Althought I have posted the link to this video before I thought that maybe some of you might get a kick out of a comment posted on the Youtube site by a former Swaylockian.
You’ll have to click on the link to see the comment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQK0Ary5h0E
Skip was testing a series of designs this day in the spring of '69.
(Shrugs) Whatevah. It’s all about expectations and intent. Where Roy’s comments usually leave the tracks is his unilateral assumption that there are a lot of other surfers who want to move across a wave in similar fashion. Well, that and the hostility factor.
Beyond that it 's fairly apparent that a relatively lightweight 8ft egg-style shape is designed by intent to move entirely differently than a paddleboard-influenced 12ft HWS, and vice-versa.
Roy sometimes does midlengths and the shorter “longboard” lengths. I think an interesting comparo would include a head-to-head between the two designs of comparable length in the same conditions, ridden by the same riders in a swap-off. While I’m sure everyone already “knows” how the results would differ I still think it would be interesting to see where lie the respective strengths of both.
Frye Eagle vs Future Primative in the 12ft lengths. I’m guessing the FP might readily handle a somewhat wider range of conditions, but it would get smoked by the Eagle for glide/speed in small wave conditions. The one thing I do know is that I wouldn’t want to be on the inside and see either one of them coming at me without a rider.
I don't understand the infatuation that some have with Roy. What's more I don't see why some of you are always attempting to validate his bafoonery thru some kind of board to board comparison. Who really gives a $#!t? His desins are ancient history. They would have been Earth shattering in 1920, but not even relative today. They're just copies of what others have already done Pre- World War I. I was surfing the point Winter and Spring '68--69. Saw Frye and others out there primarily riding "Eggs" in the 7--8' range. Did not see Anything that resembled a Roy type 12' paddle board.
ditto
Yup. I cannot fathom why anyone defends him, or his boards. Some even get all wide-eyed about his woodworking skills, which are nothing special, either.
I can’t believe I’m even bothering to discuss the buffoon.
The video show what an excellent surfer Skip is. Like all excellent surfers, he can make crappy little waves look like fun. PB Point, in general, is a lousy wave. Skip makes it look interesting. Mike
Mike-------- I know PB Point isn't Malibu, Rincon or 38th, but when your away from home, a college boy who misses the points of Ventura, SB or SC it can do a "put on" that can be fun. My best times there were on sunny winter days. I remember seeing an interveiw in which Skip called it his favorite wave. He surfed it alot when I was living down there, pretty much every time it broke. Which was pretty regular in the winter. It was convenient for me because I lived three blocks south at the end of Missouri. I think it was convenient for Skip to as he lived in a garage up by the Pier. The left off the Pier is another place that is underrated. Sorry ---I just hate to hear someone call a wave that was so much fun a "crap wave". Sentimental I guess. Ha. Lowel
While we're at; Any of you remember TUG'S Taveren,Maynard's or Phil's Select Surf Shop? I mentioned these places to Hynson once and he got this twisted weird little smirk on his face and said something like "You are from the old days aren't you". I know Bill T remembers. How about you BB?.
Select Surf Shop: bought my first twin fin fish there in 72’
Of course. Tugs used to have taquito night. Tuesday? I think they were a quarter or something.They’d go down to El Indio during the day with a big washtub and fill it with taquitos. Maynard’s was by the pier. They had 25 cent spaghetti night on Wednesday I think. Select was right there near Tugs. Phil Castagnola. He made Olympic Surfboards.
I lived in the Blue Sea Motel on PB Drive across from the Surfer a few winters. I’d rent one of those one bedroom cottages for $125 a month and that included maid service. Kitchen, TV, utilities and steps from the beach. One year they had a new manager and the price had gone up to $160 per mo. I had my G&S commision check from the summer. Probably fifteen or eighteen hundred. I was pretty rich. I said “What if I pay for five months in advance?” All of a sudden the price was $125 again.
Skip was shaping at the PB Shop where Andrews (Pink Bod) was the manager (does anyone remeber the fence?). He’d knock on my bedroom window if the surf was good and we’d hit it. Usually to the Cliffs or maybe the Point.
I surfed PB point a few times. Kind of fun. Never A+. Checked it a bunch and usually just kept on going. It’s kind of an ‘almost surf spot.’ Maybe they can get one of the Seal teams to strategically place some explosives? I don’t intend to offend, McD. My old favorite spot in SD is pretty mediocre, too. I still have surfing dreams about it. Every place has it’s day though.
I remember TUG’S and Select Surf Shop. Frye pintails in the 7-8 foot range were coveted back then. At least by me and the clowns I hung with. I had a Holly egg from the Green Room and my favorite was a 7-2 rounded pin Challenger. I think I got it at Select. Fuzzy memories.
I’ve seen Skip surf a few times. He’s fun to watch. I don’t know why his boards demand the price he gets, though. But, I’m glad he can and would love one of his fishes. Or, an old Frye pintail…Mike
The only person that can surf a Frye board like Skip Frye is Skip Frye. That's why he gets such big bucks for those boards. I got 3 of them, And I can't surf them for shit? Just not my style.
I surf PB point or the "other reefs just around the corner" a few times a week. Was just there yesterday. PB point is one of the only spots in San Diego County that will hold a wave of certain size when all other spots are closed out. Take off zone at Haremos, and kick out in front of the Tourmaline showers just before the whole waves closes out from PB Drive to South Mission......Nice!!
Still has a great derilick vibe, still has those super friendly guys sitting in that "Want to Be" Windnsea palapa made out of wood, trash, PVC pipe, and the tires off your car... giving anybody they don't know a words of encouragement and friendly advice..........just like the old days.
Had friends That lived on Law St PB in the mid 80's Surfed PB point a few times it was always a special session if Skip was out.
Refined my backside skills at So. Mission Jetty(also known as "Dog Beach") But not in the summer when it's lazy and small, in the winter when the big Wests and Northwest swell marched in and wedged off the jetty forming a big left. PB Point was never A-t and never could be. Just a fun place with lots of memories and the chance for a Hodad kid to see a legend surf. If I could go back there tomorrow surf the Point or Crystal Pier, Drop by Phils' to hang out. Have a beer and some taquitos or spaghetti at Tugs or Maynards I'd be there already.
I remember Tug's and Maynards, shared a house on Reed St with a guy named Bosco. Hung out with Keith Noel who I met up in Santa Monica When he was running Select Surf Shop up there for Phil, (AKA PB Fats) . Whatever else Phil was, he was kind to me, a grem from up north. He let me sleep in the shop at night for a while when I was between places to live. We (Keith, Bosco and others), would always go for the cheap tacos and spagetti feeds at the aforementioned taverns.. I was working at G&S spring and summer of '69, doing the tapeoffs and cutting laps for Peter, one of the glassers. I got fired by larry for spending too much time watching Skip shape. I idolized Skip.
I ordered one of Skips "speed eggs" that summer and could not surf it to save my life. I was bummed, but sold it, and Dennis Benedum (sp?) shaped me a magic little round tail hull that was all the rage down at Newbs that summer. That board worked good. More than a few years later, I orderd a 5'8" Fish from Skip for summer waves in SD. One of the best boards Iv'e ever ridden, worked insane in everthing from ankle snappers to overhead O'side and Trestles. Best fish I ever had.
Mike
Hey Mike. Those were the good old days. Huh?
So. Mission Jetty(also known as “Dog Beach”
Dog Beach is the other side of the channel.
Yup. I introduced him to Tom Morey at the G&S reunion last year. Didn’t believe they didn’t know each other. I said,“You two guys have something in common that not many other surfers could claim.”
Do you know what that is?
