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.