i think we are one step closer…yesterday while shopping for some grub at Cosco, i came across their sports equipment. there in a metal bin with pool toys and plastic canoes were three Aloha (Mauricio Gil) shortboards. the sign read “trifin surfboards, 289.99$” i watched some guy checking em out, seriously considering their function as pool toy for the kids. i don’t know, it was kinda sad, the boards were all dinged from the metal bin they were tossed in, one was missing its fins, they just looked pathetic. the day before i was at a local shop inquiring about putting a board on their ussed rack. to my dismay there was no room as the owner showed me. he had more boards then places to put them. apparently in the past when he ordered a bunch of boards for spring or whatever, they would trickle in a few a week. this day he had been delievered 30 new merricks all at once. according to him because they have so much backstock. is the backyard shaper a dying breed? i can’t help but wonder…i do know this summer is gonna be the most crowded yet…
it must have been kind of creepy to see boards being desecrated in a metal bin in some wholesale warehouse where people buy everything from pork chops to tires. i don’t care whose shapes they are. i don’t necessarily think its symptomatic of a civilization in decline though. i think it could be a sign of the power of capitalism, that a product as labor & material intensive as a surfboard could be brought to market for the masses at what i consider a bottom-feeder kind of price. of course seeing stuff like this also chips away at what remains of our idea of surfing as a kind of exclusive endeavor, one which we would prefer to think of as not being for just anybody. i do think that people who love surfing will always be more than willing to pay good money for the kind of excellence and devotion to detail that we see in the best surfboards. we’ll try hard not to freak when they start selling bics at kmart. happy easter to all!
The Costco thing is kreepy, but I don’t know why a shop getting thirty Channel Islands before summer starts is a big deal. Somehow in the last two years all the mellow Channel Islands guys are being considered “the establishment”. HA! One of the shapers lives in a cabin with no electricity. Al and his crew are just surfers, like us. The hostility towards guys who have dedicated their entire lives to shaping(Wayne Lynch of Evolution, Al Merrick of Channel Islands, and Bill Shrosbee of Joel Tudor Surfboards), is misdirected and unfair. The idea that their boards are too exspensive is silly since everyone on this site shapes their own boards anyway.
The Costco thing is kreepy, but I don’t know why a shop getting thirty > Channel Islands before summer starts is a big deal. Somehow in the last > two years all the mellow Channel Islands guys are being considered > “the establishment”. HA! One of the shapers lives in a cabin > with no electricity. Al and his crew are just surfers, like us. The > hostility towards guys who have dedicated their entire lives to > shaping(Wayne Lynch of Evolution, Al Merrick of Channel Islands, and Bill > Shrosbee of Joel Tudor Surfboards), is misdirected and unfair. The idea > that their boards are too exspensive is silly since everyone on this site > shapes their own boards anyway. The establishment will always gobble the small guy. Most industries are run in the big-fish-small-pond rule. As the pond gets bigger, the big fish get bigger. It is no doubt that the aforementioned shapers have worked their whole lives, but not all shapers who have worked hard have succeeded, financially that is. But all shapers who work hard at their “craft” have received their reward many times over. I know that every time I take out a new board that just follows those natural lines the way I want it to I am stoked. When little youngsters want to know how to shape or make a boards get stoked from the smallest of information, I get stoked. Of course, we all would like to gain some sweat equity other than stoke, perhaps some greenbacks and marketing and product power that few enjoy. All that means is that we would like to be a big fish in a crowded pond. In the line up we all bitch about how crowded it is and how when we started their weren’t that many guys out and so on. Does that mean that the oldest surfer/shaper alive should have the right to call us all kooks? Personally, I am not a financially successful shaper. However, I consider myself a very good crafstman and board designer because most of the time my boards compliment my surfing style. And I too get kinda bummed when in shops I see the same boards over and over again, all the while knowing that many backyard shapers shaped those boards in the attempt of getting exposer by working under a master shaper just to realize that the master doesn’t do things much different that them. Then the master runs his hands down the board and swipes the rails with 150 grit screen and signs the bottom. Most of the time he just signs the bottom. How many countless times have shapers gotten head aches on consignment deals? How many times has a shaper had to wait for his money from either a shop or a friend? How many times has a shaper calculated his hourly wage at $5.33 after all is said and done? The Rusty’s and Al Merricks of the world are no different than the Roberto’s taca shops of S. Cali. They aren’t the best but they worked hard and made it big. The are other taco shops with better carne asada meat and better guacamole. I’ll try not to be negative, but it is borderline. The master, Rusty, did the nose flip too…? Ever seen him surf. Ever seen Simon Anderson surf? Why do you think Simon perfected the tri-fin? Think about it. Blake…fin. Mark Richards…twin. Rusty…c-5. Which one of these doesn’t belong, which one of these guys is not like the other? Clue #1, I got on a c-5 and thought quads surf better!!! Blake, Anderson, Richards, all successful of course. But you can see that the most successful shaper isn’t the innovator or isn’t a great surfer. Anyone here should be stoked to shape and ride their own boards–even if it is only for novelty sake. I consider myself a professional craftsman, but I think is is all good. I was wenty years of age and a friend and I were down in Mazatlan. A hot sen0rita asked about our surfing and saw my board had my name on it. The I proceeded to impress her with the fact I made the board. Those small little things. A while ago I was out of a small day and my friend was video taping and I snapped a quick one off the top and my logo was fully exposed…those are those small stokes. I traded in a board when I was eighteen and the shop owner was amazed at how nice it was(back in the days of no close tolerance blanks). He asked me how many boards I had shaped and I left it up in the air(cuase in was my fourth board) and he said, you are just about there man. I have to say I go to Costco and I save money…on toilet paper, etc. Sorry to say that those dinged up boards in the binare going to go for cost cause no one who saves money on pork shops is going to think that even $289 is cheap. Good luck to all, and I too dream of making it big and so do you all or else this string wouldn’t exist. SHhHHAAAKKKKKA!! Best shapes I have seen lately. Eric arakawa, or is it Tokoro…anyhow HIC boards flow with nice foil andgood mid rail design with a balanced template. PS. Cookie cutters are for cookies!!!SHHHAAKKA!
i should say i’ve got total respect for Al & Rusty & the like, one of the best boards i’ve ever had was a Channel Islands. maybe my subject heading was a little heavy. just thought the whole thing was interesting. who knows, maybe some parent will buy his kid one of those dinged up Costco boards and he’ll become the next Slater. anyway, def. don’t mean to sound like some crusty guy bitter about the past. best stick to posts about board building. hope that south hits tomorrow…
GREAT thread!
c’mon u guys im trying to learn a craft from u and your gettin philosophical on me , back to the boards!!