Yea Mate , it really is. I meet Ronnie at Ulu’s in 81’, we became good friends almost then, I came to to Hawaii later that year and got to surf in the Pipe Masters, an experience I will never ever forget. Ronnie was one of the best out there. We were kids and although it’s a long time ago in years, it’s close in time and close to my heart. Man , this is off track, but I wish the shaping machine had never raised it’s rotton head. I’m stoked guys like you are getting the respect deserved, even if it is only here. I probably put that wrong, you know what I meant, H.
Yep it gave me a head ache too, na lying now , I loved it and those blokes probably helped pay for something this month, pimping, if you got away with it and you were nice to your girls, well , win win , H.
This post brings back memories for me as I once “smuggled” two Barnfields into Canada for one of the then local guys up here and now in Oregon, Tony Stein.
I’d gone down to pick up a new board for myself from Josh at Cleanline and when Tony heard I was going down he asked me to bring back his two new boards. This would be in 1981 I think, or maybe '80.
That was a good trip as I bought a pair of original Churchill fins in the box from Abner at Westport, nipped down to Seaside and picked up three boards there, then headed off down the coast as far as Crescent City, Ca.
I didn’t use Tony’s boards but I waxed them both up and made them look used.
Coming back I had absolutely no problem bringing them in as they were under my sleeping platform in the canopy of my Mazda pickup and they never gave me a second look.
Mr. Barnfield, you make damn nice boards.
Take care.
thats incredible… any chance of getting a few close up shots of the tail and wings??
looks amazing…
riff
[=Blue]Here ya go riff, I finally figured out why I couldn’t upload photos.
WOW!!!
that fin is killer!!! and the fade on the pinlines is awesome…
I could just imagine coming out of a crouch puting my back foot closer to the fin and standing into one hell of a fast, deep, locked bottom turn then shooting right into the spot… and BANG…
WHOOOOHOOOO!!!
damn… that thing is magic Bill…
the whole board is sensational… thanks for posting friend! you have made my day!!!
Riff
Thanks Riffraf, Here is another for everyone to check out. I love this syrupy plastic look and feel in surfboard making.
I just shaped a 70’s retro model 7’11" diamond tail gun. It is crying out for a bottom turn like the one you just described. When I get a chance maybe I will try to post some pictures of it.
I wasn’t even alive, then, but that thing is beautiful.
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This post brings back memories for me as I once “smuggled” two Barnfields into Canada for one of the then local guys up here and now in Oregon, Tony Stein.
I’d gone down to pick up a new board for myself from Josh at Cleanline and when Tony heard I was going down he asked me to bring back his two new boards. This would be in 1981 I think, or maybe '80.
That was a good trip as I bought a pair of original Churchill fins in the box from Abner at Westport, nipped down to Seaside and picked up three boards there, then headed off down the coast as far as Crescent City, Ca.
I didn’t use Tony’s boards but I waxed them both up and made them look used.
Coming back I had absolutely no problem bringing them in as they were under my sleeping platform in the canopy of my Mazda pickup and they never gave me a second look.
Mr. Barnfield, you make damn nice boards.
Take care.
Thanks Hump, I love these stories.
I just talked to Josh a few days ago and if all goes well, I am going to be able to supply him with some boards this summer. He hasn’t had any for about 15 years so I am really looking forward to it!
I too had a board delivery adventure once back in the early 70s. I had made a batch of boards for some Seaside guys and was driving them up to Oregon from Santa Barbara, in my older Econoline Van. Problem was, everything kept breaking on the Van, water pump…then a couple hundred miles later the alternator, etc, etc. Being mechanically capable, I was hitting all the junk yards and buying parts and installing them myself. But even so, I ran out of money in Weed, CA. And while the van was now working fine, I was fresh out of money and way out of gas. There was a big payday waiting in Seaside but for now… I was surfboard rich and cash poor. I found a generous gas station owner who took my expensive dive watch as collateral and loaned me a full tank of gas.
A couple of weeks later, I paid him back and redeemed my watch. I had no idea what time it was for those couple of weeks! Ha!
Here is another view of Green Bolt
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Howzit Biil,
I saw it in a small beach front bar/snack bar in Muizenberg, on the wall amongst a bunch of Whitmores. I think the place is called Great Blue or the like, and the owner surfs. With a bit of luck I should be back down there in April and I’ll definetly have a look see!
Ok Surfer Dave
I will be looking forward to your vintage board report from South Africa!
Bill,
Are the wings shaped so that they are like wings added to a swallow tail outline? They appear to look that way in the photo. Most wings I’ve seen were like breaks in the outline. I read a recent Surfers Journal article where Skip Frye was adding fiberglass wings to the tails of his boards, sticking off to the side, much like the ones I remember seeing advertised by Weber Surfboards in the early 70s. Looks like an interesting concept. Awesome pics…
Derek
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I wasn’t even alive, then, but that thing is beautiful.
[=Blue]Thanks Nathan
This one cleaned up real nice and that green tint is like an emerald jewel just dripping with nostalgia. I wish I owned it!
Aloha Lavarat.
The overall look of your board is very familiar. Especially, he striped bolt design. We all tried to create different kinds of personalizations to set our boards apart in the Bolt Shop and that one is real familiar.
The stringer is probably signed but covered up by the opaque pigment. A profile photo could help determine the age. And a fin and tail photo might help to remind me of something. But it looks like around 1976 or so. This was at the point where a lot of new guys were added to the Lightning Bolt Stables so the choices as to who made it would have increased and made it harder to determine or remember.
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Wow,Beautiful board.
It reminds me of my first 7’8" gun.
This board was magic, it rode better than my current 8’.
I rode and loved this board to pieces.
Been meaning to put it back together.
Any one have some info on the make or date of this board?
Their is no writing on it, just a nice opaque tint and pin lines.
Some tips on matching the tint would be appreciated.
Please excuse the bad art on the bottom and missing the fin
(I was a teenager back then).
I still have the fin on another board.
Thanks,
Ian
Bill… my wife now thinks I love your board more than her and Im not sure really witch way to call it…
that board is stunning… you have really worked a spell on it…
it looks fantastic and is just aching to be taken out in something blue, green, hollow and over head
Im gonna be talking to my friends about this board all week and they are gonna think Im nuts too… but its just so NICE!!!
thanks for the great pics mate. I love the detail shots and the head on shaping bay shot… the light bouncing off it… the deep green… you could drown in the colour its so deep…
totally stoked on these pics…
Riff