Knowing your idiosyncrasies is important to having a good time in the water… at least for me it does.

Yesterday I surfed for about two and a half hours. A pretty long go out for me in the winter. Usually an hour and a half is enough of the cold, but yesterday wasn’t to cold so I hung for awhile longer. Reason being, it was way to crowded for the consistency, 3 or 4 slightly overhead set waves every five or eight minutes is not enough waves to fill the needs of 25 guys in a very uniform lineup. I kept hoping the crowd would thin out so I could get a little more action than I was getting…. It just didn’t happen.

One idiosyncrasy, I didn’t paddle out where I had a view of the line up. When I go out at the point or pipe when there is surf of decent size and I don’t get a view of the line up as I’m paddling out for some reason my timing gets off. Funny, even though I’ve surf these places thousands of hours I still get disoriented sometimes if I don’t get a look at the line up a certain way.

At the point if I don’t paddle out going up into the line up I just don’t get a good enough feel of the oceans rhythm to be set up for a good surf session. Yesterday I paddled out at the top of the point. Aside from getting picked off just as I reached the impact zone, another bad omen, I still never got a good look at the line up.

I didn’t catch a wave for at least 10 or 15 minutes either, which is another idiosyncrasy. I’ve got to get on my feet within the first few minutes in the water or my rhythm gets off. As well, the tide was dropping, I do better on a static tide or in coming tide.

So after two and a half hours I got a few OK slides and finally caught a wave that took me far enough down the point to call it quits. I don’t know… maybe the surf wasn’t as good as it looked.

Oh well, I sure have been enjoying the 7’0 stubbie quad I’ve been riding though!

D.R.

D.R. photo by David Puu.

My story post 32

As a teenager I read stories in the surf magazines about guys in Hawaii surfing big waves and being out when the horizon would disappear. I always wondered what the heck that meant…. It sounded ominous.

In winter 1967 I went up to Santa Maria with my sister and brother in-law Jerry to visit my Dad. My bother in-law surfed and we both thought that we would take our boards on the trip. Santa Maria is not that far away from Pismo Beach and some other spots. With our boards we could go look for surf on our weekend visit.

So Saturday morning we set out from my Dad’s house to surf and ended up at Morro Bay. I’d never been there but we found our way out to a spot at the giant rock that sits at the head of the bay. And what we saw when we drove up was some pretty good looking surf… a nice peak that broke into what looked like deep water along the rock where there was a deep water paddle out zone.

Though from our vantage point which was some distance from the surf zone and above the beach the surf looked good, and there was nobody out. So we got on our wetsuits, grabbed our boards and worked our way down the rocks to the waters edge.

When we jumped into the water we where surprised to find that we didn’t have to paddle because the water along the rock had a big rip current that took you right out to the line up. We really didn’t know where the line up was but when we got out to where it looked like the surf was consistently breaking we paddled out of the rip and over to the surf.

One thing for sure was the surf was much larger in the water than it looked like from the car. As well the current along the rock very strong and the size of the rock was spooky…. Then a set came.

So there we were, in the water all by ourselves and no one on the beach at a place we’d never been and looking at an on coming set that was much larger than we’d thought we’d seen from the beach… As the first waves came at us Jerry took off. I watched to see how Jerry had done with the wave but couldn’t tell because the surf was to big to see a rider from the back, he was gone and I was by myself.

I turned around only to see another set coming at me, but further out than where we were lined up for the previous one. I started paddling out as fast as I could and as I rose up the wave face of the first wave reached its top and looked over it to see what was next all I could see was feathering waves all the way to the horizon. I couldn’t see the end of that set and I couldn’t see the horizon. The wave right in front of me was feathering and so were the waves behind it.

I paddled as hard as I could to make it over the next wave. I thought if I’d get picked off by one these giant waves there was no way I’d be able to stay with my board and without my board I’d be done for sure. As I stroked up the wave face it capped just to my left and I thought I’d made it over. But the blast off the breaking wave caught me and bounced me completely around and somehow I was sliding down the wave face. Now prone and sliding down the wave I thought the best thing was to stay that way because if I stood up and then fell I’d be with out my board and in more trouble. As I slid down the wave scooting back a bit so I wouldn’t pearl at the bottom. I held on for dear life as I reached the bottom and prepared for the white water blast.

When it was over and I was on the beach I knew what it meant to see the horizon disappear.

D.R.

Surf breaking outside the Ventura pier

Care and feeding of your surfboard.

Over the last few times I’ve been down at the beach I’ve noticed a few guys do stuff with their boards that just rubs me the wrong way.

There are plenty of recommended care procedures for EPS / Epoxy boards like ‘don’t leave them in the sun or hot car etc. but in reality about every recommended practice for the EPS and Molded boards is what we all should have been doing with our traditional Polyurethane / Polyester boards.

No matter what kind of board you have it’s best to follow certain do and don’t practices that will help keep your board in good health and give you added use.

If you travel to and from the beach with your board in racks on top of your car always have the board in a good bag or board sock. Without the bag your board will be exposed to the sun for whatever length of time you have it on your car. Even on over cast days the UV exposure is not good for a surfboard.

When you get to the beach never put your board on the pavement…. Unless it’s still in a bag. If you absolutely have to put a board on the pavement turn it bottom up so contact with the ground is only on the nose and tail.

Absolutely never wax your board with it laying on pavement… I saw a guy doing that a week or so ago and from across the street I could hear the sound of crackling fiberglass from the small rocks the board had been set on. Geez… made my skin crawl.

If you hang at the beach for several hours don’t leave your board in the sun between go outs. If there’s no shade and you’re close to your car put the board in it’s bag and set it under your car. If you can’t do that put a towel over it on the beach while between go outs.

Strip the wax off your board every couple months. Give it a complete cleaning and when it’s all clean give it a good look for any small cracks or shatters that may need fixing. Check the fin boxes and plugs to make sure there are no cracks around them. It’s real common to see cracks at the front of the long box on a long board, or 2 plus one set up. Always keep your board water tight.

If you take care of your boards they will give you much more lasting enjoyment.

D.R.

Early 90's surf trip

Three more days and aloha 2008! Time flies when you’re having fun….

It’s been a year to remember, aside from being an election year here in the states, the media and powers that be talking so loud about the big financial melt down, you’d have to say the surf industry is seeing a slow down.

I think one of the best things that’s happened in the surf industry at least in California this year is the blank market has seemed to settle in. We’ve got a few good blank companies now that have worked through most of the idiosyncrasies of surf board foam and the people that buy it.

For me… it’s been good. I’ve got my Perimeter Stringer Long board Quad… the PSQ, which I started selling the first of this year after several months of testing in 07. I am now offering the Stubbie Quad which I will be doing some refinements on in the coming year as well as a couple new traditional long boards I’m planning to work on and offer in the new year and, of course all my other models. My lam shop is in its second year and hopefully we’ll see at least business sustain itself through the coming year. We may even have a booth at the Sacred Craft Expo in May at the Ventura County Fair Grounds.

As the new year comes to us we look back and reflect and look forward to what can be. I look back and am thankful for all the people that have bought my boards and brought lam work our way. I look forward to the work I’ve got now and how I will continue to refine my trade and make a better surfboard.

Stoked and waiting for surf.

Happy New Year!

D.R.

My Wife and I and all the grandkids, Christmas eve ‘08

What does a surfer do when the surf goes dead flat and stays that way for days on end?

The short answer… you go crazy.

If you’re still able… skate board.

Take time to patch dings on your boards.

When the dings are patched strip wax and clean your boards.

Clean the sand out of you car.

Put your wetsuits through the gentle cycle in the washing machine.

Watch surf movies.

Get depressed after watching surf movies because there’s no surf.

Go visit relatives all along not feeling like your missing something… like surf, and you aren’t missing anything because there is no surf…. you keep telling yourself.

Hang with your surf buddies.

Pic from the 1970’s courtesy of Doug Galati.

This house is right on the beach and take notice , the three guys are looking at the camera and the guy on the right ( Mike ) is looking out at the surf. Does he have the look on his face like ‘ is it flat or what’ ? Actually I don’t know if there was surf that day or not, just guessing.

The surf here is pretty much dead flat and has been for a week now. I could say it’s a good thing because Christmas is just a few days away and I don’t have a conflict with needing to do Christmas stuff and surfing at the same time.

Yeah, spent the last couple days shopping with my wife, and amazingly wasn’t conflicted at all. We went downtown Ventura yesterday and went to Carpinteria today.

Happy Holidays!

D.R.

Surfing a hull is different than surfing a multi-fin board. Contemporary foiled multi-finned boards are generally surfed off the tail, with the fins and hard edged bottoms they will hold a high line. Not so with a hull…

No, hulls won’t hold a high line. Saying that will bring questions to most like: Why would I want a board that won’t hold a high line.. that’s where the speed is? That’s a good question but to surf a hull it’s best to understand how a hull works.

There is a method to riding a hull that depends on your ability to maintain control of weighting your board in the right places down the wave face. Taking off you will slide down the wave face and weight into a turn at the bottom. After banking your board over on its rail and weighting into the turn you will drive your board down the line and because you stood up into your turn… weighted…. The board will climb up the wave face. As you come to the top of the wave you must un-weight the board so #1. it will stay with the wave and #2. if you’re on a lined up wall you won’t slip or spin out.

That first set of moves… take off, setting your edge, turn and climb give you a load of speed and once you’ve returned to the top of the wave you are ready to repeat the slide down the wave face setting your edge and climbing back up the wave face and gaining more speed.

There are many variations of where and how you will work your way along a wave face gaining speed, turning back, slowing down, riding in under and through white water but all the moves are dependent on maintaining control of weighting the board.

1. Sliding to the bottom of the wave.

2. Setting your edge for the drive back to the top.

3. Flying across the top.

4. Un-weighting to the bottom.

5. Setting your edge again.

The video clip shows the basic rhythm to weighting down the line and gaining speed along the way. You can see the momentum after Travis pulls out and still slides some distance from the speed generated from surfing a hull.

D.R.

There have always been conscientious craftsman in the surfboard industry but I think for the most part they are usually over looked and as surfboard lengths shortened over time the way we made boards changed as well.

During the seventies as surfboards continued to evolve there was a fair amount of attention to making boards that not only rode well but also looked appealing too. If you find any vintage boards from that decade you see color and line work all done with resin that by 1980 had become all but forgotten. Not that color was absent but the color changed from resin work to air brush paint work.

Air brush color is quick. Take a shaped blank, spray some color on it, let it dry for a couple hours and then go laminate it. You can do fades, panels, rail bands, stripes or even killer graphic art work via air brush. That’s all fine but the interest was to simplify the fabrication process so it didn’t take as long to make a surfboard. By the nineties color was not as much a component of the process. When fin systems took hold and we didn’t have to do glass on fins… making a surfboard was simplified even more. Sanding a board with out fins was the best thing to come to surfboard production sense foam blanks.

With out glass on fins the surfboard became much easier to make and with the ease came the hack job, get it done, get it quick, get it cheap kind of surfboard. “Yeah man, clear free lap sand only to 120… your board is ready.” Short board, long board it didn’t matter. What was important was getting the board done and for as little dollars as possible. Go surf the thing and when it’s lost that fresh feel toss it and get another.

The poorly crafted board at first glance may not look any different than a very well crafted board. Can you tell by looking at the tail of your new board if there is good glass coverage around the corners? Probably not. Can you tell what glass schedule your board has on it by feel or look? No.

If you don’t know that your board was made by a top drawer board crafter you generally won’t know how well your boards are made until after you’ve surfed them.

D.R.

The compound color lam.

The evolution of surfboard weights and consequently strength is sometimes over looked in the discussion of a surfboards life span.

When I started surfing the foam and fiberglass surfboard was the standard. There were a few wood boards around but really weren’t sold much if at all commercially. My second board was balsa but I made it from an old board that I stripped down, reshaped and re-glassed.

For the most part boards in the early sixties were about 30 to 35 pounds, and generally were between 9’6 and 10’ in length, 23 to 24 inches wide and in the 3 inches thick range. The foam was a bit more dense. As an example, the common weight of surf blanks now is between 20% and 40% lighter than foams of the early sixties. That means if you have a 9 foot blank now that weights around 10 pounds the comparable blanks from the early days would be 2 to 4 pounds more. A short board blank, unshaped, that weights around 5 pound would have been around 6 or 7 pounds… of course there were no short board blanks then.

Now that dosen’t seem like much but, in the sixties a typical stringer was ¾ inch redwood or maybe 2 inch balsa. Now? A longboard will have a ¼ inch to 3/8 inch stringer and short boards 1/8. The difference in wood weight could be as much as 2 or 3 pounds.

The glassing schedule of the old boards was considerably heavier, and there was a reason… surfboards weren’t attached to your leg back then. If you fell and lost your board it was vulnerable and could get a whacking from other surfers and their boards and or what ever was on the beach… like rocks… the boards final resting place if you couldn’t catch up to it before it got to shore.

The typical glass job before we started making boards lighter was 20 oz glass top and bottom. That’s 2 layers of 10 ounce cloth for the deck and bottom of your board. One layer from each side would lap so you had 30 ounces on the rails. That is a significant difference in what boards are glassed with now.

Is it needless to say that boards held up better before the foams became lighter and the glassing schedules were reduced to less than half of what they once were? So… how did this happen?

For me, I didn’t need a heavy glass job because I got better at surfing and didn’t loose my board so I could glass it lighter…. Maybe 2 layers of 8 ounce. Then I liked the lightness and went to one layer of 8 on the bottom and 2 layers on the deck. When boards got shorter we wanted them lighter as well so a layer of 8 on the bottom and a layer of 8 on the deck with a 2/3 8 patch was good. It kept going, next it was 6 once cloth instead of 8. 8 ounce cloth is actually 7 ½ once by the way.

Stringers kept getting thinned down too, from ¾ inch to ½ to ¼ . Some boards in the late sixties and into 1970 had 1/16 stringers.

When guys started attaching their boards to their legs and didn’t have to worry about a lost and probably dinged up board in the process we started glassing boards with 4 ounce cloth. And all along the blanks were lighter too.

It was surfers that wanted lighter boards. As boards got lighter and lighter I don’t remember anyone complaining that they also got damaged easier or even broke. Now… it’s not uncommon for surfers to complain that boards don’t last long and get bust up easy. Yet it’s been surfers all along that have wanted their boards made the very way they are now… light and destructible.

D.R.

It was a few weeks ago when Blinky came into the shop and asked if I ever thought I’d be making surfboards when I was sixty. At the time I wasn’t quite sixty… my birthday was this past Friday the 21st.

My wife, son and daughter decided to host a 60th birthday party for me and was planned for yesterday. It may have taken my wife a month to get an invite list from me, not that I procrastinated but I’m so self conscience about stuff like that. Anyway, come 6 pm yesterday evening people began arriving until the house was full. What a great time!

My wife told me she was thinking about having the party catered and asked what I thought of “ L & L” the local Hawaiian BBQ place. I said ‘are you kidding? That would be great! ‘ I love that place, Suzi and I go there all the time…. Geez, Friday special Lau Lau, Spam musubi . She was afraid some people wouldn’t like it, but I said don’t worry about it, I like it and how could anyone not? Well, she followed through and we had the best grinds a party could ask for.

When David Puu walked in and greeted me he said “ I didn’t even bring my camera”. I replied saying ‘that’s good, you should be able to go somewhere relax and not worry about missing out on a good photo moment'. Funny though, when everyone filled in and he saw the depth of the gang he said “ I should have brought my camera!”. Of course if he had his camera he would’ve taken the picture instead of being in the picture. We got a group shot of some of the guests.

From left to right kneeling: in front is Rachel Jorgensen one of the few female board crafters, also one of my partners at Studio 609 Board Craft. Then David Puu, though now a photographer, a long time board builder under the Morning Star label.

From left to right standing: Steve Huerta, Huerta-McNair Surfboards, Spencer Kellogg, Surfboards by Spence, Sammy Cammack, Sueno Surfboards and also production manager of Fletcher Designs Surfboards, Wayne Rich, Wayne Rich Surfboards, Bill ‘Blinky’ Hubina, William Dennis Surfboards, Myself, Chris Fallon, the most talented paint and line guy in the 805, as well as my partner in Studio 609. And finally Mike Smith, though not a board builder he does have his own ‘Mike Smith nose rider model’ for William Dennis and just happens to be the Mayor of “C” Street.

I had a party for my 30th birthday and was told back then I was over the hill. Now at 60 I’m told I’m over the hill. So what? I wasn’t over at 30 and I’ve been still climbing the hill for the past 30 years? No wonder I’ve been so tired all the time.

D.R.

The Hostess, My beautiful wife Suzi.

My Story Post 35

My first long board right when it started to be OK to have one again.

If I remember right it was 1981 when one of the local guys here in Ventura bought a Takayama long board and of course began surfing it… one of the first guys to start riding long boards again here.

I don’t think he had that board more than a year when he got nailed by a small wave in just the right place and busted his board in half. We got to talking one day after his mishap and during the conversation I asked him if he’d like to sell me the busted board. We came to a price of 30 bucks.

At the time I was riding a 6’3 hull and hadn’t gotten into longboarding again… I may have barrowed a long board once or twice for a couple waves but didn’t have one of my own. I thought for 30 bucks, a little resin fiberglass and work I’ll have myself a tanker to cruise on.

We made the transaction, I let go of 30 bucks and got a surfboard in two pieces in exchange. I’m not sure how long it took before I got around to the repair of that board but I did and when it was complete I had myself a single fin long board. It wasn’t the best looking board having been through some major surgery but it was fit and water tight. And when it was ready I took it down to the beach on a nice sunny summer day with small summer surf to get it wet.

It was a day just like what I wanted the board for, and when I got down to the point there were a couple of the local guys looking at the surf contemplating a go out…. There wasn’t much to go out in but I had this tanker that would make up for the small surf. We got to talking and I showed them my repaired board and said that it was perfect for days like that day. “So, I’m going out and I’ll bet you guys 5 bucks I’ll hang five on the first wave I catch” … I’d never ridden the board before but what the heck…. We all laughed and off I went.

Well, I’m sorry to say I lost the bet…. I’d didn’t hang five on the first wave. No, I hung five on the second wave. Oh well, I had plenty fun on the board. I'm not sure how long I had that board, at least a couple years, and surfed it when the surf was small and fun for a tanker.

You know, I hadn’t thought of this but I mentioned in a post from 11/19/06 that the only board I ever had that I didn’t make myself was a Phil Edwards. I need to correct that, I forgot about the DT. Though I had to rebuild the DT, it was a board I didn’t make myself so, of all the boards I’ve had there have been only 2 I didn’t make myself. The Edwards and the DT.

D.R.

Pic 1.. the boken board
Pic 2.. being put back together
Pic 3.. the boken board in the surf

Learning to surf, a shapers view post 5

Standing on a surf board takes balance. It also takes movement. When you ride a bicycle you need forward movement otherwise you’ll fall down. It’s the same with surfing. You need to be moving… sliding on a wave with enough speed to be able to maintain balance.

Once you catch a wave, when you stand up you must stand on the center of your surfboards width and have you body over your feet. Depending on the length of your board, where you stand in the length may not be as critical but you must be in the center of the width.

As you catch more and more waves and have more and more chances to stand up you’ll be building muscle memory and planting your feet in the right place on the surfboard will become consistant. As that happens keeping your body over your feet and ride will get better.

Staying centered over your board is absolutely essential or you’ll fall. It doesn’t matter where you are on the wave face or what move you work to pull off, if your centered over your board and body and have enough forward movement you’ll make it.

The best way to see how staying centered works is to watch people surf.

D.R.

Taking off and planting your feet…. Centered

Setting up a turn from center.

Standing on the nose and centered.

After stepping back from the nose… centered.

Hitting a section and staying over your center.

Tipp rides with your body over your feet… centered.

How much does a surfboard really cost? You see discussions on the forums about the domestic made board price and imports, the molded board quality compared to the hand shaped hand laminated board etc. Should we pay as much as we do?

So I make hand shaped hand laminated…. How much do these boards really cost?

Surfing was once a very inexpensive endeavourer, at least when I got started. We didn’t wear wetsuits so you only needed an old pair of cut of jeans and a surfboard that you might have gotten used for 30 bucks. Find a way to get to the beach and have fun.

So lets say you find a board for $ 600. We won’t talk about wetsuits, board bags, extra fins, wax or the cost of parking at the beach. But if you have a $600 surfboard the first time you get that board wet it cost you $600. The second time?... $300. Third time $200 and the forth time $150.

So… if you surf this same $600 board every time you go to the beach and, you surf once a week on average by the end of a year, say you miss a couple weeks so at the end of the year you surfed your board 50 times. The board per surf session cost 12 bucks. That’s not much. My old 9’0 I’ve been surfing since 1992, I don’t surf it all the time of course but the overall cost per surf session on that thing by now is coming down to pennies.

Generally we keep our boards for a fair amount of time and surf them plenty. So if you look at the cost being spread out over the number of times that you surf the actual cost becomes something next to a hamburger lunch…. or even much less. I’d say that’s still pretty inexpensive for the amount of fun you have!

The 8’0 I’m riding in the pic below my son and I have had in the water enough for the cost of it to be down to about a nickel candy bar…. But you can’t get nickel candy bars anymore….

D.R.

Photo by David Puu

Do surfers have a one track mind? No doubt some do, what percentage of people that surf? Who knows…

For sure if you are around someone that has a one track mind about surfing you know it, because all they do is think about it, want to be at the beach, will go out in almost anything and are lost when they can’t surf.

I’m sure I had a one track mind about surfing when I was younger. After I moved to Ventura and was close to the ocean… meaning I could get to the closest surf spot in about 3 minuets on a bicycle… I was at that surf spot as much as possible or in route to another.

When the first thing you do in the morning is check the surf. Look at the tide charts and if there is surf determine when might be the best time considering tides and wind conditions would be to surf. Or, consider going to a certain spot where the surf will be best. Then you may be borderline on a one track. If you add to that the fact that you don’t know what to do with yourself if you don’t get any surf then yes, you have a one track mind.

Woodshed films, Chris Malloy released a new surf flick this past week One Track Mind. Some nice footage and even better commentary from over a dozen pros. At first I couldn’t figure out what the title of the film had to do with the film but then, Kelly Slater said winning in pro surfing takes a one track mind. If I remember right he wasn’t referring to himself but one of the other pros and his focus on winning a world title.

The film is nicely edited with comments and footage that keep your attention… at least mine and my wife’s who was with me at the show. There are a couple nicely timed comments from Dane Reynolds which are really great, and some pretty amazing surfing from all the guys that are in the film.

I’m not sure how the film is being marketed, if it’s going to make the beach cities tour or not but I’m sure the DVD will make a nice addition to your collection.

D.R.

A couple frame grabs form the preview below

What is it about the look of a surfboard that certain surfers find so attractive?

I know what goes through my head when I’m shaping and how I want the board I’m working on to look. The foil, rocker and foam distribution has to have all the right proportions for me to be satisfied with how it looks… if it looks right. If the shaped blank doesn’t look right it bothers me and if I don’t work on it until it does look right…. Well let’s just say I’ll never be satisfied if I don’t get each board to have the look I’m after.

I take notice how boards are looked at. How people will pick them up and see how they feel under their arm. How they will stand a board up and massage the rails to see how the rails fit in their hands. Stand back and look at the rocker curve and foil. Contemplate the outline.

Maybe if you don’t think the board looks right then you won’t think it rides right. My personal point of view is that surfing is about 90% mental. If you think something is wrong then you won’t surf to your full potential. So if you don’t think your board looks right it will bother you and you won’t be on your mental game… your surfing will suffer.

For the discerning surfer their boards must be just right, have all the right ingredients for confidence in their pursuit of waves. An attractive surfboard is an important thing.

D.R.

My story post 34

One day this past week Blinky…. my former partner… was by the shop. He was dropping off some stuff he had cleaned out of his Julian St. shop. I was taping off a board when he walked in and said “did you ever think you’d be making surfboards when you were 60?”

Well… I’d have to answer “no”. Geez, 41 years ago when we started William Dennis I didn’t think about anything but surfing and making a surfboard that would be better than the one I was riding at the moment.

I suppose to my discredit as a business person not thinking about the future isn’t really very smart. But, as a surfer that made surfboards the only future was the next swell and how well your equipment was going to work. And, if it didn’t work or you figured out another way your board may work better then you were on the right track.

Funny though when you look back the big labels that were run with more business sense and tried to have some control of the surfboard market actually couldn’t control what was happening because of the speed of design changes and eventually left the market altogether.

How do you really know what’s going to happen in the future. You can plan for it and hopefully things will turn out the way you’ve planned. But, when you’re not quite 19 years old, like I was when William Dennis was started, how could you think that what you are doing at that moment will be around 40 or 41 years later?

It’s really pretty amazing to me, all these years later still being comfortable and happy doing what I enjoy… making surfboards and surfing. I find what I do satisfying, it’s where my heart is. Playing in the ocean is a healthy activity as well as fun and continually challenging.

D.R.

Me and Blinky… William & Dennis 1986 C Street reunion

My story post 33

I went to a take out restaurant here in Ventura with my son today that was one of the places that Blinky turned me onto for a good burrito when hungry after surfing. It got me to thinking…..

There were a number of places we’d go to after work or surfing to fill our bellies back in the day. One of the spots was right down the street from the point, Fiesta. Fiesta was where almost every surfer would go to at some time or another. So close to the beach.

Then there was Ted’s Sizziling Steaks out toward the college. This place was the after hours stop. Not really great but cheap and filling. Back then there were not any steaks houses like what’s out there now but, with the help of steak sauce the food did the job.

The little café at the west end of Main St. was a place for good hearty breakfasts. I remember the first time I went there around 1965. I was really hungry one morning and had very little money… actually not money, just some change. The change was enough for a bowl of oatmeal. For about 35 cents I got the best bowl of oatmeal I’ve ever had, to this day I still remember being so hungry and worried I’d go hungry for the rest of our surf trip but the loose change in my pocket and the little café made the day.

How ‘bout the Galley? They had a burger basket that was great! Only one block from MP, sometimes we’d go there for lunch during the work week. I remember Cooper running there for some grinds, sitting at the counter talking story and chowing down.

Now in downtown Ventura there are more places to eat than imaginable. A couple years ago my wife and I counted enough places to eat in the 4 blocks of down town that we could actually eat out everyday for a month and never eat at the same place twice. How nuts it that? But those places listed above? Except for Johnny’s where my son and I went to today are all gone. Fiesta is where Bad Ass Coffee is now. The little café was knocked down and the spot it was in is a parking lot. The Galley building is still there but the building is empty… no burger baskets there. Ted’s…. gone. Seems as time goes by all we end up with are memories.

D.R.

Looking up the beach from the pier back in the day didn’t look anything like this either.

The Second Anniversary.

Two years and over 6,000 page views ago I start this blog not really knowing where or how long I would go. Now with 93 posts … 94 counting this one, that all started on September 9, 2006. I thought I’d do a little anniversary post and link some stories and posts for your reading pleasure.

My story post number 1

My story post 6

My story post 10

Duck tape has many uses

My story post 14

Growing up as a surfer

My story post 20

Another foam count down

My story post 30

Doing this has been a good thing…. for me anyway. It’s helped me remember what I’ve come through and apply that memory to my practice of crafting surfboards. I’m up to post 32 of my story now, actually “The day Slipcheck got colorful” should be my story post 33. But we’ll let that one slide.

So here's to the past 2 years and 93 posts, God willing, more to come. Thanks for checking in, hope you enjoy reading. As well, to those that take the time to post a comment… a special thanks. It’s nice to hear from you.

D.R.

Photo by Nathan Dorn

Surfing is a performance based endeavor.

Of course it takes hours and hours of practice and conditioning but, once you have that and can move in, out and through the surf, your performance will be to a large extent based on your mental contribution. If you think you can pull some maneuver you can or will.

As I’ve gotten older I take notice that sometimes I get shaky in attempts to pull off certain moves. Sure there is not the agile body and quick response that I had in years past but sometimes I think I’m unable. If you think you’re unable then the mental games is lost…. You usually won’t pull off the move.

When it comes to nose riding on a long board your mental game really needs to be solid. It’s curious that for some time I’ve felt tentative standing on the tip lately… not as confident as in younger days. All the while thinking geez, what’s wrong with me.

Reading the book by Paul Holmes… Bing Surfboards, fifty years of craftsmanship and innovation… you’ll find this quote from Donald Takayama “Noseriding is one of the hardest things to do in surfing. To be able to hang ten and keep your balance as you go through sections and all of that is a very difficult thing to do and it has a lot to do with total mind control. It takes 150 percent concentration just to stay up there”.

Like walking across a room with a full cup of hot coffee. Stay cool and calm as you go, not really thinking about the cup but that you will reach your destination without spilling it. Or, you’ve seen a carpenter walking across the top plate of a framed wall? If he thinks he’s going to fall off the top of that three and a half inch wide wall he’ll get shaky and possible fall eight or more feet to the ground or floor… but he doesn’t, it’s a mental thing.

A few days ago I was surfing inside point in the afternoon. The surf had some shoulder high sets was clean and fun. As I was paddling back out to the line up, along with three or four other guys one of the local guys took off on one of the set waves and proceeded to step up to the nose turn around and hand heels right through the pack of us paddling out. If he would have fallen I would have taken the rail of his board in the face, I was that close. But he pulled the move off as if no one was around… in total control, no second thoughts about it.

If you think you can, you can. If you hesitate, if you question and have doubts, you probably won’t make it or not even try. With surfing and all performance based endeavors you’ve got to have your mental part down.

D.R.

Travis Riley... fin first take off.

The day Slip Check got colorful.

One Saturday in the summer of ’67 my friend Pete Robinson and I were messing around at the MP shop spraying some Slip Check on Pete’s new 8’9 Snub. Pete worked for MP in the fin department so on our day off it was OK for us to come by the shop and do stuff to our boards.

Pete had gotten a really nice knitted doily table cloth from his mom and had thought it would be nice if we draped it over his board and sprayed the Slip Check through it so the pattern would be left on the board. Instead of a solid color like all the other boards with Slip Check his would be different.

I’m not sure Pete’s mom knew that once we did this the doily was not going to decorate a table anymore but, in didn’t seem to bother Pete so we went straight ahead.

We draped the doily over the nose area of his board and got one of the colored spray cans of Slip Check… If I remember right it was the magenta one… and sprayed the decking through the doily. Let it sit for a few minutes then pulled the cloth off the board and there was the doily pattern on the nose of Pete’s board. I don’t know where Pete got the idea from but we sure hadn’t seen anything like it. I was so stocked I thought ’man, I’m going to do that to my board’.

I got my board, cleaned the wax off and laid the doily over the deck of the board. I thought I’d do the whole deck though, not just the nose. But instead of using a single color I got all the Slip Check colors and began spraying through the doily from tip to tail fading from on color to the other. Lightly layering one color over the other I could even get more colors. When I was done and lifted the doily off my board…. WOW, now that was really different. All these colors with the doily pattern imprinted on the deck was cool. Never had seen that before either.

Well, that’s where it all started… in Ventura anyway. Before you knew it guys all over were spraying multiple colors with doily patterns on their boards. MP even started marketing packets of paper doilies right along with cans of Slip Check.

Pete and I had no idea what we were doing or where it would go…

D.R.

Quality is some what of a confusing word. It can be that something has a distinguishing element or characteristic like the quality of oak lumber compared to ash lumber. The two pieces of wood are similar but do have distinct differences or different qualities.

Quality can also be the degree of excellence. Like one cut of diamond is better than another there for of better quality, or higher grade.

Sometimes in the surfboard related discussion forums dialog gets going about the quality of different surfboards like the over seas boards being better quality than ones made in the US etc. I recently read a comment by the head guy from GSI… sorry couldn’t find a link or remember his name… saying that the factory that his boards are made at is the only surfboard factory with an ISO certification.

Of course that sounds impressive but it should be qualified. First, having an ISO certification doesn’t mean that your product is of higher quality than any or everybody else. But it does mean that you have a quality standard. That standard is documented and it is what you follow… everyone follows that standard in your organization. Most of that standard is in management. In reality it is for large companies. The GSI surfboards are built in the Cobra factory which is a large factory in Thailand. Large enough that they would benefit from an ISO certification and it makes perfect sense. A surfboard company that has a dozen or less workers would not go after an ISO certification however they may have a quality standard.

When my son started working for Point Blanks he was trained in the procedures of that shop. They make a good surfboard and their process is well thought out and followed. You could definitely say Point Blanks has a quality standard. When the time comes that we put on someone at my shop they will be expected to follow our procedures as well. They may not be written down but they are followed and any new person that would start working with us would need to follow our procedures. I have a quality standard too.

To say that a product is better… in this case a surfboard, because it is made in a facility that has an ISO certification is misleading. It’s good for the GSI guy because he knows that his product is being made following a specific standard… or in a certain manner. It doesn’t mean that the product is built to a higher standard but to a specific standard.

I know my boards are built to a specific standard too, and I’ve got it set high.

D.R.

If you don’t think fins make a difference in how a board rides try making a significant fin change in your board and see what happens…

While looking at the surf this morning I got into a conversation with one of the locals guys here about surfboard design, single fins, multi fins…. I may have a post somewhere in the archives about fins and placement etc. but it’s all worth repeating.

I got the chance to take my twin fin hull out for a ride yesterday afternoon, now there’s a real change up, two small “ D “ shaped fins on a hull instead of one nicely foiled flex fin. So how do the two fins change the way the board would ride than with a single flex? The simple answer is the two fin set up give the board a delicate response. If you played keyboards I’d say it’s like the difference in playing a grand piano and electronic keyboard or organ. If you were a guitar player like the difference in action between an acoustic guitar and an electric guitar.

I’ve had guys ask what fin would be good in my retro long board the Imperial. I always say it depends on how you’d like the board to respond for you…. If you want to extend your tip time then put a fin in with plenty area and set it at the back of the box. If you’d like quick snap turns then go with a cut away around 8” or so.

When I changed my 8’0 two plus one to a quad I lost some stability in white water but the smooth driving turn backs and speed holding a high line.... something I never felt from the two plus one set up.

When Travis Riley changed the back fins on the perimeter stringer quad long board from 3” to 4 5/8... Actually the same fins as the front fins, he gained a whole new out look on how that board performed.

Of course when a board has glassed in fins there is nothing you can do but, most boards have removable fins so it’s easy to change them out. If you like what you have that’s fine but on days that you’ve got some time and the surf is the fun casual kind, try a small fin change and see what happens.

D.R.

DR pic by Nathan Dorn

Believe it or not, I'm still working one my new or upgraded web page. Ok, sometimes I loose some steam, as well as have cumputer problems. But I am working on it. What I'm up to now is the gallery page. Coming up with ideas for pictures got me looking through some of the archives.

So what the heck... here are some pictures I came across... click to enlarge.

I was told a guy came buy Wave Front a few weeks ago and said if I made my Retro Hulls with color he'd buy one. I don't do Retro Hulls with color but, I do my Retro Long Boards in color, as seen above.

D.R.

For the most part surf flics are boring. But Bustin’ Down the door is a different kind of surf flic…. It has a story.

I was told about the film a couple weeks ago but had forgotten about it. Then yesterday it caught my attention again and I found it showing at a theater here in Ventura so my wife and I went and saw it last night. I’d say it’s definitely worth the price of admission.

There are some great old clips of seventies single fin surfing, all in Hawaii, and an excellent piece of surfing history that most everyone won’t know… until now. Depending on your view point you may come away with some pluses or minuses but all in all the film was well done.

What I liked was the throw back, as I mentioned in my bottom turn post about how surfing was advanced by guys that surfed to surf, the movie goes back to before there were pro surfers. The story of Mark Richards getting a seat in the big Hawaii surf meet and not having the fifty buck entry fee. As well, MR telling how petrified he was when he had to go out in giant Waimea for the Smirmoff Contest. But to his credit went out caught some wave then after his heat being relieved that he finished forth because if he finished third or better would advance and have to go out again.

That particular surf meet is one of the stories in the book “ Surf Is Where You Find It “ by Gerry Lopez by the way. Having read the story, hearing another real time view and seeing footage of the day was a treat.

There is some real emotion in the interviews. Getting that on film and putting it in the film I’d say took some guts. It’s not all pretty, there are some serious moments as well as some clips of bone crushing wipeouts. If you get the chance… go see it.

D.R.

MR Photo nicked from http://www.bustindownthedoor.com/

There was as article in the local paper here this past week about how the price of oil is affecting the surf industry. I also heard a couple short comments run on radio news about the same thing… apparently AP ran something about the price of oil affecting us surf guys.

OK I’m cynical, when Clark shut his doors that impacted the industry over night… in a big way. But the cost of oil? The cost of living? That affects everything, and it happens over time. So what… us surf guys are exempt? No, but hey that’s news.

It was just a month ago when we were told at the shop by our supplier that the price of Acetone was going up 4 bucks a pale. I said “geez that’s kind of plenty, I remember when I could get a whole pale for less than 4 bucks” His response… “ yeah, well what do you expect? You’re as old as dirt”

Reality, the cost of making a surfboard has been going up pretty steady for a number of years, like 40 years or more. Just like everything else. Right now though the cost of supplies is rising at a faster pace. But, the cost of gas is affecting everything. And because we all use gas for transportation and the price of gas has gotten so high, for those of us that make surfboards, it will be our personal cost of living that will impact the cost of a surfboard probably much more than a couple bucks for supplies… we need more money to live on so we need to charge more for our time to make a surfboard… but that’s not news.

When I went down to San Clemente in June I spent $62 on gas for the trip. The cost of taking Amtrak from Ventura to San Clemente is $32 one way. I could have gone down and back on the train and been better off. I went alone, but if I had someone else with me or I went with someone else it would have cost us half that $62 each in the car. So is that what everyone is doing, instead of driving to the beach by themselves they partner up with other guys so the cost of gas for getting to the beach to surf is shared? ’ cause it seems to me that the line up is just as crowded as ever. But hey, that’s not news either.

D.R.

The bottom turn…. Continued.

If you think about the way we surfed, and for that matter what we surf, changed pretty radically in just those few years from 1967 to ‘70 - ‘71. As I mentioned in my post of July 6, for me it started with the bottom turn.

Looking for a way to ride a wave without moving around on your board was what drove board design. Interesting that all the changes took place on a very grass roots level. There were no big pro surf events, no big sponsors that put good surfers on the payroll so all they had to do was surf. There were a couple surf magazines and some guys making surf films so we all could see a little of what was going on but, the advances in surfing around California was put on by all the local core guys up and down the coast that did what they needed to do to get by and still have time to surf as much as possible.

I think most people didn’t understand the surfer. We weren’t interested in making money or getting ahead. We just wanted to go surf. Got to have a roof over your head and you need transportation, so find some work that will get you that and a surfboard, of course, and that’s it… go surf.

Why? We wanted to work on that bottom turn. You know the one that you put all your weight into, with your board on extreme bank out on the flats. You’ve got full G force dynamic with weight, gravity, rail, fin and water that when released launches you down the line and back up the wave face to set up your next move. It could be a ride out on the shoulder for a turn back or a long calculated slide down the line for distance. One way or another you’d be looking to set up another bottom turn. When your ride was over… paddle back to the line up with full adrenaline and mind impressions flashing through your head of that last wave. Ready to do it all over again, only better.

All the uncharted places on the wave face that starts with a bottom turn…

D.R.

Dan Riley at a Ventura County point. The full force bottom turn. Circa 1972.

The man and his Machine.

I received a phone call Thursday from someone that said they’d like me to see a surfboard they had and maybe consider doing some repairs on it. The board has been in this person’s possession for some 35 years though the board was made 41 years ago in 1967.

So I said “ sure “ to the person on the phone “ bring your board by the shop and I’ll have a look.” Ten minuets later John appears at the shop door. We greet each other then he runs back to his vehicle and brings back the nicest looking Blue Machine I’d seen in a long time. Aside from some of the Slip Check being a little worn on the tip of the nose the deck looked perfect. The bottom had some dings and the rails at the tail where worn through from being dragged in the sand. The fin had been replaced with a fresh polypropylene fin including wonder bolt. But hey, when you surf a board it will get some battle scars, all things considered…. it was a fine looking board. I honestly didn’t remember the Blue Machines being so nicely foiled. It felt so nice under my arm I had to take it into my shaping bay and take some measurements.

So how’s this for a 41 year old….? At 9’4” and 23” wide, all of 2 ¾ “ thick with a 16 ¾” nose and 15” tail. Rolled up rails in the tail that went to a nice 50/50 egg shape then on to the wing tip nose. The only difference between it and the Machines I make now was the roll under the nose which I make flat now and the nose rocker, which was some what lower than I do now but, the tail rocker was exactly what I do now.

The history, the times long gone, but the memories are still here. I was so fortunate to have been there.

D.R.

John and his Machine.

My story post 32. It started with a bottom turn.

What I remember about getting good surf in the summer of ’67 is the length of my board. Even though I surfed a 9’0, which was short by most standards it began to feel to long.

What was nice about surfing that day with ‘Pee Wee’ Shaw... with every wave I looked forward to working on bottom turns. Back then we usually executed a pivot type turn where you’d step back on you board weight your back foot and guide your board around with you front foot. The popular left go right turn was done that way.

After executing your turn you would immediately take a couple steps to put yourself in trim. If you didn’t move forward you’d stall off the wave, so a quick reposition after your turn was mandatory. Reach, shuffle or step back, turn and step forward was a pretty automatic move after standing up.

Riding mostly point waves I started finding that after the initial turn and glide down the line and dropping back down the wave face and pointing your board at a slight angle to the wave, you could execute another bottom turn from the middle of your board. By laying the board over on its rail and at the same time weighting into the move with a full arched back stand rather than stepping back . The move generated speed so worked great on a lined up wall.

So on days with really good surf like that one day in ’67 I would work on that bottom turn time and again wave after wave until what I began to think was that the move would be easier if I didn’t have as much surfboard under my feet. If I didn’t need to step back to execute a turn why not have a board that was shorter so there was no need to step back?

Though later the next year guys were taking their long boards and cutting off the noses to make them shorter, the design process was actually the other way around… at least for me. It wasn’t that the boards were to long in front, they were to long aft. I didn’t want to step back to turn, I wanted to stand up and turn right where I planted my feet on take off. As well, you might notice that the early shorter boards, from California anyway, had pretty wide and fairly thick tails. A design element that changed of course but, we had to start somewhere.

D.R.

This shot of Dickie Moon from an old Surfer Magazine I nicked off of Swaylocks is a fairly close example of the stand in the middle of your board turn.

You can’t predict the weather, and when it gets really nice what are you to do?

Usually June in Ventura is gloomy. Usually all along the California coast the weather in June is gloomy. Gray overcast days most of the month that may or may not break into sunshine. As well, we may not see any surf, or if we do it’s gotten crossed up by channel wind and therefore not good for surfing.

So what happened this past week? It was sunny every day all day long. And, there was no channel wind. Which means the surface conditions were great for surfing. And, we’ve had a string of southern hemisphere swells reach Ventura. Though small, it was clean and glassy all day all week. Until yesterday afternoon when some wind picked up then died down again around 7 p.m.

For Ventura some years you can count the number of clean surf days with all day glassy conditions or light variable winds on one hand. We just had a nice 5 day stretch. I surfed so much I was afraid of hurting my shoulders so after surfing my new 7’0 twin fin hull 4 go outs I switched to the 8’0 quad and then my 9’1 PSQ. I haven’t surfed PSQ for some time and was surprise at the time it took to find my feet… at least a dozen waves I’d say. But that was ok because I surfed for about two and half hours, so I got it down.

What fun… I remember telling my son when we where surfing one nice sunny summer day, in the middle of the day, which meant we weren’t at work making surfboards, ‘hey, if the surf ain’t blown out then work is!’

So, when the weather gets good and there is some surf with it… what do you do? Go to the beach!

D.R.

Days with good conditions all day and surf need to be surfed. At least where I live.

My story post 31. Significant surfing days.

It was a late summer day in September 1967. Warm, sunny, with light variable winds and some how I ended up at the beach when the tide was about to make its turn from a low of around 1.5 feet.

The sand was of course all filled in from the summer months so there were no cobles showing along the point. With no leashes back then, and never a thought of one, with the lower tide and only sand along the beach made a lost board a casual swim to the beach knowing your board would wash up on sand instead of a frantic one with worries of your board being washed up over rocks.

I went down to the point alone in my 61 VW bus, the ultimate surf car. When I arrived it just so happened that one other local guy, Steve Shaw, was there too. Steve “pee wee” Shaw was a good surfer, one of the crew, with some notoriety from a picture that made Surfer Magazine of him on a clean Stanley’s wall. One of the very few published pictures of surf from that now long extinct surf spot.

So what greeted our visit to the point that afternoon? To our stoked amazement we saw perfect 6 to 8 foot faced waves stacked up like corduroy reeling down the point with not another soul around. School had already started so that explained a little but still… was there a tidal wave alert or something? How cared? We where on it in short order.

Having surfed all these years days like this when everything has lined up so perfectly get etched in your memory, it doesn’t matter how long ago, they are available for recall at the mere thought. This was one of those days.

Just me and Steve paddling out and over wave after perfect wave casually working our way around the line up for the best take off spot and dropping into the biggest and best waves of every set. Laying out bottom turns with everything we had, racing down the line under feathering wave faces, hanging through sections planted on the nose, cutting back and doing it all again on the same wave, then paddling back out to the line up. We where like yoyos on a string from Figueroa St. to well below Palm St. until we had our fill.

I still remember my last wave. Coming down the line and executing a big roller coaster on the inside wall off and riding to the beach in the white water left from the long ride that started way up the point.

As I walked back up the beach I was greeted by one of the local guys that had just showed up and witnessed my last ride. He said “I didn’t think you would make that last move”. It was only one of many being pulled off by Steve and I for at least the last couple hours. And, I don't think either one of us ever swam for a lost board.

D.R.

Days to remember

If you are interested in surfboard design and would like to be around people that are then the place to be yesterday was at the Surfing Heritage Foundation. If you weren’t there then, to use a line from Endless Summer…. ‘you really missed it’.

Yesterday, Saturday June 7^th was the Surfboard design workshop hosted by Bill Thrailkill and the Surfing Heritage Foundation. With guest, shaper Jim Phillips, and attendance by 50 or more surfing enthusiasts. I was one of the enthusiasts and had a really great time.

To sit and listen to dialog and discussions about surfboard dynamics and be around a bunch of guys that are stoked to learn and understand design aspects is inspirational.

As well, it was great to meet some of the guys from the Swaylocks forum that I have interacted with online. And to be in a room with hundreds of surfboards from redwood planks to the modern short board all beautifully displayed and identified, that makes the atmosphere so perfect and is worth the price of admission.

This was the second work shop, the first one was February 07 and was really great. This year with more in attendance the dialog was fantastic and the stuff Jim Phillips shared was as good as gold. I’m sure everyone went away full to the saturation point… I know I did.

Included in the event was a raffle. With the price of admission you received a raffle ticket and could purchase as many as you wanted. There was a bunch of stuff in the raffle, several blanks, even machined shaped, fins, and building supplies. It was fun watching as the guys would receive their winnings.

What a great time…

D.R.

At the event last year I won a blank which I shaped into a Stubbie Quad and gave to the event this year to be included in the raffle. With lamination donated by Patagonia and fins donated by O'Fishl
.

Me, the Stubbie Quad and raffle winner Tyler.