Hello all, Graham here just wanted to say great work on the new forum layout. I have spent many years researching information on this website on all sorts of topics.
The content and people’s knowledge on here is just amazing!!
Best of luck with it 
Graham Kilfoyle
Strandhill
Sligo
Republic of Ireland
Thank you! 
I really appreciate the compliment.
Hello. Michael here.
I just wanted to chime in and say the same. Really nice layout. Great work.
Spend many years reasearching the forum as well, but I lost track on what happened with the forum over the last couple of month, as I thought it would be only for paying users.
What a nice surprise when I just found out the discussion is still open for everybody. And it looks better than ever before.
I really enjoyed this place in the past. Hoping for more interesting discussions to come.
Michael
(landlocked diy boardbuilder / germany)
Yeah, I’d like to chime in even though this is an older thread. Swaylocks has been a huge influence on me since 99-2000 (different account). I’ve witnessed the fat penquin nonsense, the Roy Stewart inquisition, kokua’s departure, and so much more. The users on Swaylocks have inspired me to do things I never imagined ever attempting (thank you Surffoils and Thrailkill).
Because of Swaylocks I’ve made major life decisions, coverted my shed, and experimented/learned more than I thought possible (and there’s so much more to learn!). Because of Swaylocks, I became a backyarder, and gained the passion and appreciation for building surfcraft. In some eyes, they’re just toys, but to us they’re so much more.
Because of Swaylocks I had the opportunity to work with the infamous Austin and his father. However, because I wasn’t sure of myself, I passed on this once of a lifetime chance. Even though I’m forever kicking myself for that snafu, Swaylocks continued to be there for me. I decided to go the ‘lone wolf’ backyard route, and Swaylocks helped provide a ton if information for that long period of time.
Multiple board restorations and board flips later, I happened upon the chance to work on boards for a local shop that needed ding repair. This time, I was ready and I jumped at the chance.
The shop arena is really an eye opener and I had to learn a lot the hard way. And even today , four years later, there’s still stuff I’m learning (mostly the hard way).
It’s because of Swaylocks I’m doing my passion every single day.
I have now worked on over 1500 boards as a professional (and counting). I feel I’ve ‘done it’. I reached the goal I envisioned over 20 years ago.
For anybody reading this, it doesn’t have to take as long as I took; but know it’s possible.
For me, it was possible because of Swaylocks.