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.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
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.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
SURFING; IN A FIX
I stopped by to visit a long time friend today who once shared a spot in the line up beside a piling at one of Pacific Beaches most predominant left peaks. We met at his business, the busiest surfboard repair shop in So. California and rapped about surfboards for over an hour. He and I came to one conclusion pretty quickly, back in our day the most frequent pain in the ass repair was due to de lamination. Caused by the blank itself, a bad pour or maybe some kind of contamination contracted accidentally some where along the production line. Super blue and ultra light blanks seemed to encourage even more frequent separations between foam and glass. Laminated fiberglass becomes a very springy material. If it gets depressed into soft foam by a striking action it will cause a reverse gravitational pull away from the depressed foam. M.A's law. De lamination's and heat bubbles can also result from leaving a dark colored board exposed to the hot sun for to long. The early nineties introduced us to our first foam borne epidemic, gassing. It caused little teeny tiny air vents to amass on the boards finished surface called blow throughs or pin air. My suspicion is maybe the EPA may have encouraged Grubby Clark to alter his foam blowing formulation. Or some newly installed foam mixing equipment could have been the culprit. When the glassing factories called him out on this problem, Clark claimed the glassers were at fault for adding to much MEK to the resin. Then told label owners if he heard of them purchasing blanks from any other supplier that he would cut them off completely. Clark's airtight monopoly gave him ultimate power over us builder types. That’s when some imaginative surfboard builder stumbled onto an acrylic floor sealer that acted as our quick fix surfboard sealer. It worked pretty well and is still in use today. Acrylic when scuffed back covers a multitude of sanding sins.
Today’s biggest problems like everything else in the world are more complicated. The influx of knock off, cheaply built foreign boards that are sold by discount chain stores are the new repair waiting to happen. And I am so sorry but the Styrofoam - epoxy built surfboards, custom or composite continue to be his local reoccurring nightmare. Some of the major eco friendly brands have completely disappeared. Water resistant in no way means waterproof.
Polyester, polyurethane boards have their share of problems too but they seem to relate more to a new product or procedure. I.e., Installation problems with fcs, futures, rookies fabricating glass-ons and areas that contain non subtle design gimmicks. More on mine and my righteous friends thoughts on surfboard building coming soon.
Today’s biggest problems like everything else in the world are more complicated. The influx of knock off, cheaply built foreign boards that are sold by discount chain stores are the new repair waiting to happen. And I am so sorry but the Styrofoam - epoxy built surfboards, custom or composite continue to be his local reoccurring nightmare. Some of the major eco friendly brands have completely disappeared. Water resistant in no way means waterproof.
Polyester, polyurethane boards have their share of problems too but they seem to relate more to a new product or procedure. I.e., Installation problems with fcs, futures, rookies fabricating glass-ons and areas that contain non subtle design gimmicks. More on mine and my righteous friends thoughts on surfboard building coming soon.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
EPS Surfboard Foam: Choices
Happy New Years to all, in order for these observations to make more sense please read them in posted order. EPS, ENHANCED-PENTANE-STYROFOAM, I made that up. Glassed with BGF Aerialite fiberglass drenched in Resin Research epoxy is another fairly popular method of high performance surfboard building. As a builder I find epoxy construction to be more problematic than polyester. Due to the relative newness of this epoxy we lack some badly needed effective tricks and techniques to put out a truly tightly built EPS product, yet. This is when the panel of foam mowers really blew my mind. Just because I’m old school, tried and true, I thought the conversation would go differently. They clearly recommended EPS not only because it makes ecological sense. They genuinely enjoy the way their own personal EPS boards ride, despite there lack of rack appeal. Another claim is that they don’t break down near as fast. And the sanded finish version closely resembles a poly finished in the same manner.
So my four shapers, after educating me into the present recommend only two EPS blanks. Scary….
Austin Foam, offers great service, selection, water resistance, densities and sizes.
Prop Foam, fills their needs for the more custom parabolic type blanks.
My intent for writing this is so you the surfboard riding public can be confident in ordering custom boards from your favorite professional builders again. And have your own ideas of the matierals you’d like your board built with.
So my four shapers, after educating me into the present recommend only two EPS blanks. Scary….
Austin Foam, offers great service, selection, water resistance, densities and sizes.
Prop Foam, fills their needs for the more custom parabolic type blanks.
My intent for writing this is so you the surfboard riding public can be confident in ordering custom boards from your favorite professional builders again. And have your own ideas of the matierals you’d like your board built with.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Clark Foam RIP: Solutions
Lets go back to poly’s and find out who might be the top four blank suppliers in this area. I questioned four professional every day shapers, not a wanna be in the bunch. Rusty, Rick Hammond, Hoy Runnels and Mike Russo. What I found out shocked me. The first credible blank co. that tried to save the day was Walker Foam, they had been around for as long as Clark and may have even been partners for a time. Anyhow after attempting
the impossible, Walker Foam suffered some quality lapses and dropped the ball a bit. It was a noble mission on their part but they ended up going under, from what I heard.
Just Foam, was a fairly new upstart foam co. at that time. I think they bit off more than what was chewable and didn't make my list.
Back to my panel of shapers who made it very clear that from a shapers stand point the new foam produced by Ice 9 and King Mac has proved to be superior to
the old Clark Foam.
Ice 9, high performance qualities= lightness and best compression strength. It’s creamy coloring may be its only downfall if any. I recommend this pick for your short board needs.
King Mac, excellent service, coloring and shape ability. Not completely perfect but try it I think you’ll like it. Mikey does.
U.S. Blanks, is my third pick they seem to have some know how and money behind them. Some of us get the feeling that Clark is only a phone call away. Selection and good service would be their attributes. Lower compression strengths may be the only reason for my number three rating.
Blair Foam, is my panels final forth pick. Personally I don’t know much about this foam, but my prestigious panel sticks by the Blair Foam Projects high rating.
the impossible, Walker Foam suffered some quality lapses and dropped the ball a bit. It was a noble mission on their part but they ended up going under, from what I heard.
Just Foam, was a fairly new upstart foam co. at that time. I think they bit off more than what was chewable and didn't make my list.
Back to my panel of shapers who made it very clear that from a shapers stand point the new foam produced by Ice 9 and King Mac has proved to be superior to
the old Clark Foam.
Ice 9, high performance qualities= lightness and best compression strength. It’s creamy coloring may be its only downfall if any. I recommend this pick for your short board needs.
King Mac, excellent service, coloring and shape ability. Not completely perfect but try it I think you’ll like it. Mikey does.
U.S. Blanks, is my third pick they seem to have some know how and money behind them. Some of us get the feeling that Clark is only a phone call away. Selection and good service would be their attributes. Lower compression strengths may be the only reason for my number three rating.
Blair Foam, is my panels final forth pick. Personally I don’t know much about this foam, but my prestigious panel sticks by the Blair Foam Projects high rating.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Surfboard Foam: The Problems
Dear Surfboard purchasing public,
How are you? I hope your doing well, Personally I must say I’ve missed you. Its been since early December a few years back on that fateful day when the foam died. I kind of felt like I had to withdraw, step back and see what surfing's great minds had in store for us. Industrious anything to make a buck people got creative. Lets try and make newer, safer, better and friendlier foam. Some of them came up with fairly descent foam. But didn’t have the know how to finish their product.We can’t really laminate a blank when resin is leaking all the way through it. A couple of entrepreneurs with uppity credentials, like aeronautical engineers went poor quick. They tried and tried and never could produce anything close to a decent blank. Easier said than done. For a couple of years these guys had me convinced that Grubby Clark must have been an absolute genius.
Reintroducing Styrofoam and epoxy, lighter more Eco friendly. More likely to blow up, take on water, melt down or cause major allergic reactions to certain human beings. Not enough flex is another problem. Don’t worry research has shown that if we weaken the epoxy by over sanding it we can provide greater over all flexibility which equals increased ride ability. But that non positive grabby feeling might still remain.
How about these composite boards, man do they look cool. Years ago when I worked for Hi Tech Sailboards we vacuum bagged, skinned and structurally strengthened cores with high density foams. The strongest = lightest known materials were used on every board we hand made. They were lightweight, state of the art flying machines. In most cases after one years use they retained absolutely no resale value.
Molded surfboards should take up only a small space in the surf shop. The beginner boards and buoys section. Some where within the area labeled, for kooks only. Oh yeah there a pretty good deal for the sellout pro or label owner who feels a need to pad his wallet. Molded sailboards are another animal all together. No flex, no problem. To light, just right. Guaranteed against defects for a year or your money back. And they put us custom sailboard builders all but out of business. Only a small contingent of the old faithful wind surfers remain loyal to polyester. On the other hand surfboards have a life uniquely all their own and its completely about flex. To much or not enough and a surfboard will become lethargic or unresponsive. Forever, will the molded surfboard be taking up room in our landfills. Please if you own one pass it on to the next kook.
Solutions coming soon....
How are you? I hope your doing well, Personally I must say I’ve missed you. Its been since early December a few years back on that fateful day when the foam died. I kind of felt like I had to withdraw, step back and see what surfing's great minds had in store for us. Industrious anything to make a buck people got creative. Lets try and make newer, safer, better and friendlier foam. Some of them came up with fairly descent foam. But didn’t have the know how to finish their product.We can’t really laminate a blank when resin is leaking all the way through it. A couple of entrepreneurs with uppity credentials, like aeronautical engineers went poor quick. They tried and tried and never could produce anything close to a decent blank. Easier said than done. For a couple of years these guys had me convinced that Grubby Clark must have been an absolute genius.
Reintroducing Styrofoam and epoxy, lighter more Eco friendly. More likely to blow up, take on water, melt down or cause major allergic reactions to certain human beings. Not enough flex is another problem. Don’t worry research has shown that if we weaken the epoxy by over sanding it we can provide greater over all flexibility which equals increased ride ability. But that non positive grabby feeling might still remain.
How about these composite boards, man do they look cool. Years ago when I worked for Hi Tech Sailboards we vacuum bagged, skinned and structurally strengthened cores with high density foams. The strongest = lightest known materials were used on every board we hand made. They were lightweight, state of the art flying machines. In most cases after one years use they retained absolutely no resale value.
Molded surfboards should take up only a small space in the surf shop. The beginner boards and buoys section. Some where within the area labeled, for kooks only. Oh yeah there a pretty good deal for the sellout pro or label owner who feels a need to pad his wallet. Molded sailboards are another animal all together. No flex, no problem. To light, just right. Guaranteed against defects for a year or your money back. And they put us custom sailboard builders all but out of business. Only a small contingent of the old faithful wind surfers remain loyal to polyester. On the other hand surfboards have a life uniquely all their own and its completely about flex. To much or not enough and a surfboard will become lethargic or unresponsive. Forever, will the molded surfboard be taking up room in our landfills. Please if you own one pass it on to the next kook.
Solutions coming soon....
My Pictures
Backside at
Sungold Point 1982Backside at Sungold Point
1970South Mission Jetty 1972:1st wsa card
My son Todd showing off my blackball busting 5 foot soft board.My book the Southern CaliforniaBeach and Surf discriptionary.
My daughter Lauren showing off the prototype soft surfboard I designed in the 90's.
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