Under The Bridge

With all the super high tides we've had, and the predominantly lackluster swell, a hobby of late has been trying to make it under the bridge. I think more people that have surfed Cardiff on a regular basis over the last 5 years, have made it under the bridge in the last few weeks, than any other time I can remember. I can't recall how many times I've heard, "Man, I just made it all the way through the bridge for the first time." Often coming from people who've surfed Cardiff greater than 20 years.

Chuck Elliot trying to set up for a shot.














I think I can, I think I can, I think I can














Not this time














This kid made it














And so did this one

My Black Beauty

You could say it's a pretty special board. I've gotten some great waves on it and it's usually my go to board when the waves have a little spunk. It still surfs great after 4 1/2 years. Andres Grillet painted a great picture of my 1st son on it when he was 1. He's getting close to 6 now and I can hardly even remember that pudgy little kid. Man time flies.

One California Day - The BrownFish Review

I wasn't able to see it at the Movie Theater due to family obligations. I had heard it was a little long, but have been waiting for this movie to finally come out on DVD. You see, in my opinion, thier really hasn't been any good Surf DVD's since Broke Down Melody, Shelter, and Sprout. I tend to like movie's that mix it up a bit and have a nice mellow soundtrack. Something you can play as background music while getting stuff done around the house or rolling around the carpet with your kids. I thought this movie would fit the bill well. The lowlights were: except Alex's longboarding, the rest of the longboarding in the movie was subpar. I've seen both Tyler and Jimmy surf way better than that. Jimmy's segment riding a Hull was plain boring. Rather ride a Fish, And don't tell me a Hull is faster, cause I just won't believe it. They coulda left that out. So now the good parts. The highlight of the movie was watching Joel take apart a certain local well known Barrel spot on a Keel Fish. That is a heavy wave and he just made it look too easy, especially on a Fish. My second favorite part was watching Alex Knosts longboarding. You may think or say anything you want about that kid, but his longboarding is pure genious. Tylers art is good. Best overall segment was by Far Joe Currens. His segment had great footage, great waves, and great surfing. The "Don't Miss" part of the DVD set is the 2nd DVD. Scenes not included in the movie. They are just as good if not better than what was in the movie. Overall I would give it a B+, definately something I will watch over and over.

The Brownfish Experiment

OK. I had so much fun working on, "My August Project," I figured it was time to do it again. This time with a real blank instead of an old beat up, delaminated longboard. This added some new experiences so far. I spent alot of time researching blanks, but in the end, just headed down to Mitch's and took the easy route. I ended up with a US Blanks 6'2A Fish blank. I'm pretty much going for something very similar to the M.A.P. 5'8" Quad Fish. I would like to improve on a few things. First being the nose rocker. I was somewhat limited last time by the shape of the prior board. I'm a pretty big believer in having some rocker in Fish, especially up by the nose. I think the speed that you lose, is made up for by the manueverability of the board. Plus, it doesn't hurt during those late drops. I'm also shooting for about 1/4" narrower and will probably pull the last 4-5" of the tail in a touch. I used the same template from my Orange Pavel Superbank (pictured in a different post below). I'm still new at this, so once again, I set the template a 1/2" too wide on both sides. This will let me work on getting my outline right, then re-templating and doing it again. This way I get to practice an outline twice on each blank. I think many new or first time shapers make thier biggest mistakes on not making perfect templates, and also not taking the time to make the outline perfect. So my first day, I templated the board, cut it out, worked on my first outline, then was done. My first outline wasn't as perfect as I wanted as my time was cut a little short. I didn't skin the blank on the first day. I didn't take pics on my second day (cause I was working while my daughter took a nap). That session I was able to skin the blank with a small rotary sander with 40 grit (still haven't used a planer, next time), thinned the blank down a bit, retemplated, and worked it down to my desired outline. So far so good. Pictures below are only from my first days work. More to come later.

MMM TURKEY

Happy Thanksgiving!

What did you do for your Glasser today?

They are the hardest working people in the surf industry and get the least amount of appreciation. Actually, in most cases they get complaints. Why did my board break when a Semi ran over it on the freeway, etc? So it's time to appreciate the hard work that they put into making our lives better by carrying out the business end of surfboard manufacturing. Luckily, my wife likes to bake and make deserts. Today Moonlight will be getting a nice Pumpkin Cheesecake to bring in the Thanksgiving Holiday. Better get to work early JP.

A Tribute to Bob

Bob used to be around alot more. He's got a new job and doesn't seem to be perusing as much. I've probably laughed more times about comments he has made than anyone else around this funky place we seem to waste our time on. So here is my tribute to Bob. Hopefully something great will happen to him, he won't have to work as much, and can entertain us more.

I Suck At Blogging

Why? I can't seem to find my camera cord to download pictures. I have a decent amount that I could post, but can't download them. Cord was last seen packing to evacuate for the fires. Truth be told, I've been living off stuff I already had or that I could steal from someone else. I spent 50 bucks on God knows what at Home Depot today, but can't seem to make it to the electronics store to pick up a new cord. I guess I'm cheap, cause I think it's gonna turn up, I just don't know when. So, Here is another pic I stole. I figure since JP brought this board up in my Bonzer post, I might as well steal one of his pictures and post it. I've caught some great waves on this board and for some reason it truly agrees with me. I haven't been riding it much lately, cause it's one of those, "Gonna keep it for the rest of my life boards," and I don't want to wear it out too much. Gotta knock on wood about that statement, cause the last time I said that, it was about my Brown Fish. That one got stolen out of my camper a few years ago. I still miss it.

Small Wave Wonder

This is my Ambrose Fish that I acquired about 6 months ago. A fellow internet addict found it on Craigslist and got it for a good deal. He mainly wanted the Speeddialer Fins. We worked out a nice trade and met in the OC, both with 6 month old baby's in tow. I used to get boards from Shawn Ambrose in the 90's, before seriously getting wrapped up into the whole Longboard scene (thats another story all together). Shawn shaped me some pretty great shortboards back then. When I jumped on the Fish bandwagon, I had always wanted to get another board from him. He's a pretty incredible shaper and a nice guy to boot. If your afraid of INK, he's probably not your guy, but, thats one of the things that makes him unique. He's a real person, not trying to sit up on a pedestal like many other shapers I know. So I finally acquired one of Shawns EPS Perimeter Stringer Fish, and it goes. Pulled up to the lot today and 3 separate people told me, "It's not that great," and "It looks better than it is." I pulled out the Ambrose and had a great time in waist to chest high Semi-Mushy waves. Well worth the time. So thanks Mr. Pepper and also Mr. Ambrose. Today I'm a happy guy.

DON'T TOUCH THAT BONZER!!!

This is what I heard as I was about to fondle a nice 5'11" Roundtail Bonzer 5 that will soon be sitting on the showroom floor as a stock board at Moonlight. It seems that I'm allowed to peruse the place if it were my own home, but I'm no longer allowed to touch the Bonzers. They usually tell me to make myself at home when I enter, which is a pretty nice feeling. I usually stop by at least a couple times a week due to my kids going to school very near by. So, back to the Bonzers. Well I've had a couple very nice ones. Everything about both of them I truly loved. Except, I couldn't ever get them to work for me. Yea, I could surf em, but not to the potential people seem to rave about. I was always tweaking this or switching that to try and get them to work as well as my Fish. I never felt that "5th Gear," that everybody raves about. Well I think I've felt it, just not on a Bonzer. So I always thought that maybe a standard shortboard shape with a Bonzer set-up might be a good call for me someday. A kind of "Barrel Board," if you will. This is what I was about to fondle until I heard those words, followed by, "You know that board has a center fin, what are you thinking." I guess you really can't feel at home until you get harrassed. Here are a couple pictures of the beautiful Bonzers I had in the past.

Is That Geoprene You're Wearing?

The debate continues. While browsing various blogs and the ERBB, there has been quite abit of debate regarding some of the newer wetsuit companies out and thier use of Yamamoto Rubber. The rubber is made with limestone instead of petroleum, which is better for the environment, and one of the reasons they are touted to be better. The others include durability, weight, stretch, and lack of water absorption compared to neoprene. The cost is higher and initially I was one of the first to say, "NO WAY, I ain't paying it." After doing my research over a few months, I finally broke down and bought the Matuse Hoplite 2mm Short Sleeve Fullsuit. I've used it every surf for the last 8 weeks and I am now a believer. It's light, flexible, warm, and looks pretty cool too. The other day I thought the water dropped a little and decided to put on my Rip Curl F-Bomb that was last years suit, but only worn twice. Now, I know I was comparing a 2mm SS Full to a 3/2 Full, but man that thing was heavy. I took it off after surfing and was just amazed at the weight. Wore my Matuse today and was back in the game. Hopefully I'll be able to get the money together soon for a Matuse 4/3/2. Go to www.matuse.com or click on the title above to check out thier line-up.

Riding the Tidal Surge

Adam over at "Your Local Surf Blog" has a nice little write-up on riding tidal surges. It's pretty interesting. Click on "Riding the Tidal Surge" above to check it out.

Josh Hall

Today was a decent day of surfing. Went out to the local slab and was pleasantly surprized to see Josh Hall and Dustin were both out. Traded some decent waves, had some good times, and Trusty Dusty took this nice picture of Josh. This shot Epitomizes Josh's style. Clean and Smooth.

My August Project Review

Can't have kid stoke without a little board stoke on the side. Most people probably don't really care anymore, but, it's my Blog and I do. I'm still pretty much reeling about how well this board works. Don't know if it's because I shaped it and I've got such a positive attitude when surfing it, or because it actually works. All I know is that last weekend we had two good days of surf and this board worked as well as any I own.

http://forum.surfermag.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=1228673&an=0&page=0#Post1228673

Kid Stoke

I was taking my 5 y/o son to Karate today and this is what he had to say,"Daddy, I'm glad your taking me to drop off my sister at Grandma and Grandpa's house before Karate, because I need to learn how to do it. Someday I want to be a Daddy just like you." That is the kind of thing that makes you feel so good, you just can't explain it to someone that doesn't have kids. Here is a pic of my two boys catching their first wave on July 3rd, two years ago.

The Mentawai Curse

I was lucky to get to go to the Mentawei's a few years back. Yea, the surf was great. Crowds were marginal. Boat was nice. Just me and 3 of my best friends sharing a boat and in most cases the lineup. All the things you would ever want on a trip. Those are the things I think about everyday. EVERY FRICKEN DAY. Day in, Day out. When will I ever get to experience that again?