Surfboards East 7’3". Under a PA home’s crawl space since early 70’s
Hey Gene - Go to the link and you’ll see some of the boards you shaped for Ocean Surfboards, in Ocean City, MD.
I’m pleasantly surprised to find you posting here, wondered what you were up to.
I often wondered where you learned to use a Skil planer like that, amazing skill you have.
I also worked for DeGroot & Mason. Dean Ward and I were good
buddies. I was the glosser.
I just did the Surf Expo trade show in
Orlando,FL. and the guy that has the Challenger Eastern surfboards made
in China was there. I thought it was a hoot as I remember meeting Tinker
many years ago when he had the Challenger Eastern factory. Ward was
buddies with Tinker.
Dean & I rented a small apartment in
Bayhead on the main street, maybe a block away from the little ice cream
joint on the corner.
The year I worked at DeGroot & Mason was
the same year the man walked on the moon as I remember sitting in that
ice cream shop and watching it on tv.
If you go to the following
link you can see a number of surfboards that Gene Cottrell shaped for
Ocean Surfboards in Ocean City, MD.
Gene & Dean came down to Ocean Surfboards and shaped maybe 15 boards to help us get started.
http://mobygrip.com/About/about.html
Best Regards
Donnie Stone
Hey Donnie, dunno what happened to Gene, but he hasn't dropped by Swaylocks for nearly three years now. Maybe someone'll see your post, and give him a heads up.
Huckleberry - Thanks for the heads up, I thought Cottrell had a more recent post, but I’m obviously mistaken.
I was also reading the Challenger Eastern post which also mentioned DeGroot & Mason (which had more recent postings).
Thanks again for for the heads up and posting the photo.
Regards
Donnie Stone
Hi Donnie. Yeah, as the previous poster said, Gene hasen't been heard from in a very long time. I reached out a long time ago and no response. I was the laminater for Degroot & Mason at the time and remember you well. Glad to see you. One memory is of the "special" board you and Dean made at night, before you left for Puerto Rico. I could be wrong, as the memory fades, but good to see you. Gary
Gary - I did have a longer board that had real hard turned down rails all the way around and I’m thinking this might have been the board you were referring to. (not that I can remeber that far back with any clarity).
It was a very flat board almost no rocker, super thin and had a little tiny round tail, maybe Dean had shaped it for me. It probably didn’t last very long in Puerto Rico seems like it snapped in half within a couple of days.
I still remember those great subs we used to get for lunch or dinner when I worked there.
I have some absolutely crazy memories from Bay Head & Point Pleasant.
The first DeGroot & Mason board Gene shaped for me was a tear drop shaped board that was an almost a duplicate for a board Joe Blair had shaped for me in Puerto Rico.
I had a Jim Overlin pig board with a big broad nose & wide pin tail. I stripped the glass off of it and all Blair could get was this strange little tear drop surfboard. It actually rode pretty good. Blair called it a Pluto Platter.
I used to run into Gene in Winter park Fla., he had a cut glass shop making some of the most exqusite glass sculptures imaginable.
When I started working with Gene at Surfboards East, the foam was terrible, one of Dean’s Hawaiian pals, Tony Ervine, I think he was on the run from the draft, got a job as a laminator
The guys who owned the shop didn’t let anyone see the foaming set up, Tony convinced them to let him watch, he had worked at Walkers, immediately he saw the problem, they were using a bladed paint mixer, Tony flattened the pitch of the blades with pliers and the next blank was airless.
Gene would take the bus to Rhode Island for the weekends and shape for Phillips surfboards, I was having to meet my mandatory obligation to appear in the Superior Court of San Diego county and was unable to shape until July of that summer.
That was the summer of bummer
Thanks - I did a Google search around Winter Park for Gene Cottrell didn’t get much info.
I’ll see if I can find Dean Ward’s email. I had it a couple of years ago.
Dean and I were good buddies from Puerto Rico, Rincon area and he talked me in to going to New Jersey and working at DeGroot & Mason.
Besides the surf really sucks in South Florida in the summer time !!!
When Gene started posting here, I think he said he was in Penna.
Howzit moby,Send him a PM and he ill get an emaikl informing him of your message. If it comes back undelivered then he has no computer, changed his ISP, or possibly moved, could be anything and I hope you connect. Aloha,Kokua
hi, i know this an old thread i stumbled across, thought i'd post a few pics of a board i just bought in an antique shop, maybe someone can place the year, shaper, etc. it's a 10ft surfboards east. no dimensions, no shaper name, nothing other than the laminate. i would assume Gene Cottrell shaped it or Jim Phillips? it is in great shape after i cleaned off the dirt and 30 year old wax. i'm pretty stoked to have found a piece of local shaped nj surf history in such great shape, all for the steal of a price of $250. thanks in advance for any info...
Hi Jim, i’m new to this forum stuff, so i sent you a pm but think this may work as well, i put up pics of a board i just bought, maybe you were around nj when it was shaped? maybe Gene Cottrell shaped it? no info on board, just a laminate/ thanks for any info you might know about this. patrick.
hi, i found an old thread related to a old board i just bought, thought you may know a year or shaper info based on the skeg and box, Wave set?? i put pics of it on the thread on page four or five. Jim Phillips sent me a message saying he was shaping there at the time, but not sure if it was him or Cottrell that shaped it, maybe Tinker? thanks for any info you may have…patrick
Oh definately NOT Tinker !, this was part of the the reason behind Tinker and I having a split, he taught me the craft and I was out using my new skill’s to shape for Surfboards East, I was too young and brash to understand what all the fuss was about, it would take about two years for me to learn a lesson on writing a check with my mouth that my ass would have to cash
It’s funny, I was just on your blog reading an older post recounting the tale of him dotting your eye for teaching the competition, what he taught you! It’s a great story, I completely understand now. Much like in my craft, knowledge can be sacred and to share it with someone and then have them give that away can be seen as hurtful or disrespectful. I am reading and putting together the history and timeline together of Surfboards East and Challenger East. I live in Neptune NJ, so the local surf history interests me much. btw, I also love the blog post about D. T. (rest in peace) grabbing a handful of foam and throwing on a board he just shaped to make it thicker! haha. Classic. thanks again, peace.
I didn’t teach myself this craft, but learned what I’ve gathered from craftspersons better than myself, I did it a certain way and discarded that method when I saw there was an evident way to do it much better.
Before seeing Tinker use his Skil. I was trying to clean off the blank starting my first pass down the center of the stringer, like I see nearly everyone who has NOT had a crack at seeing real shaping do.
I could see twists and such, but was only marginally sucessful in fixing them, often making it worse, the Surform was my main tool.
There was NO Surform in his factory, he didn’t need it.
My pay it forward student, Zack Flores
I can add to my accomplishments, I was a hand shaper for Donald, Bless you, you little bantam rooster
