Diff always stayed true to his values, and many will say Channin didn’t have any. Mike was also a great shaper a great surfer, and a hell of a golfer. The guy had style, no he was style, and still is in my mind. A real surf shaper/hero unlike many who now claim to be but have the depth of soap bubbles.
“The depth of soap bubbles”??? Ya got me on that one.
Good one!
Yes. What atomized said. He was there.
I remember around that time hanging out in the parking lot there on the hill when I was working out a deal with Tony on some projects and Diff drives up in his '40 Ford flatbed pickup. It had bigs and littles, Crager 5 spokes I think. It was a hot rod with the right attitude and a small block Chevy under the hood. Complete with chrome valve covers and a 4 barrell.
The license plate said “Shaper.”
He and Tony were putting a deal together and he was back for awhile to shape a few.
We went over to Tony’s house that night and had a bar b que. Can’t remember who else was there but it was a memorable evening.
Just a few years later, early nineties, I was walking through the parking lot of my t-shirt business in Florida and a car drove up and Diff was in the passenger seat. He’d just stopped by to say hello. He was in town to shape a few boards and I placed an order for my son right then.
My son still has the board. It’s in my garage to this day. A 9’ rounded pin.
Diff could walk into a factory, borrow a few flip templates, and draw out a board and have it shaped before you could blink.
Not to start some $#!t with you again, gut I keep coming back to your comment; “there’s mo way that’s a machine shape.” I was wondering how you could look at a couple of pictures of a dirty waxed. sunburned bouard from the 80’s and make such authoritative statement??
Geez!