explanation

It would be nice to know “why” a legendary Californian surfer, shaper, design genius was forced out of this petty little forum last week? Wouldn`t it be something if there was an "honest " explanation!

Hi Cindy and Craig, I wasn’t an active participant in the heated rhetoric that went down before for the adjournment, but if I recall correctly Mr. Gross left the forum of his own free will after sharing what he felt were some unfortunate injustices. Frankly I was disappointed that things couldn’t be worked out. I think our forum moderator Mike probably has a clear perspective on the situation and how it all developed than anyone. Oh, by the way – to you this may be a petty forum – to others is has real significance. Before you start throwing stones check the archives and consider the intent and motivation of those who remain active here. You see one of our principles at swaylocks is that we agree to disagree. Mahalo, Rich

His ego drove him away from this “petty” little forum. Now go eat sh*t and die for fun…

why hang out when you are getting relentlessly slammed on an issue that’s really a non-issue?

why get indignant over a non-issue if you’re just here to share info related to design and building? they’re all great guys, i’m sure! i just never want to see the “who fucked up Swaylock’s?” thread, no matter whose ego gets bruised.

Yo man, I beeen sleeepin’ but tinkin’ ‘bout wakin’ up, come home on big ol’ boat, man. Big sails blowin’ me past da creek. Step off at da pier. Notin’ change Carlos, man. No ting. You lookin’ da wrong place, man. Month 3 on de twenty day. You be dere, Carlos, at da pier. When de sun go down. I tell you truth. Quetzalcoatl

When you soar like an eagle, you attract the hunters

You mean someone ran off Herb Spitzer? Dang!!

Perhaps we could save this forum some grief and bandwith by creating another forum dedicated entirely to the musings and viewpoints of this legendary California shaper…was that the plan all along? Somehow I doubt that he’s “gone”. The rEVOlution continues…with or without you…

Most responses to Mr. Gross urged him to put the incident behind him and continue to contribute to this site. I always looked forward to his posts, pictures and responses. I do hope he will decide to return, if not I wish him all the best.

“Can’t we all just get along?” Rodney King.

…I’m still here,but I’ve been truly busy with general life things.I haven’t had much free time(whatever that is?).Sluggo you’re a great contrubutor and if for some reason(s) beyond my control, I were to step down or leave this greatest site,I would expect you to keep,and hold the bridge,until reinforcements arrive. …As far as Paul Gross goes,I miss his insight he has a great mind.He did leave on his own free will.I too at times, especially in the beginning received friction from others,but I held my ground,and survived.Not only survived ,but florished on this site.REMEMBER the Riddler? He posted here regularly til’ some jk st talked him off of here,sad ,he had alot of information he could of shared with all of us, instead some d**khead jerked him around ONE TIME and he hasn’t been back since. …I invite Paul G. back,as a good will gesture,(even if you and Dale don’t settle your differences/disaggreements).Life’s too short to waste it on negativity,we all do,but it’s a waste ,guys.Herb

For some reason, I never even opened the aforementioned thread, so I missed the whole feud. I too have had my share of bombardments and almost always it has come in the form of NOTHING related to the forum or topic. My hight school web site has had the same problem for some folks, who just give up and go away. Oft times, if you take a firm stance on your view, it is taken as an open invitation to duke it out. If that is the way it would have gone since the begining, we would be riding 16 foot long Koa boards. I occasionally read a post that is so much total B.S., I want to respond, but the under current tells me it is trouble in the making. Just my 2 cents, let folks share their views, without the faceless/baseless internet sniping.

KOOK!

“…As far as Paul Gross goes,I miss his insight he has a great mind.He did leave on his own free will.I too at times, especially in the beginning received friction from others,but I held my ground,and survived.Not only survived ,but florished on this site.REMEMBER the Riddler? He posted here regularly til’ some jk st talked him off of here,sad ,he had alot of information he could of shared with all of us, instead some d**khead jerked him around ONE TIME and he hasn’t been back since. …I invite Paul G. back,as a good will gesture, (even if you and Dale don’t settle your differences/disaggreements).Life’s too short to waste it on negativity,we all do,but it’s a waste ,guys.” Herb – I agree, Herb… but sucker punches thrown in a public forum dont need to be tolerated, either. Theres also nothing inappropriate about encouraging research from a number of sources, in order to establish a more complete understanding… whether something is perceived to be an issue, or non-issue. The previous (archived) threads’ differences/disagreements also included a number of well-known, respected individuals, each having several decades of experience and knowledge. Thankfully, none of them were born yesterday. Dale

…I meant no disrespect to you or Paul,if fact I value both of your knowledge,and insight. …I was really reluctant to submit that last post as ONE:I didnot read the threat until things had already gone south,and at that,TWO: I read it in a hurry,just before it was pulled.So I…Apoligize to you,Dale.Herb

Yeah Herb, I know you didn’t go anywhere. You seem to not take yourself too seriously so I used you in my lame humor. Fun thing about shapers is the huge ego a lot of them have. Some of the ego’s are in check, others are out of control. Makes for interesting conversations at times. Luckily there are enough shapers with their ego’s in check to keep the threads from going too Jerry Springer too often. Funny thing when half of the conversation is about how to make (or steal) templates and we have a brain freeze regarding naming a fin template. Who cares. Being a shaper is like being any other designer, you are creating from past ideas and designs, possibly your own, probably not totaly. The goal is to improve on these designs. And as a shaper, you are only good as your name, so claim it if you can. Sluggo

WHAT WAS THE ORIGINAL MESSAGE THAT STARTED ALL THIS…?

why is paul gross’s name on wilderness surfboards fin templates at trueames fins? the shop was started by mike cundith in1966 and has been with bob duncan since 1970 paul gross never had anything to do with wilderness ever . he can call his copies gross fins but not wildernessgross fins thats allthat was stated nuff said

Cindy and Craig, Paul wasn’t “forced” out. He left because he didn’t want to take part any more. Unfortunately some folks who Paul shares some history with flamed him in here. Paul didn’t like it and so he left. Swaylock’s is a public forum. People come here to share ideas about designing and building surfboards. Most of the time it stays on topic. Sometimes it doesn’t. And sometimes it gets rude and personal. In this case it got rude and personal. It’s happened before – and it it will happen again. There’s literally hundreds of posts a week here – I don’t monitor each one. What people write before they hit the send button is entirely out of my hands. When things get bogus I usually delete or archive the thread to keep things on track. I hope that eventually, all the offenders in this case realize that Swaylock’s is not about historical quarrels but rather surfboard theory and practice. I hope they choose to return (anonymously or not – I don’t care) and share their ideas. At this point this whole thing is a dead horse and it seems like you two, and anyone else who posts to this thread, are kicking it. Please just let this thread die. Mike