G&S, Skip Frye MODEL, can you date this board?

hang20 · June 23, 2012, 10:19pm

That’s my dog Buster in the background. Chihuahua/Terrier

hang20 · June 23, 2012, 10:21pm

hang20 · June 23, 2012, 10:22pm

hang20 · June 23, 2012, 10:24pm

hang20 · June 23, 2012, 10:27pm

The nose had the worst damage. Look back through this thread to see it. They had to put some new foam in there but luckily they had enough of the original to keep the shape true.

hang20 · June 23, 2012, 10:28pm

hang20 · June 23, 2012, 10:31pm

I went to Bird’s Surf Shed, and one of his employees said that this was his favorite set of wings. He liked the thin line quality. He was saying how The wings would change slightly every time Skip had to get new laminates.

hang20 · June 23, 2012, 10:47pm

So Thursday night after Visiting the board at Joe’s my wife and I decided to check out Bird’s Surf Shed. It was a few blocks down the street and he had seen the board at sacred craft and given his appraisal. I figured he would be interested so off we went. It was getting kinda late so we crossed our fingers. Luckily he was having a big party for the release of a book called “Everything I know about dating I learned from surfing.” At least that’s what I think it was called. Google it and it should pop up somewhere. Anyway we talked about it and he remembered it asked if I’d bring it in the next day. We also talked story about surf stuff. I had said I was worried about getting whacked by the board since it was heavier than I’d surfed. I’ve a heavy log and can muscle that around but with the new glass the weight of the skip was getting me a little worried. He said no worries and Tyler had been making modern longboards in the 35 lb. range. The conversation then drifted to how we would always get more and devastating injuries when the surf was smaller and we weren’t able to get away from the board as easily. In truth I probably underestimate the ocean when its small and mother nature needs to give me a humbling wake-up call. Bird then related a story about how he had lost hold of his board and it bounced through an entire line-up, dodging everybody and traveling quite far, and the only person it hit happened to be his son. My wife then told him the story about how I underestimated a wave when we were surfing together lost my board and found it again on my wife’s head. She screamed bloody murder and I paddled in with my tail between my legs. I then chimed in with, “we only hurt the ones we love”

hang20 · June 23, 2012, 10:51pm

So after a ton of mexican food in Old-Town San Diego and a good night’s sleep the board was ready. We picked it up and drove it back over to Bird’s. Everybody was stoked.

hang20 · June 23, 2012, 11:15pm

Bird thought roper’s did a great job, and was stoked that I had fixed it up and hadn’t let it fall by the wayside. He then said it really wasn’t that heavy and I agreed. I think it just felt so much heavier then before, but it was missing a ton of glass I told him I was gonna surf it later in the day and he was even more stoked. Everybody in the shop was actually. I guess its just a surfer thing. Does anybody else get pissed when the see a good board hanging in a bar and just want to rip it off the wall and give it one good wave?

After Bird’s we were gonna go up to San Onofre but my wife convinced me to swing by Skip’s factory in a lillte industrial park. I thought for sure he wasn’t gonna be there, but I was willing to give it a shot. We pulled into the driveway and nearly ran him over. It looked like he was gonna go grab lunch or something and said he just got there a few moments earlier. I told him we might have something he’d be interested in checking out and I unveiled the board like a magician doing a reveal. I’m such a kook when I meet my heroes. Ear to ear grin and I act like a boob. He walked up real slow and looked it over. I remember his hands more than anything. Old and weathered as he ran them down the rails. He said wow you have something really rare and not too many of these left. I told him they had to refoil the fin and he said that it was fine and they did a good job. He gave the fin a flex and a nod of approval. We then posed for a few pictures. We had little Buster with us and Skip had to say Hi. He and buster got on real well and buster nearly got to lick his nose but was just shy of reach. Skip is awesome, totally approachable and patient. He said how the board was a 67’ and I read the numbers out loud. 45 year old board he said. My wife is a comedian here in LA and she had to chime in with" You made this when you were 10 years old?!" He laughed and said not quite. We left him to go grab lunch and headed north to San O.[img_assist|nid=1067200|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=431|height=640]

hang20 · June 23, 2012, 11:18pm

hang20 · June 23, 2012, 11:32pm

So this thing was definitely a different ride then my modern log. I has a ton of bottom roll and the extra weight makes it butter smooth. I found that I’d have to crowd the nose to make the drop and surf it mostly on the nose to keep it going in trim. The waves were very slow and not steep at all. Maybe a few good sets but kinda crowded and I wanted to stay away from the pack until I had a handle on the added weight. As I would make the drop the bottom roll displaced the water and the weight pushed the board in further. It was the most gentle entry I’ve ever experienced. Like I was riding a escalator. I would have to try to trim in during the drop. Making a big bottom turn was not going to happen with all that weight. I tried a few times and I went one direction and the board went straight in. I pushed hard too but not being right over the tail on a nose ride takeoff there was no way I could gotten a big bottom turn. I kinda loved the ride. It completely affected my style. The roll and weight made me surf smooth and dictated the stlye. Loved being able to roll around on the nose and cutting back was way easier than my other longboards. Here’s a few pics. Notice the big belly full of mexican food.

hang20 · June 23, 2012, 11:33pm

hang20 · June 23, 2012, 11:34pm

hang20 · June 23, 2012, 11:36pm

I think the volume is way forward in the board. The tail is very thin. Also this thing is foiled so damn smooth and everything flowed.

beerfan · June 25, 2012, 1:41am

Hang 20, the last few pages have to be the best fucking thread here for ages. Well done, cool story and board!. True swaylocks IMHO!

chippy61 · June 25, 2012, 3:28pm

I am SO STOKED you met Skip , and he got to see his board !

man , CHERISH those moments for your whole life ! and those photos ...get them enlarged and framed !

ditto to beerfan's comment ! ...a GREAT thread !

...now I'd like to see johnny67 surfing his , and showing it to Skip , too...

photos ...

1. you two guys , with your boards , standing with skip ...then

2. a shot of him alone , with your two boards ... get his autograph , when you get THAT shot enlarged , will you , please ?

artz · June 25, 2012, 1:19pm

Wow great thread. Seems that the gods have blessed you for taking care of that board.

hang20 · June 25, 2012, 6:30pm

Thanks guys!! This boad has been super good luck from the beginning. You’d all cry if I told you how much I picked it up for ;)

chippy61 · June 26, 2012, 12:36am

a hundred dollars usa ??