Definition of BRAND
1
a : a charred piece of wood b : firebrand 1 c : something (as lightning) that resembles a firebrand
2
: sword
3
a (1) : a mark made by burning with a hot iron to attest manufacture or quality or to designate ownership (2) : a printed mark made for similar purposes : trademark b (1) : a mark put on criminals with a hot iron (2) : a mark of disgrace : stigma
4
a : a class of goods identified by name as the product of a single firm or manufacturer : make b : a characteristic or distinctive kind c : brand name 2
5
: a tool used to produce a brand

I recently heard someone refer to the surfboards they made as a brand. So my question is are all surfboards made a brand of surfboard? No matter who makes the board or how many they make, as long as there is a name on the surfboards is it a brand?

4a reads above …. A class of goods identified by name as the product single firm or manufacturer … so if your surfboard is a brand then it is also a product… even a manufactured product. Because something made by hand or with machinery is manufactured.

I don’t remember the early surfboard makers or manufacturers calling their surfboards a brand. It seems to me that someone that makes surfboards, has a label that they created and for the most part sells their boards on a local basis wouldn’t be called a brand. Because I’ve always thought a brand name is something recognized on a larger scale than something local. Maybe that thought is wrong and there are local brands.

Does calling your surfboard a brand take away the personnel aspect? If I say my surfboards are a brand make it sound more like I manufactured a product? Rather than hand craft something for riding waves that I’ve developed over a long time watching and riding waves to learn how they waves form and break, and continue to fine tune the boards I make?

If you shape a lot of boards and have a long list of dealers and have a bunch of pro surf types riding your boards or maybe even have your boards made over seas and market them nationally or internationally then you should call your boards a brand.

I’ve never considered what I make as a brand. It’s a hand crafted, mostly with my hands, surfboard. Something nice to look at and nice to ride.

D.R.

My first shaping shack was a lean to behind the shop/garage on the family house when I was a teenager. I talked about that here.

The second place I shaped surfboards at was Pacific Plastics in Ventura. Then I went on to Morey Pope and had a shaping bay at their facility when it was on Front street in Ventura.

After that I went out off the east end of Main street in Ventura and set up the William Dennis shop where I had a room to shape in. Later I went out to Saticoy and worked in a bay for MP again. Then I went to Santa Barbara and set up a shaping bay with Wilderness surfboards.

Over the years I’ve worked in or set up shaping areas at least a dozen other times that I can think of. I’ve had Black ones, Blue ones, Green ones, multiple colored ones. Small ones, medium sized ones, large ones, wood floor, cement floor, carpet floor… no dirt floors… that I can think of anyway, hot stuffy ones, air conditioned ones, one I could see the surf from even.

It’s important to set up your room right. You need the lights at the right height so they cast good light but not have glare. If there is too much light or is too bright in the room not only do your eyes fatigue but, you can’t see high or low spots or inconsistencies in your work. Then again you don’t want the blank to dark either. The height you like your shaping stands should dictate the height of your lights.

Since what we do when shaping is walk, walk , and walk some more, it’s also best that the floor is level and flat. If you get in a room with a cement floor and there are low and high places in the area you're set up in you will fatigue easier as well possibly develop back problems.

So basically setting up a shaping bay is more than a room with some lights on the walls. I’ve got my preferences and things I like so I’ve been seriously taking my time setting up the one that may be the last one I will ever have. And hopefully it will be home for where I work for many years to come.

I’m almost finished!

D.R.

For the most part I think surf flicks are boring. There are exceptions, and to qualify that line I’ve got to say I don’t watch many surf films… so there may be plenty I haven’t seen that are really good.

But now we have the internet video sites that you can watch all kids of short clips of surfing. Stuff from all over the world even. Or… pick your favorite pro surfer, type their name in the search box and most likely you’ll find clips to watch to reinforce why your favorite surfer is your favorite surfer.

This past week I even watched an 8 minute clip of some pros surfing my home break. The Bud Tour came to town, again. There was some surf for the event; I didn’t want to go near the beach because of the crowds and traffic. But I did get to see what the surf was like via the short clip of the event.

In the old days you’d go see a surf movie and get stoked to go surf and try to emulate the moves you’d see in the movie. I think it can help your surfing get better.

And now? You can watch a short clip on the net over and over again at night, then get up the next morning stoked to go surf and work on emulating what you saw. Or, maybe you’ve just got no stoke at all. But after finding some nice surf clips on the net your mental outlook will change and you get stoked to go surf.

Sometimes when you get to the beach and find mediocre surf it can be hard to get motivated. You’ll sit and watch the surf for awhile and try to talk yourself into going out. But if the surf is really good you almost can’t get in the water fast enough.

After watching some good surf and surfing on the net I’ll usually be ready to surf what ever I find at the beach, unless it’s totally blown out. Not quite like finding an epic day when you get to the beach but, good enough to get you in the water and psyched to surf!
D.R.

Does the surfboard industry have a reputation for poor management?

I hear stories about how someone has ordered a board and had to wait forever. Then, while waiting forever that someone goes surfing only to see the guy that’s shaping his board in the water surfing too. Of course the guy ain’t shaping that someone’s board if the guy is surfing!!!!

I hear stories of someone ordering a board and not getting what they ordered. I hear stories of colors not being right, etc, etc.

Really, it’s not a good thing when a customer has problems with their board order. And, if one guy has a bad reputation it makes things tough on others in the business too. But, is the surfboard industry the only business that people have trouble with.?

Last week I mentioned cell phones, this week lets do the regular phone company…

My wife had her mother’s phone service changed to her new address. The day of the switch we called her mother’s new number. We only got a busy signal. The next day I called the phone company and sure enough the line was messed up…. They would send a tech guy out the next day. The next day the tech guy fixed the problem.

So we tried to call Hawaii, but had no long distance, but there was supposed to be long distance on the service. So, we called the phone company again. They sent out a tech guy the next day to fix the long distance. The next day the tech guy came out and fixed the line.

How come when the service is switched there is no quality control to see if the line actually works and is working according to the service package ordered? So, what should only be a one day thing turns into a 4 day ordeal…

Maybe us surfboard guys should set things up like the phone company. We could have an 800 number for orders. The operator would take your call in the order it was received. And for English press one. If you’re calling about an existing order press 2, for new orders press 3, for all other questions press 4.

If you press 2, then you get.. if this is for a short board press 1, if this is for a long board press 2, for all other boards press 3, to hear this menu again press 4.

You pressed 3… if this is for a fish press 1, if this is for a hull press 2, if this is for a fun shape press 3, for all others hang up and start again…

Really, ordering and getting a new custom surfboard is usually a pretty good experience. After all you’re getting something hand made just for you. You usually only talk to one or two people in the process and the whole process is pretty simple. And when you get your new board you are stoked!

Beats the phone company by a long shot…

D.R.

I need a new phone, so I’m looking at an add for phones and you can get two phone for free when you sign up with a 2 yr commitment.

But, I don’t get this… If you look over the add it says the free phones are valued at $259.99 each. For a few bucks more than that you can buy a regular PC. Isn’t a phone just a small computer? But really it doesn’t matter what the “value” is because if you sign up for 2 years the phone is free. Why not say the phones are worth 20 bucks? Nah, that doesn’t sound good enough. Heck why not say the phone is worth $629.99 then, or a thousand dollars… it really doesn’t matter ‘cause the stupid things are being given away!

Maybe we should do that with surfboards. Jack the price up to $3889.99, but hey we’ve got them on sale for a special price of $889.99 Or, how about, if you promise to buy 4 bars of wax a month and a wet suit every 6 months for the next 2 years you get a surf board for free… I mean what good is wax and a wet suit without a surf board? The surf board is valued at $3889.99 buy the way.

I’ve got a better idea. How about doing a buy one get one free. Of equal or lesser value of course. Yeah, that’s a good one… buy one surfboard at the regular price of $3889.99 and get the second one free.

It just seems to me that if the cell phone company can give you a phone for free then they are making way too much money with there service fees. Why not just let us pay for the phone and get a good service package for a much lower price… yeah right.

Us surf board guys just don’t know how to market stuff I guess. Maybe I should have a price for each one of my models but have a valued price that is way above the sale price.

Would you like, a Tip Tool? OK, that’s $900, but the board is valued at $2200. No, what you really want is an H2. Valued at $1400. but I’m selling them for $650… today and today only.

$2200 for a Tip Tool? Well sure, look at that lamination. Did you know that the rails are lapped three times? 22 ounces of cloth. Resin pin lines, this is the board.

$1400 for the H2? Did you know that board has over 40 years of design history built into it? Yeah, and you could steal it for $650.

My problem is I don’t like selling surfboards. I really like making them though.

DR.

My story post 53. The lost files part 2

When you move you get rid of stuff… consolidate. I went through a box of old papers this week, stuff I don’t need to hold on to anymore. To my surprise at the bottom of the box I was going through I found a personal letter from the Wilderness crew dated 3/25/70.

How the letter got in the bottom of this box or how it survived all this time I have no idea. But, it answered a couple questions I’ve had for a long time about that time period. It also indicated a little more involvement by me in the initial startup of the Wilderness surfboard thing… at least it seems.

Basically the letter is about what was owed me for some of my work there. I’ve long wondered how much I made for shaping those Greenough boards back in the day… I couldn’t remember. Well, apparently it was 11 bucks a board. And, apparently I shaped the first 100 boards or so.

I’ve for ever wondered what happened to my Skill planer too. I’ve always had my Rockwell but could never think of where my Skill went. Now I know… I sold it to the Wilderness guys, I just never remembered doing that. But it’s mentioned in the letter as part of the monies owed. As well, money I fronted the business. I’m guessing too that I helped get things off the ground when Wilderness started up in the old ice plant building in Santa Barbara because of what was mentioned in the letter.

All in all it dosen’t seem like much, 11 bucks a board. But, back then rent was $65, gas was 22 cents a gallon. That means I could buy 50 gallons of gas with what I made shaping a surfboard. Wow! Wish I could do that with today’s shaping fees.

D.R.

A custom 6'4" H2 for Ted

Happy surfing!

D.R.

The H2 in pictures

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves!

D.R.

Today my son and I went to a paddle out to remember a friend… a long time family friend, Jim Nash, that I would surf with and my son Robin would surf with his son Ryan.

I don’t remember how we all met initially, but over the years our lives stayed pretty connected. I think about the only time I surfed a long board while living on Kauai was when Jim was on the island for a visit and took me down to the south shore for a surf. He had borrowed a board from someone he knew on the island and I borrowed a board from someone I knew down at the beach. We surfed Centers on a small day and had a great time.

I made him a Penetrator.. it was light blue, really a nice looking board. That came about when he saw me at the beach one day with a pink Penetrator I had made for a gal and then bought back. It was one of only a few Penetrators I’ve made in a round pin. Anyway, I was walking across the bike path on my way to the water and Jim saw my board jumped out of his car and asked to look at it. We talked and then asked if I’d make him a board like it… but not pink. That may have been how we met actually.

Since Jim had a son the same age as my son that surfed as well the boys connected and became friends and would hang together. Ryan came with us a couple times on surf camp trips. I think we’ve got some video of the boys surfing Cardiff reef from one of those trips.

Every once in awhile you find one of those epic days when there isn’t much surf but the conditions are really nice so you head to the beach to at least enjoy the day and of course you’ve got to at least surf what is available. I did that once and Jim happen to paddle out around the same time I did. Every ten minutes a couple decent waves would come through. Then after the first half hour or 45 minutes the sets started getting more consistant… and bigger. Before we were done there were perfect head high plus waves rolling down the point and because there wasn’t much surf earlier there was no crowd either. Jim and I got some really good surf all to ourselves. Coincidently being in the water when a new swell decides to show up.

Blinky came by the shop Friday and mentioned Jim had passed away, I was shocked, he was four years my senior. It was a must that Robin and I go to the paddle out. I’m glad we did.

Rest in peace Jim.

D.R.

Jims Blue Penetrator just before he came to pick it up. In the early nineties.

My son Robin had been counting down the weeks. I’m not sure how far in advance you can actually reserve a site but, it was some time back… and the week finally came. Our annual surf and camp trip.

Last year we scored a great session. There was a small swell and we got it one day with just a couple other guys. This year there was a bigger swell and we were there on the peak day. It was crowded but there as enough surf to go around.

The last day of the swell we thought we’d get up at first light and get the place to ourselves again but we slept in a little too long. There were just a couple guys in the water which was nice but the tide had dropped to much by the time we got to the beach. We surfed for awhile but had to give it up because the kelp on the dropping tide was making things do difficult. I think I lost 3 set waves because my feet got tied up in the kelp when I turned around to take off… stuck while the wave passed me by.

So that wave time continuum thing that we all have that is filled with the memories of great rides and surf sessions has a new entry for me. The peak day of the swell we got some good surf. One wave in particular for me… probably the largest wave I’ve ever ridden at that spot. The place usually closes out when the waves have faces of 8 feet or better. The one I got I thought for sure it would close out but I turned around and stroked into it… taking my chances. I think maybe the first three or four waves of the set filled in the reef with enough water so the wave held up all the way down the beach.

So that was last Wednesday and I can still see the waves of that set. I missed a couple of them. I stroked into one looked over the edge but thought I wouldn’t make the drop. Backed off, turned around to see another one coming. Stroked out side a little farther as the wall stood up in front of me, turned around and was scooped up on one of the waves of the day. And I still remember thinking after taking the drop and turning off the bottom that I’d see, just down the line, the wave pitching over and closing out. But no, it stood right up for me all the way down the beach.

I straightened out way down the beach and cruised into to sand. Walked out of the water and said to the guy standing on the sand that was watching “ I don’t think I’ll get another like that so I’ll call it quits for now”.

D.R.

Cone Head and the Barbarian after dawn patrol and breakfast.

Wetsuits drying while I work on our lantern

If you had deep pockets…

And, you wanted to move into a market it might be best to bet against the competition when the market is in a recession.

Why? Because if there are only a couple of local stores that you would be competing with they may not be able to whether the business down turn especially if competition comes into the area and takes some of the market share that has already gotten thin because of the business climate. Having deep pockets could allow you to operate at a loss until the market turns around. If the local stores can’t keep their doors open you end up with all the market in the end.

Lets take Ventura, a smaller town known for it’s surf. A local surf community and a destination spot for inland surfers. There are retail locations very close to the beach so everyone that comes into town as well as the locals can stop by the surf store and not have to go very far from the beach… in the case of Ventura only a block or two.

The big brand companies in surfing have deep pockets. Even though they have local stores that have been faithful retailers for them for years they can and do move into a market and in the case of Ventura could quite possibly squeeze enough market share so as to make the local long established stores struggle to remain open.

It seems that it’s pretty much only a numbers game to the big brands. They want to grow, open new stores based on numbers. I read a book last year about the corporate CEO and how they have changed from seeing their companies as people and families that are loyal workers and innovators that make the company what it is that not only make a profit for their share holders but gives value to the stock that the share holders have, to just a numbers game. There was a quote from a CEO of a multi billion dollar company that said ‘it was the companies moral obligation to make money for it’s share holders”.

Personally I think that’s mess up. As well, if the big brand surf companies move into areas like Ventura with little or no consideration for the local surf community other than what it will do to their own numbers... God help us.

D.R.

Surfing after a long layoff

As surfers we generally forget how physical surfing is. If you’ve been surfing regularly for a number of years or decades you are most likely in decent enough physical condition to spend a couple hours in the water and taking some lickin’s while out. You may be tired but you’ve been paddling around catching waves paddling back and forth in the lineup for an hour or two you should be a little tired.

But take some time off and away from the water then go back and just the paddle out can be tough. Real tough if there is surf and you have to paddle through a couple sets.

Paddling in can get you too, depending on where you are surfing. While on Kauai the day I went for a surf after a lay off I ended up staying out longer than I should have. Paddling back in was though. I was wondering if I’d make it back to the beach even though I was paddling in the channel. I had to paddle against the trade wind… was hard. When I made it to shore I almost had to crawl out of the water! I was so beat.

So the best way to get back into it is slowly!... wouldn’t hurt or even be best to start an exercise routine and work on getting in shape a number of weeks before getting back in the water. Or have an exercise routine going all the time so when you do go back to surfing you’ve still got some conditioning. Running, cycling or swimming for lung capacity is a good thing too.

Sometimes if you haven’t surfed for a long time you can be really desperate for a go out so you’ll go out in almost anything… not a good idea. The best time to surf after a long layoff is when the surf is not really pumping but the conditions are as close to excellent as possible.

Surfing junky conditions after a layoff will be frustrating and tiring. It’s hard to get a decent ride and most likely there will be no memorable rides. You can finish your session tired and disappointed. Usually after a layoff it takes a bit of time to get your rhythm back and junky conditions don’t help that at all.

What is best is getting in some surf that is as close to your favorite conditions as possible. You will be stoked and your chances of getting a couple good rides is better. A good memorable ride will build your excitement and help you tune in and tune up. As well, get you wanting more.

It can be difficult getting back into surfing after a long lay off. Surfing is not easy, but the feeling of stretched muscles and sun soaked skin with the vision of waves in your head left after a nice surf… is there anything better?

D.R.

Scott buries a rail on the H2 Mini

Matt buries a rail on a Retro Hull

The lost surf spot.

Ventura point used to be different. I’ve talked about the by gone days a number of times. As well talked about the point and changes here. So things are changing at my home break…. again, but this time of year always makes me think of a spot that is gone forever and has been gone for 42 years now.

There are generations of surfers that know nothing about this local surf spot. That it was the go to spot in spring and summer. That the prevailing winds didn’t hurt the surf there. In other words, when every spot around was blown out because a weather front had been passing the area for the last 24 hours this spot was clean. And the winds could even give a little bounce to the overall size of the surf.

There were left and right peeks. So both regular and goofy foot guys were stoked. Because it would only get junky on a south wind you could surf the place any time of day… or all day.

There was a little county camp ground right next to it so you could set up a tent and stay over night. Surf until dark, sit around the camp fire, sleep and hit it at dawn the next morning.

The paddle out was short and you could park you car right in front of the place to check the surf. Sit in you car and watch the guys in the water. Pick the peak you’d like to surf, suit up when you were done eating lunch or what ever and have a good ole time in the water.

The place was very easy to get to, right of the highway. Man I liked surfing there. Still can see the line up in my head… some 42 years later. Can still remember getting together with my friends after work or on days off and saying “ there ain’t no surf in town so you know where we’re going.”

I can still see those clean breaking waves in my head too.

D.R.

Tom Morey surfing those clean breaking waves of Stanley's back in the day.
Read a little more of the story here

Another year, another Mothers Day.

So here’s a post from Mothers Day… May 2009

http://drsurfboards.blogspot.com/2009/05/today-was-mothers-day.html

My cell phone… beat up and dirty with resin. My dirty phone always makes me think on my mom… Why? check the last paragraph in this post of November 2006

http://drsurfboards.blogspot.com/2006/11/my-story-post-6-thinking-back-to-my.html

Happy surfing!

D.R.

My story post 52

Spring time in my neck of the woods usually doesn’t produce much in the way of surf. But what did I know when I was 19 or 20 years old?

What I did know then was the days were getting longer and warmer and my, at the time girl friend, later to become my wife… loved hanging on the beach at Rincon while I was in the water surfing.

We get wind swells this time of year and back then I’d find myself checking the inside at Rincon for waves. Suzi loved walking around the beach there or just sitting in the sand so she’d come along for surf checks and when there were waves enough for me to ride she was happy as a clam… or happy with the clams that could be found under the rocks at low tide.

I was a pretty lucky guy having a pretty girl happy to hang on the beach while I was doing what I liked to do… surfing for hours at a time. Then getting out of the water and walking up to the tanned gal in the bikini. Both of us with smiles.

She still likes the beach but it’s too cold for her now days. But our years on Kauai we’d go down to the beach all the time. In summer I’d surf Centers and she’d sit on the lawn in front of Beach House Restaurant and do her needle point. She didn’t like to swim there because the waters edge was too rocky. If we went to Poipu she’d swim for awhile when I was surfing.

So I married the girl who liked the beach. She’s always known I would go off to surf. If she wasn’t up to coming along and hanging on the beach she was happy to see me off and when I return. Both of us have smiles.

D.R.

This past week I stumbled upon a story that doesn’t surprise me but still really turns my thoughts sidways about the surf industry and or related surf industry stuff.

Some how over time the people that surfed and lived to surf turned what they did into a lifesyle. It definatly wasn’t intentional, planned or devloped by any one person or group of individuals… It just happened. Surfers had a way to talk, certain clothes they would wear and planned what they needed to do in the way of work and responsibilties around their time to surf.

Somewhere along the surfing history time line that lifestyle became a marketalbe thing. And the companies that marketed the lifestyle were started by surfers. But something has changed, it seems that along with surfboards being mass produced over seas and marketed globally, which for the core surfer is unauthentic, we also have our lifestyle being marketed by a Company that is no where close to authentic...

I think it was a year ago when I was in the mall with my wife during the holidays I noticed a Hollister Co. store. I didn’t go in the store but wondered where it came from and what was behind it.

Below taken from a Transworld Business article from '08.

==

The concept for Hollister Co., the “surf-inspired” mall-based retail chain, was built around a fictional background story created by Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Michael Jeffries to provide a more “authentic” atmosphere for the Hollister shopper.

The fictitious story claims J.M. Hollister founded the company in 1922 as a “Pacific merchant in SoCal.” On its Web site, the company defines itself as “Inspired by the sun-drenched spirit of California, and the surf and soul of the Pacific Ocean, Hollister is a laid-back, aspirational lifestyle destination.” In reality, it was launched in 2000 out of Columbus, Ohio by Abercrombie & Fitch, which was struggling at the time to reach a younger customer.

==

For the complete article click here .

I feel cheapened.

D.R.



I do my best to limit and manage waste. So I collect my color overages and pass them on to Donna von Hoesslin of Betty Belts and she makes jewelry with it.

I find it interesting how our brain works, or at least our memories.

I was involved in a small car accident this past Friday. What happened took place in a matter of maybe 3 seconds, probably 2 seconds but I can play those 2 or 3 seconds back in my head at will.

I got to thinking that’s the same thing that happens surfing. We pull off some maneuver or connect a number of moves on a wave that all totaled may only be 8 seconds… most rides may be shorter than that… but that one killer rider we can pull up and run it in our heads at will for a long time.

That may be how we all progress in our surfing. Reliving rides and maneuvers over and over in our heads thinking about what we did right or wrong and how we may need to make changes in timings or foot placement or, how we had the whole string of moves connected just right and let that get etched in our heads for future use.

How does that happen? Three seconds gets broken down into fractions of fractions of seconds stretching those seconds into life time memories. Strange…

Could that be the addicting part of the surfing experience? We become hooked on the intensity of thought that keeps us coming back for more? The intensity of thought along with the thrill of the ride… the sensations of motion coupled with the excitement of playing with the energy in nature?

You really can’t explain it… I know I can’t anyway.

D.R.

If you take your car to the auto body shop to have a dent or ding fixed and the fixed area color matched you most likely will not be able to see any color difference around the fixed area and the rest of your car when the work is finished and you pick up your car.

If you go to the paint store and hand over a color chip the person behind the counter will scan the color or check the color number and be able to mix a new can of paint that will be the color you’re looking for. Body shops have the same type program.

If you go order a custom surfboard and say I’d like the board color to be a medium green you most likely will not get the color you asked for. Why is that?

Well first off, what is medium green? What you see in your head as medium green most likely is not the medium green the guy that mixes colors sees in his head. And, without a color sample the person that mixes colors has no idea what you think is medium green or what ever color you ask for.

So it’s a good idea to pass along a color sample of what color you’d like your board to be with your board order so that at least the person that mixes colors can get an idea of what you’d like. But keep in mind that the lam shop that does the color work on your board, whether the plan is for a spray color or color lamination, does not have an expensive computer color matching program to get exact color matches.

In fact the only program the lam shop has is a bunch of different water base colors for spray jobs or a bunch of different pigment colors for color lams. And the way colors get mixed is by hand, trial and error, until the color that gets mixed is close to the color being asked for. Sometimes they come out real close to the exact color and sometimes they don’t. It all depends on the color. Some colors are good right out of the pigment jar. Some colors need to be mixed with a touch of three or four different colors and getting the right blend is almost impossible. And to think that the person mixing the color is not paid by the hour but takes extra time to work up a color match?

Keep in mind that if you email a color sample the color you see on your computer screen may not be the color the gets printed on the other end for a color sample hard copy. Colors do get lost in translation… in more ways than one.

D.R.

My story post 51

Sometimes you just happen on to surf. This particular time it happened a couple days in a row and it was great while it lasted…

Before going into the shop to work, I think I’ve said this before, Mike, Richie and I would go look for waves. It was summer so there wasn’t much usually. But this particular day there were some head high peaks running along the stretch of beach between Hobson’s and the back side of Pitas Point. I don’t know if there is a formal name for the spot, but I remember Mike calling it Froggy’s.

Usually that stretch of beach is pretty walled off and most of the waves coming through were, but at the end there on the back side of Pitas the waves were well formed peaks. Thinking back I’d guess there was a decent south swell that got crossed by a west wind swell that made the waves so nice. Funny, I’ve never seen the place break like that again.


Anyway, as we were driving down PCH watching these waves we stopped at the last spot you could park before the road side railings that follow the curve at the top of Pitas Point. It was sunny, warm and light variable winds. Not another surfer or surfboard in site. Just us three guys looking at some really inviting surf. And we were on it. I remember get really tired after catching so many waves I went in and sat on the beach watching Mike and Richie. Then paddling back out for more. Then because I had rested I ended up in the water by myself because Mike and Richie whore themselves out.

So much fun, wave after wave with just us guys and no one else in site. We had to have surfed a good 2 hours before the tide and wind got to it. The next day we went and checked it again. It was still going off so we hit it again. Repeating what we did the day before, surfing until we could surf no more.

After that we’d drive by almost every day for a surf check but never could catch it. We’d end up going as far down PCH as Over Head before giving up, turning around and heading up to Santa Barbara to work. Sometimes we’d get a few at Over Head but we never did get Froggy’s again.

D.R.

From my point of view..

Having to choose between a good shape or a good glass job is really no choice at all. Of course it’s easy for me to say, because I make my own boards and don’t have to choose. I’ll make myself a good surfboard from start to finish.

But I also think no one should have to choose one or the other either. But, if you’re not a board builder then maybe you have to choose even if you shouldn’t have to.

The dilemma is cost, and, surfboards are no different from other things that are hand made… you get what you pay for. If you want a board that is laminated well and has a well thought out and tested design it may cost more than what you think you should pay.

There are US made short boards that cost $600 or more. There are US made long boards that cost $1400 or more. They are well designed and well built boards.

I know how much time and effort it takes to make a good surfboard. I also know how much they should cost… especially if the craftsman needs to make enough money to live on.

A good board craftsman knows you shouldn’t have to make a decision on whether you’d like a good shape or a good glass job. Because he will make sure you get both.

D.R.