tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63127122812215331332024-03-13T06:05:16.997-07:00Born To Loseborntoloserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02922208514367026740noreply@blogger.comBlogger221125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312712281221533133.post-89613479431218618502018-02-04T07:08:00.001-08:002018-02-04T07:08:45.661-08:00Skip Frye, Gliders, from an interview<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "SF Optimized", system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.12px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
Skip Frye, Gliders, from an interview for an article about big boards in TSP, 2010:<br />Pardon typos and the like as it was just a transcription of an interview.</div>
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______________________________________<br />All the spots I surf are so expanded the paddling alone, the ****’s 300 yards,</div>
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I think it’s versatile, I think I ride tighter on a bigger board than a little board you out manuever yourself a lot on a shorter board, they’re so into up and down back and forth that they lose it. With a big board everything is really set</div>
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I think it expands your whole realm that you’re in the first time I took one out at ****, it was march of 90 when I made the first one, I had two breaks in my command at all times. I was going all the way to the beach. Which you can’t do on a shorter board, you don’t have the glide. You just get longer more complete rides,</div>
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If I see a set coming down the **** I could run over to the next break and grab the wave and then catch the set at another break down the line.</div>
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I didn’t want to get stuck in one place and wear out the welcome, kind of like the SUP guys are now. They’ve kind of taken the heat off of me. But I try to be conscience about that. Especially since I still dabble in shortboards.</div>
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I mostly do the cc sessions at the ****. Six breaks is a normal venture for me. I’ve done up to 14 breaks. All the way down to **** and then back up to ****. You probably could do twenty breaks if you decided to.</div>
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Riding 11’ and above boards got me into cross country surfing with all boards. It helped me get to know more breaks.</div>
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**** pretty toast, it ‘s gone through the stages. Back in the 70s it was pretty intense, then it kind of regressed and now it’s just packed with all the kids. I used to hang out there all the time, like in the 70’s I was like, this is it</div>
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People get locked into one wave and they don’t think about anything else, maybe it’s the social structure or friends but they forget to explore.</div>
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I just made a 7’11 fish. I kept taking my fish up. They’re normally 5-6 feet. Rawson made a 6’9 blank and as asoon as I saw it I was like, yeah maybe I can still do it. As I get older the 6’ realm is pretty much out of my comfort zone. I do’t even ride a 6’9 much anymore. That’s when I made the 7’11. I got a Japanese order for a 7’11 fish and I was kind of balked at it then when it came out I was like, wow! I ride it as a true keel.</div>
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I got into ****, but there was this one older guy who wouldn’t give an inch. I started to get an attitude but then I thought, forget it, I’m not going to get mad, so I paddled down to ****, and surfed the 7’11. Then some sup guy came down and started to take all the set waves. So I kept paddling down. It just kind of burned me on shortboards. It’s so much work and it’s just not as smooth and complete and flowing. And that’s a big part of my surfing.<br />I make boards for speed and flow and less resistance. That’s why you won’t find many boards with big round noses. They’re all kind of sleek and streamlined. It goes from Phil Edwards, who influenced me in the 60’s, that was his take. He used to say he wanted to make boards like a javelin.</div>
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Pintalil came from quigg, who was before Edwards. Quigg made the pintalil to get across Rincon and fit in the hollow sections there. Then from the islands…downing and all, we’re all reflections of each other as far as shaping and designing goes.</div>
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That was all stevie lis. He was the godfather of all that. I get a lot more credit for that whole movement then I should. I just saw stevie. He went faster than anyone I ever saw. In our realm. He’d pop off a turn and get like a hyperspace compared to everyone else. He'd just fly. I’ve always been a guy streamline speed and that captured my imagination all the way.</div>
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It was the early 90s. I was tired of the same old shapes. I studied Bob Simmons, and didn’t pay much attention to the history of design until I got older then my love of surfing took me to learning the history and the design and the whole makeup of the sport.</div>
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I learned about simmons and saw that he had the training and education and I looked at his boards. They’re all really straight. I was talking to Carl Ekstrom about Simmons and something that sticks in my mind is “nothing under a ten inch tailblock.” Cause any kind of curve you have on a board, rocker, template, contours, any curve you have means the slower it’s going to go. The straighter the faster. Curve helps you turn, but slows you down.</div>
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That’s were quigg and kivlin diverged from simmons. They wanted the manueverablility. And simmons wanted fast and straight ahead. I looked at simmons' principles, he was one of the first to use concaves and stuff. And I looked at the fish, and that’s really in line with simmons thinking. And over the course of a couple of months I thought about it and then put it together. I went to simmons min. 10” tailblock, first one was 9’3 with single, double, vee, then I was thinking about the fins as an anchor and decided to use a tri.</div>
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I’ve always thought that a tri with small profile fins are faster in a straight line than a 9’half inch single. I had an argument with parmenter about that one time.</div>
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I just started to outfit these boards with 2+1 s and tris.</div>
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That’s a whole new breakthrough. I just asked mike lobel who has the fin company, I just want smaller side bites. And he comes back with a drawing and he has two smaller ones, 3” and 3 and a quarter and he even makes two smaller 2.75 and 2.5 . And I was just about to go there and he beat me to it. So now I don’t even ride anything above 3 and a quarter. And as times progress, fin wise they’ve gotten smaller and smaller. I would say 75% of the surfing public is over finned.</div>
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With the alaia bordsa the fins are really in everyone’s minds. Quigg made phil Edwards a hot curl with no fins and a deep vee and phil stated that he wasn’t so sure that boards needed fins. And now we’re seeing these alai boards. I don’t know about those boards at sunset, you might need a little rocker, but it sure is interesting.</div>
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Today I rode an 11’3 and used a 6” fin and 2 ¾ sidebites. And it was plenty of fins.</div>
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The flatter a board is the less fin you need.</div>
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I’m probably experimenting now more than ever with rocker on the big board. I’ve never been an exact rocker afficianado. A little bit hrere, a little less there. But with the new blanks after Clark closed I've been changing rockers a bit and I’m finding I like a little more rocker. Just as long as I don’t lose speed. But with the bottoms the way they are, with the concaves through the denter. And my soft rails I like that.</div>
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I use those rails because I like the way they feed through the water. They negate chop and just flow better than the hard rail.</div>
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Greenough and simmons were similar in their hul design, a lot of spoon and roll up front to negate chop and weird undulations so everything spreads out so your boards travels on a smooth surface. I like a little roll up front. It just goes through the water in a smoother way. So the center concave is my way to add in lift and planing leading up to that soft roll in the front. It’s kind of yin yang. I don’t know it would probably go just as good flat!</div>
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I just made a 10’6 at 3” for a lady shaper. It’s probably one of the best 10’6 I ever rode. I glassed it light and it just cut through the water.</div>
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The first time I ever tripped on weight, I was about 150 and my daughter was about 50 pounds and I took her out on a beefy 8’er and it just bent and floated funny and I really tuned into how weight and volume have to be worked on in conjunction.</div>
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Lance Carson rides like me a bit so he dabbled with the big boards a bit. He’s kind of old school with the soft tail and rail. That’s the way Edwards was too. One of the last times I talked with him he looked at the rails and said, well, maybe this is the way to go. I’d like to sit down and talk to him about rails. All I know is oyu need the breakaway. Those curved rails kind of suck the water. It’s not my thing. I want speed and flow, a to z.</div>
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In ’68 when the shortboard revolution hit that’s when all the open mindedness hit. We really were all pretty standardized before that hit. Greenough set the tone for all of that both here and in oz. He’s probably had as much influence on the sport as anyone in the last 50 years, since simmons died.</div>
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GG looked at fins as tools of flex. He said we ought to be more like fish. It makes you more fluid, faster. In the old movies, the boards kind of clunk around, and part of that was fighting the fin.</div>
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I don’t especially spread the big boards to other shapers intentionally. Josh and others showed an interest and I was happy to share. You know we’re all reflections of one another. All my stuff didn’t come from me. I’m a reflection of brewer and hynson and lopez and Edwards and Carson and midget farrely</div>
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in fact the first bands I ever went wow, look at those bands, were a midget farrely boards. He was working for G&S for a while, he stopped right in the middle of his bands and went home for the night and I took a good look at them and just went wow! It definitely left an impression on my mind as far as how to put a rail together.</div>
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It hasn’t really gravitated. There was a little surge here. But more for the bigger guys, who finally got something that would take them along and they could paddle and manage. It’s a really sparce thing. I think most people want to focus on maneuverability. I like to do it too, but for me personally, the big boards are where I get the most pleasure.</div>
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Josh is about as close and Larmo dabbles a bit.</div>
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I made a few boards for a guy in France. In his country he’s like what I am in SD. When I was over there I made boards for him in 93. 94. He’s kind of followed up since then and I’ve made him a few more since then. In fact I made him an eagle just last year.</div>
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I don’t ride sketchy places. Most of the waves I ride are long walls.</div>
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It’s old style surfing. IT’s kind of like a lost art. It will probably disappar after a while. Trim being at the essence of the surfing experience. You’ve got to have a controlled, casual style to function with these boards.</div>
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First time I rode sunset, hynson made these 4 pintail guns, 106 106 108 1011, I’d never ridden sunset. I rode it the night before. The next morning in the contest I just wanted the most paddling I could get. I went out in my heat and just rode the biggest one I could. It was 65. I did get a drop, that’s all I remember.</div>
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Sunset is so expanded. To me I’d want a big board. Paddle power to get into it. The first time I saw sunset it was like a house rolling down a street. It was just like you were going to be run over by a house.</div>
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That’s one of my favorite rides on the big board. Above 6’ and a nice 300 yard ride. Longest wave I ever got there was **** to the other side of the canyon. On the 11’0 fish simmons.</div>
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I kind of have personal records for any spot, any spot with any length to it.</div>
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Rincon used to be my favorite spot, but there’s so many shortboarders it’s a whole nother ballgame. I’m kind of done. I’m not motivated to go up there so much. If I could stay a week or so and catch the in between times. I’ll probably do it again. After it get’s smaller and the shortboards dissapear it’s still pretty fun. It’s the most perfect wave I’ve ever surfed.</div>
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San o is my main travel place. July and August that’s what I think about.</div>
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Just don’t hog the waves. There’s guys that do. The young guys tend to no matter where you’re at</div>
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Never. I think the main thing Is the boards are so gross. The boards are not streamlined. I like streamlined. Those things are the grossest thing. To me it’s the pig farm. The best thing is that they rake the heat of fof me on my boards. They’re not really nice to watch. They’re just ugly. The best guy I’ve seen ride one is tudor, but he rides everyting well. It just doesn’t appeal to me at all. I want it simple. You’ve got two paddles, one on each arm. That’s all you need. I just don’t like it. I’m not against the guys that do it unless they abuse it.</div>
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Life’s short, ride longboards. In the overall scheme of the history of surfing, I like to think that I’m in tune with how the ancient Hawaiians might surf.</div>
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At one point scorp bay was a destination I thought I’d really like to do but now they’re building houses, and everyone goes, tis just like Malibu or Rincon. I’ve got my little realm and I’m pretty much satisfied with it.</div>
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It grabbed me like nothing has ever grabbed me in fifty years of surfing. It was the most dynamic thing that ever grabbed me that first eleven footer that I ever rode. And for three years that’s all I ‘d ride, 11-12. 10 nah, it’s too short, it’s just the sensation and the glide and the whole speed. Nothing ever held my attention and stoked me as much as that first three years in the early nineties with the big boards.</div>
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The first one was a big soft squaretail.</div>
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It has so much planing and paddling power compared to other shortboards. I tried some of those little shortboards a bit but didn’t know what to do with them. It’s just too hurky jerky to me</div>
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Our fish are pretty close. I just pretty much copied what he did. As fast as he went I didn’t need to change anything.</div>
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Pendo-He’s really cutting edge and experimental. Flextails and such.</div>
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I’ve tried just one quad, josh made me a quad. It came and went in the eighties but I never felt like revisiting. One thing is they’re faster, just straight ahead faster.</div>
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It’s fun to do. You don’t have to power out boards. For a lot of time it was overburdening to do. I had to get so many boards a day. Now it’s fun. I don’t burn my self out. Everyone is a little different and I like that. It’s been so established from the history of the sport. It’s probably more relished now then ever.</div>
andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14514050163526577381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312712281221533133.post-5126715964669333862016-08-19T16:50:00.002-07:002016-08-19T16:50:26.084-07:00text, Bird Huffman, Home to Roost, Revolt in Style Magazine<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14514050163526577381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312712281221533133.post-84457127655945478902016-08-19T16:48:00.001-07:002016-08-19T16:48:58.131-07:00text and article, scott chandler article, revolt in style magazine<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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By Andrew Smith<br />Photos by Aaron Goulding (unless noted)</div>
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It’s become cliche´ to be a surfer in San Diego. Every stretch of coast from Imperial Beach to the Orange County line seems to be home to droves of faceless buoys, bobbing silently in the sea. Each car seems to be carrying a surfboard on its roof while zinc-screened groms peer through the windows. And why not? San Diego is a remarkably fortunate zone from a surfer’s perspective. Moderate weather and water temperature couple with easy coastal access and the kind of surf infrastructure that make learning to surf convenient. Surf camps raise children to be surfers while their parents deal with their midlife crises by waxing up and hitting the waves.</div>
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But in the midst of the great crush of superficially stoked surf dabblers there are those who earn the right to be called true watermen. Scott “Channy” Chandler stands as a paradigm in this regard. He has been scuba certified since he was eleven. He holds the world record for catching a 170 pound mako shark off of a surfboard. He has competed with legends like Joey Buran and Mark Occhilupo. He is the only San Diego surfer seeded into the prestigious Jaws Invitational big wave event. He is a transcendent surfer.</div>
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“I’ve always been a stoked surfer, but I’ve also always had a hunger to push myself in new directions with my surfing.” says Chandler. In the mid eighties Scott Chandler embarked on a journey that would change the course of his life forever. Finding himself enthralled by the surfing life he made his way to Mecca, the North Shore of Oahu. While on the island enjoying the warm water and fantastic surf, Chandler learned to shape surfboards under iconic craftsmen Dick Brewer and Owl Chapman. He also challenged himself with waves that had real consequence, far different than those he found at home in San Diego. “Pipeline is where I really cut my big-wave teeth,” Chandler recalls. “I got to surf with Gerry Lop ez and all the big names but it was that spot that is the real star in my mind.” Hawaii is where he developed a taste for large waves and discovered his talent for riding the pacific beasts.</div>
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There is not a whisper of wind moving across the water where Chandler sits on his Jet Ski, ready to be towed into sixty foot waves at Cortez Bank. These treacherous and awe-inspiring mountains of water appear in the middle of the ocean some hundred miles off of the San Diego coastline. Here, powerful swells push onto submerged undersea mounts to produce the incredible waves Chandler has come to ride. Chandler remembers, “In the 80’s a fisherman told me about the waves at The Bank. I just thought there was no way he was right. It turns out there really are these amazing big waves in this surreal location. “ As his surf session plays out Scott finds himself exhilarated by the experience, while somehow finding calm at his center. It seems big-wave surfing brings Chandler to a point of understanding, almost ecstatic recognition of how fortunate he is to be at play with nature’s most amazing forces. “I’ve always felt excitement and fear with big waves. It’s that fear that draws me to it. It teaches me about my limits.” Chandler confides.</div>
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Scott Chandler is not all about big waves and jaw dropping feats. As an early adopter of the standup paddleboard phenomenon, Chandler has had the opportunity to explore the nuance and capabilities of the discipline. He has ridden standup boards in double overhead barrels in mainland Mexico and used them to cruise the mellow summer days in his local surf spots. Today, you will find his image displayed heavily in standup paddle publications of all kinds. “Some people don’t like the standup thing,” Chandler notes. “People don’t like change. I embrace it and look at it as a new exploration.”</div>
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Chandler uses his accumulated experience to create fantastic surfboards, standup paddleboards, kiteboards, and all manner of other watercraft. He also does stunt work, film work, and water safety at big wave surf events. Making his living as a surfer and surfboard shaper has brought him deep satisfaction personally. Now, Chandler is giving to others through his talents. Recently, Chandler participated in a fundraising endeavor to raise money supporting animal charities. Not surprising for a surfer who has won the Coronado Surfing Dog competition with his canine companion four years in a row. He is even teaching his pot-bellied pig to surf.</div>
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Scott Chandler demonstrates the most compelling aspects of what being a surfer can mean. He is physically healthy, emotionally grounded, and singularly devoted to interacting with nature at peak levels. He finds the joy grown from years of living a surfer’s life to both enrich him personally and benefit those around him. A committed father, Chandler shows that surfers can responsibly balance home responsibilities with the ever-present draw of the ocean. Amongst hoards of San Diego surf-clones, Scott Chandler has stood as an original for years. He will continue to stand as a unique individual as he extends his exploration of surfing performance.</div>
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andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14514050163526577381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312712281221533133.post-37517473617653226562016-08-17T20:25:00.003-07:002016-08-17T20:25:25.788-07:00Text, Pendoflex, Slide surfing magazine<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9v1mOnsohpc/V7Upw4XggBI/AAAAAAAAL7I/ypJOqEACKPYayenyUCDYy8AeUiy0hsRvwCLcB/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-08-17%2Bat%2B8.20.19%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9v1mOnsohpc/V7Upw4XggBI/AAAAAAAAL7I/ypJOqEACKPYayenyUCDYy8AeUiy0hsRvwCLcB/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-08-17%2Bat%2B8.20.19%2BPM.png" width="320" /></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">Flex Patterns: Steve Pendarvis</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By Andrew Smith</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">February 2012</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Special people often come from special places.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is a place that seems to exist in the common sub-consciousness of all surfers. A place we know by intuition and experience that exists in each coastal community. It is a place where perfection is not expected but is the fruition of daydreams and preparation joined. A place where each dazzling session is balanced with countless anonymous others. A place where the familiarity of coast, beach, reef and waves is matched by the comfortable glances from co-conspirators out to stoke their salty fire. Here is a trail to the quality known wave and another to that lonely back beach where a handful of average but empty waves can serve as an outlet, an escape. Here the young battlers find their niche alongside aged monks, settled in the sea both. This is a place of familiarity, of identity, of comfort and of conformity.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From these places come characters who slip into familiar roles. We know them at a glance. The competitive hopeful with tell-tale white board, sodden with the labels of surfing profiteers, walks the shore just as the wide-eyed novice ambles by. The yoga mom with her new board, all plumerias and poses, marches along the same path as the coffee dependent daily-dawn mysto-man. In our minds we are sure of the roles these characters fill. We have mapped the universe of beach, ocean, wave and rider.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But search with patience and persistence and you may come to find the exceptions. There are places where the rules are just a tad different. Yes, the facade seems familiar. But the fundamental understandings and actions of some surf zones are simply unique. From these unique places come unique people.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">South San Diego’s Steve Pendarvis has been blessed with residence in one of these unique surf zones. His area boasts the rare combination of quality waves and managed crowds. Discipline and tradition have earned a measure of order among the reefs and beaches in his backyard. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As unusual as this is, the people of this area are even more remarkable. They are creative and experimental folks who feed their thirst for surf with equal parts progressive modernism and respect for traditions. The local surfers are inheritors of a radical heritage that requires experimentation and innovation in search of a complete surf experience. Steve Pendarvis came of age in this area and has developed his singular vision for surfing and design as a result.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Steve “Pendo” Pendarvis, now 57 years old, has been beach-side since he was a child. One of six siblings, Steve was born to a loving family who encouraged free days of fun and exploration on the shores of Ocean Beach, Steve’s natural rhythms have long been set to the tides. One of the first photographs of Steve shows him as a baby laying atop a Tom Blake styled kookbox paddleboard with his father proudly smiling alongside.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">His friends, too, brought him to the shore. It was routine for troupe of neighborhood kids to find their way to the local beach where the beginnings of Steve’s surfing life took root. “My mom or another mom in the neighborhood would pick up the neighborhood kids, when we were just nine and ten years old, and drop us off at Ocean Beach with our surf mats.” Pendarvis recalls, “We would just try to run over the tourists and have terrible fun.” </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Those early years of enthusiastic wave play evolved quite naturally into the thoughtful design and creation of surfcraft. Even in his pre-teenage years Pendarvis began to explore what could be done to maximize his fun on a wave. “I would build paipos and bellyboards from the time I was ten.” Pendo remembers, “It was just what I did, build things.” Steve found that the creation of surf craft suited him. He was both capable at designing and fabricating his visions.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before long he had turned his home into a stoked surf-rat’s laboratory. “Between 1965 and ‘70 I made boards in my garage at home.” recalls Pendarvis, “Later I built a shed out back where we made our own boards and skateboards.” These formative days proved to be instrumental in allowing Pendarvis to emerge as the ingenious creator he is today. “That shed is where I first got together with guys like Stanley (Pleskunas), Ben Ferris, John Riddle and Stevie Lis. We would really dig into surf design in my shed and in their zones.” Steve remembers fondly.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">During this same period Steve made his way to the local reefs, opening his world to more consistent, high quality test tracks for his sea machines. “My big brother kind of introduced me to the reefs.” Steve says, “He found a balsa longboard at a local reef and re-shaped it for me into a 7’-11. The moment I started surfing those waves it was all I could think about. I would ride my bike down to the beach after school, grab a board I had stashed in the bushes and hit the surf. I did it hundreds of times.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Along with exposure to the waves came full membership in the local tribe of surfers- a position not easily gained and highly coveted even today. Among Pendarvis’ cohort of the time were legendary names and iconoclasts. Fish fountainhead Steve Lis carved his high-speed knee runs across the zone’s green walls. Fin guru Larry Gephart and surf innovator Stanley Pleskunas made the cove beaches and pristine reefs their territory. Rich “Toby” Pavel found his shaping muse beneath the sandstone cliffs while the enigmatic Bunker Spreckels called Azure Vista home as well.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Among all of these characters a shared passion was found. Each was seriously surf-stoked and each was seriously ready to challenge the norm in search of the best materials, design, and construction techniques to satisfy their thirst for surfing. “It was a special time, place and space that allowed for the perfect attitude for experimentation” recalls Steve Lis. A camaraderie emerged. Lis adds, “We drew inspiration from one another. We would torment each other, yes. But we would encourage each other endlessly.” Boards were ridden, altered on the beach and ridden again. Garages were operating rooms where surfboards were modified on a thoughtful whim in hopes of performance gains.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the middle of all of this, the strand of surfboard design that would define Pendarvis’ career began to emerge. “It all came from Greenough.” Steve says, "We (Pendo, Stanley (Pleskunas), Scat (Steve Scatolini), Zigs (Rick Vorce) and others) started trying to make flexible boards you could stand up on. Some were right, and some were wrong,” Steve’s experimentation took consistent direction with Greenough inspired shells and other flex machines being made in succession. Progress was being made and Steve was enjoying testing his prototypes amid his beloved reefs and open-minded friends. “We were all a bunch of idealistic kids in the 60's.” remembers surf designer Stanley Pleskunas, “Our ideas on the importance of flex and the informational feedback a flexible board can offer a rider overlapped back then. We were inspired by Greenough and found our little zone a perfect place to continue our explorations.” Work continued in this way throughout the 1970’s and into the ‘80’s while Steve worked multiple jobs and attended school at UCSD.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">During these years, Steve had the fortune of being formally introduced by a common surfing friend to his wife, Cher. The two had surfed the same waves since their teen years but had never really known each other until their introduction. They quickly realized that they shared a deep passion for surfing and the creative spirit of their locale. “Steve really blossomed when he met Cher.” Recalls San Diego Surf legend Skip Frye. Before long Steve and Cher were creating and surfing together. Indeed, even today Cher will paint Steve’s boards in comfortable, creative collaboration just as she did during those halcyon years.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Those happy days were not to last. Circumstances conspired to force Pendarvis’ hand towards a more lucrative but draining professional life. Steve had made his wages by working on surfboards for years but now he found himself putting his significant design and fabrication knowledge to work on large projects in San Onofre. For thirteen years his surfing time dwindled as did opportunities to continue his surfboard design work. "I was working a lot of hours. When I had a regular forty hour work-week it felt like a vacation." Pendo recalls, “I had to make boards on Christmas Day because I only had that time to spare.” By no means did Pendarvis’ excitement for board design wane. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.3333px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"During the times while working another job to make a living, my internal passions for board building still applied." He recalls. Steve felt an increasing desire to devote himself completely to surfboard design and construction. It was time for a change. He returned to the shaping bay and glassing room on a full-time basis.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The familiar routine of board building and work in surfboard glassing factories fit Pendarvis perfectly. The steady paycheck guaranteed stability while flexibility in his schedule allowed for pursuit of his design work and board tinkering. Steve reclaimed the mental space to once again expand the vision of what surfboards are and how they should function, just as Steve had been doing since his teenage years with his progressive friends on his local beaches.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 1990 Pendarvis’ seminal innovation was developed. Born of experimental days on the shore in the 1960’s, Steve had long used cutaway channels to allow the tail of a board to flex and twist during turns, creating shorter turning radii and allowing for more nuanced application of force during turns. But this design had a flaw. “The cutaways would allow all of the energy built up in the flex of the tail to escape.” Pendarvis states, “Then a lightbulb went off and I closed the tail. I also developed a cantilevered tail section and the Pendoflex technology in the tail.” The solution was quickly put into play in a Pendo surfboard and sent to the testing grounds. It was an immediate success. “We were all trying flex tails at different points.” Remarks Steve Lis. “They worked really well but kind of inconsistently. Pendo stuck with it and has perfected it.” The design allowed all the advantages of Pendo’s past iterations but without the loss of energy through turns. Pendarvis describes the function of the board succinctly, “It’s the same distance from the bottom turn to an off-the-lip, but with the torque-tail you gain the feeling of speed and control within that curve.“ These “torque-tail” boards became the calling card of Pendarvis’ design work and his Pendoflex surfboard label, easily recognizable and sublimely functional.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The design elements that allow for Pendarvis’ boards’ variable flex are hidden under a plasticized material on the deck. It is an ingenious design that allows for both a fantastic functional result and an aesthetically pleasing finish. The torque tails themselves are created through a series of modulated volume changes in the tail of the board that allow for flex in multiple directions. Steve Pendarvis’ boards had achieved variable flex that was both functional and practical to create. Pleskunas says, “He has developed a concept about not only how the board and fin(s) should flex and move, but he has also invented the means to build and execute that vision.” Indeed, the boards function sublimely and are pleasing to the eye. They are also surprisingly durable despite the torsion applied to the tail of the boards. “The best flex tail boards for my surfing have been Pendo's boards.” Free surfing icon Dave Rastovich remarks, “They have just the right amount of flex and have lasted quite a few years without losing spring and liveliness, I think that is a huge accomplishment.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The functionality of the torque-tails is an immense asset, but it is not the single element that makes Pendo’s designs successful. However innovative Pendarvis’ flex tails are, they are nothing when considered in isolation. Pendo combines proven curves and tuned volumes with custom fins that have been created for each particular board. “Steve's vision is common to very few designers who consider the board and fin(s) as an integrated unit.” Pleskunas states, “He has the knowledge and technical ability to execute his vision on a board-by-board basis.” Indeed, even the technology that allows for the flex patterns in the torque-tail boards is customized for the specific board, rider and wave for which it was made. Whether the board is a classic fish straight from Azure Vista or a modern shortboard crafted to handle Hawaiian juice each Pendoflex board is a truly custom machine.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Surfers of all kinds have raved about Pendarvis’ designs with unequivocal enthusiasm. The boards have found merit under the skilled feet of riders around the world. Notable figures such as David Rastovich, Gavin Beschen, Cyrus Sutton and Tyler Warren have enjoyed their unique feel. Rastovich states, “Steve is a subcultural surfing guru and has so much collected surfing knowledge to call on. I think I am a very lucky cat to have gotten a custom board.” Of course, local icons like Skip Frye and Steve Lis revel in the experience of riding a Pendo creation and have collaborated with Pendarvis on multiple occasions. A host of other surfers, primarily from the San Diego region, swear by Pendoflex boards.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some might question whether Pendarvis’ unique design might be suited too narrowly for the waves of his beloved Azure VIsta, limiting the application of the design significantly. However, time and again those who have dared to use Pendo’s boards in waves of consequence have been satisfied. Gavin Beschen, a North Shore free surfer writes, ”The flex effect on the tail makes it really easy to engage the rail, producing very responsive turns even on double-overhead waves.” Further, the design is versatile enough to handle a range of heavy-water conditions. Underground charger Chapman Murphey recalls, “One south (swell) I took the red eye to Maui and scored Ma’alaea. The board loved the fastest wave in the world and was screaming through one race track after another. The flex in the tail contorts to the face of the wave in the tube and naturally accelerates the board through sections.” Murphey has recently taken to riding Pendoflex boards in enormous Mexican beachbreak barrels. “Pendo made me a 6’5”, 13 pound quad. I got to ride this board on a massive day in a draining Mexican beach break and I drove it through a twenty foot barrel. Steve’s Pendoflex worked again.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The unique nature of Pendarvis’ “torque tail” technology seems to be an obvious entrance into the world of trademarks, proprietary rights, legal branding and the like. Steve, though, rejects these issues on all accounts, preferring to make his surf craft a homegrown affair. “My business, if you want to call it that, has always been about developing quality rather than quantity.” Pendarvis states. Long time friend Stanley Pleskunas adds, “In a world where most builders aspire to getting paid and gaining fame, Pendo has quietly put his passion to work. The result is a new and completely unique genre of wave riding craft. This is a rare accomplishment for an individual in any discipline.” </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Simply, Pendarvis declines to follow the opportunistic trend of many experienced board builders. While many renowned shapers have transitioned to a primary role as businessman, putting the responsibility for design in the hands of others and relying heavily on computers for board fabrication, Pendarvis has remained devoted to the core of his work. “I don’t want to be sitting at a desk.” Pendo states with conviction, “I want to work on my craft.” Perhaps this is a significant shortcoming. Despite all of the accolades that his boards have received he still exists as a niche board-builder, fulfilling the fancy of those in the know rather than the masses. Pendarvis would not have it any other way. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Steve prefers to deal with his clients with personal care. “He is quite intuitive about the needs of the surfer.” Cher Pendarvis says, “Steve likes to talk with each customer carefully and consider all of the needs of their surfing.” The individual attention that Pendarvis gives to his customers allows him to construct boards that suit his clients’ needs ideally. “Since I build each board from start to finish and have the chance to really dial-in the volume, foil, fins and of course the flex characteristics, I can give my customers a great end product.” Steve says. Sure enough, each Pendoflex board is of the highest quality and is unique in its ride and appearance.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In a marketplace where surfboards are increasingly manufactured as another “sporting good” item, prosperity becomes difficult for the craftsman who works on one board at a time, for one customer at a time. “I make boards from A to Z.” Says Pendarvis, “I shape, paint, glass, sand, polish and make the fins for my boards. I’m working for five dollars an hour but I don’t even care because I’m passionate about the work I’m putting out.” Pendarvis’ loyal customers have kept the order book filled for Steve while word of mouth and grassroots Internet publicity have been consistently beneficial to his simple business. Proof that there are some surfers who appreciate the personal and functional work of Pendarvis is evidenced in his constant correspondence with interested parties from around the world. Still, there can be times of scarcity. Fortunately, the richness of his work is satisfying to Steve. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Even with the challenges of subsisting by creating surfboards, Steve Pendarvis finds avenues to continue the experimentation and innovation that began so many years ago. Pendarvis’ truck camper, a veteran Baja battler, holds two of the most unique surf craft ever created. They are black surfboards with solid cores that have been shaped, glassed and then “skinned” with one-and-a-half inches of industrial foam. This foam possesses remarkable flex memory and covers the entire exterior of the board. “My Black Labs are experiments in neutral rail.” explains Pendarvis, “They basically have one-and-a-half inches of jellyfish around the whole of the rail. It flexes to the wave face and recovers. You can actually see it subtly conforming to the face of the wave. It works unreal. I can turn wherever I want on the wave without resistance.” These prototypes are unheard of anywhere else in the surf world. Not surprising offspring from a mind that experimented with finless boards in 1977 and has made parabolic stringers out of fishing poles for over two decades.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The mind boggles as the future-primitive prototypess that are Pendo’s “Rubber Duckies” are revealed. The boards are squat little things with outlines that find the pretty place between a paipo and a fish. They have plasticized foam inlays that allow a modicum of flex similar to the Pendoflex boards that are Steve’s mainstay. Young surf stylist and artist Tyler Warren recalls after riding the Ducky, “The board flew down the line and gave a feeling of detachment. It had the ability to break the fins free with ease, mastering 360's in both directions. The board had just the right amount of hold and flex.” Balanced with the board’s innovative touch there is also a nod to the past. “The Duckies grew from a trip to Hawaii we took to visit some friends.” Recalls Cher, “We were inspired by some friends who were riding traditional paipo boards and also by Stevie Lis’ experience making and riding paipos as a youngster, which later inspired his first fish kneeboards. We thought it might work to combine some of the characteristics of the fish and paipos.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pendo uses the designs of the past to inform his current work. Pendarvis has owned and worked on a wide variety of historic boards, mostly of San Diego origin. They have been Steve’s research library and he studies them doggedly. “I love to study surfboards. I’ll go up to the Surfing Heritage Foundation and just stare and consider the boards. Cher has to pull me away from them.” Pendarvis says as he runs his hands over a 1940’s era Bob Simmons board.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Simmons board, a true rarity, has been entrusted to Pendarvis in hopes of a miraculous rehabilitation. The old soldier is showing its age as well as its maker’s genius. It is missing glass and chunks of wood. It has no fin and nearly no nose. Yet the board’s owner has trusted Steve Pendarvis to bring it back to life. The earnestness and sincerity of Pendarvis are in no doubt. He is trusted with confidence by all those who know him. “Pendo is a good guy and a trusted friend.” States Skip Frye. Steve Lis echoes this sentiment, “He is so creative, genuine and hard-working.” It might be said that his diligent commitment to hard work is the single greatest asset in Pendarvis’ possession. Stanley Pleskunas states, “The overarching element that has allowed Steve's success is his outstanding work ethic. If Pendo is not surfing he is building. If he is not building he is designing. If he is not doing one of these things he is on his way to go get them done.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pendarvis’ trustworthiness and all-around quality of character are matched in volume by his never-ending stoke. Everywhere he goes he brings a smile and a story. Steve has never attempted to master the surfer’s apathetic stare or non-plussed affect. He is energized by surfing and all its paraphernalia in a contagious manner. “Pendo is classic! He is always full of positive energy and stoke.” Tyler Warren relates. It is difficult to be around Pendarvis and not be stoked about surfing yourself. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But there are some who might question Steve. He is unusual. He is innovative. He strikes an unconventional countenance with his full mustache, long-socks and semi-opaque glasses. He carries a reputation as a mild eccentric. But his idiosyncrasies are both endearing and descriptive of a man consumed with passion for his work. “Steve Pendarvis hasn't changed since the first time I laid eyes on him.” Pleskunas states, “Pendo's enthusiasm for what could be, is as vibrant now as when we were kids.” “He’s a real live-wire.” Frye adds, “He’s like a mad scientist”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the whole, those who know Steve celebrate his unique character, and not just his chronological contemporaries. Josh Hall, a skilled and traditionally grounded young surfboard shaper from San Diego remarks, “I have a lot of respect for Pendo. He is always doing far-out stuff and making it work. He even restored one of my favorite fish.” Cyrus Sutton, surfing’s new-media golden-boy, revels in Pendarvis’ vision and creativity. “I identify with him and admire his work. I’m interested in people who follow their personal inspiration to connect with surfing and the ocean regardless of outside influence or possible financial gain. Pendo has gone down that rabbit hole as far as anyone and he has made some fantastic creations.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">An industrial building in central San Diego has housed Steve Pendarvis’ surfboard building space for nearly twenty years.. There, he dedicates himself to being a full-time board builder- the only sensible choice for a man who has been building boards without pause from the time he was ten-years old. He exclusively devotes his time to design work, board building and testing his crafts in the water. “It gives me freedom and a chance to invest in building the best boards possible.” Remarks Pendo. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Steve Pendarvis’ life trajectory developed through years along the shores of his unique surf zone. Indeed, Steve credits his environs with channeling his talents so particularly. “It was just the fortune of having the time and space to surf our brains out and experiment.” Pendarvis says, “I had those guys who were a little older than me to work with and play off of and it made a big difference.” The creative spirits with whom Steve matured and the access to his prized surf locale was a profound gift to Pendarvis’ creative process- a process that continues to look into the future.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Steve and Cher Pendarvis’ home sits minutes from the treasured shores of their inspiration. The living room of their quaint California bungalow is populated by several surfboards- each named and placed in a position of honor as though they were as likely to breathe as anyone who might ride them. The walls are hung with pictures of beloved friends and beloved shores. There are frames with the smiling couple standing together, boards underarm, clearly connected by a common passion. Pendarvis’ work spaces have been filled with a treasure-trove of surf totems. They have been host to representative boards from all throughout surfing’s history. Amongst the Lis/Pendarvis collaboration boards and the classic Skip Frye fish awaiting repair one might find boards from every decade of California surfing. Pendo has touched each decade with his own hand, crafting boards of vision and fearless innovation from one year to the next. Today he continues on this path, creating remarkably modern designs that are informed by the past and inspired by his years of surfing and creating in his unique way.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;"> By Rich Pavel</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Steve Pendarvis is an individual within a community of individuals. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">My impressions grow from knowing the Brythonic Celtic clan of the Pendarvis family of creatives from which Steve hails. His brother Larry was a pioneer of the "Back to the land” movement up in Oregon. Joyce- a super-cool, sweet and principled mom. Sister Patrice has made a very fine reputation for herself and lives as an artist on the same sacred outer-island where my surfshop “The Greenroom” was founded in 1970. One of my favorite early boards was one he built for Patty. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">I remember so many things about the household. The heady and hilarious wrestling bouts on the backyard lawn amongst the lads between laminations and followed by hot coats. It was the era of backyard soul, homegrown and anti-establishment. Non-commercial boards were the only type allowed in the lineup. Boards were started at dusk and were then surfed at dawn in your trusted "Surf & Sea" wetsuit- your suit still cold, wet and sandy from the prior evening’s session. Having the creation of your board inseminated with the DNA drawn from that week’s running ground swell was all that mattered. You lived for total involvement. Acetone, catalyst, resin fumes and dust wafted through the air out back. Music cranked on vinyl spinning to accompany the open and often revolving door policy on the way in. Always an impressive cast of talent hanging out. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Some of the early peak memories were like bonfire epics burning around week long orgies of "Wibbulator" flex-board building, applications and installations. Anybody from Billy Greta or the Biehls to Mike McDonald and the Pleskunas' or the ever gifted Rick "Ziggy" Vorce were likely luminaries found within the applied science compound/bohemian think-tank of the Pendarvis family property. It was a little like when I was living in Montecito and going over for visits at the Greenough Estate. Anything and everything was on. No limits as to what could be explored, felt and thought. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">I still enjoy and respect the whole family from the top right on down to the last sibling. When you really get Steve going he's more fun than a barrel of monkeys. Creative, fun to watch surf, good natured more often than not, industrious as well as intuitive, smart and solution oriented. His wife Cher is an absolute peach! The Greenroom sends him as much work as we can. Long live the Pendo-flex!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">PendoFrye: Steve Pendarvis</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Skip Frye’s planer whirs and then rests. Board A1000 is completed. It is his one-thousandth board at his current shaping shop. The board is an elegant craft of some length, carved from a foam blank of unfortunate material integrity. The foam is irregular in density with a dangerous consistency warranting a bit of concern about potential durability. No matter. The board is glassed with a golden glow and sent to hunt.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">A sunny afternoon at Rincon greets Skip as he enters the water on the board. He is there to celebrate fifty years of surfing. Stoked as ever, his first wave takes him the length of the point. He finds his muse- all glide and regal positioning.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Months later the verdict is in. The foam has failed and A1000 may be lost. Skip has an idea, “Hey Pendo, what do you think about Pendo-izing the board?” Before long the dear friends are hitched to the idea. The dialogue moves quickly as a plan takes shape. Pendo will resurrect Skip’s big board and Skip will reciprocate by shaping Steve and his wife Cher a board of their own. They themselves have been surfing for almost five decades and will certainly appreciate a new Frye gem to add to their quiver.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Steve Pendarvis evaluates the patient. The foam is virtually a powder. The board will have to be rebuilt and then given the magical Pendo treatment- dynamic flex the goal. Foam is removed, stringers planed down and new foam added. Customized Pendoflex alterations are integrated into the boards now structurally sound midsection and tail. A gorgeous black foam inlay is installed over the old problem areas. Skip’s iconic logo is etched onto the new foam. A1000 is whole again.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Skip and the Pendarvis’ gather together for the board’s presentation. They share so much; a love for the ocean and a common Christian faith are fundamental. Pendo explains the challenges with the rehabilitation of the board. Skip smiles and marvels at Pendo’s ingenious work. Cher snaps a few photos and joins in, sharing the stoke. The swell is up. It is time for the board to head to the test track.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">“It rides better than it ever did!” Skip grins, “Steve brought it back to life!” A few sessions confirm the result. The board has been enhanced and transformed. it is stunning to view and its flex properties are perfect for Skip. “It’s got a lot of life to it. You have to be aware of your movements because the board is just alive under your feet.” He nods his head and runs his hand over the new deck of the board. “Fine work, just great.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">A Matter of Attitude: Steve Pendarvis</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">A dusty trail shows layers of footprints, evidence of barefoot surfers trekking to an escape. They have left behind their daily lives to descend in search of a moment of inspiration among the green lines sent from the horizon to crash upon sacred reefs at the base of walls of sandstone. The surfers file by in near silence, expressions of anticipation grace their faces.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Woo! I got mine!” The silence falls. From atop the cliff Pendo’s voice rings out, giddy joy fills the morning’s void. He holds his hand up. A long black cylinder unfurls to reveal an unlikely wave craft. Steve Pendarvis has brought his surf mat out to play. The surfers in the water, including two other surf mat riders, smile.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">In moments he is kicking out through the water, bouncing atop his inflatable mat and grinning. He strokes past the inside, greeting familiar faces while watching waves roll across the reef. It is his home. It is his playground.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Pendarvis spins and kicks into a right-reeler. Zipping along the reef’s edge, he dips his hand into the wave’s face, sliding sideways and stalling in the critical cavern. He exits and continues on, mustache dripping, a smile on his face. “Hey, nice to see another mat rider out here.” He says, “Great mat waves for sure.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sets upon sets and rides upon slides, Pendo puts his mat through its paces with clear pleasure. “Let’s go!” he shouts and two mats drop into one peeler. The mats weave and race, riders finding trim lines and speed bursts as their peculiar vehicles flex, conforming to the face of the wave. They bump into each other. Smiles. They crash in the whitewater ingloriously. Smiles.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">“They are just stoke machines!” Pendo exclaims. Mats have been a consistent diversion for Pendarvis since his youth, when he would use them as tourist target-agents on summer days. Later Steve would transform storm condition surf into a playground, hurling him self over the edge of hideous mounds for the thrill of it. On a mat the consequences weigh not so heavily while the joy of the ride remains fantastic.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">Of course there is a common thread. Greenough flex-spoons, Pleskunas shells, Pendarvis torque tails, and mats- guess the common ingredient. “Ever since I saw Greenough on his flexspoon (kneeboards) my friends and I have been playing with flex.” Pendarvis remarks. “The mats are just the ultimate example of that. They can bend into any part of the wave. The mats inspire some of my ideas for boards.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">In the last few years Pendo’s mat riding has staked claim to a growing portion of his water time. “During the summer I’m probably about seventy-five percent on my mat. Even during the winter I’m on it a lot- it’s always with me when I go to the beach.” With a quiver of a half-dozen mats, courtesy of mad mat-genius Paul Gross, it seems clear that mat surfing is not just a diversionary sideshow to Pendarvis’ main act. The man is mat obsessed.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline;">A mat rider is not on the vanguard of cool. He is not idolized or admired. He is not granted an ounce of leeway in the lineup. He is not the photographer’s subject. In fact, most of the time a mat rider is not particularly compelling to watch. A mat rider is not interested in any of these things. A mat rider is stoked. Steve Pendarvis is stoked.</span></div>
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<br />andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14514050163526577381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312712281221533133.post-15751131970835213182016-08-17T20:13:00.002-07:002016-08-17T20:13:58.001-07:00draft text, "Expanding the Field", The Surfer's Path, Skip Frye Big Boards<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Andrew Smith</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2010, all rights reserved</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Expanding the Field:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the connection sector with Skip Frye</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Along one wall of Skip Frye’s shaping shop hangs a variety of visual delights for the cultured surfer. In a glance, images of the renowned surf stylist sliding with signature poise on manicured swells are revealed. There are pictured scenes of surf personalities from the inception of Skip’s surfing life, some fifty years ago, to the present day. Plaques and newspaper clippings, old magazine photos and advertisements fill the wall. Scattered elsewhere are various images of Skip’s logo and trademark- his wings- classic, dignified, emblematic of a surfer’s surfer and a shaper’s shaper.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The shaping room itself is filled with the sounds of a craftsman’s tools. Skip’s handsaw falls in syncopated overhand strokes- practiced, perfected, almost meditative. The whir of a trusted Skil 100 echoes through the space, hard at work tuning another perfectly sculpted craft to the delight of its creator. Soon a sleek, low-rockered surfboard begins to emerge from the foam. The curves blend in a prism of arcs each pleasing to the eye and intuitively correct. The shaping room’s black walls and side lighting reveal a craft born of a master’s touch and impeccably suited for its purpose.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> In the shaping room Frye meticulously works the rails of an eleven-foot board. His eyes never leave the blank. His hands, practiced and worn, nimbly manipulate the sandpaper. The board has a beautifully tapered outline. Its wide point is just north of center stretching forward to an elegantly pointed nose. The opposite end of the craft echoes this phrasing with a pintail. The rails follow classic San Diego curves, classic Frye ellipses. The imagination fills with possible sensations offered by this magnificent surfcraft. Would the tail hold in the hollow section of that favorite reef? With the low rocker could the ride be extended all the way to the inside?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> San Diego is a surf town with a rich legacy of niche design offshoots, tribal provincialism, and open-minded surfers. Boards hung from piers, Wolfe’s Wind an’ Sea wannabe-ism, Simmons’ machines, and Tudor’s longboard resurrection act come to mind. It is not surprising that for nearly two decades there has been a particular San Diego design undercurrent that has largely escaped notice by the greater surf world. These are designs built for local waves and local conditions. They cater to those inclined to think about waves as lateral canvases for long, fluid lines. These boards offer entrance to a realm of poised surfing and stylish but not ostentatious display. These boards are the pelican’s glide and the dolphin in submerged trim. These boards are the state of the art and the legacy of Skip Frye.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Strictly speaking these big boards, also commonly known as gliders and section connectors, tend to adhere to an honored set of design characteristics. They tend to be over ten feet long with the largest stretching upwards of twelve feet. They have a section of very low rocker covering much of the middle of the board with a bit of kick fore and aft. Though lengthy, the nose and tail widths remain moderate, with a pointed nose coupled with a bit of roll in the front bottom contour to facilitate ease of paddle and to cut through water turbulence. The tail usually appears as a pin or a large swallow, the first offering more hold in critical surf, the second providing added width for paddling and for robust wave harvesting. Fin setups vary from singles to two-plus-ones to trifins (Skip and his friend and protégé in shaping, Josh Hall, have dabbled in riding these boards with only two side fins). Bottom contours often feature a moderate single into double concave running out of the tail of the board, further adding to the recipe mixed for speed and glide.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Though Skip Frye is undeniably the fountain from which this design strand flows, he credits the work of his forefathers in the craft for leading him towards the creation of the glider genre. “The pintail came from (Joe) Quigg, who influenced (Phil) Edwards,” Frye says. “Edwards influenced me in the 60’s. His take was all about speed. He used to say he wanted to make boards like a javelin. Quigg made the pintail to get across and fit in the hollow sections at Rincon. I also learned about Bob Simmons’ boards. They’re all really straight- the straighter the faster. Then I saw where Quigg and (Matt) Kivlin diverged from Simmons. They wanted some maneuverability and Simmons exclusively wanted speed. Over the course of a couple of months I thought about it and put it together. I went to Simmons’ minimum tailblock rule of ten inches then added in elements of Quigg and others.” </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The first of the big boards emerged from Frye’s shaping room in March of 1990 as the perpetually stoked Frye was dealing with a rare period of ambivalence about surfing. “It was the early nineties, I was tired of the same old shapes.” Lengths grew and the refinements were made. Before long the remarkable new design would catapult Frye into a freshness of spirit. “Nothing has ever held my attention and stoked me as much as those first three years in the early nineties with the big boards,” Skip remembers. “For three years that’s all I’d ride, eleven to twelve footers.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The lengthy, graceful aesthetic of these boards is echoed in their offered surf experience. Lines are drawn in composed swoops across multiple sections of a wave. Bottom turns are extended through arcs that accelerate the surfer into fast, beautiful trim. “Trim is the essence of the surfing experience,” reflects Skip. “It’s where I feel the speed and flow of the wave- it’s just the sensation and the glide and the speed of it.”</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The focus on trim demanded by the big boards requires a unique approach from the surfer. “You’ve got to have a controlled, casual style to function with these boards.” Frye says. Free-thinking surfer, writer, and stylist, Derek Hynd allowed a glimpse of the composed grace required by the boards in Andrew Kidman’s tremendous surf films, “Litmus” and “Glass Love”. In the films, Hynd paints a perfect glider canvas on South Africa’s famed right-point, Jeffrey’s Bay. The boards he rides in the clips, a 9’9” Brewer circa 1986 and Rich Pavel’s 11’4” iteration of Frye’s Fish-Simmons design, showcase Hynd’s inspired surfing. Positioning, poise, trim, and section-connecting glides mark the clip, giving a visual touchpoint for understanding the ride of a Frye-style big board. Glider surfing teaches that waves have length and must be watched carefully, anticipated and then engaged with careful positioning. “I think I ride tighter on a big board,” Frye posits. “On a little board you can outmaneuver yourself. You’re so into up and down, back and forth that you lose the flow of the wave. With a big board positioning is important, as is the way you set up the wave.”</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Beyond the ride itself, gliders offer expanded access to surfing arenas. The ease of paddling and the ability to glide for maximum distance on a wave allows the surfer to view the whole of a surfing area as fair game. “Surfing the big boards expands your whole realm,” Skip reflects. “The first time I took one out I had two breaks in my command at all times. I was going all the way to the beach and completing my rides. Now if I see a set coming down from one break to the next I’ll run over to the next break and grab a wave then catch another wave of the set at the other break.” These multiple surf spot sessions have grown into a new way of thinking about time in the water for Skip. “I do a lot of cross-country sessions. Six breaks is a normal venture for me. I’ve done up to fourteen breaks. It has helped me to get to know more breaks and lets me really appreciate being in the water.”</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gliders also provide an escape hatch from often overcrowded surf zones. Artist and filmmaker Thomas Campbell, who has featured Skip Frye’s big boards in his surf films and boasts a well-surfed quiver of Frye longships states, “The boards have amazing paddling range. I can get to places where not too many people are surfing and enjoy myself.” In crowd-impacted zones the boards open doors to waves that would otherwise be distasteful. “I can access flat and fast waves that are unsurfable on other equipment. They give you a propulsion and facility that no other boards can.”</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There are those who would offer criticism of the big boards’ performance and general applicability in daily surf life. The howl is that the boards are too limited in scope, too focused on lateral surfing elements. San Diego veteran shaper Larry “Larmo” Mabile has crafted many Frye-style gliders and readily admits, “The length of the rail is an asset and a detriment. It’s sometimes difficult to break trim. It will force you to think ahead. It slows you down to think about positioning. Even where you take off changes and becomes a thoughtful exercise.” Chris Christenson, whose big board model dubbed “The Glider” pushed the term into common use, has compared surfing a Frye to using a low-tolerance golf club; If you get it just right it feels amazing, if you’re off by just a bit things go wrong quickly. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perhaps these criticisms have merit, but they also summon a central question in surfboard design thought: must a design be versatile and accessible, or can designs be validated by being excellently suited to a specific type of surfing and in their potential to evoke unique surfing sensations? Hynd shares the following thoughts when asked this question as it applies to criticisms of section connectors, "Ridden the way Skip appreciates it there are no shortcomings in the design… Skip builds subtle curves and wings depending on a surfer's needs and the predominant wave in mind. I was at Malibu last summer in the crowd. I thought one surfer stood out. She wasn't a notably skilled surfer in going up and down, indeed, to some she would have looked like a kook, but the way she held crouched poise from go to whoa, even in the pull out, seemed ideal treatment for the board she was riding. She wasn't on a Skip but the concept was similar. The way she offered less right there was perfect.” Simply, gliders are boards made as specific tools for a specific purpose and when ridden accordingly the experience can be quite rewarding. Josh Hall summarizes nicely, “They fit the quiver like any board, and do so in a beautiful way.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the specificity of their application lingers a clue as to why big boards’ geographical range in the surf world is relatively small. Though recent years have seen an uptake of the design in places as far as Japan and as near as Santa Cruz, San Diego County is the homeland of the design and it remains a rarity to find a proper glider in waters outside of its borders. In an era when another of Skip Frye’s most recognizable models, the keel-fin fish ala Stevie Lis, has found wide global acceptance, it seems strange that his elegant gliders have largely remained anchored in their homeport. Perhaps this is a model case of specific boards being made for specific waves. Larry Mabile confirms, “San Diego County is unique in southern California. The waves break farther out and they’re more walls with length, but softer.” Skip echoes this sentiment, “All of the spots I surf are so expanded, with long paddles and long rides.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perhaps the geographical inertia of the design can be attributed to other causes. Mabile states. “Any area where you go and ride them people will catch on, especially if they share (San Diego’s) kind of waves. Really it comes down to what the mafia of surfing wants to be groovy and happening. There are certain entities that want to keep certain trends in vogue. If you look around, though, the reality of surfing is happening on lots of different types of boards.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Whether there is a concerted agenda among surf media or business to marginalize niche designs such as gliders is debatable. However, It is certainly difficult to compellingly capture the drama of the design in photography, perhaps limiting its appeal as communicated via surf media. Jon Pabalan, a stylish San Diego big board pilot reflects, “I have yet to see an adequate and artistic representation of the act of ‘gliding’, one that captures the swooping movement of the bottom turn, for example, or one that is not cropped in such a way that the wave recedes into the background in favor of the surfer. To be sure, it's a delicate and tricky aesthetic to properly capture.”</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Without media exposure, the manner in which glider surfing is disseminated differs from that of other designs. Surfers approach Frye-style section connectors because of direct experience with the boards or influence from surfers already in the know. “Watching Skip surf is what caught my eye and started me on the gliders.” Christenson states.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Enthusiasm about the design begins with Skip Frye and is carried forward as has been done since the inception of surfboard building. “I don’t especially spread the big boards to other shapers intentionally,” Frye states. “Josh (Hall) and others showed an interest and I was happy to share. You know, we’re all reflections of one another. I’m a reflection of Brewer and Hynson and Lopez and Edwards and Carson and Farrelly. It just goes on and on.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Glider building is demanding work and the design enjoys limited market appeal, making it a labor of love for the shapers who create them. Thus, there are few shapers who have taken up the challenge of blending the long, elegant lines required in the creation of big boards. “It’s pretty niche in terms of guys who are making these boards,” Larry Mabile shares. “Proportions are kind of hard because you’re working with a really long outline.” Still, the enthusiasm for the design among these shapers is evident. “I love them at Scorpion Bay, second point. It’s the dream board for that wave.” Mabile gushes.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Notably, San Diegans Josh Hall, Larry “Larmo” Mabile, and Chris Christenson have found successful application of their craft in the design. Shapers have used the model set by Skip and added their own interpretive touches to the boards. “Josh is about as close as anyone has come to replicating the design, while still putting his own spin on it.” Skip confides.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Today, Skip’s enthusiasm for building and riding section connectors remains strong. In early 2010 he undertook to create his twelve-hundredth board in his current workspace. Fittingly he chose to sculpt a twelve-foot, three stringer beauty from a blank that had been specially made by Jim “The Genius” Phillips. On any fair surfing day Frye can be found covering expanses of water on his remarkable big boards. His experimentation with the design continues. The relaxed rockers are beginning to tighten a touch and fin play is a daily diversion.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Frye’s body of work stretches on through over a half-century of consistent surfing and handcrafting of exquisite surfboards. Where others have parlayed past surfing prestige into marketable lines of boards and clothing, largely forsaking surfing as a personal pursuit, Frye has maintained his focus on surfing and building boards. “He never turned his back on his style of shaping and surfing,” Mabile asserts. “All of his contemporaries truly quit for a long time…but he never quit. Even to this day never has he had someone else shape a board for him. Every Frye you get he actually shaped. It’s super rare nowadays.” Frye’s longstanding commitment to his craft and to his own surfing lend importance to the fact that he has spent so much time developing his big boards. The design is imbued with the knowledge of years spent working in a dedicated manner on a unique design strand.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After nearly two decades of obscurity, the big boards remain an underground phenomenon intended for specific types of waves and a specific style of surfing. They are difficult boards to surf well and garner almost no media attention. For the shaper they carry little promise of financial gain. Still, they continue to find a home under the feet of enthusiastic men and women. Still, they grace waves of length with elegance. Now, after so many years following a life of surfing and shaping predicated on speed, glide, and flow, Frye continues to turn his attention towards this, his most niche design. He offers a simple reason for this choice, “For me personally, the big boards are where I get the most pleasure.”</span></div>
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andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14514050163526577381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312712281221533133.post-5368552043930508552016-08-17T20:02:00.000-07:002016-08-17T20:02:26.052-07:00text, rough draft of "Lines Converge", Mandala, Manny Caro shapes, Drift surfing magazing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V-Cvssk6Ppk/V7UlMtvwezI/AAAAAAAAL50/qUM3hsHIWZMzoLaTfsPe4ylAoUKw3o3UQCLcB/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-08-17%2Bat%2B7.48.29%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="363" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V-Cvssk6Ppk/V7UlMtvwezI/AAAAAAAAL50/qUM3hsHIWZMzoLaTfsPe4ylAoUKw3o3UQCLcB/s640/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-08-17%2Bat%2B7.48.29%2BPM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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The mandala, the symbol and moniker of Manuel C. Caro’s
surfboard label, is a series of concentric circles coming together to represent
a universe. The mandala is also a fitting symbol for Manuel himself. He is a
multifaceted man whose interests coalesce into particular clarity at opportune
points. Anthropologist by education and by avocation, he is keenly aware of his
standing among his peers- surfboard builders and craftsmen of the highest
caliber. Filmmaker by training, Manuel is engaged in viewing the world around
him as imagery of layered depth, and is thusly inclined to craft shapes that
engage surfing on it’s most superficial level- pure fun, and it’s most rich and
nuanced levels- form, tradition, progression, emotion.</div>
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He envisions surfboards as true sculptures, beautiful in
their own form, and even more beautiful in function. Mandala boards carry an
understated grace in their line, foil, and immaculate glasswork. Careful
thought and the fortune to be mentored by some of the finest shapers of recent
times have earned him a fair measure of success as a surfboard shaper. To view
or ride a Manuel C. Caro shape is to be in contact with the tradition of
surfboard building culture while simultaneously leaning towards the future.</div>
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We met together behind Moonlight Glassing’s renowned
confines in North County, San Diego, California to discuss the path that led
him to a career as shaper of handcrafted surfboards and his trajectory as a
craftsman for the future.</div>
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Beginning:</div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I earned a degree in
anthropology and a degree in film production in college. I was in kind of
post-grad limbo. That uncertainty was so daunting that I decided to just have a
retail job and kind of float around for a while. Part of that was a chance to
make surfboards. I lived in this old neighborhood in Oakland that you would not
associate with someone who made surfboards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I made a shaping room in my basement. I finally had a place to build a
shaping room and make a mess. I was so hesitant to begin a board that it took
me three months. Just whittling away. My first board came out okay and I was
kind of hooked. I realized, “Hey, I could do this.”</div>
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The Pavel and quad-fin fish period:</div>
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My six or seventh board was a red quad fish. I was on the
way back from Baja and I stopped by the greenroom, Rich “Toby” Pavel’s shop. I
had a board on order from Toby and I was just checking up on it. I was bugging
him and finally I got into the shaping room and he shaped my board right there.
In the meantime I was making my own boards. I brought one by and he was really
impressed. He was like, “come here I made something for you.” It was a template
for a 5’5 fish. It was an extended natural curve fish template. I was blown
away. It’s like giving someone a camera. You’re not going to show them how to
take photos but you’re giving them a tool to get to a certain place. It took me
a long time to realize that the template was just a curve and with that curve
you could build just about anything. He saw that I had potential because he saw
that I was able to come to that conclusion on my own. He kept pointing the
direction to the mountain but he didn’t tell me which trail to take. With Rich
it’s never been about hard facts. He never goes down a list and tells you what
to do. He points the direction and sees if you make it. It’s like the Choose
Your Own Adventure of Rich Pavel.</div>
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I am now a shaper:</div>
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I had a crappy day job in Santa Cruz. I was getting stopped
coming out of the water and people were asking me to make them boards. It got
to the point where I realized I could make enough money shaping and so I quit
the crappy job. That’s where there was a shift. I chose the path of shaping.
Then I had to decide what to call this new adventure. It’s almost comically
cliché how the name came about. I’m driving on the 5 freeway, listening to
Robbie Shankar, and I’m just past the grapevine, and I’m buzzing on what I
should do with my life. Then I distinctly hear this bell in my mind, “Ding!”
And it came to me- Mandala. A lot of people make fun of the name, because it’s
so from that era of psychedelics and so on. But really it’s fitting because in
my life there are all these interests: making stuff with my hands, photography,
music, and I finally found a vehicle that all those interests could get into
with shaping, and that’s what a Mandala is, a series of concentric circles
representing a universe.</div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why handshapes:</div>
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You have to ask yourself, “Why do you shape?” Do you want to
be someone who makes replicas or someone who makes originals? There was a point
at which I was so slammed with orders that I tried the machine. I did it, but
it was the most unsatisfying experience. It was utterly boring. It was kind of
like getting handed a coloring book and being told, “This is what you make, so
make it.” It didn’t provide any room for breakthroughs because if you wanted to
change something you would have to go and talk with the computer guy and pay
them to make a little change. Those types of changes are instantaneous and
intuitive in the shaping room.</div>
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If you’re looking at the blank you envision the board first
and adapt to whatever is happening with the foam. I am the machine. The
handmade boards are special. It’s kind of unquantifiable. And you know, people
can tell it was made by hand. I think it is a choice people make when they call
me up. Just this morning I chatted with a customer who wants the board for a
specific wave, his body type, his surfing, and what he wants the board to do.
So I offered him a suggestion that would work. That’s the kind of thing I am
really attracted to, being able to steer the ship wherever it needs to go at
any moment. I take a great deal of pride in what I do. I want to make boards
that become family heirlooms, not boards that have a planned obsolescence.</div>
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Control in the shaping room:</div>
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My shapes are episodes along a continuum of innovation of
design. The shapes really reflect a personal evolution of understanding. This
personal influence is so profoundly a part of what makes surfboard building
special. And it is so different than the sterile work of a lot of shaping nowadays-
especially with the shaping programs where you can download pre-formatted
templates, rockers and rails, and you can alter them and call them your own,
but you didn’t start at the beginning.</div>
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The influence of mentors:</div>
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I always hear voices in the shaping room, like something
Rich or Marc (Andreini) said, especially when I’m doing one thing or another.
They’ve had a strong hand in directing my thoughts on shaping. I’ve always been
striving towards simplicity as a goal in everything. Marc’s approach is so
simple, and so beautifully elegant that I was like, “I want to do that!” He
doesn’t tell you what to do. It’s more like if you pick up on it then you’re
in. I really respect Rich as a craftsman. If anyone doubts that Rich can do it
without the machine, just give him any blank and he’ll make the most beautiful
custom board out of it. The same thing goes for Marc. He comes from a time when
all the blanks were horrible. He had to make his own glue-ups and correct
rockers and that’s how he learned to see the sculpture in the foam. I think
that may be a dying art because we’re so used to instant gratification and
reproducible perfection as the measuring bar instead of a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“nothing ventured, nothing gained” mindset.
They invited me to their shaping rooms, and you don’t ask to watch someone
shape, you get invited. It was like they were saying,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I need to hand off these skills and you’re
qualified.” I remain honored.</div>
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Design inspiration:</div>
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My designs all followed what I was into in my surfing. When
I began shaping it was because the fish was an insane platform. I got on a fish
and it added like twenty years to my life. My first fish was a Freeline Design
5’4 twin that I rode at Waddel Creek. It’s funny, I was just there and I was
remembering tripping out on feeling that first fish session. That feeling had
me saying “This is what I wants to make.” Then, a bit ago, my friend Alex Kopps
got me to try a hull. It was at a jetty on my backside and it just sucked, so I
let that go. I didn’t touch that for a few years. Then I tried an Andreini and
it knocked my socks off! I couldn’t believe how fun it was. I remember feeling
it, doing a really big bottom turn and just grooving on the high line and then
I realized that this is what they’re talking about. This sensation is great. I
wasn’t even going very fast but it was just a feeling of fullness. Then I tried
a really short hull, a little stubbie. I was just stoked. It felt like sliding
on a finless surfboard down a hill that was covered with grass that was covered
with oil. I felt like I finally got to a place where I could enjoy the feeling.
It wasn’t like “These are hard to ride and they’re cool because they’re hard,”
but it was cool because you’re accessing a new feeling, a new emotion or
sensation.</div>
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I think it’s inherent in human nature to want to experience
altered forms of consciousness. Kids are all sitting around holding their
breath or spinning in a circle. I feel like that just continues on. People do
drugs, drink, and also they surf. They develop tolerance for those sensations.
Then they need to feed that fire. They feel like they’ve got to take bigger
waves and try different designs. Those different designs are one way to get to
that newness of feeling. I almost burned out on doing so many fish and so
working on the hulls is so wonderful.</div>
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Connection to tradition:</div>
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The shaping of surfboards started in Polynesia but it has
evolved here in California. This is an opportunity for me to be a part of that
lineage and continue that history. There are a lot of cultures all over the
world that have a defining interest in craftworks as a culture. For instance
the Japanese, everything they have, it matters who made it and how. They have
national living treasures. The government subsidizes them so they can continue
doing what they do. There are families who go back for tens of generations who
make cloth and dye it with indigo, people who make boxes, bells, swords, and
they’ve perfected them. They’ve gotten so close to perfection in their craft
that they define their culture. In a big way surfboards and the way surfboards
are made define surfing. The part of me that cares about culture is sad to see
hand shaped surfboards fade. Don’t let go of this, this is one of the last
things we have that differentiates us from any other sport out there. Every
time I give a customer a board I say thank you for supporting custom handmade
surfboards. Maybe that’s important.</div>
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Future as a shaper:</div>
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As far as shaping goes, I’m in junior high. I’m learning
things and applying them. For example, if you look at Terry Martin’s boards and
feel his curves, these are things that are made by human hands that are so
close to unspoken perfection. He’s a really humble guy. That’s the kind of
person I want to be as I grow in shaping. People will email me and ask to get
help with their shaping but I’m not there yet. I did have a moment with Rich
once where every time I’d visit he’d give me one more piece of the quad fish
puzzle. Once he visited Santa Cruz and he’s like, everything is looking good,
I’m going to give you one last piece of the puzzle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He showed me and I did it and he put his hand
on my shoulder and he said, “Okay, now you are one of a very few people who are
making boards like this.” I was handed the torch, and you have a responsibility
with that torch. I could keep people warm or I could burn houses down. I still
have a long way to go. I have a lot to prove with my shapes. It motivates me.</div>
andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14514050163526577381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312712281221533133.post-48890949052049349432016-08-17T19:55:00.004-07:002016-08-17T20:15:56.418-07:00text, Eclectic Youth, Ryan Burch and Lucas Dirkse, Drift Magazine<div class="MsoNormal">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><br /></u></b></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Eclectic Youth: Linking the past, performance, and play with San Diego's New Generation of surfers</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-74d24df6-9ba5-4410-414b-5eb6a13dcae0" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Words: Andrew Smith</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Photos: Billy Watts, Aaron Goulding</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All Rights Reserved 2010</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At this point in surfing’s evolutionary timeline, the old rallying cry of "rip, shred, and lacerate!" seems almost quaint. Gone are the days when every kid at the beach aspired to be Pottz, Curren, or Occy. No longer is a clear, white thruster the singular desire of young surfers everywhere. A new paradigm has emerged: young surfers around the world are selecting from a strange and functional diaspora of craft to surf in creative, expressive play. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They draw their inspiration from both today’s cutting-edge of surfing and the validated lineage of surfing's past. They shape their own boards, make their own art, and dance to their own beat. These young surfers are as likely to throw a poised, ten-toed hang as they are to blast fins-out lip attacks. These are the surfers of the here and now.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the turn of the millennium there was a spark. Films from Jack Johnson, the Malloy brothers, and Thomas Campbell highlighted inspiring surfing from fantastic surfers on diverse surfboards. In these films a new norm was introduced and statements were made. Surfers of talent </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">did</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> surf on a variety of craft. Top-notch watermen </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">did</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> seek new and thrilling modes of enjoying their surf time. Soon surfers young and old were beginning to ask questions about differing designs and dusting off their quivers, seeking out anachronistic boards to see what gems might be lurking in the rafters. Suddenly it became acceptable for young surfers to fill their quivers with a range of surfcraft. Suddenly, “good surfing” was redefined to include a wide range of performance that could be modeled by a wide range of performers. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The freedom discovered by embracing this new paradigm has allowed young surfers to explore every facet of the surfing life more completely. They not only experiment with new and old designs, but also trace the history of the sport and discover the giants upon whose shoulders they stand. They not only learn to surf in new ways, but also uncover new ways to create. Cameras are taken in hand, the whir of planers on foam is heard, and paintbrushes are dipped in paint. Their new openness leads to discovery. Their new vision leads to innovation.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">San Diego surfers Lucas Dirkse and Ryan Burch epitomize this emergent subset of surfing’s youth. At home on all manner of surf-craft, Burch and Dirkse experiment readily with the gamut of designs. Their surfing is grounded in a strong connection with the past of the sport and an appreciation for the creative aspects that have driven surfing through its many iterations. Well versed in the history of the sport, they have discovered the feats of their predecessors. Legendary names such as Bob Simmons, Skip Frye, Steve Lis and George Greenough serve as their inspiration. Burch and Dirkse are mentored by influential San Diego surfer and thinker Richard Kenvin and have been the subjects of many of his short films. Their surfing has garnered widespread attention as they have become the prototypical post-millennial groms. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><br /></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Youth on Fire: Lucas Dirkse</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sun bleached blond hair and tell-tale wetsuit neck-tan place the tag immediately. This grom, 15-year-old Lucas Dirkse, is surf stoked. Raised by a supportive mother and a commercial urchin-diver father, Dirkse has spent his youth next to the ocean, mere blocks from the iconic shack at Windansea. Undoubtedly, Dirkse is ideally positioned to become whatever version of a surfer he desires. As it turns out, this naturally gifted surfer only wants to be himself. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Looking back on his earliest surfing years Lucas sees himself as one of the herd. “My vision of good surfing was shortboarding,” Dirkse relates. “ I was just trying to be what I thought a good surfer should be.” Gradually his focus began to shift towards boards and surfing of other kinds and variations on the experience of riding waves. “(La Jolla shaper) Tim Bessell was sponsoring me,” Dirkse remembers. “He made me a double-bump quad fish and a longboard. As soon as I started riding them I was just hooked. Those boards really set me off. I was just all about the speed and feel of those boards.” </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before long Lucas was intently watching more mature local surfers and beginning to understand the range of possibilities available to him. “San Diego is a place where an amazing variety of good surfing is done on a lot of different boards,” Dirkse states. He studied the smooth noseriding act of Joel Tudor and appreciated the poised grace of Skip Frye. He would enjoyed the tube-riding exploits of the local La Jolla crew. “I would just watch anyone that looked good on a wave. Anyone could be an inspiration.” </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dirkse’s fresh vision propelled him to a new level of excitement about surfing and surfboards. He found himself competitively successful, but more importantly he found himself inspired. “Exploring the unknown is all of it. It’s just so fun,” Dirkse he says. “I mean, you look at a shortboard and you know what it does and what it is supposed to do. You look at a finless with weird concaves or a funky log and you just have to imagine what can be done. I want to ride any board anyone has ever made!”</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Youthful hyperbole aside, Dirkse certainly is breaking new ground in his exploits. Thanks to the influence of Kenvin and his Hydrodynamica Project, Lucas finds himself acting as test-pilot for all manner of Simmons’ inspired craft. As documented through Kenvins’ lens, Dirkse has been seen riding everything from mini-simmons dual fin designs to finless boards inspired by Derek Hynd to alai’a. He has even taken to shaping his own finless creations. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Surf-stoked groms are everywhere, but. Lucas, however, has been blessed with both geographic fortune and a willingness to explore all that the surfing has to offer.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Awakening: Ryan Burch</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Success came early and often to Ryan Burch. Gifted as a surfer and with a supportive family, Burch spent his early youth seeking and getting what many groms covet: shortboard surfing success and recognition. In his younger days he found himself the National Scholastic Surfing Association boy’s explorer division champion. He became the number-one surfer on the San Dieguito Surf Team as a freshman, a role akin to being the starting quarterback as a freshman at any other high school. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then a shift occurred. Where once he found surfing satisfying, he began to feel as though it was becoming stale and repetitive. A change was in order.“I kind of got a taste of what it would be like to be a competitive pro surfer,” Burch reflects. “I was fortunate enough to have sponsors and some local publicity, to take some trips. I should’ve been content. But something was gnawing at me. I didn’t burn out, I just became disinterested in what I was doing. I needed to explore my surfing options.” A summer encounter with good friend and fellow open-minded surfer/shaper Chris Cravey led to Ryan’s first taste of traditional longboarding. Before long Burch was hooked. “The longboard thing captivated me. It was all so fresh and new and exciting for me.” </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Days were spent log riding the local reef while observing Tudor’s unmistakable flow. Where once the shortboarding contests were the focus of Burch’s talents, now longboarding took priority. Burch relates, “I started to get kind of weird about it. I remember a time when I was in this (shortboarding) contest just down the road from my longboarding spot. I was doing well, but between heats I’d just log ride. I’d do a heat, get in my car and then log ride until my next heat.” This kind of quirky behavior soon spread into a full-blown obsession with boards of all types. His current quiver holds every wave-riding tool from handplane to Frye-styled glider. Ryan is simply entranced by the options available to put under a surfer’s willing feet. “I am still totally into shortboarding,” he says, “but the feeling of riding different boards is just so amazing. I’m so interested in what these boards do well that I don’t think about what they don’t do.” </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All at once, Ryan Burch the shortboarder was awakened to a new reality, a place where options abound and creativity opens new doors. “Watching the differences in surfing styles among longboarders at my local break was shocking to me. It opened my eyes to see that differences are a good thing.” Now 21, Ryan Burch views his grom days with growing maturity. He is equally at home on a fish, glider, Alaia, noserider, or chippy thruster—his smooth, radical surfing translates to a tremendous spectrum of surf-craft with ease. He shapes his own boards, paints, and creates with passion. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ryan spends his days experimenting with new equipment of all kinds while revisiting the roots of the sport. Here again Kenvin has played an important role, filling the gaps in Burch’s understanding of surfing history, particularly regarding San Diego and Bob Simmons. “RK gave me a grounding in the history and connectedness of surfing in San Diego.” The connections he’s learned have propelled both he and Lucas Dirkse into a new realm of exploration. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sea Foam: inspiration and innovation </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The exploration of the moment for Dirkse and Burch is the riding of short, wide, unglassed, finless blocks of closed-cell foam, a unique craft they have employed in waves from ankle-high to overhead. The two surfers are enamored of these blocks of ungainly craft and their unique surfing characteristics. “They’re just so versatile and unique,” Relays Dirkse,. “They have amazing flex and a kind of trim that’s hard to explain.” </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Foam block surfing emerged from a remarkable confluence of factors. One afternoon Burch found himself with a block of closed-cell foam in the back of his car. Without any impetus he simply took it out the foam and surfed. “I had an outline for a finless on a blank in the back of my truck. I was going to shape and glass it but I stopped at Seaside (reef) on the way to the factory. I was went out on my shortboard and wasn’t having fun so I just grabbed the unglassed foam. My first wave I got this insane trim and knew something special was happening.” </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before long the two finless enthusiasts were sliding their foam ambitiously. Richard Kenvin witnessed and documented their new endeavor. He also delineated a remarkable historical connection: the foam boards are almost identical to the foam planks that Lindsay Lord documented used in his studies of planing hulls, documented in his 1946 book, entitled </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Naval Architecture of Planing Hulls</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The book was a major influence in Simmons’ design process of as he later explored planing -hull theory as applied to surfboards. Burch had stumbled upon a piece of the Simmons puzzle without prior knowledge, and by sheer open-minded innovation, he had connected the excitement of the present to the innovation of the past. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Finless surfing continues to be the aquatic adventure of the moment for Burch and Dirkse. Motivated by their foam riding and prior encounters with finless virtuoso Derek Hynd, Dirkse and Burch are both excitedly crafting and riding finless craft. “Riding finless boards is kind of unexplored territory,” Burch states. “I’m stretching my imagination to envision what might be next.” The two young surfers are making amazing things happen on these quite unusual platforms. Waves of height and consequence are being challenged and trim is being broken in radical, controlled displays. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Wide-Open Future</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even in this new age of surfing diversity there are the ever-present critics. Richard Kenvin reflects, “Dirkse and Burch have been subjected to oppressive negativity from certain members of the surf "community" about riding Simmons’ type boards and the like. The pressure to conform is heavy. Those kids, Lucas and Burch, are a shining light.” </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Surfing, in its essence, is an act of freedom and creativity. We seek out the ocean as a place to explore and discover. In the past, the wide-eyed exuberance of youthful surfing has been overwhelmed by the heavy messages of a surfing public consumed with appearing and performing in a particular manner. Only now, for the first time since the shortboard revolution, are we seeing young surfers reach beyond the conventional to explore the breadth of possibilities offered in the simple act of sliding down waves. It is a brave new world for a grom, full of options, full of opportunities, full of fascinating moments of pure fun and profound stoke. Surely this is the age of the Eclectic Youth. </span></div>
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andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14514050163526577381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312712281221533133.post-779269112297531882016-08-17T19:39:00.001-07:002016-08-17T19:39:30.824-07:00text of Small Mysteries, from The Surfer's Path<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VZGlT7F9Oqc/V7Uf18GL2VI/AAAAAAAAL4s/qmPt2rIFT-c1PZuDyVewzsRynbyv69jugCLcB/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-08-17%2Bat%2B7.38.17%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VZGlT7F9Oqc/V7Uf18GL2VI/AAAAAAAAL4s/qmPt2rIFT-c1PZuDyVewzsRynbyv69jugCLcB/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-08-17%2Bat%2B7.38.17%2BPM.png" width="238" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pQpssTb6Mew/V7Uf1mYnt5I/AAAAAAAAL4o/Y0BtWWObMx4ifTF61uH1MVpAngMwqVsCQCLcB/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-08-17%2Bat%2B7.38.40%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pQpssTb6Mew/V7Uf1mYnt5I/AAAAAAAAL4o/Y0BtWWObMx4ifTF61uH1MVpAngMwqVsCQCLcB/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-08-17%2Bat%2B7.38.40%2BPM.png" width="238" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Small
Mysteries<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Andrew
Smith<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">2010,
All Rights Reserved<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">All manner of photographic might is unleashed upon
the surf world. Innumerable pixels explode from the pages and screens of surf
media globally, swallowing whole our memories of recent sessions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The hyper-saturated colors of tropical
perfection parade through the minds of surfers as they don black wetsuits for a
dip in a cold, grey sea. Cylinders heave and surfers soar as a no-hope
shorebreak becomes a dream tube and fly-away airs become the surf move of the
moment. We feast on these images, devouring dreamscapes and dream sessions as
inspiration for our own more mundane surfing lives. Though compelled by
photographic indulgence, we also sense a dichotomy at play; there a fantasy,
here our reality. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">“My feet are cold as hell.” A daily dawn surfer
grins through a chattered mumble. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He stands
on a seaside bluff, below him cascade small but clean peelers. There is only
one other surfer in sight. Wetsuit is pulled tight. Gravel crunches underfoot.
Scents of coastal sage and diesel exhaust mingle as familiar pre-surf rituals
are performed- wetsuit, wax, board check, stashed key. Later there will be a
few good rides, a few moments of pride, a few humbling wipeouts. All of this is
part and parcel. All of this is a surfer’s reality. How distant it is from the
packaged pictures streamed to us as a representation of surf perfection. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Those visions of perfection provide inspiration for
our daily surfing pursuits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are
fuel that keeps the creaking joints and gnaw of responsibilities from stealing
our surf time. The hyperbolic imagery of the athlete in his arena, as much
gladiator or acrobat as surfer, rekindles a sense of awe for the human
potential in surfing. Certainly there is beauty in modern surf photography.
Certainly there is awe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But
there are moments of beauty and drama in every surfer’s reality. These are
moments captured in a glance. The grey-scale mornings, the boards at rest
before the paddle out, the glimpse of a bottom turn juiced with a bit of body
english are at least as visually relevant as a fins-free lip slide. They are
simply relevant in a different way. Swelling ranks of surf photographers have
turned to analog equipment and individually purposed composition in order to
access this difference in vision.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">The cameras used by these photographers range from
large format film cameras, to Polaroid cameras for which no new film is being
produced, to thirty-five millimeter point-and-shoots, to cameras created as
toys. They offer visual affectation that is more impressionism than realism,
more mood than assertion of technical performance. There are blurs, light
leaks, soft edges. Colors are muted or saturated and forms become more
evocative, more elemental in the frame. The landscape of surfing is uncovered;
macro peeks illuminate a flex-fin’s foil while a panorama of an entire wave,
crisp barrel to the warbling shoulder gives context to the surfer’s ride. The
images linger not only on the tanned, tuned, and tropical but also on the New
England surfer in the snow, the north coast surfer in solitude.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">The overall effect of this emerging visual genre is
to slow the conceptualization of the surfing experience into a series of
moments tied together in balance. The episodes of surfing as a lifestyle become
equally weighted. Certainly, the centrality of the ride as the transcendent
moment in surfing is maintained, but the small instances along the way are
offered as context that compliments, indeed, defines the ride itself. The
viewer is asked to consider that the surfer is not the central element in
surfing. Rather, he is a participant in a grand pursuit with each successive
and peripheral consideration helping to craft a beautiful act.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">The analog aesthetic echoes a larger trend towards
divergent sensibilities in surfing. The championing of the “ride everything”
ethos has been broadly distributed, with singles, stubs, fish, logs, gliders,
and finless craft of all types sharing lineups across the globe. To be sure,
the three-finned thruster remains the tool of choice at premier heavy water and
performance waves, but these are the waves of the eminently bold and capable.
Those waves and those surfers are the fantasy. The reality is less idyllic, but
more accessible thanks to the variety of boards at play in today’s lineups.
Correspondingly, low fidelity surf photography allows access to the elemental
aspects that define the most average, but most profoundly important, of surf
experiences- our own.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14514050163526577381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312712281221533133.post-44521793951690717952014-05-30T20:46:00.002-07:002014-05-30T20:46:52.875-07:00This left...Could make me a goofyfoot.<br />
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<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/fLDyn1r0AFs" width="560"></iframe>andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14514050163526577381noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312712281221533133.post-75867681204028687352014-05-15T16:14:00.002-07:002014-05-15T16:14:49.043-07:00Lis<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ByIw9hY6-UM/U3VJ5sfGP5I/AAAAAAAAJpc/bEaRWWS8Tas/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-05-15+at+4.11.58+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ByIw9hY6-UM/U3VJ5sfGP5I/AAAAAAAAJpc/bEaRWWS8Tas/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-05-15+at+4.11.58+PM.png" height="425" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />
There's a little fishy web-article on surfline right now. I'm not a huge fan of surfline but classic pix are always a lure. Nice, if not a touch redundant after Cher's article in TSJ a bit ago.andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14514050163526577381noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312712281221533133.post-34064852082867027862014-05-15T16:10:00.001-07:002014-05-15T16:15:44.716-07:00Tomo recall<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/94681673" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> <br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/94681673">dan 2004 hi</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user25519414">Free Rad</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
Great surfing on a classic design. Thanks to RK at free-radicals.tv for sharing this.<br />
<br />
<br />
Tomo's surfing on these waves, on this board, appeals to me more than his more radical current surfing. I am enjoying one of his current designs a lot right now as well.andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14514050163526577381noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312712281221533133.post-78309655507907914972014-04-11T10:37:00.002-07:002014-04-11T10:37:37.178-07:00image/imagination...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YTgArXpv9rc/U0glx9WujPI/AAAAAAAABOc/89kwxUscFF8/s1600/MIT_press_cover.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YTgArXpv9rc/U0glx9WujPI/AAAAAAAABOc/89kwxUscFF8/s1600/MIT_press_cover.png" height="640" width="450" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
As found on <a href="http://www.free-radicals.tv/">Free Radicals</a></div>
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In a season of few sessions my imagination runs with the images. </div>
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My hair is common brown, no longer tell-tale blond tipped. My neck has no rash, nor defined wetsuit tan-line. I lean over. My nose is dry.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
Settled into the corner of my couch, kids asleep, dog tucked by my hip, I flip through a magazine or enter an e-door. Just as always an image stops me and I dream. Often it is a wave unridden or a framed capture of those moments that we remember through our surf-sense-memory. Yes, we who surf have a sixth sense. Sometimes, as above, it is a traceline of a story, now old enough to be decoded. </div>
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This image is particular to a certain telling of a certain history, and mine happens to intersect it often. What beautiful chance to be able to claim the feelings offered by these boards. What fortune to be so located in history to surf crafts from the eras and into the future.</div>
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Thanks to Ryan Field for providing stirring images in conspiracy with RK. </div>
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<br />borntoloserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02922208514367026740noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312712281221533133.post-17120288109355167922014-04-09T09:45:00.000-07:002014-04-09T09:46:59.853-07:00Must Read...<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Yj43MJWBzFY/U0V4306HbVI/AAAAAAAAJiA/3ee6fxPVkUA/s1600/sr.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Yj43MJWBzFY/U0V4306HbVI/AAAAAAAAJiA/3ee6fxPVkUA/s1600/sr.jpeg" height="296" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Mabile Glider- The Mark of a Trim Addict</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />
I remember flipping the e-pages of Surfermag.com, looking through the design forum and the classifieds for bits and pieces to be grabbed or bought, and then coming to a post or classified from a poster pseudonym-ed as Festus Porkmeyet. His somewhat gleeful cheek was obvious and joyfully embracing of surfing as a life of richness. His wry humor effaced surf-culture with a wink and a smirk.<br />
<br />
Now Festus emerges as a person, a human, whose story and struggle is profound but who also embodies a kind of triumphant dedication to the present that sometimes grows from a life in the waves. I've moved out of his neighborhood, my old neighborhood, with a few fair feelings of regret, I might add, despite the wash of reward in the move. I never met him in that neighborhood. I wish I had.<br />
<br />
Please read about him <a href="http://www.ukmatsurfers.com/scott-reeder/">here </a>and celebrate.andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14514050163526577381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312712281221533133.post-8721132413079258682014-03-11T17:33:00.000-07:002014-04-09T09:46:10.005-07:00Skipping stone...Following my very enjoyable time riding my surf mat at a left point/reef in Mexico (the water was turquoise and 70 degrees) I have had that slippery-smooth, low-friction glide on my mind. This vid, once again, is really nothing to look at- if you're not familiar with the sensations represented. For those that know, enjoy.
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/aK5gx0Ly-SQ" width="560"></iframe>)<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Keep those elbows in, ladies and gents. </span>andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14514050163526577381noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312712281221533133.post-88272991152184857532014-03-10T17:57:00.000-07:002014-04-09T09:45:45.536-07:00Long gone...<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/pFGrzfHblZg" width="420"></iframe><br />
<br />
One of the guys in this video is Rod Luscomb. There is a reef in this area that is named after him.1947 seems nice. War's done and lots of fun to be had and all...andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14514050163526577381noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312712281221533133.post-31289101686995279352014-02-09T19:52:00.001-08:002014-02-09T19:52:27.992-08:00hourglass<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/86267357" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> <br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/86267357">A Week With Tristan Sullaway</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user9536557">will salvato</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
<br />
He was a little kid when I first met him surfing Fo' Sho'es. That make me older than I was then, too. He used to be all fish and log and such. Now he's a shralper.andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14514050163526577381noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312712281221533133.post-62350939815298155342014-02-07T20:00:00.000-08:002014-02-07T20:00:17.408-08:00Mix...<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/35838360" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> <br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/35838360">Travers Adler, One Session At Rincon.</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/morganmaassen">Morgan Maassen</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
<br />
Along the certain path of adulthood, as it's sold, there are certain obligations that carry both joy (different than happiness) and challenge.<br />
<br />
From my cliff-side morning walk with my sweet dog Jake I get to see the swell and about a mile of coast. This is daily. This is surfline for real and without the ugly. I see swell and tide and wind and reef and crowd and rips. What I have seen recently has been just great, really nourishing. Good swell and great conditions for nearly two weeks.<br />
<br />
Yet I, the responsible and restless, have surfed only a handful of times. My wife is freshly back to full-time work, bless her, as a teacher. Hours are long. That leaves me and the gremmies to our own wonderous afternoons. We imagine and play, explore and snack, hike and splash. But I don't surf.<br />
<br />
Tomorrow is Saturday. I will be surfing. I hope to enjoy an expressive, joyful slip'n'slide out front. Beachbreak with bad access equals no crowds! In my imagination I am the kind of surfer that Mr. Adler, above, represents. All trim and pocket play with a dash of thrash (though I am slightly less self-aware I think.)<br />
<br />
See you at the beach. I will be the one with the smile.<br />
<br />
<br />borntoloserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02922208514367026740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312712281221533133.post-34710127936037186252013-08-01T10:33:00.000-07:002013-08-01T10:33:31.579-07:00What would you do if you had two months off...<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/62638619?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0&color=5f8275" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> <br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/62638619">Compassing Teaser</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/cyrussutton">Cyrus Sutton</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
The initial premise of what appears to be another grounded, earthy, accessible film from surfing's new-media frontman is compelling. What if we could all take a walkabout for a month or two? What if we could devote preparation time and money towards a surf trip that would meet our Santosha dreams? What if a freedom were granted and we grasped it with both hands, pulling ourselves out of the drudgery of daily life?<br />
<br />
But the question emerges from an assumption to the negative. Yes, workaday life can be laborious. Yes, the constant wrestling with scheduling, parenting, husbanding, producing, consuming and pragmatic necessity makes it difficult to feel that salty-sweet aura of the unencumbered surf session. We grab our moments, though, do we not?<br />
<br />
I propose a different perspective, one in which surfing plays the complimentary role in life rather than the true north of all experience. Can I be a competent and devoted family man, friend, teacher, and surfer? Yes. In those times when surfing becomes secondary I have learned to use my inner knowledge that the next session will always await as a motivator. Do good work in all things and enjoy those moments outside of surfing as a way of balancing life.<br />
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Of course I have wished for the weeks long journey to point break perfection. Yes, I miss traveling to Baja with the regularity and freedom that I once claimed. But times come for those trips. They need not be always the sweet that makes everything else sour. Perspective and balance my friends.<br />
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If you were wondering, if I had two months off with no responsibilities tying me here or there, I would probably go surf <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ciframe%20src=%22http://player.vimeo.com/video/62638619?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0&color=5f8275%22%20width=%22500%22%20height=%22281%22%20frameborder=%220%22%20webkitAllowFullScreen%20mozallowfullscreen%20allowFullScreen%3E%3C/iframe%3E%20%3Cp%3E%3Ca%20href=%22http://vimeo.com/62638619%22%3ECompassing%20Teaser%3C/a%3E%20from%20%3Ca%20href=%22http://vimeo.com/cyrussutton%22%3ECyrus%20Sutton%3C/a%3E%20on%20%3Ca%20href=%22https://vimeo.com%22%3EVimeo%3C/a%3E.%3C/p%3E">San Jacinto</a> on a great swell and then trip around Europe. Never been there. I'd surf when I returned home.borntoloserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02922208514367026740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312712281221533133.post-55526041150153030462013-07-22T16:33:00.001-07:002013-07-22T16:34:04.350-07:00Boogie Bay...<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Fuf5JlzBddU/Ue3A55OGSQI/AAAAAAAABMQ/RTHk0uu9fQ4/s1600/North+Beach+aka+Dog+Beach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Fuf5JlzBddU/Ue3A55OGSQI/AAAAAAAABMQ/RTHk0uu9fQ4/s1600/North+Beach+aka+Dog+Beach.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Higher tide and a little swell makes for lefts for yards at Boogie Bay.</span> </div>
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A mile north of my house there is a lagoon. The lagoon winds and wraps past the fairgrounds and racetrack as it runs west and into the pacific. Here, volleyball courts and dogs (duds too). There, crushingly disproportionate wealth in the form of oceanfront homes, buttressed by boulders against tides and swells.<br />
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A spare hour or two and some no-thanks winds lends itself to a bit of boy time. G and I hop in the car and take a ride to Boogie Bay. Now, boogie bay is not an amazing surf spot. It is not even a surf spot for anyone over seventy-five pounds. But if you are seven and you like to ride your boogie board, then man, you have found your surfy heaven right there at Boogie Bay.<br />
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At high tides a little left, maybe two feet on the biggest of days, wraps around the rocky armor below the mansions. little G-Land, Uluwatu. A left point for the groms. Grant walks out, turns and grabs a little slider. Twenty yards of grins from take off to sand. Me, I just smile and enjoy the life of a dad, a dad who surfs, a dad who surfs with his son.<br />
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G isn't much interested in surfboards or standup surfing right now. And I dig that. Because what he is really interested in is waves. Waves of perfect size for a seven-year-old, wrapping and reeling into Boogie Bay. borntoloserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02922208514367026740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312712281221533133.post-18094547073935726872013-07-18T08:54:00.001-07:002013-07-18T08:54:25.704-07:00New Blood...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v7wQkRbc0fI/UegOkx18oxI/AAAAAAAABL4/Gce-85mN_Oo/s1600/2013-07-07_08-05-08_772.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v7wQkRbc0fI/UegOkx18oxI/AAAAAAAABL4/Gce-85mN_Oo/s320/2013-07-07_08-05-08_772.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WSFvRMzkNOU/UegOrHsJ6iI/AAAAAAAABMA/gLqqj2iNPeg/s1600/2013-07-07_08-05-26_349.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WSFvRMzkNOU/UegOrHsJ6iI/AAAAAAAABMA/gLqqj2iNPeg/s320/2013-07-07_08-05-26_349.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">5'9" Steve Lis Quad Fish. Just wet for the first time. </span></div>
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Seventy-five degrees. Yes, the water and air both.<br />
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Hop on the bike and put the board on the rack. Forget the leash, it's a beachy. Wax in the pocket and slaps on the feet. Pedal and glide down Stratford, sliding under a low-hanging branch in anticipation of a head-dip, a cover-up, a micro-tube.<br />
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A manicured doormat of grass that sits in front of the sand, framed by city landmark and children's playground on either side. Take the bike onto the sand, tuck it into an eroded sea-cave and grab the board.<br />
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A few recognizable faces greet me on the sand, in the surf. A few familiar feelings return to me after a rather lengthy land-locked period. That first duck-dive. Ooh, that first moment of slippery speed. Welcome. <br />
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The new digs, a haunt in coastal affluence, has an ocean view and a few trails to the reefs. A bike takes me to the beachbreaks, not too bad on their day. It is refreshing to sense the sea so nearby again. Each morning for the past many I have sen the coastal airshow; fog and a delta of pelicans soaring just over the bluff.<br />
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<br />borntoloserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02922208514367026740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312712281221533133.post-32139451912597109972013-06-29T09:52:00.000-07:002013-06-29T09:52:36.823-07:00Art Show in the Morrow...<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fCeF2Bz7sDk/Uc8PjwEmwFI/AAAAAAAABLk/sfa1kOp0omM/s1500/WavelengthLaJolla.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fCeF2Bz7sDk/Uc8PjwEmwFI/AAAAAAAABLk/sfa1kOp0omM/s1500/WavelengthLaJolla.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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So, in lieu of frisky first-graders, delightful and dangerous all, I will be grabbing hold the creative rope and swinging wildly about my school's cognitive canyons. I am going to be working as an arts teacher helping link content-area instruction with the arts. Jack of all trades, me. Master of one, joy.<br />
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With the arts in mind I present to you a show to be attended, considered, celebrated, and perhaps hooted for. Enjoy <a href="http://www.lajollalight.com/2013/06/25/its-a-swell-show-surf%E2%80%99s-up-at-new-riford-library-art-gallery-exhibition/">Wavelength</a> La Jolla at the La Jolla Library Gallery- a fine venue. Beautiful works and beautiful people are a guarantee.<br />
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Oh, and there will be a selection of <a href="http://birdssurfshed.com/">Bird's Boards</a>.<br />
<br />borntoloserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02922208514367026740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312712281221533133.post-869551389521749382013-06-23T08:02:00.000-07:002013-06-23T08:02:54.186-07:00Share and share alike...<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_2YPcNUicnX8/S4n4HEQzIWI/AAAAAAAABCw/SZWbasaOzVw/s1600-h/IMG_0495.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443154424940929378" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_2YPcNUicnX8/S4n4HEQzIWI/AAAAAAAABCw/SZWbasaOzVw/s400/IMG_0495.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 267px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_2YPcNUicnX8/S4n39V_OL6I/AAAAAAAABCo/bu3d7GYf4AI/s1600-h/IMG_0463.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443154257900351394" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_2YPcNUicnX8/S4n39V_OL6I/AAAAAAAABCo/bu3d7GYf4AI/s400/IMG_0463.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 267px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_2YPcNUicnX8/S4n3yYPKaWI/AAAAAAAABCg/SjOOBp6DC9E/s1600-h/IMG_0449.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443154069525522786" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_2YPcNUicnX8/S4n3yYPKaWI/AAAAAAAABCg/SjOOBp6DC9E/s400/IMG_0449.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 267px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_2YPcNUicnX8/S4n3rzGY40I/AAAAAAAABCY/tNKN0wOZhhE/s1600-h/IMG_0448.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443153956477395778" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_2YPcNUicnX8/S4n3rzGY40I/AAAAAAAABCY/tNKN0wOZhhE/s400/IMG_0448.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 267px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_2YPcNUicnX8/S4n3guxjmyI/AAAAAAAABCQ/2rcoYPDyuv0/s1600-h/IMG_0408.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443153766337714978" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_2YPcNUicnX8/S4n3guxjmyI/AAAAAAAABCQ/2rcoYPDyuv0/s400/IMG_0408.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 267px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>September, 2009, via JKP</div>
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I, the beneficiary of the generosity and encouragement of many friends and acquaintances, sometimes feel compelled to give and share simply for giving's sake. (Not always, so don't get greedy.)<br />
<br />
Above are photos of a man at work in a manner that essentially every one of his contemporaries has forsaken. Though heady names exist on the labels of boards and clothing, the only label that bears the weight of decades of continuous work building and riding surfboards is <span style="font-style: italic;">the wings</span>. No ghosts, no machines, no bull.<br />
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His trip has been on my mind and at my fingertips lately. Appreciation is warranted.<br />
Thanks.<br />
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borntoloserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02922208514367026740noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312712281221533133.post-34591954186600582902012-10-18T16:12:00.000-07:002013-06-23T07:42:17.466-07:00Better Late...<br />
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Honored and really quite stoked to write a hefty little feature about <a href="http://www.pendo.com/home/">Steve Pendo</a> for SLIDE. He and his design work are totally unique and inspiring.<br />
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I'm not sure if it is still on the magazine racks but I'm sure copies are available directly from the magazine itself.<br />
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<img alt="" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-7568" height="320" src="http://www.pendo.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/SLIDE-22-Pendo-cover-sm-378x500.jpg" title="SLIDE 22 Pendo cover sm" width="241" /><img alt="" class="attachment-large" height="430" src="http://www.pendo.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/SLIDE-22-pendo_FINAL-2-sm.jpg" title="SLIDE 22 pendo_FINAL 2 sm" width="600" />borntoloserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02922208514367026740noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312712281221533133.post-12697444629426048412012-02-23T15:28:00.004-08:002013-06-23T07:43:00.453-07:00Fit to frame...<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qVAMEhWQqtI/T0bOIipdDkI/AAAAAAAABK4/ebWDGkq6mnw/s1600/TylerWarren-Pendoflex-22-500x281.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712479823501004354" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qVAMEhWQqtI/T0bOIipdDkI/AAAAAAAABK4/ebWDGkq6mnw/s400/TylerWarren-Pendoflex-22-500x281.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 225px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><span style="font-size: 78%;">TW PENDOFLEXING.</span></div>
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Must view:<br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/32592565">The Tyler Warren Experiments - Trailer</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/buildworldwide">Build Worldwide</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
Thank you.<br />
There are few things I aspire to be and do as a surfer. I don't care for monsterous waves of height and girth. They are in my past. I don't care for the hyperbolic spazz 'n' spray workout of the be-thrustered many. As a rule I avoid stink-eye and paddle-battles.<br />
I wouldn't mind surfing like Tyler Warren. Just such functional and diverse style. KLLR!<br />
<br />borntoloserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02922208514367026740noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6312712281221533133.post-69723655728034816642012-02-01T21:13:00.000-08:002013-06-23T07:43:37.458-07:00Seeking Shade...<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ddBDMTtJztQ/TyodxRXVOBI/AAAAAAAABKs/Ky5aedD9mw4/s1600/2011-11-13_10-22-40_200.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704404610330212370" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ddBDMTtJztQ/TyodxRXVOBI/AAAAAAAABKs/Ky5aedD9mw4/s400/2011-11-13_10-22-40_200.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 225px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XbJ9bK1vTSo/TyodpnJvklI/AAAAAAAABKU/_dG1KhR4Hv4/s1600/2011-11-13_10-22-07_529.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704404478739845714" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XbJ9bK1vTSo/TyodpnJvklI/AAAAAAAABKU/_dG1KhR4Hv4/s400/2011-11-13_10-22-07_529.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 225px;" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: 85%;">My favorite barrel-rider of all time. 6'6" Lis quad. A true revelation to me.</span></span></div>
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Average surfers like myself make memories out of mere moments.<br />
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The trail down from Triton Town is ever beautiful and baffling. Sea thieves conspire and scheme to take every single wave that they possibly can by any means that there has ever been in any conditions that there might be. And not to smile about it. Seriously. Why even surf if you're not going to smile?<br />
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Amongst the battling beasts I place myself. A kitten with the tigers, a pigeon trying to fly in falcon country.<br />
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Then Triton stirs. Salty karma can be sweet. A head and a bit peak rears and then jacks up double. I spin and gulp. I surf small waves, not barrels anymore, my real life has dictated as much. But there it is. A true barrel. Blue/black and robust. I slip to my feet and crouch back on above the fins. Click, click, zip! Fins, rail and rocker align and seek exit. I spread my arms and tickle the curtain as I exit.<br />
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There is nothing, nothing like being scared and then barreled. Back for more.borntoloserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02922208514367026740noreply@blogger.com3