon to give me a call and I'd go with him.

D.R.

Another year gone a new year here. 

2015, but what happened to Y2K? anybody remember that? Yeah, that was 15 years ago already.... where has the time gone? And we're all that much older.

The one thing about 2015 is December of this year will mark the tenth anniversary of Clark Foam closing putting the surfboard industry in a tail spin.... for a short time. Any body remember Clark Foam?

Much has happened since Y2K. A lot of stuff happens in 15 years. And here's to looking forward. 

Happy new year.

D.R.