Friday, October 22, 2010

Mighty Max

I got this e-mail from my best friend last night. This event is being held in Cardiff on Friday night. This handplane along with another will be there for the silent auction. Having three young kids that are all around Max's age, I can't even imagine what this family is enduring. I believe all are invited so any help would be greatly appreciated. Here is the e-mail....

A friend of Kaden's who was on his soccer team and in his Kindergarten class can really use your help. His name is Max and he is fighting an extremely rare and aggressive cancer known as stage 4 rhabdomyosarcoma. His insurance is quickly approaching the lifetime cap of $2M. You may have seen the banners around town for the Mighty Max Event this Friday, October 22nd from 5 to 10 PM (see attached flyer) at the Cardiff Town Center.
I am inviting all of you to please attend and would take your support as a personal favor. 100% of the revenue from the donated proceeds of this event will be used to cover the ongoing monthly medical cost that is not covered by his insurance. This is really hard, watching this little guy go through chemo and he is fighting soooo hard! We don't realize how fortunate we are to have healthy kids until something like this hits close to home. So please come out and have dinner, a drink, or just buy something. It all helps. Hope to see you there.

Don't be shy about sharing this flyer.













Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Surfboard Shaping Time Again

I haven't shaped a surfboard now in almost a year.  My time in the shaping room has been relegated to making handplanes.  I am not complaining, not one bit.  I do miss having the time to shape surfboards though.  The handplaning business has been doing real good.  So good, that I went through my last 10 Paulownia blanks before my new shipment of Paulownia arrived.  I even ordered my next shipment, the day my last shipment was sent.  So, I am currently out of wood.  I can hear the jokes now, so, no need to post em.  My next shipment of 20 Paulownia blanks should be arriving friday, with another 50 blanks being milled right now.  So, should have enough wood to last a while.  During this down time, I figured I would shape myself a surfboard.  I've got about 5 blanks sitting on top of my shaping bay, just frothing to meet my planer. It will be a summer board.  I am thinking 5'7 x 19 1/4" x 2 1/4".  Something of a blend of the "Mushbuster" I shaped for myself last summer and my current Tomo that I love so much.  Thinking about putting a Robert's screwdriver tail on it, like the Roberts pictured below.  Set up as a quad, but I think I'm gonna have em throw in that 5th box, just for kicks.  Lokbox of course.  Gonna try the new shorter boxes that Lokbox is now making.  Here are the three boards that I plan to blend.


Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Artificial Reef in India

So far the best artificial reef footage I have ever seen.  I've know a couple places that could really use one of these, or, hell, a bunch of em.  Wonder what the sustainability of these things are.  Anyway about it, it's a step in the right direction.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Sacred Craft Trip

We had a great time at the Sacred Craft in Ventura. I got to roll with Quintin for the first time in years. Initially, I was gonna take the family, but the thought of Rebecca having to take care of the three yard-apes alone, while I was away all day at the show, just didn't seem like a good time. So, she suggested my old Mexico Co-pilot go along for the journey. Quintin is a great guy, super mellow, unless someone gets him all riled up. I think thats usually my job. On the way up, I asked how our old friend, "The Devil" was doing. He told me he was on the East Coast tending to some things. At the time, I was thinking how great it would be if he woulda been able to go with. We got up to Ventura, wandered around the campsite, and finally found a suitable site to take over. Nothing too close to the camp hosts, but, not too far from the beach either. We checked in and headed up the the fairgrounds to set-up the booth. After the fairgrounds, we headed over to a burger joint in Ventura for a beer and some grubb. That was something I had been craving for quite a while. This was my weekend off. Rebecca and I have been doing an all Raw lifestyle food thing over the last few months. While it's really not as hard as many think, especially when your wife is great in the kitchen, you still get these cravings for things like burgers and steak fries. That first bite of something warm and substantial was probably one of the top ten things I've ever bitten into in my life. Well worth the wait, but definately not something I will be going back to on a consistant basis, anytime soon. After the burger joint, we stocked up on some wood and headed back to camp. Started a nice fire, then bullshitted the rest of the night. Midway through the BS, Quint got a call, it was El Diablo, he was in PB and was heading up in the morning. Course for him, that means he'll probably be thier around dinnertime. At about, what we thought was 10, we decided to get some sleep. Quint looked at the time, and it wasn't quite what we expected. It was 1am. After working overnight the night before, then staying up all day, and making the trip, I was a little skeptical about how I would feel in the morning. My first day of showing the public what I've been pouring so much time into over the last year, and I'm a little drunk, and hadn't slept in a good 40 hours. Not a good place to be. Quintin knocked on the van at about 6:30am, and we headed out to the beach to have a look. The surf wasn't too great, sideshore, and a touch brown. We went out and Handplaned anyway. Mainly cause we needed to wash the stench off of the night before. It was a bit cold, and backwashing pretty bad. I got launched on my first wave into the flats. Did a huge bodyflop and for the first time, felt a bit of pain on impact. We finished up with a nice warm shower at the campgrounds and headed off to the show. The show was a good time. Probably the best consumer show around. I think I would rather be a particpant of Sacred Craft, ten time over any ASR event. Lots of cool people, lots of great products. El Diablo showed up around 2, which for him is pretty good. He and Quint went to get a burrito after the show ended for the day. I went back to camp. Shoulda been a quick trip for them, but with The Devil around, you never know what's gonna happen. 3 hours later, and on my last piece of firewood, they finally got back. Apparently they got lost on some freeways, funny thing about that, you never had to get on the freeway. The rest of the evening was pretty similar, except now we had Rich to entertain us. I woke up early the next morning, walked down to the beach alone and watched a bit. One guy out. Way cleaner than the day before. Lefts mushing on the outside then reforming and jacking and peeling on the inside all the way to the shorepound. I wasn't motivated at all. The surf was way better and I just sat watching, letting time tick away. Eventually I garnered the energy. Jogged back to the campsite and saw Quint walking back from the bathroom. I was already turning our wetsuits inside out. He just looked at me, like, "are you really gonna make me do this?" He's a troooper. We headed back down and had another planing session. There were now 3 guys out. Since it was pretty much breaking then backing off on the outside, I just sat about 30 yards inside of them. Caught a couple decent ones. A set wave came and one of the three guys caught it. I had to get out of his way, and I read the wave differently than he did. In my opinion, he should been cutting back almost right from the takeoff. So I swam toward the shoulder. Apparently he didn't think so. He he bottom turned and although he really didn't come close to me, he had a world of shit to say. Told me I was right in his way, where he was gonna hit the lip. I just looked at him in amazement, and said, "What lip?" He didn't quite like that response and got all grumpy, his buddy's had a few things to say also. I just shrugged it off. They told me to bail, which, eventually I did float down to the next peak, where Quint was, but, not before I maintained my presence for a good twenty minutes, and caught some more good ones. It's funny, cause I respect them and their local spot, but, when your gonna call someone out, make sure you know what you are saying. I didn't see one of em hit the lip the whole session, and they definately weren't killing it. Pretty much my age, but alot stiffer. Riding the wrong boards for the surf. They could surf, don't get me wrong, but nothing on any type of impressive level. It's just goes back to that totem pole thing. They had no idea Quint and I have surfed our whole lives, and could honestly run circles around them on a board. All they saw were two guys floating around the line-up, that might possibly get in thier way, especially if they misjudged another wave. After that verbal exchange, we continued to get some of the better Handplane waves I've had all winter. Just standing up perfectly on the inside sandbar and racing down the line. Such a great way to start off the day, and not ruined at all by the grumpy locals. After our session, we rushed back to camp, broke everything down, woke up the Devil, had 2 beers, then headed off to the show for the final day. As for the rest of the show, it went well. Met lots of good people, had a great response to the handplanes, shaped a plane in the shaping booth, and most importantly finished off all the cookies. I have to thanks my wife, Rebecca, for spending her thursday evening baking 3 huge trays full of cookies for the show. People loved em, and I think they will be a part of all future gatherings. Thanks to all that came by, and we'll see you in Del Mar.


Derek Hynd Finless at Noosa

I hate to steal from a post over at the ERBB, but, this is some of the most unreal, well at least different, surfing I have seen in a long time. The vid will be gone in a few weeks at ERBB and lost into who knows where. Man that stoopid place needs a better search engine. But, the vid will be here for quite some time. Regarding the vid, in most cases, I'm almost convinced that the spins he is doing is more for function than other. It seems whenever he starts to lose hold, ie. spin out, he turns it into a spin until he catches an edge and continues down the line. Pretty neat stuff if you ask me.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Brownfish Handplanes at Sacred Craft Ventura

Brownfish Handplanes will be having a booth at the Sacred Craft Expo this coming weekend, April 10 and 11, in Ventura. I will also be shaping a Handplane in the Shaping Bay at 12:30pm on Sunday. Feel free to stop by and talk handplanes or anything else on your mind. If I've shaped you a handplane in the past, would love to hear your stories. Please introduce yourselves. As Handplanes aren't the most cumbersome objects, I will have some comfy chairs to rest your feet after perusing the other fine craft on display at the show. My wife will also be making some homemade chocolate chip cookies for any of you that are into that kind of thing. The event will be held at the Ventura County fairgrounds. Hours are 10am-6pm on Saturday and 10am-4pm on Sunday. Hope to see you all their.

For more info, Click here:     2010 Sacred Craft Ventura

Monday, April 5, 2010

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

What I lack

I've always been pretty good at most things I've tried in life, BUT, I've never been a very creative person.  I've watched people all around me with this incredible creative zen.  My wife's a good example.  They throw these great, creative things together with so little effort.  Then stress about if it's good enough.  But me, not so much.  When I started making surfboards as a hobby, thats pretty much what it was.  I wanted to learn to make them myself.  To test not only my creativity, but also my focus.  I usually hang in thier for about 80%, but then somehow loose focus on the rest.  When making surfboards, that last bit of focus it what really counts.  My woodworking and shop tool skills hit their plateau in 7th woodshop.  Since then, I could cut a piece of wood if I had to, or rig something up real good, but accuracy was never quite my specialty.  So, it's surprising to me to occasionally get, or find, pictures of stuff laying around that I made for others.  Kind of fulfilling.  Here is a pic I found today of a board and handplane I made for some kind people in the past.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Brownfish Handplane Models

I have finally gotten around to getting pictures of all the specific models I am making. They will are available for custom order now. South Coast Windansea Surfshop in Pacific Beach, CA should be getting thier first run of boards in less than two weeks. Surfy Surfy Surf Shop will be opening on May 1st in Leucadia, CA. They will also have stock boards available. Both shops will have a demo if you are interested in trying a Handplane out. Check em out at Brownfish Handplanes to review the models and more pics. Thanks for all your support and have a great week. G


Friday, February 26, 2010

Shut Down

I grew up camping.  Well, I guess thats not necessarily true.  My parents took us kids camping at the Colorado river once when we were kids.  Got us set-up real nice like, next to a mosquito swarm.  We lasted one night, got bitten to hell, and were out of thier.  That was the last and only camping trip I went on with my parents. 

When I started surfing, my friends and I used to go camp at the state beach campgrounds.  As long as you brought a note from your parents, you were good.  Not sure if that is still the case, but, we had some fun times.  Rob Miller drunk under the staircase at South Carlsbad, is probably the highlight of those trips.  Surf was always good, or, I just didn't surf well enough to realize what was good, and what wasn't. 

Those trips progressed into lots and lots of camping trips to Mexico in my 20's and early 30's.  Seems every other or third weekend I was heading down.  Even got to the point where I was partners on a trailer about 4 hours in.  Man, those were some incredible times.  I can honestly say, that, on those trips, the surf was fun.  In the end though, surfing is just a bonus.  It's more about the adventure.  Getting away.  If you get some surf on top of that, well, that just makes it that much better.

It's finally getting to the point where taking the kids camping is enjoyable.  They are old enough now where they can somewhat, take care of themselves.  Prior to now, camping was more of a chore than fun.  Constantly on the run, constantly watching, constantly worrying.  We'd get home from a camping trip and feel completely exhausted.

We've got a good percentage of the next 4 months set up with camping trips.  One about every 3-4 weeks.  Going to the desert during the flower bloom in early April.  Ventura in April.  Yosemite in early May.  Plus a few other one nighters dispersed between.

Our season was supposed to start off at San Elijo in two weeks.  An easy, close trip to get the season rolling.  I had planned this trip about 6 months ago.  You kind of have to.  In order to get a good spot at San Elijo, you have to be on the internets at a certain time, six months in advance.  I had the perfect spot picked out.  I've eyed that spot my whole life.  Always wanted to be sitting at the end of the cul-de-sac, facing the left.  Basically a chain link fence separating you and the water.  Spot 62.  It's always taken.  The most in-demand spot in the park.  I have never got to camp in it, or even around it.  Those cul-de-sac spots are hard to come by.  Last year or the year before, they closed down spot 63 due to it somewhat falling into the ocean.  A safety hazard.  They made it much smaller, and turned it in to a bike/hike spot.  So, six months ago, I sat at the computer, all logged in and ready.  The time came and I furiously started hitting buttons.  I FUCKING GOT IT.  Two nights, starting Friday, March 19.  Perfect way to start our camping season.  I was stoked.

I've watched all winter long.  The storms.  The waves.  The rocks.  The wall that protects the campground.  All slowly deteriorating.  I just got the call. Reserve America.   Spot 62 has now been closed forever, due to safety concerns.  Not only that, they can't even get us into the park that weekend, or any other for the next six months.  Sure we can show up and hope somebody cancels, but, thats alot of work with three little ones.  Yea, they are gonna give us a full refund, but, once again, I am left wanting...

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

In The News

I have had a lot of support over the last few years. My wife being first of course. Good friends, both that I grew up with, and have met over time. Even some good internet friends. Yea, sounds kinda wierd, but, I have to admit, I've met some pretty quality people that I woulda never come in contact with, had it not been for the internets. The guys at Matuse have also done a shitload for me. I met them through a mutual friend and since then our relationship has been great. Recently they have done a few new things to add to their wetsuit line. They have so graciously become my first retail account for Handplanes. I am building an exclusive model just for them. They also have Jon Wegener, of the Wegener Family fame, building Alaia's for em.  If you haven't checked out their site, they've got all kinds of new stuff going on. New downloads, news, press, and a pretty incredible selection of Video's that could keep you pretty busy for an afternoon. Check it all out at:

MATUSE