for those interested, some of Fred Windisch photos resurrected and posted on Wise’s…
Nice. Picture of the old wall was cool too. Funny though. Cruzin' the Wise site store; didn't see any locally shaped or even CNC'd boards. All the same Boardworks, Surftech,GSI and mass produced Alohas,
I can’t comment why…cause I really don’t know…
I shaped maybe a hundred there in the mid to later '70’s, and after that, it was all production boards.
Bob never was into making real custom boards, maybe because of the need for all that OSHA stuff at the ThirdSt. factory back then.
His first shop, on Wawona and GreatHighway, was all his own shapes, he musta shaped over 200, and I’ll have to say, they were the most even boards I’ve seen from any shaper. His penchant for perfection (symmetry) was legendary…which is why Brewer and WaveHollow had him straighten out the plugs before they were used for a mold.
I was thinking about the "wall". In Milius' film "Big Wednesday" the wall that the three of them walk down that is assumed to be the Malibu wall looks more like the wall at Kelley's. I've always wondered if the wall at Kelley's was the model for the movie wall. The wall at Malibu was never as grand as the movie made it out to be. And then there was the Cliff House and the Fun Zone. Was only their a few times, but I was so much more taken by it than the similar scene at Santa Monica and P.O.P.
Bob’s boards were well done…had a penchant for the hard rail on his shapes.
The Wall, mute witness to a huge sea change in SF surfing and culture.
By 69’, the logs had been replaced with spears, 6-packs with exhaled clouds.
The Family Dog had opened across the street at Playland, quickly becoming a favorite small venue for city bands like Quicksilver, Dead, Airplane, et al. The Wall became the after-show hang for many.
On warm indian summer weekend nights, the brothers would appear toting congo drums, line up at the base of the wall and The Beat would begin, go on for hours, often long into the night, accompanied by smoky fires and spirit dancers.
The photos really do speak of past times.
Rodger, rolling a bottom turn around an overhead Kelly Cove peak. Water maybe 55’, just trunks, as core and free as surfing has ever been or will ever be.
Fred, one of the cheeriest folks ever, a hundred pounds lighter then he would become.
DK, backwards on the nose, a man always in balance regardless of where his feet stood.
The original Pedro gang with a youthful Alex, think that was his dog Maverick in the picture.
Old school, surfing just part of the waterman lifestyle. 16’ skiffs parked up on the dock behind them, from which they would launch down handmade skids into the surf zone,and head out to dive for abs, fish for salmon and rockfish. Upon return, ride a wave in and up onto the skid.
Still doing it to this day. And that is pretty bitchin’
It wasn’t Brewer that had Bob straighten the plugs. The story goes:
Bob Wise - "hey Dick, do you want me to use the right of left side of your plug for the master?’
RB - “Why? What difference does it… oh… uh… it’s ok if the board isn’t symetrical, surfers aren’t either.”
haha. Up until then, Dick didn’t give it much thought. Now he retells that story and laughs every time.
Too bad Bob is all about Chinese popouts now. He says he makes the same markup on a $450 popout as he does on an $800 custom. For most newbie surfers, there’s not much difference between the two… except they can get the popout, a leash, pad, wax, and bag for less than just the custom board… and Bob ends up with more cash in his register. Bob is in business now to make money, not to keep old school shaper’s bills paid. He’s not very motivated to push high priced boards (relative) with tiny margins (reality) when he can make bigger margins on cheaper boards, then keystone the additional accessories. Also, now brands like Firewire and AI put their boards in the racks on consignment or “on wheels”… which means Wise doesn’t have to pay up front for inventory or get stuck if he did. I can’t blame him for looking out for his bottom line, but I haven’t really spent much time in his shop since they made the shift. Wise is no longer a haven for the surf obsessed. It’s now a warehouse for Chinese boards.
Two words: “Laughing Sal”. Anyone from the Playland era will know.
Maybe the creepiest chick I ever met…
So a related question; Where would you find some serious handmade and local shaper's boards in the City or County of SF?
His boards I saw in the Balboa St. shop back during the early '70s struck me as having really boxey rails. Can’t say how well they did or didn’t work as I never rode one. Most of them were longer guns for big Ocean Beach.
Did buy a couple of those W.A.V.E. Hollow boards (a 6’6" Swallow and a 6’10" Diamond) off him back then. They were real fun but always seemed to eventually crack along the rail seam under that rubberized stripe. Then they’d require repair to keep them from sucking water.
I think Bob started shaping the all down railers around the beginning of '69, kinda in line with JoeyCabell’s idea of flat deck, thick rails, diamond tails, and flat to accelerating V bottoms. They were made for OceanBeach, not for Bolinas. His main rider pushing those rails was RodneyRecluse, the painter dude.
But Bob’s displacement shapes the years before were really well shaped beautiful boards, and worked well too.
Not sure exactly when DropkneeSL went by the shop, but I started shaping flat deck, down railed diamond tails for Bob around '73, having busted my tib/fib and couldn’t race motocoss for a few years. I used to ride my old 3 speed from 45th and Santiago to ThirdSt. and Underwood across town and try to shape 3 boards in 2 hours. OK, they weren’t perfect, but that 7’3" x 19" shape worked well for outer Sloat waves.
As for Sou surfers vs big brother… I haven’t figured that one out !! Being a shaper since '66, I’ve never embraced the idea of the small shop one man operation custom board idea. And I never liked the shaper guru idea either, even though Bill Hickey and RickyValera were very good shapers. Ricky of OBSD, one of 5 Valera Bros. I always figured almost everything works, and you can find examples in the water of guys using board completely counter to your own ideas. From RonPointexter Kaui shapes to Cowboy stubbies, they all worked well, and were a part of Wise’s inventory for a little while.
Personally, while I respected RickyValera’s shapes and ideas, I could never make them close to working for me. That crowned deck, super thin rails, and piggy outline just spun out on late takeoffs and never set an edge…for me. Certainly, Joey, Freddie, Daryl, Ross could rip on them, but I couldn’t, so adopted my idea of flat deck, blocky rails, and narrower boards from '67.
You guys DO know that most boards that work great in California waves are less than ideal for OceanBeachSF, don’t you? Nothing replicates the speed of the incoming swells at OBSF, or the shiftyness of the peaks, and the shear percentage of strong offshore wind surfing days.
Me, I’m split on the Wise philosophy, but you do know Greg took over manager operations back in the eighties, don’t you? And all the employees WERE former staples surfing in SanFrancisco.
yea, the days of Bob having ‘the goods’ stashed in the basement are long gone…now just generic logs and popouts…last time I stopped in, few years ago, asked him what happened to all the semi’s he used to carry.
His reply was “hardly anyone rides bigger OB anymore, so no market for them. All the big wave guys just go to Mavericks, the rest just wait for the swell to drop.”
Think there’s more to the story, as there is still plenty of crew surfing DOH - TOH days.
It’s just very easy these days to order that new semi or gun straight from the shaper. Web sites have a lot of info, shapers are now used to exchanging emails with their customers, so direct feedback loop for both.
Still, something about walking into a shop, and seeing a rack of 7’6 to 8’+ Brewers, Arakawa’s, Rawson’s…waiting to be felt up…I fell for one that way at his old location…
McDing, the hipster surf shop Mollusk on Irving carries high end custom boards - damn are the sand bars wasted up your ways. Gonna be a long spring at this rate.
There are some great shapers around here for sure. You can go direct to some of them. I think the only way to get a Bill Hickey is direct… with a compelling reason why he should lift his planer and MEKP for you. There’s Marc Andrini, John Moore (Mystic), Shawn Ambrose… then a short drive to Santa Cruz and you’ve got Bob Pearson, Doug Haut, Michel Junod, Dave Vernor, John Mel, Wil Jobson, Johnny Rice, Stretch… the list is a long one (mine - both SF and SC - is nowhere near complete).
As far a shops… while they’re kinda hipster, Mullosk embraces a select group of shapers. Some local, some from wherever. I’m not sure how they handle custom orders, but they’ve always got a lot of pretty stuff… especially if you’re into spoons or longboards.
Aqua will set you up with a custom from one of the brands they carry. They’re legit surfers there too, and know what works locally. Like LeeD says, normal California boards don’t always work at OB (spoons don’t for sure). The beach here is a fickle and tricky mistress.
Wise has great guys working there. They know what works too. The shop is just not focused on shapers anymore though.
I’m not sure it’s a good or even valid idea to stock gun boards.
Every big wave surfer has experience in moderate waves, in different shapes, and knows generally what they are looking for. It’s not like walking into a shop and picking out a small wave board at all. Small wave, you can expect a CIFlyer to do most things right.
But every big wave gun I’ve seen, and I"ve probably processed more than 30 in my years, I’d change something, maybe a little insignificant to most surfers, but vital for my survival in real waves. Picky picky.
And when a custom gun finally arrives 3 months after my order, there often still ARE problems with the shape, something the shaper forgot about, or decided he knew better than me. That goes for small wave boards too, of course.
But customer base, surprisingly, even at Balboa St., is mostly small wave newbiew looking for something to get started surfing with. Keeping 12 9’ board in the store is as useful as keeping that many tow-in boards in stock.
And, if you’re going to ride big surf, you have to start getting ready by late spring at the latest, you have to focus your mind, get your priorities in order, set your gear by Oct., and start your training before June. It’s a committment, not a fly by night snap decision.
Good comments from you guys. I understand what you mean about OB and Big waves, guns etc. Was wondering if you knew anything about an annual contest at Fort Point? Uncle Rabbit Kekai told me about it. He said it was his favorite contest get together etc. I was down at the Pedro contest a couple of years. Lot of fun. Linda Mar is quite the social scene on the weekends. Yeah and I've seen the skids at the Point. We've got the Dory Fleet up here. Over 300 registered boats. 20 or so out on a busy weekend thru the summer. No skids. Lowel
Kendal---- Understood. I lived in SC during the 80's. So know alot of the people you mentioned. Was just curious as to who was around shaping in the City these days. I ride my own. lowel