8' Bluegill, Alaia, and Friends

The sand bars have been good at the beaches lately even with a little wind on it. The other day we brought down an assortment of boards including my new 8' Bluegill and a 7' long Alaia. These boards make small waves really fun. The Bluegill is fast and drives through sections, and as always, to ride a wave on an alaia is mind bending. Standard boards are fun too.

Dave Rastovich's alaia triple barrel @Noosa

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_roLpQ__xA

This is Dave Rastovich connecting from the upper points at Noosa right through the inside at 1st Point during the longboard event during the Noosa Festival.

Here is another shot from the Noosa Festival. Tom is describing the finer aspects of the board held by a alaia rider during the early part of the last century. Tom was invited to talk, along with Rabbit Barthalomew, Mark Richards, Simon Anderson , Bill Wallace and other great surfboard designers and riders, about the boards they make and how they influenced the way we surf.

Wood noserider

This is a new 9'8'' that now can be found at Icons of Surf in San Clemente. It is made of paulownia and sequia and is hollow. The wood flexes great and creates so much momentum. It weighs about 28 pounds. This is a true classic style board great for noseriding, trimming and blowing through whitwashes and getting down the line.

knee boards and mini gun

The mini gun is 6'10'' I made for Darren. He wanted a little more float, but still feel good on a bigger wave. It is 19 3/4 wide. Will wanted a couple of kneeboards, I had not made many, but what the heck. He brought one by he likes and we went from there. I liked the way they came out and he says they ride great. 5'10'' and 6'2'', 24'' wide.

Sacred Craft Ventura 1

We just got back from the Sacred Craft Consumer show in Ventura. This was our fourth Sacred Craft, and wow did we have a good time! We had such a good time that we kinda forgot to take photos during the show! You'll notice that most of the pics are after it is all over! So hopefully you were there to enjoy it with us! We just wanted to share some of the highlights...

We were up bright and early for the board demo on Saturday morning with a nice quiver of boards for people to try. Jon believes that no one wants to go first so he always takes a board out to show people that "you can actually surf on those crazy things"! Everyone wondered why he wasn't on the beach talking about the boards...I told them that it's just his strategy...he is just priming the pump. For some reason no one really believed me.

Here is a brave soul getting ready for take off! That's Homie (Jeff Scardine)getting his first ride on a bluegill...he came in with his eyes looking like saucers!

Jon got a big surprise when a nice man came into the booth and started chatting about the boards. Our friend Bob Stassi leaned over and whispered hey Jon that's Tom Morey! If you have ever spent any time with the Wegener bros, or checked out their boards up close...you will certainly know that they revere Tom Morey! Jon is all smiles talking to one of his heroes!

About a hundred years ago when Jon and I lived in O.B. we would admire Cher and Steve from a far...Steve Pendarvis is an awesome shaper, and surfer, and Cher is an awesome artist and surfer...I always thought that she was the coolest lady ever...and as I laid on my towel I had fantasies of surfing and being as cool as she was...Thanks for the inspiration Cher! -r

We met and spent a little time with Reno Abellira
and his chihuahua Lola. Reno stole the show with
his personality and fashion sense. Rosa's heart is still beating a little fast. -j

Danny Hess's boards rule and he is a super cool person. I will regret not taking his invitation up to do some karaoke Saturday night. Word is we missed Reno bringing the house down with a rendition of "Purple Rain." -j






Hold on just a second...It wasn't only my heart that Reno set on fire! This is what we call a "Reno Sandwich"! That is Jon, Reno, and Richard Kenvin in the afterglow of the Sacred Craft.-r

Okay, Mike LeVeccia from grain and I are usually the designated photographers for good reason...neither of us really enjoys getting our pictures taken! But here we are, the Grain Surfboards booth was directly in front of ours, which made for lots of good fun!

Once the show was over we had a celebratory snack with Richard Kenvin and Kirk of the Swift Movement. The conversation soon turned to preparing for the next big events. Look forward to a new design with the slick surface of hairless dog grease. You may want to order one now before the dogs dry up.

Sacred Craft Ventura

Sorry about no new posts. We have been getting ready for the Sacred Craft this weekend in Ventura. We will have Alaias, Bluegills, Hollow wood longboards, Handplanes, and blanks at our booth and you can take them for a test drive at C Street Saturday and Sunday morning 7:00am to 10;oo. We will be at the top of the point, one of the last parking lots. Come by.

Jacob Stuth, Noosa

If you enjoy riding alaias, you must say what up to Jacob Stuth. He was the first guy to grab one with the intention of stand up riding, and has been blowing minds ever since. He is amazing to watch surf and has had a major influence on the design of the boards. Jacob works with bees and grows food and flowers for a living. Looking at the rooster tail comming off the board, one would realize he is gooing really fast.

photo; Chris Stevens