garge soul from kirk putnam

“Garage Soul”
P a r t O n e

Rocky,
Just got back from my trip down to Orange County to pick up my new custom EPS/poxy longboard.
I sent along those photos already so you’ve been able to check that out. I’m pretty stoked with it.
I went with a guy, Kirk Putnam, that’s got a very interesting background/history with surfing,
and his garage is the physical repository of a lot of his trail through the culture.
I thought you’d like to check it out, as it’s really pretty over the top…
(above) Kirk is the author of the article in the latest JOURNAL that details the ‘hull’ aficionados….
Like only a few truly dedicated surfers that we know, he’s truly a ‘board guy’. Most guys just ride ‘em, know a little bit about ‘em, and use ‘em to get what they need from surfing. Some guys, Kirk being one of them, have a truly special bond with their surfboards, and understand them on a level that transcends a mere rider and tool mentality.
This photo tour cannot hope to fully illuminate all that you’ll see here. As with many complex subjects, the more you know, the more you’ll get out of it…The same can be said of his surfboards. Each one is a talisman of the highest order,
and is a 20,000 word essay waiting for someone to expound. I cannot go into all that here, but if you’ve read that article,
even as a Northern Californian, I know that you can begin to sense some of the passion that went down (and still goes down) with these very specialized surfboards that seemed to be birthed in the Malibu area and the surrounding points. Liddle and the rest of the hull shapers (Gross, Bjorquez, Jones, Andreini, and a short list of others…) created something truly unique. Most surfboards are fairly generic and like-minded, but I think most agree that the hull breed was a breed apart, and a truly creative outgrowth from the main trunk of surfboard design. While they might not be my exact cup of
tea, I can appreciate the passion that they engender, and as perhaps the kinkiest design venue going in surfing right now, I can appreciate them for that. Lord knows surfing needs more creative thinkers and less ridigity as a whole.
(above) Kirk is the contact point for anyone wanting to buy a Liddle. He deals direct with Greg over on Kaui and all boards are shipped into him for dispersion either direct to customers or to a few hand selected retail outlets.
He’s held onto some of the Liddle detritus over the year, and his garage is really more museum/ongoing art project
than it is a place to store the freekin’ weed whacker string…
(above) The main influences are many, but among them? Malibu, Greenough, a bit of Dora, Santa Barbara, Yater, and everything western. Through it all, a total love of the surfboard, in all it’s forms but particularly in the forms he’s come to love. He’s into the cowboy’n thing, and does backcountry mule pack trips that are pretty interesting, with a lot of surfers engaging from all walks of the culture. While it sounds pretty fun and he’s totally into ‘em,
…Hulet from the JOURNAL went on
the last one back in the Sespe (behind Ventura), and when we saw him just recently he was claiming permanent ass scarring. As a background theme through all of it, are the boards. The hulls. His wall is a testament to his many close
friends that are also zealot – like adherents, and it’s all history, some seen but much of it unseen.



(above) I’m sure that each framed photo in here is a whole story unto itself…the photographer, the time line,
the nexus point in history, what the photo represents, etc, etc. This one of Dora?
I’m sure there’s a lonnnnnng story to this one.
(above) Coming with my experience like I do from something far more rural,
the crowded lineup at Malibu seems so very foreign to me. The crowds, the clique, the cult.
But Kirk’s put in his time and then some in that arena, and I’m sure this photo represents something special
to him, for reasons that would take a very long explanation and several Tecates…
(above) The personal fin stash. None with a gloss job, all in some stage of re-work,
tuning, and modification. Like you, he’s a huge believer in fins and the constant experimentation with ‘em.



(above) For his group, Michael Peterson was a huge influence. The totems are everywhere…
(above) MP, pre insanity. Or maybe not…?
(above) Kirk worked for Yater for many years when he was younger. As such, he was privy to many trips
onboard Yater’s many boats. This one, F/V ‘Superlite’, was a bitchen rear cabin Wilson,
and was built just ‘superlite’. That’s KP holding onto the starboard rail dockside there,
no doubt wishing the old man would hustle up so they could drop the hammer and get going…
I hear the boat is still around, keeping the mojo in play.



KP,

that’s a helluva garage/clubhouse - love it. You got a bar fridge in there?

(above) Dora, after longboards (?), sitting next to his Liddle stubbie (*egg, hull….).
Classic shot, eh? You can see it’s a pretty good swell down at the point, with the lines wrapping
away up around the top of the headland.
(above) Through the SB connections, Kirk came to know Greenogh pretty well.
He’s collected a bunch of stuff from that association, and some of it is pretty historical.
(above) Greenough sailing trophy from his youth, a photo of ‘The Coupe’, and a fin and box
that I’m sure is a whole story unto itself. The boomerang? Another one I’m sure…



(above) Hollywood still portrait of Dora.
(above) His shot is clear, it’s just mine that’s blurred for some reason….
Arrow Beach, Gaviota Coast, 70’s mega swell.
Featured in a movie, and when I saw the footage in college in SLO, it blew my mind.
(above) More Greenough history…



Pierpontscott: great write-up. only for some reason i can’t see the pics embedded in the writeup. the attached pics i can open tho.

Aloha Scott:

Mahalo for sharing… This is too cool. I think he can charge admission for tour groups!

D

I sent this stuff to Scott for the post hull pics thread. My buddy Jeff Chamberlain shot the pics and did the write up. I sent it just for the board shots , but what the hull.

(above) Kirk is a student of all things media in surfing, and has a decent collection of lots of it.
(above) He tried to bullshit me and say this was him at Talcott,
but guilt finally made him relent. Australia in reality,
but I don’t think it’s him surfing.
(above) Onboard Superlite, that’s Kirk in the middle.
Those rear cabin designs were pretty highly thought of back then,
though they’ve seemed to kind of disappeared these last ten years…



(above) Kirk, Rennie, and the guy that invented the shaping machine.
(above) The ‘Vaqueros de Las Olas’ (Cowboys of the waves…) is their gig,
a kind of westernized ‘PAYC’ if you will…
(above) Some roping ropes, ya dope. All cowboys need ‘em, and it’s not an act, he’s really into the western arts and has been doing it for quite some time. Cowboy UP! The art was probably done by one of his friends,
most of them are artists (or surfers, or both) it seems like.
Lots of musicians too, Kirk’s pretty into that also.
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(above) A load from Liddle had just arrived when I was there, so there was some unpacking to do.
Half the garage is set up as a kind of retail center, and he runs the business out of that half…
(*to be continued…)
more tomorrow

What a lair!

Thanks for those pics.

Kirk Putnam, could you check your PM or email, please? I’ve tried getting in touch with you re Liddle boards.

Kia ora

Maz