Peru

Had the chance to take a surf trip to Peru recently with 3 other friends. Although I've actually surfed on a number of vacations to foreign countries, this was the first true SURF trip I've ever taken. Crazy, huh? Our group was headed to perfect left-hand pointbreaks and the 'longest waves in the world'. Stoked! Only, someone forgot to remind the ocean to send ample swell to Peru while we were there. :-( We actually scored super fun, playful waves on the first day of our trip (it seemed like the swell gods were going to be smiling on us), but the swell died off each day from then on. Four more days of small and weak surf followed and things looked bleak surf-wise. Luckily we were eating epic food the entire time, had unreal weather, plenty of local brew, great accomodations right on the water, and unbelievably perfect setups to check out all over the coast, courtesy of our hilarious and classic guide, "Octopus". Made the call to take a long drive south to 'one of the longest lefts in the world', and ended up getting fun (albeit mushy) and long waves for the last two days of the trip, salvaging what would have been a pretty surf-starved trip. Yay! Pretty cool to be able to do 4 or 5 or 8 full roundhouse cutbacks on the same wave, then maybe pick off another wave on your way back out for another 5 or so carves and a looooong paddle back up the point. I can't even fathom what some of the waves we saw and surfed would be like with overhead waves everyday. Perfection, no doubt. Another trip, perhaps?

Best fish I've ridden...

Got my hands on a Hynson 'Black Knight Quad 2' recently (stoked) and I think I've decided that this is the best fish I've ever ridden. I've been on the fish kick for the past few years, rotating between twin-keels, twinzers, and quads. I've had quite a few that I've really been stoked on, but this bad boy just flat out works in just about every condition. Not just a groveler, yet not needing good waves either (yet outstanding in both settings). Super loose when you want it to be, more drive than you need to get you down the line in a hurry, and so incredibly RIPPABLE if you push it hard. The board is certainly capable of much more than I can give it, but I'm finding I can surf so much more aggressively on this fish than any other and am continually amazed at how well it translates what I dish out into way more than I expect. Good, good stuff...get one.

How much foam is 'just right' for you?

Picked up another (yes, I know) board from Jacob Bullock the other day and took it out for the first time today. When I first had it in my hands, I thought the rails were WAY too beefy and that the board might possibly feel clunky because of it. Dims are 6'4" x 21 1/4" x 2 5/8" with the volume completely pulled out to the rails and a very flat deck. Well, guess what? I was wrong. The board paddles really, really well, picks up waves with ease, and is absolutely BUTTER on carves. After one session in fun reef waves, I think the extra volume actually helped with gliding through the flats and keeping momentum in soft, mushy waves. Did I mention butter? I actually remembered a comment Bullock made about seeing me on my fish the last time we surfed together....that it looked like I might not have enough volume. Guess he was right. To be continued... The board in question:

9'5" Bullock beauty

Jacob Bullock had shaped me a 9'4" classic noserider last year that

I had really been enjoying for what it was...a classic style noserider.

Unreal tip-time, but wasn't the easiest to turn or the most

versatile log in general. I saw this model at his place that he had

shaped for another customer, and knew I had to have one. He calls

this model the 'Bully' since the original was shaped for a big Samoan

friend of his who's a bully...plus the fact that you can take all of the

waves you want with it. I call it 'Butter'.

I've only surfed this a couple of times so far, but from the very first

session, I knew this was what I was after. Catches waves like, well,

a bully, and is soooooooo smooth off the bottom, off the top and on

turns. To top it off, the board noserides at least as good (probably

better) than the original noserider. Best first impression I've ever

had from any longboard...and I've been on some really good ones.

If you're looking for an unbelievable all-around longboard, this is

the one. Already have another friend who ordered one and a bunch

of people asking about it as a possible next order.

Look forward to summer fun on this baby!

New shred sled from Brownfish

A while back, Gary (Brownfish) shaped me a really fun keel fin fish

based off of his beloved Pavel Superbank...but blown up to my size.

I've really enjoyed that board and have had some memorable

waves on it all over the place. Gary is somewhat of a hobbyist shaper

as he has a full-time career, wife and kids, house...the whole bit.

He shapes a few boards for friends and aquaintances and has, in a

very short period, become pretty damn skilled at turning foam

into fun surfing vehicles.

At the last Sacred Craft Surf Expo, I had come across an 'HP Keel'

fish that really interested me. Gary saw a comment I posted

about that board on the erBB and had apparently been throwing

around the idea for something similar (a keel fish meant for steeper,

better waves...a bit more pulled in and with a touch more rocker).

He asked if I was interested in him shaping one for me, making

it very difficult to say no by his generous offer. This board is what

came of that offer. He came up the color idea from some boards

he saw somewhere and I told him to just do what he wanted with

it. Needless to say, I'm rediculously stoked on how it came out and

can't wait to get it in the water at the first chance. To top it off,

Gary insisted that I use the board with the beautiful Marlin Bacon

Fins101 bamboo keels pictured here. I look forward to seeing

what all the fuss is about these fins as well! This one came out at

6'2" x 20.5" x 2 5/8" with full volume through the middle and pretty

foiled out rails, tail, and nose. Shaped, glassed, painted, and polished

by Mr. Brownfish.

Thanks again Gary!

Anything But 3 Surfboard Gathering '09

Attended another super fun surfboard gathering this morning, the annual 'Anything but 3' event held this year at Oceanside Harbor... Had a blast this morning. Showed up before dawn to reallyfun peaky surf up and down the beach. Rode a couple of incredibly fun boards as well. First I took out Kaser's Zamora mini-Sim. At 5'7", I didn't think there was any way my 6'3", 200+ lb. frame would catch waves on the thing, butthat board pics up waves like something a foot bigger.Soooo fast right out of the gate, causing me to outrun abunch of waves, but had a blast on it and could see reallydiggin one of those as an alternative shape. Also trieda Pendoflex that was not nearly enough board for me, butseemed like it would have been fun in good waves.Then tried a Zippi twin keel that was 5'9". Again, thoughtthere was no way it would be enough board for me, but aslong as the wave stood up a bit to get into it, that boardkicked serious ass. Fun, loose, and playful in a small package. So many insanely nice boards all over the beach today andgreat people to chat with, made for one hell of a morning.Great to see and surf with many of you again. IMO,this was a much better venue for this type of event since people could spread out to all different peaks and catch10x the waves you could at Crowdiff. Was really bummedI had to leave around 9 to go to a family event in the OC.Stopped by the Fish Joint around 4pm to see some great livemusic, chat with a good group of people, and see some awards given out by the good folks at Ice9.Great day...thanks Shawn, Tony, JP, JJR, and anyone elsethat was involved in putting this together.

Tried and true, or alternative materials?

It's funny to me how surfers, who most like to think of as open-minded, free-thinking folk, are often extremely close-minded when it comes to alternative forms of surfboard construction and production. What I'm talking about here is the steadfast commitment of some to the old standard 'poly' surfboards along with their complete degradation of other techniques such as 'sandwich' construction, vacuum-bagging, EPS/epoxy, XTR/epoxy, etc. Don't get me wrong...I've been plently happy with the resin-tinted, gloss & polish 'poly' boards I've been getting of late and think many simply prefer the feel of what they've grown up with and are used to. I just think there are so many cool new forms of technology in the surfboard industry that haven't quite caught on due to the reluctance of many to try something new. I read an article recently where Bill 'Stretch' Reidel (sp?) was quoted praising Surftech's technology, and it made me think about how much these 'popouts' are slammed by so-called purists. I've had 2 boards in Surftech technology, and both were really fun, positive feeling boards. I owned another board (Cobalt) in a similar technology that was one of the funnest longboards I've ridden. While I understand (and agree with) many arguments that surfers should support their local shapers, I find it pretty ironic that just about every other product most of us use while surfing is made elsewhere without so much as a whisper of the contempt shown towards 'popout' surfboards. I dunno...just something that strikes me as odd. Needless to say, I'm plently happy with the 'poly' beauties I've been getting from my local shaper. I think there should be a bit more open-mindedness towards alternatives at the same time. Just my $.02.