Getting a board from Ambrose is good. So are the guide service, equipment loans and life-style coaching that come with it. Here’s the short story. I knew what I wanted, a Pacific Northwest school-of-hard-knocks egg, so I made a paper template, landed at Lihue and beelined to his place. It was dark but he was outside finishing off three boards, clearing space. He lives in paradise, tore down a gas station to build a small jungle with house, surf shop, sheds, his wife’s clothing store, and a yard full of boards, probably hundreds in sheds, under trees, in the garden and on his truck. If you built a replica of his yard and put it in a little glass ball with fake snowflakes, you would sell a lot of them. So we pulled out some blanks, cut out a masonite template, and the process began.
First light is about 6:15, time for my daily Ambrose wakeup call. Then jump in his truck, meet up with his people, inflate our mats (he just got some sweet new ones from Dale, but I liked mine because it had a bit of rope on the front that one finger hooked while tumbling deep in the maelstrom, saving me a long swim in) jump into the rip and churn our way out for a few hours of hilarity. Once while I was heading out, Ambrose caught a decent A-frame and came right at me, missing me by a few feet, his mat sounded like it was on fire, his wake going right up to the highest point on the wave. Its not the kind of thing you get tired of.
Then home for more beach time with the family, everybody getting their share. After dinner back to Ambrose’s to build the board. His shaping room is outside under a tarp, light bulb plus moonlight, just right, tools sharp, everything you need. He mounted a short intense attack with the wide-open power plane, followed by a longer period of careful hand planing, long thin beautiful curling chips come off as the rails gradually take shape, then sanding. No fred, no dragon skin, no sureforms. Sweet rails and hull, definitely an Ambrose board. It was great to see him at work.
Later into the glassing house, going nuts with colors, glassed to last. Glossed, waxed and ready for my last day of vacation, no six month wait required. I baptized it in Hanalei Bay, a classic beach, watched the YMCA surf competition for a while and then paddled out. Dang, it was good. Thanks for everything Ambrose, you made it look easy, totally organized, totally satisfied.
