Single Shoe Yellow

Nick holds up his first place trophy "The Yellow Shoe" for his victory in a wacky and fun event that only the minds of frothing kids could come up with.

This one comes from the archives, a classic study of when teen spirit meets the exuberance of youth. The story goes like this: Cole and his buddies were holed up for a couple of stormy weeks watching Thicker Than Water over and over, just dying to get some good surf. The part with cool pro guys trading off riding a funky little green single fin struck a cord and the lightbulb went off. "We could do that." "Let's make a contest out of it." "Yeah." And off they went to enlist their gullible shaper (me).

What we came up with was this little 5'10": diamond tail, single fin, yellow pigment, gloss and polish and most importantly no leash attachment. Purely a soul thing.

The object was to surf the board for 20 minutes and get judged by your bros. At the end of the the day everyone got to vote, looked at scores if they had to, and generally agreed who should take home the prestigious Yellow Shoe. Pretty simple, tons of fun, heavy gaffs, and a bit of swimming.

Nick cranks it off the bottom.

Cole opens up with a big flair off the top making this "old school" single fin look as lively and loose as his trusty thruster.

In the end it was Nick's backhand attack with blazing cutbacks and snapping rebounds that won the day.

This scramble happened years ago and these kids are now adults. They're fireman, lifeguards, scientists; and are starting families of their own. It is my hope that they are passing the stoke along and continue to find good reasons to spend the day at the beach.

Cool Color

Jim got 2 new boards this week and wanted his patented red bottom and rails, along with some kind of green on the deck. I thought that they might end up a little too Christmasy so I threw in a fade and a purple band on one. The round tail is a 6'1" quad for punchy Ocean Beach style beach breaks. The squash tail is a 5'11" dumpster diver inspired design for the mushy stuff.

#94

Bolinas seawall

Flow and Glide

Ben throws a fan and looks down the line during the CSSL middle school contest. We are mid season now and the level of surfing is simply amazing.

Stars & Stripes

Black on white. Tons of tape, a couple of razor blades, a can or two of stinky black acrylic paint and a good face mask with new filters. Simple designs that pop.

New Year's Resolution

Have Fun!

Science and Surfing

You're invited to "Surf's Up Nightlife" at the California Academy of Sciences this Thursday, Dec 2nd, for an evening filled with the science, art, and culture of surfing. There will be films, forums, and surf related displays. You can even see some tarp surfing.

I'll be sitting in on a round table on surfboard shaping and green design. Come on by and get your stoke up. There's going to be a lot of great stuff at a very cool location. Hope to see you there.



California Academy of Sciences
"Surf's Up NightLife" - Thursday, December 2nd

Mavericks Film with Pro-Surfer Panel

We’re pleased to present a screening from the soon to be released movie ‘Super Natural’ from Powerlines Productions. This includes footage from last year’s big wave event at Mavericks and giant surf from Pe’ahi (aka “Jaws”). The movie’s producers will introduce the piece and each screening will be followed by talks and Q & A with a panel of professional surfers. Check back as the event approaches for confirmed panel participants.

There will be two film screenings, each followed by the panel discussion. Seating is limited, passes will be available on a first-come, first-served basis on the night of the event.


Tarp Surfing and More

Throughout the building, we’ll have a variety of surf and ocean oriented activities. There will be a stunning display of tarp surfing in our central piazza, films and videos playing throughout the building, and other great surprises.


Surfing and Ocean Gallery

Our iconic African Hall will be transformed into and gallery dedicated to the art and science of surfing. We’ll have surf board art, interactive displays and games about the ocean and surfing from local Surfrider organizations and others.

Scheduled to participate are: Save the Waves, Marin Surfrider, San Francisco Surfrider, San Mateo Surfrider, Surfaid, Surf for Life, American Cetacean Society, Project Kaisei, Sea Stewards, Frank Quirarte, Art Gimbel, Doug Acton, Seth Migdail, Matthew Proehl, Paul Ferraris and others.


Expert Roundtables

Here is your opportunity to learn more on a variety of topics pertaining to surfing and the ocean in an intimate setting with renowned experts. We’ll have three topics this evening:

Surfboard Shaping and Green Design - Moderated by David McGuire and featuring James Mitchell, Danny Hess, Ward Coffey, and Kevin Whilden

Surfing and Environmentalism - with Kyle Thiermann and J. Nichols.


Planetarium

Enjoy the following planetarium shows this week at NightLife:

Life: A Cosmic Story
6:30 pm

A surfing film from Powerlines Productions (title TBA)
7:30 pm and 8:30 pm

Passes to planetarium shows are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. Pick up your pass at the Planetarium Kiosk.

Northwest Passage

Most of you are familiar with the Malloy brothers getting all bearded out, poking around in plaid, and chasing exotic waves around the globe. Well here's a group of guys living the dream right here in the continental US. In true Lewis and Clark spirit, these adventurers show us that the quest is as much fun as getting to the end of the trail. I am reminded that if we take the time to make the time, anyone can enjoy the riches of the outdoors, good friends, good spirits, and good times.
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Guest post by Jeff Smith:



With a couple of Ward Boards and boat in tow; myself, good bud Rob Sweet and new to the crew Mike Boo ventured out to the Northwest coast to explore a remote break. The plan was to motor my wooden drift boat over to a lake island to camp.





From there we boated over to a trailhead to begin the 2 mile hike to the Pacific.



We had surfed the spot before but always on very small swells. This weekend we were more hopeful with a 7ft/13sec West rolling in. Due to the remoteness of the 2 mile trail, going was tough on wet, slippery, broken boardwalks with fallen trees to navigate around. Soon, however, we heard the sweet sound of swell and took a break before the last mile on the beach around a couple of headlands.



Rounding the last corner, smiles sprouted at the sight of head high peelers coming through offering slow lefts and fast paced rights.





For three straight days we were greeted to this sunshine and briny dream followed by satisfied hikes back, evening trout fishing, campfires and booze. 4 days of Autumn paradise.

Spudnik

Look up in the sky. It's a bird. It's a plane. No, it's Spudnik! Sean takes an earthly view of his new "mini Simmons" inspired craft. At 4'10" x 22" this board is closer to a bar of soap than a surfboard. But Sean says, "this thing is out of this world and puts me in a whole new orbit!"



Interesting feedback. Could this be the new space race in board design?

Rasta's New Ride

Though the van is pretty cool, the 5'11" quad fish Dave Rastovich is holding is even cooler. The quad fin project I've been working on with Thomas Campbell has been bearing some sweet fruit.




Thomas has been fired up on these quads and knowing that Dave was going to be passing through town, Thomas had me make one up so he could get it to Dave as he headed to the East Coast to chase hurricane swells and then on to France for a gig there.







In Maine, Dave hooked up with Dug and the boys at "Get in the Van". They've got a good pulse on the East Coast surf scene and put out a nice blog with some great images of their capers. For more photos of Dave's run, go to Get in the Van / the Chase Channel and click on the (hurricane) Earl button.



After we got back the images and feedback from Dave, I told Thomas that if we can make a surfboard that will inspire you to surf, play music, and make art then we've made the world a better place.