So you want to make a surfboard? Post 3

Do the end results of shaping your own board need to be perfect? Definitely not.

As a matter of fact they can be full of lumps and bumps but will still ride fine. The glass job doesn’t need to be perfect either. As long as a lamination is water tight your are good to go. Air in the glass job, dirt, miscellaneous imperfections are only cosmetic. Now days you can take your shaped blank to a lam shop get it glassed and by pass the glassing part altogether.

The most common problems that I’ve seen in home made boards shape wise is in rocker curves. Some to flat, usually because the foam blank is acquired from stripping the glass off of an old board. Some with to much rocker… maybe getting a blank that was glued up with to much curve to begin with or placing the outline on the blank to far forward.

But the end results not being the best usually doesn’t hurt how the board works for you. It may ride even better than something you’ve been riding that was made commercially. Why is that?

There are most likely a number of reasons…

Your stoke level is high because you’ve made you own board.

Because your stoke level is high the imperfects don’t bother you.

Because you’ve made your own board you want it to work for you.

Because you want it to work you try to figure it out.

If you find hang ups with the board you’re still stoked because you made the board.

The reason why you’re still stoked is because you’ve bought boards that had hang-ups.

You reason that because you’ve bought boards that had hang-ups it’s no big deal that the board you made has hang-ups so you continue to try and figure the board you made out. Finally, you’ve figured out what the hang ups are and the way to fix the hang ups is to make another board modified to what you think will solve the hang up problems .

Then the whole cycle starts over again. Welcome to my world forty seven years ago. And notice that most of this is psychological, because surfing is mostly a mental game.

D.R.

Photo by David Puu

So you want to make a surfboard? Post 2

The place you have to start is the core…. the blank. Usually a foam, either polyurethane or EPS, that has been molded or cut specifically for making surfboards. Surfboard blanks come in a range of sizes so getting a blank that will be close to the size of board you plan to make is important. If you are making a 6’6 then you’d get a blank an inch or two longer, as well, if you wanted to make a 9’6 you’d get a blank that was 9’8 in length.

Blanks are molded with what we call a natural rocker that can be adjusted and held in place with the wood stringer that is glued into the length of the blank. Without a stringer blanks can and do loose some rocker and without a stringer it’s very difficult to add or subtract rocker into your shape.

You need the proper tools to shape a surfboard once you’ve gotten a blank. Though an electric plane is what is used in the industry it is possible to use hand planes and sand paper to get the job done.

I generally start with the outline when shaping. A nice curve drawn on the blank from a template that has no flat spots or bumps and can be duplicated on both side of the blank making a symmetrical left and right side is how it’s done. After the outline is drawn on the blank you cut out your outline and true up your cut with a plane and sand paper making sure again that there are not flat spots or bumps in the outline.

After the outline is finished milling your blank to thickness and foil interests is the next step, and the process where the inexperienced and experienced shaper will differ in approach. The inexperienced will simply plane the blank to desired thickness and move on to the next step. However, surfboard blank molds are made from plugs that are oversized in length, width and thickness for a particular sized surfboard. But don’t quite have the exact foil or foam volume distribution for anything but a very generic shape. So the experienced shaper will redistribute the blanks foam volume to get the foil to his liking, both for performance and aesthetic interests.

Because it’s possible to copy a certain board outline and have a nice curve to work with in outlining a surfboard almost anyone if taking their time can put an acceptable plan shape… outline.. on a blank. Getting just the right foil cut into a blank takes much more effort which comes from repetition of the process, the touch and sight that is developed from loads of repetition.

D.R.

Photo by David Puu

I’m a lucky guy post 3.

Today was the first day of summer… and a nice day at that, sunny and pleasant. And, it was father’s day. What seems to be a tradition for fathers day now is my son comes and takes me to the beach to surf, a favorite thing for me is surfing with my son Robin. In 2006 Robin fell while working and broke his hip. He hasn’t surfed much since but is now beginning to get in the water a bit more.

So after breakfast Robin came by, I stuffed my gear and surfboard in his car and off we went looking for waves to ride. There wasn’t much but some small wind swell activity so we looked at the usual spots but didn’t see anything motivational. We even strolled up the beach at Rincon where there were about 20 guys, mostly on long boards, working the small waist high swell that would rap around the point to the inside line up.

Funny we ended up at inside point in Ventura and caught a few of the small waves that would stand up enough on the inside sand bar. There was really no crowd to speak of so we had all the waves we could find. He’d get one, I’d get one, like yoyos in and out having fun together in the water. That’s what I think is a nice father’s day. The only thing better would be to have both my kids at the beach.

Happy father’s day!

D.R.

My two kids Crystal and Robin.

My story post 38

My first surf trip, fall of ’66, a surfer friend of mine asked if I’d like to go to Baja with him.

This guys dad was pretty cool because he had a pickup truck with a camper on it, some what rare for that time period. And, since the guys dad was taking us and would be there for the two day trip it was cool with my folks. I’d never been to Mexico but to go on a surf trip to Baja was a big deal, I had no idea what to expect.

So early Saturday morning, like 4:30a, we head out for the drive to Tijuana, go through the border crossing and head on down the Mexican highway to K38. Just happened to be a couple surf spots at that mile marker that were just off the road.

Actually the spot was K381/2. Make your way off road a short distance through the dirt following a path that cut a line to the edge of the small cliff that over looked the ocean. There it was a small point type reef break that you had to climb down a cliff to get to.

I remember it being over cast and cold with a little bit of surf hitting the reef maybe head high and inconsistent. And I don’t remember anyone else being there…. We had the place to our selves.

Maybe the fact that the surf wasn’t that great was the reason no one else was around or maybe because it was 1966 and there just weren’t that many guys that would make their way past the border to surf. I don’t know but one thing for sure, there was nothing around the place but a little vegetation and dirt.

For camping? This was the real deal. No facilities at all… you had to have everything you needed with you or you went without. Like find a bush to do your business kind. No running water, no fire pits, nothing.

After the long trip and surfing we made a fire to get warmed up and make something hot to eat. I had some peanut butter and bread but for something hot? Pork and Beans! And of course when I stuffed my bag full of all the goodies I thought I would like for the trip I never thought I’d need something to cook my pork and beans in or eat out of for that matter.

Man, what’s a guy suppose to do? Well, I figured, with the help of my friend, I could cut the top off the can of beans and stick the can on the fire. Once the sauce in the can started to boil I figured it was hot enough to eat. Using my towel as a hot pad quickly snatch the can out of the fire without to much damage to my towel, hold the can with my towel and eat the beans right out of the can.

By now it was dark and after the long drive, surfing and food all I could think about was sleeping. The camper was for my friends dad. We got the dirt floor for our sleeping bags and the sky over our heads…. The great out doors.

D.R.

Much better amenities on a surf-camp trip this past week at Leo Carrillo.

So you want to make a surfboard?

I read a line on a forum this past week that said basically ‘a surfboard is something any _______ could make with a few weeks training’.

Is that a true statement? After all I made a surfboard when I was 13 that was good enough for me to learn to surf on. And I’d never seen anyone make one or was ever trained to make a surfboard.

First lets qualify that the board I made started with a blank that was pretty much pre-shaped. I had to cut the blank in half and glue in the stringer but didn’t need to do any real shaping. So I had to laminate the board including the fin, sand and gloss the board after I’d done the prep work on the pre-shaped blank.

Today it’s possible to do about the same thing. If you can get a pre-shaped machined blank and clean up the ridges all you need to do is set fin boxes and laminate the darn thing. Reality is it’s not to difficult to do.

The question is will the end result of the board made by the person with a few weeks training or no training be commercially viable?

Let’s face it, there are plenty things that you or I could do on our own that a professional may do every day. My brother in-law built a good sized addition to his house and he’s no carpenter. He needed a little help lifting some of the heavier framing lumber but that’s about it. I’m not a mechanic but have done some repair work on my own cars, the same kind of work a real mechanic would charge $50 an hour to do. And guys that don’t know much about surfboards or surfboard construction can make a surfboard.

I trained my son how to sand surfboards. After about six months sanding everyday five days a week he’d gotten good enough at it to make a fairly decent wage with few screw ups. To be fair…. He’d been around surfboard work some, and done other related kinds of tasks, but still getting to a sufficient level in six months may seem like at least that part of making a surfboard isn’t to difficult.

Doing clear free lap short board laminating is not that difficult either. One could learn to do that sufficiently in a relatively short time as well. But, getting to the point of doing good color laminations and heavier fabric work. Nice tints and foam stains will take a long time to get down. And, fact is some guys just can’t do it.

Shaping? Easily the most difficult part of making a surfboard, now easily done with a computer controlled machine that allows just about anyone to become an over night shaping sensation. Geez, only about a year ago CI was advertising their need to hire shapers, you only needed a year of shaping experience to qualify for the job.

Honestly it takes a lot of shaping experience to get really good at it. Sure you can clean up a machined blank, though I’ve seen guys mess up a machined blank pretty good. And if you get a 6’3 H and shape the same 6’1 every day in a few months you may get pretty good at making a 6’1 but, any other shape? May not come out to well…

I think it’s cool that people make their own boards, it can be fun. I know I enjoy making surfboards so why wouldn’t anyone else. There is enough information floating around these days that can help make the process much more successful. If only I’d had it so good when I was 13….

But the reality is, to do anything craft or trade related well can take a life time, and making surfboards so no exception. Sure you can get proficient enough in a fairly short time but to get really good? It will take longer.

BTW, I thought what the heck, I’ll apply for that shaping job at CI, filled out the online application and sent my resume. I never got a reply… I think I may have been over qualified!

D.R.

My story post 37

It was 40 years ago…. time flies when you’re having fun…. I had moved up to the Wilderness ranch house in Rincon valley on Casitas Pass rd. where Mike Cundith, his wife and Richie West lived.

This time of year what we would do in the morning before going up to the ice house shop in Santa Barbara to make surfboards is check for surf. Spring time and into summer what we call The Rincon which is the stretch of coast line from below Pitas point to Rincon point is usually pretty flat. South swells are blocked by the channel islands in this area so except for wind swells there is no surf.

Some times a good enough wind swell will refract around Rincon point as well can make a few of the beach breaks from Over Head to oil piers work. By that time Stanley’s was gone. So it was wind swells we'd be looking for. Unless we knew of a south swell and hit Ventura for surf.

The surfboards we rode by then were all sub 6’ boards of the Greenough hull design and very cutting edge, though at the time it really didn’t seem that way. We were just surfers trying to find new ways to ride waves. There were no big commercial interests, no big money involved… actually barely any money at all. I was single and only interested in surfing so I didn’t need money. Enough money to pay rent and buy peanut butter was about it for me, actually I think I ate trail mix. We all drove VW’s, wore t-shirts, shorts and flip flops, didn’t get hair cuts or watch TV. It was a simple life of surfing and making surfboards.

Looking back that time has become the defining time of change, the beginning of the evolution in surfboard design as we know it. None of us thought that 40 years from then we’d ever say ‘geez that was us, we were right at the forefront of the design process’ we were all just caught up in the moment. Never a thought about what it might mean in the future.

D.R.

This board shaped in 1973, a 6’3, is similar to what we were doing at Wilderness 40 years ago. That board has been everywhere, from Mazatlan to the south shore of Oahu and all up and down the California coast.

Sacred Craft Ventura

I had a great time this weekend at the Ventura issue of Sacred Craft. It was a pleasure to see so many surfboard enthusiasts, talk story and talk about surfboards. This is a special thanks to all those that came by my booth, as well, the Studio 609 booth. And a special thanks to Ray Moss, Spencer Kellogg and Jeff Sardine for hanging at the 609 booth, and helping with set up and tear down. Also the Riley guys, Dan and Matt for helping with my booth.

And not to forget a special thanks to my wife Suzi for taking some cool pics.

D.R.

Set up and ready to show. Happily right next to US Blanks


Show celebs

John Peck, Duncan Campbell and me.... The Campbell Bros. had a Penetrator when they were teenagers.

Wayne Rich Outlining his Bradbury.

Talking surfboards.

Michel Junod telling me I need to go get my picture taken.

Photo opp with Spencer Kellogg

Rachel and Chris at the 609 booth.

My booth sponser Randy... Wave Front Surf Shop owner.

Starting to pack things up.

Mark Andreini and I about ready to head home.

Today was Mothers day.

I’ve mentioned in a couple posts how friends of mine had moms that would take us to the beach to surf when I was a teenager. There are moms that surf though mostly what I see is dads in the water with there sons or daughters, but, what about the moms that support their kids in surfing?

My mom never took me and my friends to the beach to surf but she sure supported me and my surfing interests. And as I progressed through my teen years she supported me in my surfboard business.

I see kids getting dropped off at the beach by their moms here in Ventura all the time. As well see kids hanging on the promenade at inside point waiting to be picked up by their moms after surfing. My wife would take our son to the beach so he could surf and was always happy to go off on a camping surf trips for 2 or 3 days. Making sure my son and I were will taken care of while on our trips…. Plenty food, warm sleeping bags, sun block, surf wax…. All the important stuff.

Maybe your dad did some of the heavy lifting when in came to getting started with surfing but without the support of our moms I think it would be safe to say there would be far fewer surfers.

So here’s to all the moms that have made surfing possible for so many.

D.R.

Me, my wife and half sister sitting around the camp fire on a surf outing… note pile of boards in the back ground.

The making of a model.

I’ve got a couple new models that just got to Wave Front Surf Shop. And I’ll have them on display at the Ventura Sacred Craft Expo on May 16 and 17.

One of my most popular boards in Hawaii was a mid length tri. I made them from 7’10 to 8’2 but most were right at 8’0. This board worked great for bigger guys and guys that didn’t get in the water as much as they’d like. It paddled well, and had the right foil and dimensions so guys could surf it in small surf as well as stuff up to 6 or 7 foot. A very responsive board.

When I returned from Kauai in 2004 I decided to make myself one of those 8’0s but had a little mix up at the glass shop and instead of a tri it was fitted as a 2 + 1. I didn’t have a trailing fin the size of the available side fins so I thought I’d surf the board as a single fin, put an 8 inch in it… what the heck.

The board worked great! After surfing it for awhile with the single fin I decided to try some side bites. I was amazed at the drive and distance I could get with the 2 +1 set up. I loved getting to the beach when the surf was overhead with that board… it was so much fun in waves with a good face.

After I made the Perimeter stringer quad long board… PSQ… I thought I’d retro fit the 8’0 for a quad. I really liked the way the PSQ handled so why not see how the 8’0 goes as a quad. WOW! The board worked great with a quad set up. I’ve not changed back and it’s been at least a year of surfing that board.

So here’s a board that works great with 4 different fin set ups. Depending on what the surf is like on any given day the board can be changed around to meet the need or interests of the moment.
A fantastic travel board because it’s fun in small surf as well, hold it’s own in bigger stuff too.

Because of all the ways the board can be fixed up we’re calling it The Gadget.

D.R.

Learning to surf a shapers view post 4

I’ve said this before, beginners should not go out when the surf is head high or more. I think I’ll change that to waist high. If you don’t know how to catch a wave and stand up you shouldn’t be in surf over waist high. Why? Because you can hurt yourself and others, damage equipment and generally be a problem in the water.

This past Thursday and Friday we’ve had a small south swell that by Friday afternoon had some slightly over head sets. Both afternoons I was in the water there were complete novices in the lineup.

Thursday I was at a spot that is not a beginner wave, not an easy spot to surf even when the waves are small and unless you can get to your feet and turn your board in the direction the wave is breaking you will go a short distance to a rocky beach. There were three guys and a gal in the water and only one of them knew what they were doing… a little bit anyway. They seemed to be enjoying themselves but it was clear that the one guy had gotten the others to follow him to the beach.

If you’re going to take your friends surfing that don’t know how to surf take them to a place where they won’t get in the way of others in the water.

If you're going to take your friends surfing take them to a place where they won’t get beat up on rocks. A sand beach is better.

If you’re going to take your friends surfing find them surfboards that will float them well enough to paddle around without looking like a fish that’s flapping around on the deck of a boat. You shouldn’t be paddling with you legs, feet and elbows.

Ok, Friday afternoon the surf had sets of head high and better. I was stoked for the chance to work the Stubbie Qaud in some nice racy waves at inside point. After I was out for 20 minutes or so paddling back to the lineup I notice this guy on a soft top that just didn’t look right. He was paddling for waves in the wrong spot and of course not catching anything. Oh well, another novice I thought.

Maybe five or ten minutes later as I’m traveling down the line of one of the set waves and straighten out on the inside wall off there goes the soft top and rider still laying on his board. From out of no where in a split second down the face of the wave, white water chasing him, he slides right over the top of my board while I’m standing on it. I was able to angle out from under him and get away… lucky that. I could have fallen on top of him and who knows what could have become of the two of us and our boards.

You see, when you get in sizeable surf and don’t know what you are doing and don’t know how to catch a wave the wave will catch you, usually at the most inopportune time when someone can get hurt.

It will take a lot of time in the water to get to the place where you can do what is being done in the below picture. But you’ve got to get started right and stay on the right path. Advance one step at a time, be safe and those around you will be safe too.

D.R.

A frame grab of Travis Riley filmed by his brother Matt surfing their dads 15 year old D.R. Penetrator.

Addendum to my story post 36

To put it another way. I’ve been very fortunate to find work when I needed it in the surfboard business. So much of the time when I needed or wanted a job it would all most fall in my lap. This got me to thinking a few years ago that making surfboards should be what I do until I just can’t do it any more.

Now since I’ve partnered in a lam shop and am able to sell boards through Wave Front Surf Shop in Ventura pretty much all I think about is making surfboards. As an example… I’ve just completed a new model we’re calling the Tip Tool. It’s a combination of designs rolled into one board for small summer type waves and nose riding. A nice turning board because of the tail shape but also a good nose riding vehicle.

But, for me it’s not just the shape, which is primary of course, I want to develop a board that has more than the look of the shape. So incorporating color and lamination schemes for a distinctive look is important as well.

I’ve got so many shapes in the archives that to come up with something is not that hard for me but to work up lamination and color ideas can take some deep thought. To do different color work but still stay within the traditional surfboard color and line parameters can take some time to develop. As well, seeing something in my head may not turn out like what I thought.

It’s a great feeling when it comes together. I’m so fortunate when it does.

D.R.

The Tip Tool

My story post 36

It’s really pretty amazing how many times things have fallen into place for me and surfboards. From my first shaping job in Ventura to shaping for Dick Brewer.

After returning to live with my parents in December of ’67 I hitch hiked across the country and ended up staying that winter in Connecticut until spring broke and I found a Surfer magazine at the New Canaan drug store news rack. I saw those surf pictures in the magazine and had to get back to California to surf.

Yeah, I knew I didn’t belong in New England. I needed to be where I could spend time at the beach… surfing. I had this feeling I was missing out on something and made immediate plans to get back to surfing. Which included quitting the factory job I had, buying a plane ticket to L.A.X. and finding my way back to Ventura.

After making the flight back to California and getting picked up at the airport by my brother who took me to our parents house. My parents, especially my mom, wondering what I was going to do with myself. She could see the far away look in my eyes because all I could think about was finding my way back to where I knew I had friends and could surf…. Ventura.

After a couple days staying with my parents I told my mom I was going up to Ventura. “How you going to get there” she asked.. “ I’ll hitch a ride.” I told her. She didn’t like that but what was she to do? And hitch a ride is what I did.

My last ride took me to ‘C’ St. just a few blocks from the Morey-Pope shop where I was hoping my friend Peter was still working. Sure enough when I walked around the back of the shop thinking I’d check in the back door, there was Peter. He jumped up and we greeted each other, caught up for a few minutes and then he asked what I was up to. “I’m back” I said, then he told me that Morey was out at the health food store “ go look him up”.

Actually I think Peter drove me there. I found Morey sitting at the counter having a protein shake and told him I was back. We had a brief conversation and I walked away with a shaping job. And just like that I was back at it.

D.R.

Photo by Nathan Dorn

My Story post 35

Sometimes good things come to those that wait.

I was sitting in my VW bus one afternoon at the point all by myself lamenting the junk surf conditions when another guy pulled up in his bus… then the two of us were looking at the junk surf with no one out and nobody else around.

I got out of my car and into his for the company and to complain about the south wind blowing out the surf. We talked story for a half hour…. maybe longer. The wind had actually died out but a south wind leaves the conditions pretty bad for at least a few hours or longer depending on whether or not a west or north west wind picks up to smooth things up.

It really sucks when all you have is time, there’s surf, but it’s blown out. So there we were the two of us with no one else around. The only guys dumb enough to not find something to do but stare at the ocean when the surf was so beat up.

Then we noticed a sweeper set come pushing through the point that left the line up a fare amount cleaner than it had been… we began to perk up. A few minutes later it happens again and with in a few more minutes the surf had cleaned up and the surface conditions were nothing like the junk we’d been staring at. We both looked at each other and said “I’m gonin out!” Because we were the only guys that knew the conditions had changed we had the place all to ourselves.

That was back in 1967. Fast forward to a day in the mid nineties when I had gotten a ride to Pakala one morning and was dropped off to surf. A friend of mine was coming later to join me, surf and then I’d get a ride back home with him. But, the west wind picked up early that particular day and after I was in the water for 20 or 30 minutes the place blew out. I ended up on the beach by myself waiting for my surf buddy to show up… who was not due for a good hour or so. There I sat on the beach waiting to see my buddy walk up with a disgusted look on his face when he saw the surf was blown out.

It wasn’t long before he was to come walking down the beach when I noticed what looked like spray blowing off the backs of the waves up around the corner in front of Pakala camp… the wind was turning off shore again.

Sure enough within fifteen minutes after my friend showed up the off shores had reached around the corner to the main break and we both were on it. And, because everybody had left earlier we had the place to ourselves.

D.R.

A good way to pass the time when you’re waiting for surf.
My friend Mac and I with our guitars at Salt Pond.

Surfing has become to commercial, it’s run by clothing and accessory companies and a few surfboard labels that have grown large enough to control the majority of surfboard sales…. so they say.

I seldom look through the two major surfing publications, Surfer and Surfing magazines. I find them hard to look at and certainly not directed to my demographic. But in the past couple of weeks I’ve bought the latest issues of both. Looking to get the magazine for my son because his picture was in an ad that was in Surfing not Surfer, I made the mistake of buying Surfer. Then bought Surfing when my son informed me I’d got the wrong magazine.

So we had both magazines at the house… I looked through them, the first time in a long time I’ve picked up one of those publications. I wasn’t surprised at what I saw, but I got to thinking. Between both magazines I saw only one picture of someone riding a long board that was part of an article. Only one surfboard brand that had an ad with a long board and only a few ads with a picture of someone riding a long board, excluding the section in one of the magazines of surf schools.

I’m not going to go look now but I don’t remember pictures of alternative boards either. It’s all the pro stuff, which is fine because that’s what those mags are all about. But the funny thing is the modern short board does not hold the highest market share of surfboards sales… at least that’s what I’ve been told.

There isn’t any publication that is dedicated to long boards and alternative boards even though more of this type of board is ridden and in the water most of the time. How can that be?

No adds, no pros, no magazines hyping product, yet people buy most of their equipment at places that sell surfboards made by little known core builders. Not unlike the early days of surfing and surfboards, thankfully, surfing is still mostly the same. As Wayne Rich would say… the underground lives.

D.R

Wayne Rich with my wife and Twinkie the kid hanging ten.

My story post 34

I was in the ninth grade, before there was middle school, it was Junior High then. Junior high was grades 7,8 and 9. High school was grades 10, 11 and 12. Patrick lived across the street and was a couple years older than I. He went to a private high school and sometimes drove his mom’s station wagon… He had a license to Drive!

One day he asked if I’d like to go to the beach with him and a friend… like the next day. ‘Well yeah, but it’s a school day’ I told him. Well, his friend had a cousin that lived in Torrance Beach and he kept a few surfboards in the garage there so we could get away without boards and use the ones his friend had access to.

“So” Patrick said, “ here’s the plan. I’ll have my mom’s car. We’ll make like we’re going to school but instead drive down to Torrance get the boards and hit the surf at Torrance beach. Surf for a while, take the boards back and head home before school’s out so our parents will be none the wiser… you wanna go or what?”

I was a little apprehensive but what dim wit would say no to a chance to go surfing? OK… it was a school day, but…. I said ‘yes, I’m in’.

The next morning everything went off with out a hitch. We made our way to Torrance and the house where the surf boards were stashed. Got the boards from the garage, stuffed them in the station wagon and headed to the beach. Lucky thing Patrick’s friend knew where we were going because I sure didn’t.

It was such a nice day. Warm, sunny, light variable winds and the surf was about shoulder to head high. I’d never been to Torrance Beach, don’t remember ever going back but I still remember this particular day… the surf was fun!

Finally after surfing and hanging at the beach for a couple hours we were hungry and decided to find a small market to get a soda to go with our lunch. I packed a sack lunch just like I did every school day and had it for the trip. We ate and flipped the soda bottle caps around the parking lot of the market a bit before climbing in the car and heading back to the house to put the surfboards back.

When we got home all seemed fine. We all made like we were coming home from school just like any other day. I was a little nervous but didn’t think I let on. At home everything seemed normal… until I found my parents setting in the screened in pouch at the back of the house. Actually, my brother told me they wanted to see me. So I walked in and the first thing they asked… “So Dennis, how was school today?”

Geez… right then and there I knew something wasn’t right. They never ask me that, they had to be baiting me. Some how, someone, I didn’t know but, they knew I had ditched. Lucky for me intuition kicked in and beside the fact that I’m a terrible lier answered their question with ‘um… I didn’t go’ “You didn’t go” my mom asked. ‘No I went surfing with Patrick’

My parents were pleased I had told them the truth but didn’t let me off the hook. They wrote a note for me to take to school the next day that basically said I had an unexcused absence. I got something like 7 days after school detention. I remember sitting at a desk in detention doing my home work with maybe a dozen other kids I didn’t know and visions of a nice day at the beach surfing running through my head.

I only ditched school one other time. It was high school senior ditch day. I told my mom I wasn’t going to school that day because it was senior ditch day. I didn’t go to the beach though. I stayed home and worked on surfboards.

D.R.

My son Robin at the same age I was when I ditched school. He didn’t have to ditch, he could surf any day he wanted after school… and he did almost everyday there was a wave to ride…. Lucky kid.

What is it that makes up your favorite surf break? One thing of course is the wave. But what about the times that you surf a particular spot and how the conditions are or your performance that day that help you label a spot as your favorite, or one of your favorites anyway.

While growing up I surfed Malibu all the time. Was it my favorite place? No. That may sound dumb, after all Malibu is an all time place. Yeah, but back then my favorite spot was Secos, or Leo Carillo. Why? There were a number of reasons…. Like there were no where near as many people on the beach or in the water there. The wave is very consistent in shape. It really only blows out with a south wind.. so it’s either glassy or has a nice textured wave face. It’s tide sensitive but you can work around that. But all in all I always had a good time surfing Secos.

I really liked Hammonds Reef when I was younger too. Didn’t surf it very much but still liked going there when ever I did. And again don’t ever remember having a bad time there.

There are a couple other spots I’d say were my favorites too but everyone was a place I’d go to and have a good time. So really it’s not just the wave the makes for a spot being your favorite. It’s the mix of all the other ingredients that make surfing more than riding waves. The look of the water, what you see in the line up when you look at the beach and landscape. The feeling or vibe, the people, or lack of. And if you have a good time, time after time going there.

Visting your favorite spot can really help your stoke level too. I can remember going to a favorite spot when there were no waves just to sit on the beach and dream. Even that can make you feel good.

I’ve had or have a few favorite spots. I don’t go surf them these days so they stay a fond memory. I do think of the days I surfed my favorite spots but that’s as far as it gets. Maybe living at the beach and so close to places to surf makes it that way. I don’t know, I sure would like to go back to Kauai and surf some of my favs there.

D.R.

Secos on a day I sat on the beach and took a few pictures.

How many go outs should you give yourself and a new surfboard to get acquainted?

Lets say you’ve got a new board that is not the same type board you’ve been riding. So how long do you give yourself to figure it out. 1, 2, 3 go outs? I’ve heard guys say if the board doesn’t work for them by the second go out it’s over.

I just don’t get that. But I guess if you think you know what you like and don’t immediately find it…

Really is there a surfboard that doesn’t work? Realistically, if the board floats and you can paddle the darn thing into a wave and the wave scoops you up it works. It may be squirrelly or you may not be launching and sticking giant airs or hanging ten but if you can catch a wave with it I’d say it works.

That’s extreme I know but what’s also realistic is it may take some time to get a certain board down. There may be a longer learning curve with some boards than others. Of course one of the problems these days are the crowds. We don’t get as many at bats these days so you don’t want to waste the few waves you get on your go out with trying to understand a new piece of equipment.

It’s best to try new stuff in good conditions not sloppy junk surf.

If a board seems stiff it may be the fins not the board.

As well if the board seems squirrelly it may be the fins.

If the board has more foam volume than you’re used to slow your moves down.

If the board has less foam volume than you’re used to keep a low stance or center.

Think and move through one maneuver at a time… like a bottom turn. After the turn let the board follow through before you set up another move.

If you continually have trouble ask someone who knows surfing for some help in figuring the board out. Figuring out new equipment will help your surfing, even if it is finding out what you don’t like.

D.R.

After a nice session with old or new equipment it’s always nice to have it set in your memory with a scene like this one.

Photo by Matt Riley.

What drives surfboard design? Is it the pros, the shapers that build boards for the pros? Is it the regular core guy that asks a shaper to make a board a certain way? Or….?

It’s probably all of the above…. To some degree anyway. The pro boards are pretty generic. There is a direction professional surfing seems to move and everything and everyone that follows it stays in that narrow design parameter. Pro riders have there own ideas for what works for them, so boards are made around those ideas.

For instance, when I worked at Hawaiian Blades and shaped boards for Kaipo Jaquias in ’97 he liked a pretty flat board over all. As well, he liked a wider nose on his boards. So we made his boards to his interests. And the boards that went to Japan under the Kaipo model where like his boards. I can’t imagine any of the pros that don’t shape there own boards being any different.

The local board builder may simply follow what is happening around him. See a particular board and make one like it. Surf it and have the guys that ride his boards surf it and get feed back on how it goes. Make changes and develop a board design that way.

Now, as has been said, the field is wide open. Surfboard design has almost no boundaries. And surfers are not adverse at trying deferent things. Because of the interest in trying different things it’s seems board design has moved away from the narrow pro board parameters.

Core shapers get ideas and develop those ideas via the guys that ride their boards, refining what works along the way. As these new and or different designs get noticed interest is built and surfers begin to buy the boards they see the local core guys riding. This isn’t any different than the way pro board designs get developed really.

So… surfboards are designed by surfers, at least the ones that work. It’s an evolving process that circles around the core and pro surfers that want to improve their surfing and explore ways to ride a wave.

D.R.

I’ve been reading the book “Surfboards” by Guy Motil. Loaded with interesting reading about surfboard history, it’s full of pictures of surfboards from redwood planks to modern day pro boards and everything in between.

The last chapter, Contemporary Surfboards, gets into what the writer calls the alternative surfboard or alt boards. With a quotes… one from Duncan Campbell “ I think the alternative board movement is good because it focuses on technique; surfboard design isn’t just pro-driven anymore.” And shaper Scott Raymond Henry “We went through design evolution so quickly the first time around… every three or four months we were onto something new” With Gary Linden adding “ Nowadays shapers get a chance ot reevaluate the old designs and see what’s valid from a futuristic point of view; when things are progressing rapidly you tend to forget what basic design elements work”

I can relate to those comments, as well, that particular chapter of the book. Though I’ve shaped plenty of tri fin short boards, or Thrusters, and even shaped boards for a top 5 ISP competitor, I personally have only had one standard Thruster type board, which I liked very much BTW. And it hasn’t been until now that I’ve got a name for all the boards I’ve built for myself over the last 3+ decades…. Alternative.

The very first tri fin I made for myself was different, it was egg shaped, I got laughed at, but now a tri fin egg shape is real common. I had been surfing a 6’3 single fin hull for about a dozen years until 1982 when I made that first tri fin for myself. It seemed natural to make one egg shaped because I’d been riding an egg shaped board for so long. I change the foil and rail line of course but it still was not the run of the mill look. The board worked great and I moved on to yet other boards that weren’t run of the mill.

Now that the alt board thing is around doing something different is even more fun than in times past. I get nice comments about my perimeter stringer stubbie quad every time I take it to the beach. One of the guys that rode the 5’11 stubbie quad I’ve got being passed around right now said “this board is hilarious”. He was riding it really well, so I think has comment was a compliment.

I like being different.

D.R.

My story post 33, the lost files…

My long time friend Bob told me a couple months ago he had a board he’d like me to look at and tell him if I thought I shaped it. It was a board from the early seventies under the Pure Fun Flyers label. I remember the name but… So, this past week Bob came by the shop with his seventies board and the story of how he got it.

One day a guy went by Ventura Surf Shop looking to sell the board. When Blinky saw it he bought it, and got Bob to come by and give it a look. Bob being the guy who had a small shop on Front street in Ventura back in the day, the boards he had made and sold were the Pure fun Flyers. He was of course interested in seeing the board. When Bob saw the board he was stoked and bought it. Really who wouldn’t? it’s in such good shape and besides it’s part of his history.

Bob brought the board to the shop so I could see it and determine if I had shaped it as well, to give it a little touch up work. He has a spot on the wall of his pool room, or is that billiards room, where the board will look nice.

I see the board and think ‘wow that is really clean’ and Bob asks “ do you think you shaped it?” I say ‘ well judging by its looks I suppose I could have but, I don’t remember ever shaping any boards with this label’ Bob says “ what are you talking about? You shaped a bunch of boards for me under this label. Blinky says if you did you would have signed it but there’s no writing on it except the number on the tail 529.”

‘Well, I tell Bob, I didn’t always sign boards back then. As a matter of fact I hardly ever signed board back then. So that doesn’t matter. But the 529 very well could be my writing.’

As we continue to talk some of the pieces begin to fit together for me. I did shape boards for another guy at the time under the Natural Motion label and Bob would have me do his boards too. Since the number is in ink and the board has an ink pin line on it I start thinking I may have laminated the board as well.

Man, how can I have a void in my memory like that and not remember shaping boards with that label. Are there any others out there? Lets see, Ryder Surfboards, Morye-Pope, William Dennis, Wilderness, Natural Motion, a few for Con, Hawaiian Blades, Dick Brewer, John Perry, JD… who am I missing?

I got to thinking about the Pure Fun Flyer and remembered an outline I saw in my archives. I dug it out yesterday and sure enough I think if I lay that outline over Bob’s board it will fit.

D.R.