Being a surfer guy dad with a surfer guy son. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

D.R.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

R.I. P. Dave Sweet.

D.R.

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

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

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

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

D.R.

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A custom Imperial nose rider with pigmented color 

The pigmented color Model 50

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

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

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

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

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

D.R. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

   

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

D.R.

Have you ever had a magic board?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Answer.... Magic.

D.R.

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

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

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

I know I like it.

D.R.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Good design stands the test of time.

D.R.

My son Robin and his Fish

My story and fins

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

D.R.

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

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

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

D.R.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

D.R.  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

D.R.

Another year gone a new year here. 

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

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

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

Happy new year.

D.R.

For the most part surfboards have always evolved in degrees, or small steps. And for the most part the design changes were a synthesis of an older surfboard iteration and something new.

One of the biggest changes of course was the material change from wood to foam. But the new foam boards were not a whole lot different in design from their wood counterpart.

As an example the early foam boards and the older wood boards had similar deck curves. Cutting deck curves in a wood board takes some effort. Gluing the stringer in a foam blank so the blank has some deck curve was easier to do.

Along with getting deck curve in a board, cutting some of the volume out was a step for more performance surfing as well. Reason being, deck curve made for a rail line with curve so your surfboard could make moving along the wave face less difficult and less foam volume helped make the board less difficult to maneuver.

Couple those changes with the fin design changes in the mid sixties (which I've talked about here) and we were well on  the road to performance surfing.

As boards got more and more maneuverable what began to happen was the realization that the typical rail line of a 9 foot plus surfboard was too long.  We could get even more maneuverable and have more control of ours boards on the wave face if the rail line was shorter. Which is what fueled the short board revolution.

D.R.       

A 7'10" Gadget. The length of this board is considered a mid-length. Though through the first 6 months of 1968 it would have been called a short board.

One of the changes in surfboard design after boards went from balsa wood to foam was rocker.

The early balsa wood boards were pretty straight from nose to tail. The boards were made by face gluing wood planks together to get a solid piece around 20 inches wide and 9 feet long and thick enough to  cut a surfboard  from. That big block of wood then was cut and shaped into a surfboard not unlike hand shaping an eps blank now days. The difference being eps blanks are profiled and have rocker cut and glued to a stringer.

The wood board was just a big plank. The end result for the most part was a surfboard with a nice outline, as thick as the wood plank would allow with some curve from rail to rail on the bottom, a little curve from rail to rail on the deck, a bottom rocker curve from nose to tail with the decks from nose to tail pretty flat.

The original plugs for surfboard foam molds were similar to the balsa boards of the day. That was what was known, so the early foam boards as far as shape were quite similar to the balsa boards.

The bottom rockers were ok but because the decks were flat the rail line from nose to tail was pretty straight. That long straight rail line began to change from the early sixties, because the foam blanks could be made with nose to tail deck curve and when a wood stringer was glued into the blank it helped keep that curve in place. As well you could cut the stringer to any number of bottom and deck curves for custom rockers.

With bottom and deck curves better surfboards became more maneuverable, combined with the foam cores which made boards lighter performance surfing was getting it's start.

D.R.

It may be a little hard to see but in the above picture I've pulled a string from nose to tail across an early sixties surfboard. I can barely get the fingers of my left hand between the string and deck... pretty flat deck curve.

This second picture is from a mid sixties type board. The space between the string and deck of this boards is double the space of the early sixties board.

Again it's a little hard to see but the rail line curve is quite different between the two.

We had a little swell this past week here in Ventura, lasted about a day and a half.  It filled in during the day Wednesday.

When I surfed Wednesday there were some 5 and 6 wave sets, with frequent long lulls. The crowd wasn't terrible but the inconsistent sets made for a low wave count session... especially considering I was in the water for 2 hours. 

So, I look at the point Friday morning, the tide is high with some small peaks hitting the top of the point. Nothing left of that swell really.  Maybe 2 or 3 small waves every 3 - 4 minutes with a dozens surfers in the water.

Seeing the number of waves coming through and the number of guys in the water, then thinking of the Wednesday session and low wave count...  a light went on. That's why you'll see 2 or 3 guys on one wave.  If you don't just stroke into a wave even if someone else is too you won't get any wave at all.

In the early days of surfing people would ride waves together.  2 or 3 people on one wave was no big deal. There wasn't much maneuvering on the wave face back then so everyone could pile on a wave, angle down the line, trim and smile at each other.

Now? we like to move up and down and around on the wave face which makes it tricky to share the wave with another rider.  When you know another person and the 2 of you plan to ride a wave together it's ok and can be fun. But it's usually not fun otherwise.

As many as there are people in the water these days around Ventura, and the amount of waves there are to catch at any given time on any given day, I'm thinking it should be no surprise when there are 2 or 3 people on one wave... there just isn't enough surf to go 'round. Either ride with someone on the wave or maybe end up paddling into the lineup waiting and hoping for a wave of your own, and then paddling back to the beach with no wave count at all.  

It's hard to call that surfing.

D.R.

The fall season around the Ventura / Santa Barbara coast for the surfer is usually a time of anticipation, expecting swells from the north pacific to start arriving.

This year is no different.... of course, but, so far there has been maybe one swell that was a little over head. The weather has been really nice and the water temps have remained in the mid to upper 60's. Very rare for this time of year.  Actually I don't remember a time when the water was this nice so late in the year. But the surf has been small for the most part.

Usually this time of year I start looking back at what has gone on through the year and start thinking about what I might like to see go on next year.

Since it was 50 years ago that I made my first surfboard my wife suggested I do a 50 year surfboard.... I thought it was a good idea, especially because it would be fun and making surfboards should be fun. So this week I picked up a custom blank to make a surfboard that will be my 'Model 50.

I can see it in my head so now I've just have to take what's in my head and make it a reality.

D.R.

I'd guess that everyone that surfs in a crowded lineup or even in a not so crowded lineup have had accidents, the kind that boards get dinged and people get aggravated. For some unknown reason a few of my personal lineup incidences have come to memory lately.

For as much as I surf the number of times that I've had a bad experience is really pretty small.... considering. But this one time I was surfing the Fair Grounds, probably around 9 or 10 on a  sunny Saturday morning. The surf was maybe waist high, clean but not real exciting.

I was surfing my high bred machine... also known as the '67. I take off on a wave turn and step to the nose. As I'm sliding down the line.. on the nose there is this kid all of maybe 8 or 9 years old paddling out and moving right into my line. As I reach the kid I back peddle and straighten out so as not to run him over. The kid freaks as I'm coming down on his position and bails his board just as I making my turn, as he bails his board gets pushed into the nose my mine cracks the nose open and peels the fiberglass off the bottom of my board about 18 inches or so.

I fall... of course, and catch my board, the kid, who wasn't hit or hurt pops out of the water after ditching his board looking a little rattled. If he would have just kept paddling  nothing would have happened but now my board is messed up. I say 'geez kid...'  just when I hear this voice screaming... 'what the f'... are you doing? you #$%&#, you almost ran over my son! 

Turns out the kids dad watched the whole thing as he was entering the water with his own surfboard a half minute after he sent his kid out.   "What... I was in total control,  you have no business bringing your kid to a place like this to learn to surf" I say.  Bla, Bla Bla, back and forth as I'm walking away with my bust up board.

What made this mishap more memorable is later that day I went back for another go out, with another board, and saw the dad in the water. Should I have been surprised the guy was dropping in on guys?

D.R. 

I've been having a hull of a time lately. 

I do a number of hulls throughout the year but it could be a couple months between orders and I'm always amazed how second nature it is for me to shape them. Hulls are a very different surfboard and have a pretty complex design aspect. The bottoms aren't flat, they have "S" decks and heavy crown as well as a soft rail with a variable apex line.

For some reason these shapes are really etched into my memory, which is great because I don't have to think about how I'm going to go about getting them out of a blank. It's the same way with the classic reissues I do.  Aside from the enjoyment of shaping them I seem to know exactly how I'm going to get them out of a blank. 

I didn't do any classic reissues for some 12 years and hulls for maybe 20 years but for both there was no trouble shaping them after all those years. It was like riding a bicycle... something you just don't forget.

Was it because I was young when I first did them, or because I did so many of them back in the day? 

I've got no idea... it's curious how our minds work.

D.R. 

What things in life do you buy hand made? What do you get hand made and customized to your interests?

Reality... the custom hand made things we might use for what ever reason stopped being hand made years and years ago.  But the surfboard???? different story.

Most surfboards are made by hand. Even the ones that are pre shaped or cut with a machine still get finished shaped by hand, laminated by hand, sanded by hand and polished by hand if that's part of the process.

The skilled and semi skilled processes of making a surfboard are specialized and unique. When you order a surfboard made to your liking or even buy one off the rack at a surf shop you are getting something made by hand... a very rare thing in today's world. And that's what makes the surfboard such a special thing to the surfer. 

If and when you buy a custom surfboard you are getting something made by just a few people that work at the particular facility that the shaper works with and that's it. Or, in my case only my hands work through the process... even more rare.

Think about it... what else is like that? what else does anyone get like that these days? I mean besides nothing...

D.R.

 The hand made process

The hand made process complete