SKIP FRYE , "Wings over Baja" 1968ish

 Most enjoyable time I spent with the Wind an Sea Surf Club? Watching a contest. Surf clubs from all over the place converged at San Miguel, Baja, Ca. To show case the talents of their members in this WSA sanctioned event. The Wind an Sea beach bunnies and Butch Van Artsdalen showed up. I remember well, because I cut him off while free surfing south of the jetties. He scared the holy crap out of this 14 year old as he glared at me and said." Son, take'n off in front of me is like jumping in front of a locomotive!"'  Now famous for their offspring, the Irons brothers were even rumored to be there. Leroy Grannis attended with his bigger than life telephoto lenses focused on the reeling three to six foot surf. My favorite surfer Skip Frye lead the charge for our club and was like usual, making perfection look easy. This was during a time when surfboards were getting shorter and powerful carving turns were in order to keep things moving forward.
That Sunday watching Mr. Frye compete was like poetry in motion. He would drop in, flow up and down with the smoking curl line, naugh nah nah nah nah naaaaaah. Then come gliding completely outside the waves shoulder, after a slight counter turn, Walla! Skip would pull off the biggest most beautiful roundhouse cutbacks on ocean. Wave after wave he would ride flawlessly with that stylish gracefulness only he seems to possess. Ultimately he secured the win for our club.
Up until that time Skipper did not compete on Sundays. Thor Swenson, then the director of Wind an Sea had to convince the pastor of Frye's church, to convince Skip that it would be spiritually all right to surf for his club that Sunday. Somehow it all worked out.

Surfboards, Order Custom. Why?

Giving advice seems to be my passion lately so here’s some over qualified thoughts on successfully attaining your next terminally ill custom surfboard. Pick your favorite surf shop and order the board you really want. First choose a quality brand name and experienced shaper. Why?, No one wants to make you happier than your local surf shop and no one shapes better than someone whose done it over and over and over again. Order it when the weather is cool and humidity’s are normal. Why?, Resin gets a little temperamental when exposed to heat and humidity. Ask for the board to be shaped from an Arctic Foam or a Millennium blank. Why?, Because I care about you and I’ve done the research. Stay away from dark colors, just a small bit of sun will make your wax melt and a large amount of the suns heat can and will cause delamination within those dark colored areas. Keep the stickers to a minimum. Why?, Lamination's are time sensitive. Keeping things simple decreases chances for human error. Order their factory standard glassing with an extra full or three quarter patch of 4 oz. S added to the deck. Why?, It’s the smartest lightest most inexpensive way to prolong the life of your board. Hard on your boards ? Order glass on fins. If it’s a long board with a box ask for an oval or football patch for reinforcement. Patches that end abruptly in high stress areas may encourage breakage. If you’re a performance addict I’d recommend a 320 straight line sanded finish. Why?, Done quicker, easily maintained and seems faster through the water. Maybe you’re the meticulous type and having fun is your main goal then by all means go with a gloss and polish. Why?, What little you lose in performance will be way made up for in luxurious hand crafted beauty. Those who tend to want a bit more longevity built into their stick might want a sanded gloss. Why?, It’s a thin diluted gloss coat that doesn’t add to much weight yet seals any missed air and adds a touch more strength still keeping its high performance characteristics. Special thanks go out to Eric (Bird) Huffman, owner of Birds Surf Shed and Joe Roper for their input.