First of all, Merry Christmas! I got caught up in ye olde hustle and bustle of the Holiday season, and never got to do a Christmas post, which I had big plans for, and I never got to do a Monday-After-Christmas-Snowstorm-Swell post, for reasons I can't explain. But now I have a new reason to post: the completion of 007, right on schedule!
By now everyone probably knows we got a lot of snow (except my neighbor, who is an older gentleman who owns the house a vacation home, and came down today. He asked Jeannine if she knew anyone who could shovel, and seemed surprised that he couldn't get in the driveway. By the way, he's from NY, and I think they got snow there, too.). I made sure to dig out what I could late at night on Sunday, so I could get out Monday morning. I was well on my way to the Island when I heard that a "State of Emergency" had been declared the night before, and one should only take to the roads out of necessity. Well, necessity is in the eye of the beholder, and my eye beheld this as I pulled up to the break:
Yes, I'd say it was a necessity to be on the road. Waste to chest high fast and hollow lefts breaking down at the South End, which was probably the only place to surf that had parking, because no side streets were plowed.
Walked around to take some photos before going out. The South End is beautiful this time of the year, especially with no one around and snow on the ground.
The wind was blowing 30-45 mph offshore, the air was barely in the 20s, and the water was in the mid-to-lower 40s.Not the coldest it'll be all winter, but cold nonetheless. I was able to stay in the water for 2 1/2 hours before my feet started to get cold, which is a testament for to XCEL, even if I haven't had the best of luck with the durability of their stuff.
This picture came out blurry, unfortunately, but I decided to put it up here anyway because I love the shape of the wave. Just perfect.
Ding-Dong!
And in other news, 007 - the garbology mini-Simmons I've been working on - is complete, and right in time for my goal to finish it in 2010. 5'2" x 21 7/8 x 2 7/8 - I think this board will be fast and fun, especially on lined-up lefts (frontside for me).
That being said, I will never EVER build a board like this again. Not the shape, mind you, but the method of piecing together the blank out of garbage/found pieces of foam. It was resourceful and interesting and I learned a good deal throughout the process, but the most important thing I've learned is never to do this again. The result of building a board like this was a board that is way heavier than it should be, but at least it took longer than it should have, too.
That also being said, this board is dedicated to the memory of my Grandfather, a Master Garbologist who
helped to instill a fervor for thrift in me. And, yes, he also had a way of, even while utilizing incredible ingenuity and frugality, doing some things in a completely overcomplicated and time-consuming way, much as I've done with this board. He also had a penchant for labeling things with a DYMO labeler, so made the "Strange Flora Surfboards" on this lam from labels from his labeler.
I made these fins for the board. I think they came out to about 9 1/2" long at the base and probably 3/8" thick, maybe a little more. I finished them off with some spraypaint, which was wonderfully simple after all the complications throughout the construction of this board.
I left a sanded finish on the board - 320 grit on the bottom and 400 on top - sanded in the direction of water flow. I first read about a sanded finish of this type being faster than gloss on Greg Liddle's site, and have since read more about it on Swaylocks. I decided to do it on the bottom on this board, and was thinking of going gloss on the deck, but in the end, I liked the matte finish of this color, and, more importantly, I discovered I was out of 600 grit sandpaper. So that settled it.
What lies beyond this beach-access of time that will take us from the parking lot of 2010 to the surf of 2011? That's stupid, but only time can tell. GOODBYE!
Well, Christmas is almost here, and we've had some fun waves the past couple of days, with a good next few days to look forward to. Surfed WJ and Sunken Rocks for two hours today, and got lucky enough to have it all to myself while six longboarders crowded around Beach One. I had a chance to get reacquainted with an old friend: SF 003, the hull I made. These waves proved to be perfect for getting used to the board again: not too big, but lined up nice and with some speed to them. I had a blast. On one of my best rides, as I coasted over the disappearing shoulder, I looked and saw the last blip of the sun before it set for the day.
Sunset sessions on smallish south end surf in the wintertime are always very peaceful. I wish the moon would've risen earlier, I probably would have kept right on surfing into the night.
If I were to go to school again, it might be to study the origins and evolution of Christmas carols over time, and maybe Christmas traditions in general. Probably not, but it is pretty interesting. From wikipedia:
"I Saw Three Ships (Come Sailing In)" is a traditional and popular Christmas carol from England. A variant of its parent tune "Greensleeves", the earliest printed version of "I Saw Three Ships" is from the 17th century, possibly Derbyshire, and was also published by William B. Sandys in 1833.[1][2] The lyrics mention the ships sailing into Bethlehem, but the nearest body of water is the Dead Sea about 20 miles away. The reference to three ships is thought to originate in the three ships that bore the purported relics of the Biblical magi to Cologne Cathedral in the 12th century.
Here's the Sufjan Stevens version, and if there's a better rendition out there I'd like to hear it.
Not much to post about. Surfed today in Bradley Beach, it was really fun and had one of the best backside tubes of my life I think. Got 007 all glassed on Saturday, mostly sanded on Sunday. Looks like it'll be a fast board. I hate waiting to find out!
British Vice Admiral Edward "Old Grog" Vernon
If you find yourself reading "A Christmas Carol," which you should, this year, and if, like me, you are particularly keen on seasonal culinary things, especially if they are things from a bygone time, such as the Victorian era, then you will find yourself really wanting to eat and drink all the things that are at all the feasts in the book. The plum pudding (not made with plums, but raisins) will intrigue you, because how could a pudding be hard, and why was it set on fire? The goose will probably make your mouth water, partly because of the excitement surrounding it and partly because, if your like me, you've never had a goose, as it was supplanted as the bird of choice for holiday meals in this country long before I was born. But one thing got me good: the Grog that gets passed around in front of a blazing fireplace. If the idea of hot alcoholic drinks in front of a fire doesn't make you feel incredibly happy, then please hibernate until after Christmas, you're not wanted (JUST KIDDING IT'S CHRISTMAS EVERYONE'S WELCOME).
But what is Grog? According to all-knowing wikipedia, it was introduced to the British Navy in 1740 by the gentleman above, Admiral Edward Vernon. For 230 years it was issued to seamen at noon and after work. That's quite a run. Originally Grog was a water and rum mixture (4:1) but since its incarnation it has undergone some changes. When I made it for the first time last night, I used the Joy of Cooking recipe, which is as follows:
In an 8 oz. mug, stir together:
1 teaspoon Sugar Syrup or Maple Syrup (I used Maple)
1 tablespoon strained lemon juice
1 jigger (1.5 oz) dark rum (I used The Kraken black spiced rum, which is my new favorite rum)
Fill mug with:
Very hot tea or water (I used tea)
Garnish with a twist of:
Lemon peel
Dust top with a little:
Ground nutmeg or cinnamon
So I did this, and it was delicious. Jeannine opted for no tea, and she didn't like it as much. If you look online, of course, there are many recipes, some of which include lime juice instead of lemon, brown sugar, cinnamon sticks, cloves, etc. I made it tonight with lime juice, a bit more rum, and chai tea. I have to say, I prefer the one from Joy of Cooking. Thanks Irma Rombauer!
Apologies for the technical difficulties with the previous posts. For some reason on my computer, I can't see certain images on blogger, both on my site and others. And when I go to post, sometimes the image I add doesn't show up. I thought these images were just lost, but for some reason they were there, but didn't shrink down. So that's what happened. I found out when I was showing my Mom how to use the internet and showed her this blog, and discovered the disaster. If anyone knows what is wrong with my blogger interface, please let me know.
Rain day on Wednesday, so I worked on the board a while. Attached some more foam to fill in areas that needed it. The shaping is almost finished, and the "blank" has foam from five (5) different sources at this point. Also layed up the fin panel, above, to make the keels out of. I'm not going to make the "traditional" Mini-Simmons "half-moon" keels, and I'm not going to make traditional keels, like the Gepharts that are on my fish, but I'm going to make keels that are more rounded over, like a lot of the mini-Simmons boards are getting. I figure in the future I might make the half-moon keels, just to see how they feel.
After blowing over 30 from the South all day long, the storm blew through around 3:00 PM and the wind switched hard West, so Frank and I headed over. It was big, definitely overhead, but mostly closeouts. Still, I saw some that were rideable. Frank didn't, he had the sense to stay on shore. So at around 3:45 I paddled out and Frank stuck around to take pictures and make sure I didn't get trounced (too badly).
I had my 5'7" Quad, and knew once I was out that I was under-boarded. I would've liked my 6'0 Cannibal to be able to get into the waves a little earlier, because I just couldn't get into them in time to make the sections.
The drift was unbelievable and soon, after a couple of good wipeouts and being caught inside for a massive five-wave set, I was in a section where none of the waves were makeable, just big walls of water. Didn't get a ride before it got dark, which bummed me because I can't remember the last time I got no waves during a session. Still, pretty amazing sky with the storm blowing out to sea and the clouds looking like a time-lapse film. Worth it? I think so...
Oh yeah! Also, Jeannine and I got engaged during that gap of time when I didn't post much. That's her finger with the ring on it, not mine. Now the planning, which everyone claims is hard but I think is probably pretty. We'll see.
Well, it's December, which means it's the Christmas season. Which means, it's the Christmas music season. I love Christmas music, and you should too. So, it's kind of ironic that the first Christmas song of the season I post isn't technically a Christmas song, although it is found on Phil Spector's A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector, which, it could be argued, is the best Christmas album. I don't make top 10 lists or anything, but it would definitely be in my top 10. Anyway, this song, Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans' "The Bells of St. Mary," is the third track on said album. Enjoy it, because you really can't help but do so. Expect more from this album throughout the Holiday season.
This blog was started as a way to chronicle my adventures into surfboard shaping and just surfing in general. Since its inception, it has evolved into a log of whatever I feel like rambling about and sharing with the world, including, but not limited to: photographs, bicycles and bicycling, film, music, gardening, cute pictures of Henry, and more.
