News Flash!

Thanks to ABC for the only video footage of me surfing. The only problem? "The surf was an early attraction for those trying to ride the big waves..." Trying? Wow. That hurts, ABC, that hurts. At 1:35:


The height of this swell may be unrideable (not to mention inaccessible), but we got a good 7 hours of surf today in some really, really fun chest to head high surf. It was the first good swell I have surfed my newly-repaired new fish, and so far it lives up to all my expectations. Can't wait for more.

Be safe this weekend.


One of my consistently favorite Dylan songs, off of his perfect album Blood on the Tracks. 

Nothing Gold Can Stay

I did this with my head. It is really way worse than this picture looks. If the picture were better you could see hair in the fiberglass. For good waves? Of course not.

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

 

-Robert Frost

Don't Count Your Fishes Before They're Caught (Or Something LIike That)

    You may remember way back in April I did a post that said how this board was finished being shaped, and how happy I was with how quickly I was able to shape it. Well, here we are, more than halfway through August, and it's finished (actually I finished it last Friday). Shaping is definitely the easy part.

   I did what I call a "rolled lightly in rich compost" resin tint, which actually means as I was glassing it I started to get chemical poisoning due to my mask not sealing over my beard, so I didn't get to evenly spread the charcoal-colored resin I was laminating with. Next purchase: supplied-air hood system, so I don't melt my brain.

     The resin pinlines came out OK, there are definitely some flaws and I learned some lessons that I had already known but forgot (that's what happens when there's so much time between boards, especially since the last time I did pinlines was almost exactly two years ago with 001). I also made the keels for this out of Baltic Birch marine ply.

    I have only surfed it once, in a crumby little windswell. After some teasers in late July or early August, I am really jonesing for some solid lefts to try this board out on. Basically, I took the template I used for 001, kept the overall width the same, but pulled in the nose and tail a bit, and gave it a single-wing to pull the tail in even more. I made the fish-tail a little shallower, and gave it a bit more rocker throughout. A bit more foam too, especially under the chest. Also toed the fins in a bit more, and gave them a little more cant. My goal was to make a fish that had all the things I love about my first one (some of those things being speed, ability to hold high lines, and general overall fun-ness), while giving it more performance-oriented characteristics, namely making it looser to do sharper turns and go more vertical on the lip, as well as maybe make it a little easier to ride backside. It definitely seemed to be looser, but I haven't given it the full test yet. Hopefully soon.

     Henry is very happy with the board.

Other things I have been up to:

Picked up this ~18' rowing shell for cheap in my neighborhood. Just needs a little glass work, but the oars alone are worth about double what I paid for the whole thing. Looks fun for calm mornings on Barnegat Bay.

    Very excited about this: Polaroid SX-70 Land Camera - the world's first folding SLR, encased in leather and chrome plating. I bought this at an estate auction in a box of camera stuff. I paid less than half what this camera is worth for the whole box, and the other stuff I'll be able to sell. So in the long run, the film is going to cost me more than this camera did.

     The garden is doing well. I've harvested hundreds of tomatoes, which has been awesome, but unfortunately the dreaded squash vine borer got my squash plants before I could get that many, but I got a few. Now it's time to plant lettuce, brussel sprouts, spinach, and broccoli.

    I walked out to my truck to go to work and this butterfly was moving sluggishly, so I thought it was dying. In fact, it had just emerged from its cocoon and was wondering what its new wings were, and how to use them. Not a sight one sees every day.

Versus

The Jaynettes, with their 1963 song "Sally Go Round The Roses." A strangely beautiful song which sounds way better when you hear it on AM than any of the videos I found on YouTube.

This wasn't even going to be a Versus installment, but I found this video of ? and the Mysterians doing this song. It is kind of embarrassing to watch, and the version is just alright. The Jaynettes win, but maybe you should watch a minute of the ? video, just to laugh a little. 

Sum-sum-summertime

Apologies to all my loyal readers for the slacker approach I've taken with this blog lately. I've been busy with summer things, and this summer that includes plenty of alright to decent to downright amazing days of surf, and many of them on weekends no less! This summer also includes a decent amount of ice cream: Soft-serve Swirl with Chocolate Sprinkles in a Cone, please.

Got to do the lam coat on both sides of 008, which has been waiting patiently for me to finish it. With the long weekend coming up, I'm going to hopefully at least get the glass-on keels set and the board hotcoated, and possibly, though not probably, get it sanded and pinlines laid. I think I've already got the weekend overbooked in my mind with countless projects, so we'll see how it goes.

Amazing Tom and Jerry episode brought to my attention by FRANK


Are you comin', or are you ain't? The Jamies, with "Summertime Summertime." Great summer song.

Something Fishy This Way Comes....

 

    Dumb heading, but true nonetheless. 008 is finished being shaped, minus a few final touches. This is the first board I've shaped that I have just gotten down to business without thinking too much while doing it. And it went pretty quickly. Started Wednesday, got a bunch done on Thursday, and did a few small things yesterday. It had been a while since I shaped a board, especially one from a real blank, and it felt good to do it again.

 

     It's no secret that I love the first board I made, 001, the 5'5" Lis fish. I've surfed it in all kinds of waves and it has rarely (not never) let me down. But I've always felt it could be improved upon, so that's what I tried to do here. I basically used the template for that board and the one from 006 . I pulled the nose and tail in, and gave the tail those wings (which I love shaping, I love the feel of it) to pull it in that much more and give a water-release point. I put more rocker in the nose and tail, to add to maneuverability and help with steep wave entry, but not too much, because I didn't want to lose the speed or ability to just hop towards the nose and lock in to the wave and trim. I also gave this one a bit more foam, especially from the mid-point forward, for even better paddling and earlier entry on those steep days that present a challenge to my beloved fish. I'm sure the rails are different than my other one, but these feel good, and that's what I go by. Can't wait to get this one glassed and try it, but that probably won't happen super-soon because A) I still have to make fins for it and B) my block of EPS is supposedly coming this week. We'll see...

Tom Waits' "The Fawn," off of Alice. It came on shuffle yesterday while I was shaping, so here it is. Now it's time to go build some raised beds for my vegetables!