Big Wave Longboarding

I used to watch Laird Hamilton, Dave Kalama and friends take Hookipa apart on big longboards long before the stand up paddle craze. Lots of broken boards and leashes. Here is a ten footer for California Winter Surf.

Dick Brewer

Dick Brewer gave me some pointers while shaping balsa tow boards for Myles Padaca and Pancho Sullivan to ride on the North Shore this winter.

Larry Fuller

A few weeks back Larry Fuller and I loaded our vans with his redwood blanks. These particular boards were going to be shaped by Phil Edwards, Yater, Al Merrick and Donald Takayama. The wood is salvaged from old growth redwood that was used in giant wine barrels up in Northern California. Each Blank weighs several hundred pounds but the smell of the wood is beautiful.

Step Up for Ocean Beach

Quad with a Swallowtail. Ran into Rich Toby Pavel and he had made a beauty like this for Darrick Doerner.
Catch waves and get barreled.

Gun for Mavericks

This board is a 11'9 Gun for Mavericks, Waimea and Todos Santos this upcoming winter. It is 11'9 by 29.

Curtis Hesselgrave Gun Fins

New Curtis Hesselgrave Brian Wilson Gun Fin for a 11'6 single fin gun. Thanks Brian Wilson and Bill Bahne.

Tow Board Step Off Board and Kiteboard

Well I was stoked to shape some different boards in this batch. All these boards are fun and interesting because paddle power is not the main concern. Everything about them is more like a waterski than a surfboard. Plus you have different fin placements and high density foam which is alot like balsa. Roy Sanchez and Jeff Morgan and the boys at Global Glassing have been knocking it out of the park for me.

Global Glassing

Larry Fuller inspecting the seven foot winged pin single fin from Jesse Tuesday. 9'6 Thruster Gun for Mike Schlebach from Dungeons. And a ACID SPLASH trip from the Alex Via Lobos at Global Glassing. Stoked!!! As Larrry would say "Oh Yeah Now!" Got some nice pointers from Hank and Tom Eberly today and got a look at Jeff Clark's new SUP guns which are wicked.

Huntington Beach and Beyond

I just got back to Huntington Beach to work on some surfboards and fix the deck of my parents house.
I am really excited to work with Hydroflex Surfboards in Oceanside this weekend. I had lunch with Carl Ekstrom and he showed my some top secret finless design work that was amazing!!! We stopped by to see Jim Phillips and the boys up on the hill. Jimmy was working on some beautiful wood boards and some unreal five stringer logs as well. I am also going to be shaping some boards in Global Glassing over the weekend hopefully we will run into Jeff Clark and congratulate him on the big win. Crow Haley came by and we discussed some changes and new improvements to our new big wave leash so keep your eyes peeled.

Seven Degrees of Surf

I'm lucky to get to work with guys like Curtis Hesselgrave and Brian Wilson at Fins Unlimited. I was blown away by Curtis Fins right away. Curtis lent me his longboard with a fin he had been developing. I have never gotten so much projection on any other board. He has since made me many fins from quad sets for small wave boards to full gun fins for Mavericks.
Erik at Axxe Wetsuits is another guy who has changed my life. The Axxe program is simple. Make the best wetsuits in the world. I feel like a cheater out there in the cold San Francisco water. My 5/3 has lasted over two seasons and gives me so much flexibility its like not having a wetsuit on at all. Another added bonus is that they dry quick if I want to get back in the water in the afternoon.
Crow Haley has been making and refining my leashes for several years now. He makes all the leashes by hand in America. I used one of his leashes at Peahi Jaws last season that saved my life.
Matt Shadbolt was my hero at Huntington Pier and The Wedge. He has been helping me get sweet shades from Electric Sunglasses. My favorites are the BSG II Polarized. They are great for driving and fishing.
Dick Brewer is my shaping teacher. He is the best shaper and designer in the world.
We just finished a DVD together about how to shape surfboards.

Kitesurfing

South Wind today at Ocean Beach. I went for a downwinder with Jamy Donaldson, Grant Twiggy Baker and Randy Cone. Ended up walking back to Noriega and getting a ride back from Danny Hess. It sure beats paddling! Ben Andrews could win the Mavericks Contest on Saturday.