Basa just called and said
the video is on youtube
Marta searched and I
kibitzed from the back
could’na find it ?
any body got the
hook up to the pictures?
…ambrose…
Hey Ambrose,
Terry Senate took 500 pictures he told me, and will put them up on his website soon which I think is Surfcamp.com. It was a pretty spectacular turnout, with people representing 5 decades of his building and selling boards in Newport Beach. I saw lots of people who I haven’t seen in years. Russ really touched so many lives, and will be missed. Poor BASA was worked. Some of the shapers that were there were Al Dove, Bruce Jones, Jeff Timpone, Roger Baltierra, Chuck Burns, and John Wildfong who all at times over the decades labored for Russ. Other shapers who came just to show respect were Brian Bulkley, and Randy Sleigh. I can’t tell you how many people were there but it was touching. Davey Abbott told about when Russ started out in Newport between Joe Quigg, and Pat Curren; I can’t think of anyone who can top that to learn from. Too bad he went out like he did. His old salesmen Paul Huesenstamm, and Jack Briggs added some touching comments as well. The party afterwards was great, with generations of old Newport representing; Dan Flecky, Jeff Parker, and Kirk Blackman were all sharing their best Russ stories. Too Bad if you didn’t know him, because there will never be anyone like him again- ever. In other posts some have accused me of being a name dropper, but its kind of cool to count all of the above mentioned guys as my friends. When Senate gets the pictures up I will link it. Everyone on sways should familiarize themselves with Russell, his surfboards, and “The Brotherhood”.
thanx.
…ambrose…
russ really cared
didn’t take long before I
started tearing up,vison
blurred and more bitchin
when they made the circle.
my reverie took over and I
thought of the reicarnation
concept in polynesia when the
deceased is inducted
into the shark family
to protect all the faithful
to the ocean natural balance…
…ambrose…
good job everyone
Thanks GR for posting that, I really mean it. I was hoping that there would
be a video or photos or something. We are loosing a lot of the
elders now. They were something special, every single one. The
ones I met and the ones I still see now and again will never be replaced.
Bob left us too soon.............
Howzit grat, It sounds like a few of the Kauai boys amde it like Randy and Abbott,What I would have given to have been able to make it and it sounds like there was a good showing of friends there. Can't wait to see the pictures. Aloha,Kokua
Kokua, I made sure that I mentioned the Kauai guys you and Ambrose would know. I wish you could have made it, so we all could hang out. Randy Sleigh had a great time, and your probably aware he has cancer in his liver, but you couldn’t tell by the way he was carrying on at the party. Abbott was the same, just older, one of the best underground surfers in his time, so good that Pat Curren sponsored him when he was a little kid; imagine getting as many free Curren’s as you wanted; funny thing about Davey is he is still so damn small, but in my eyes, he’s a giant. Bob Norris was there who is the best at remembering how it use to be in Newport back in the fifties and sixties, such a funny guy, and I am glad I got to see him and Debbie again, him and Russ were at there best together, and over the years made me laugh so much. One of the best things was talking with Timpone, and him saying that he loved me, and well, we really never got along, but I always had so much respect for him as a craftsman; he’s at another level than pretty much everyone, and he learned from Russ. The best was when Hollywood, Russ’s step-daughter Noel’s husband came up to me and told me that I was the guy that repaired the broken relationship between him and Russ a few years ago when it was on the rocks; I was floored.
grat,
what is to become of the business ?
i hope it stays around.
it's a part of newport's legend.
herb
Howzit grat,I have know both Randy and Abbott since I moved to Kauai and surfed with both. I remember 1 perfect day at the bay and only Abbott and I were on the point getting all the waves we wanted and it was one of those days you never forget. He still surfs but I think his life style has done it's damage but he is still the same guy as always. I have known about Randy and his cancer since he was diagnosed and they have given him about a year so he is still doing ok and just going for it till he can't anymore and that is the way I would do it myself.I feel sorry for his wife since she will have to go through it with him but will be around after he goes to the big wave in the sky,by the way was she there with Randy? Aloha,Kokua
Kokua,
Randy was raging solo, but he had plenty of people to talk to. I wish you could have made it. Yeah Abbott’s kind of a sixties casualty, and you have probably seen his photo album more than once, since he is so keen of showing it; nonetheless its still some of the best surfing pictures- ever. He brought pictures of himself to Russell’s memorial, and as egocentric as that may seem, its still was and is cool. Seems so empty and vacuous that Russ went out the way he did. When I left BASA was crashed out, in the glass shop, and he should be back home in Kauai by now.
Howzit grat, I am sure this has been really hard on BASA and I hope that Cyn keeps the house on Kauai so Bobby will have a place to live. Randy loves to have a good time and I am glad he made it and I do wish I had been there and oly my brother's situation kept me from being there. I can just see Davy showing off his pictures but he was one heck of a surfer in his day. We had one hell of a crew surfing the Bay back in the old days and now it's so darn crowded it's a joke and not a funny one. Aloha,Kokua
g-rat----------Sorry i didn't make it. Other people's $#!t keeps getting in the way of my own $#!t. would like to have seen jeff anf found out how things have been going for the guys on Maui. By the way; I reworked both of my Skils as per your instructions and I absolutly can see the benefits. Still gotta take the one down to Pete in the near futue. So maybe I'll see you then. Lowel
Howzit grat,Got a PM from Ambrose and BASA is back on Kauai and taking time off since I guess he was glassing a bunch of boards while there. Looks like he isn't going to take over the business since I think he won't leave Kauai but we never know. I am going to let him rest and call him in a few days. Check your PM's. Aloha,Kokua