Dansan: i lookit those hull/bu quicktime clips alla time. i lov em.
Thrailkill: you may be right about the single. i came off a fish onto a single, and enjoy the piss outta it. i just got outta the water riding my hull on one of the better point breaks around here - i’m abuzz.
Herb: i can sorta understand why you say it’ll fade (the Fish) - and i’m thinking that it’ll falling out of fashion more than anything else. I find the Fish (keels, parallel rails, wide tail) to be a real versatile board tho - rides junk as well as beef pretty well. why did it fade in the first place?
Sure there are always a few exceptions. But I said, “How many kids have developed and carried through anything of lasting value in board design?” I never said “invent”.
Simon Anderson at age 26 was hardly a youngster. Isn’t he a more experienced designer, shaper, surfer now?
Are the Campbell brothers better shapers today? Isn’t the Bonzer design far more sophisticated than it was in 1970?
How about Steve Lis, his original Fish vs. his current designs?
Real experience is measured in decades- whether it’s designing and building boards, riding waves… or life in general.
“If you don’t jump in at Malibu, you’ll never catch anything.”
Never say never.
Last Dec 21, the so called “Large Wednesday”, the South Bay of LA was out of control big so a friend and I set off to points north in search of a spot that would hold the macking north west swell. We drove by Malibu, not known as a winter spot, and it was sunny, glassy and perfect, a few feet overhead on the sets…with half the summertime crowd. I kept getting head high “insiders” all the way down the point. I’d run back out and I swear I just wanted to rest, to take a breather, but a wave would come, I’d be in position, no one else around, so I’d go. I swear I got about 7-8 waves all the way down the point, including one set wave that I made all the way to the second house from the pier (for a second I thought I’d clear the pier). Non stop, one after another.
I never dropped in on anyone… yeah it was a special day. I was on a 6’-4" short board.
I am in agreement with llilibel…Bringing an attitude that you have to “jump in” is the an approach that leads to turmoil in the water. My standard advice surfing most spots is to watch what everyone is doing…then do something different. Have a strategy…that is flexible. When Malibu is overhead…generally the best waves are the smaller ones inside…that the pack is not lookin’ at. At higher tides there has been a short fun left at the top of fiirst that is rarely ridden. Most important is appropriate equiptment and when the surf is good manage expectations. Pitfall is that the experience will be related to the quality of waves.
Surfed marginal waist high waves this AM without another surfer in sight. fun,fun fun
Malibu is about the only place I’ll “jump in”, and never in front of standing surfers. Only when we’re paddling for the same wave, and always with the understanding that I’ll oblige others to “jump” on me too. Usually with a pre-arrainged agreement. I’ll sit all over the place looking for my own slice, but some days it’s not in the cards. I stopped at Malibu at midnight a couple full moons ago and could hardly find a place to park. There had to be at least sixty surfers in the lineup. I didn’t join them.
Malibu is a place like no other. Some of the most fun waves in the world… also one of the most crowded. People are generally very cool, and play well with others. You have to be respectful, but if you’re not agressive you’ll just bob around and watch others surf. On super crowded days, what works best for me is to find a couple older locals and share waves - together. That way we can “jump” together and no one feels burned. I’m the guy yelling for others to go when I’m already on the wave. As far as I’m concerned, there’s always room to jump on me if you smile and give me a couple inches to move around. Some of the most fun waves I’ve had there were shared with others.
No comment on the other stuff but the board does look similar to the Merrick TwinFinner, my favorite surfboard ever… i had one sent over to me in the early 90s when I lived in Japan it was all I ever surfed on small waves, mostly the size of that day at Malibu. The longer thrusters came out when the typhoon swells hit, but other than that, the twinfinner was the call. Every spring I say I’m going to buy another one for the small norcal summers but…for some reason I just keep surfing the longboards. Maybe this year I’ll actually do it and try to relive my 20s.
We’ll get the online version up soon, then you’ll be able to get see more than just shaper names and primary influences.
Good thing for you I'm not on the Swindler's list, because if you were looking at my primary influence then you would be gazing at the Almighty Creator of the Universen (who knows all the best stuff, trust me). . . . . . the experience can be a bit strong, maybe too strong for the online version.
Good thing for you I'm not on the Swindler's list, because if you were looking at my primary influence then you would be gazing at the Almighty Creator of the Universen (who knows all the best stuff, trust me). . . . . . the experience can be a bit strong, maybe too strong for the online version.
Uhhh… OK. I thought your primary influence came from something you grew in your backyard.
Yep–seriously, watch the 'bu vid at proctorsurf.com (board called "lil Rascal filed under “boards>retro”)–aussie kid–amazing, exciting, you’ll be rooting for him as he flies around the , ah, other surfers… I’ve watched it a bunch of times now–flat rocker, baby. The MR fins he’s riding seem to work very well.
nice surfing and great site for boards .Comparing styles it seems slater is really doing a lot of work on his front foot ,pumping it a lot more than the other fella.Is that the proper way to fish.
I guess those old “kooks” can go home and ask their wives, “Hey Honey, guess who burned me today? You’ll never guess. No, not Alan Sarlo. Not Miki D. Kelly Slater.” I saw Saun Thomson surf there on an overhead day. I’ve never seen anyone surf so FAST. I have not surfed there much. Maybe 50 times. It is a jump in kind of wave if it’s full of longboards and you are on a shortboard. Might get run down, though. It’s a tough crowd. Like Proneman said. If you study it and have a strategy and a plan you can get a few beautiful waves to yourself. Unless Kelly is out? I usually moved a few miles north for fun surf in a pretty location. Mike
