Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Outsourcing Your Stoke

Good friend and neighbor of mine wrote this:

A strong Pacific storm drops out of the Aleutian Islands and heavy rain batters the Oregon coastline. Small steams swell to flood levels and muddy banks erode until ancient redwood trees fall and are carried out into the open seas.

Pacific currents relentlessly move the logs across thousands of miles of open seas until they are encountered by a lone fisherman in his one-man canoe. He spreads the welcome alarm throughout the village and every able bodied person heads out to sea in search of the valuable redwood logs. The logs are superior to any wood grown on the islands because of their resilience and longevity when exposed to salt water.

The best of the wood is gifted to the king for his personal surfboard. This is the point where we have our first glimpse at the value of high-quality surfboard manufacturing material.

Fast forward to 1956 when Grubby Clark and Dave Sweet are inventing and producing the first man-made surfboard foam. Grubby Clark dominates the foam market for about 50 years before shutting down production in the face of environmental and employee health concerns.

Businessmen around the globe grab the opportunity to fill the void by producing surfboard foam of various qualities and opening the door to overseas board manufacturing in China and Thailand. These varying qualities of boards built by workers who have never seen the ocean, let alone participated in the sport of kings, threaten our local shapers and manufacturing professionals who have contributed to the history and folklore of our sport for many years.

The sport, as we know it, has changed forever.

Bob Dylan said it best, "The times they are a-changin’."

So now I’m asking the surfing public to remember your surfing roots and support local builders when you can.

There is no better stoke than communicating with the man that is building your next board and then enjoying the fruit of your collaboration in your favorite local surf spot.

Thank you for listening and hope to see you next issue.

--TK

Saturday, June 26, 2010

deepblue.



Don't need no drugs, you're my chemical
Now I'm dependent, swear I'm clinical
Addicted to those glances, taking chances tonight
I need a fix in those heroin eyes
Don't need no drugs, you're my chemical
Now I'm dependent, no not cynical
Addicted to those glances, taking chances tonight
I need a fix in those heroin eyes.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Satisfaction.



I have a lot on my mind tonight. The harder the body works, the more developed it becomes. That's an obvious philosophical observation but I believe it's true.

First. I've really improved my surfing this week. The waves here have been small and sorta crappy at times, but overall they have been really fun for me. My fish rides like a champion. I believe I've improved because we had a week without barrels and I needed the confidence of not getting slammed by the lip or free falling. So, I am feeling more comfortable with my take-offs.

We are supposed to have a new South Swell rolling through starting tomorrow. Everyone is waiting patiently to see what it brings. A friend and I are going out at 5:30 AM. Ha. DP for shore. I hope all surfers are getting wasted tonight so no one will be out surfing. We have decided that I am going to throw a massive block party so I can get everyone drunk and hungover for some empty waves.

Second. Why am I obsessed with board building? I want to try and answer this the best I can but there could be so many explanations in my complex mind that I don't know if I can think of them all. Okay- it could be 'the chase' of making more and more to experiment or whatever. But that can help me in the long run. Financially, not so much unless people are buying them. Which I intend they do. With time, it will happen. It could also be desire. Not sure how to explain that but there is amazing feelings of accomplishment when you finish a board. Sometimes things like this are stepping stones. Like, where you are going in life. Each one tells a story of a certain time. Good or bad. For example: my long board is so beat up because it fell off the roof of a van & also a friend's fin put a gnar crack in the tail... so it looks terrible. I hate that board. But I don't have the heart (yet) to cut it up. Shaping also is like stepping into the unknown. Each board can come out differently just by using a tool right or wrong. That's so rad to me. It makes me want to be a better shaper so achieve consistency and technique. When you start with a blank, it looks so bitter, so uninviting. This subsides until the first few planer passes tear away the crusty exterior revealing the fresh white delicacy. From there, so many things can happen. Outline affects everything. If that goes bad--the board's fucked.

So I guess I haven't found my reason. Plus I could go on with my love/hate relationship with glassing. I am loving it more than I hate it.

Not sure what else to say.
But I love this board

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

little newport waves

were in the middle of souths right now and its a nice little lull. went down to 48th this morning. had the place to ourselves. nice little 1-2 foot babies came rollin through and it wasn't even shore break. this left was even spitting! blehhh. super cool. took out my retro fish and probably had more fun than anyone else in the water. man i love that board.

peace.
<3 windyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Friday, June 11, 2010

Strands



Windy size waves.
Newport and everywhere else around here was so blown out by the eddy that Willy and I ran down to Strands and had a good time !

Plus this fish i found on the sidewalk was super cool. :) I think I'll make one myself!


First time for me at Strands. I liked it-- cause it was small and manageable!!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

An inspiration.



My friend PJ painted me this beautiful photo of a "Newport left"
I love lefts...
I might not be the BEST surfer... but I am the one out there having the MOST FUN.
Thank you, Hotsoup :)
It made my day... year... life.
Another motto to add to my list: "Go surf...Paddle fast... catch waves...this left is for you"

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

the Heartbreaker



Finished this board && very happy about it.
Dims: 6'0" x 19 1/8" x 2 1/4"
Beautiful rails and a nice slightly flat rocker for summertime waves.
Let's go somewhere, its saying
I named it the heartbreaker-- because a friend of mine calls me a 'heartbreaker' every time i open my eyes... ha

Monday, June 7, 2010

Caught a Fish!




Can't really believe I caught a fish--first one in the ocean. =)
Super stoked about it.
Had a good time biking all around the back bay and harbor with Willyyyy.

Happenings






So I've been a little MIA lately and wish I could have posted some stuff on here but I guess I'll just have to play catch up. Went on some epic bike rides like to Wedge, all around Newps, Alta's, and other places. Good times for sure.

Here's some photos of the journeys.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

New shredder


Here's my newest board -- Standard shortboard.
Haven't decided the name yet.
Dims: 6'0" x 19 1/8" x 2 1/4"
hollahhh
its glassed as of now, just needs to be hotcoated, sanded, fin boxes, and RIDDEN!

Friday, June 4, 2010

Refurb


So I've had this old board for a while... its really not that old but I got it used. It had 2 or 3 layers of this nasty paint on the bottom. And for at least a year, I would not ride it because I was embarassed because of the paint job. So I spent over an hour and a half sanding down the paint so it would be clean. It actually turned out pretty good with only a few yellowish spots. Maybe one of these days I'll paint a sick design on it. Just not the ENTIRE board. ugh. It has quite a few pressure dings that are annoying but oh well... I rode it and it seems nice. Paddles well.

Is this called recycling?