This IS a blog about surfing, too...

So I haven't posted much surfing content as of late with the Europe trip and KU winning the national championship but that will change here today.

I picked this custom creation up on Saturday and I am STOKED. I am a disciple of the Bonzer cult and this is basically a standard shortboard shape in my dimensions with a Bonzer setup.



"What's a Bonzer setup" you ask? Well, it's a combination of bottom contours and fin placement that results in greater lift and efficiency of the surfboard as it cuts through the water. As water rushes through the fin cluster and deep bottom contours the last 1/3 of the board, the water is redirected and accelerated as it exits out the back of the board and gives the board incredible speed and a fabled "5th gear" that Bonzer disciples like myself go nuts for. If you have the means, I highly recommend giving one a shot as I know you'll fall in love with the design like I have.


6'5" x 19.375" x 2.5"

This type of board is hands down my favorite to surf and makes me look like I know what I am doing, which is always a good thing. The speed at which you fly down the line, the quickness at which you make your turns and the way the board just does exactly what you're thinking make this board the ultimate surf vehicle, in my book. There's a reason I own 4 of them and will surely own many more down the line.



Malcolm Campbell and his brother Duncan developed the idea back in the 60's and this board is the 4th collaboration I've done with Malcolm. When he starts describing what he's going to do after you tell him what you're looking for, your eyes just light up and you start seeing the board tearing up waves in your mind, he's that good. The wait time is usually about 6-8 months to get one done but I got mine done in record time: 4 months :)



The speed at which this was finished was surely due to this being a plain white board with no color or tint or anything out of the ordinary, with the exception of the totally bitchin red fins. I couldn't just go plain, I had to give it some sort of flair and this board is a stunner with a bleach white finish and crimson red fins. I've preliminarily dubbed this one "Red 5" as a tribute to Luke Skywalker's call sign in Star Wars and the 5 beautiful fins on the business end of the board. If this performs anything like my previous Bonzer creations, it should go as fast as an X-Wing Fighter!



(All photos courtesy of JP over at SurfySurfy. He and his family do all the glassing/color on my boards and are the best in the business, bar none...check out JP's blog, it ROCKS!!)

Spring cleaning

Spring is in the air. The NCAA Tournament is on, our clocks are sprung forward and the South swells are showing up with more regularity. So, it's time for my annual surfboard spring cleaning! That means all the ponies in the stable get a good cleaning: wax scraped off, deck wiped down, hardware checked, visual inspection, the whole nine yards.


This ball of wax has many memories of giant winter swells and cold ass water...and an afro pick on the back of its head.

I'm not one of those guys that has wax on his board from when Clinton was in office and tend to clean my boards regularly and put new wax on whenever possible. So, I decided to go a little crazy with the application this time and tried my hand at doing a little wax art on my Mandala quad fish, like in this photo (check out Barrel Surfboards for more cool stuff).


My version did not turn out nearly as impressive, but not a bad effort for attempt #1. I went for a springtime tree sort of thing. Ya know, it's spring and the board is green...new life is in bloom...things grow in the spring...Bueller?

If you look you can see the branches...or, something...there's a pattern here, people!

It's funny...of all the things out there, I've found there's no better way to get you stoked on a board or on surfing in general than by scraping a board down and putting on a fresh coat of wax.

Time to try it out! Catch ya later.

Obligatory Irish post

Here's my 6'1" quad-fish...something green for St. Patrick's Day. NOT Irish.

I'm not Irish, I'm Scottish. I don't disagree with St. Patrick's Day I just don't really get why everyone pretends to be Irish for a day when they don't give a hoot the other 364 days. Oh yeah, that's right: an excuse to get sh*t-faced with no repercussions; a free-pass in the world of binge drinking. I, myself, don't really enjoy getting sh*t-faced...I prefer to get pissed. I like to think of St. Patrick's Day as Cinco de Mayo, but with Guinness and corned beef hash instead of Corona and tacos.

EVERY day is a lovely day for a Guinness, not just March 17th!!

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the folks that go out and celebrate the Irish blood that has never flowed through their veins, I just don't think it's fair to the Irish; belittles them by letting every Tommy, Colin and Seamus pretend to be Irish for a day under the influence of copious amounts of alcohol...and forget it all the next morning. It is fun and I've participated in the past, but I'm sort of over it now; binge drinking has lost its appeal. I'd prefer to drink a couple Guinness at my house with my dog and Katie and watch a move and sip some scotch tonight...but I'm not like the other kids.

Green beer is NOT natural. Walk away from the green beer, people...

Oh and I think people should at least know what or who they are celebrating. Check out all the other saints that are memorialized on March 17th...Saint Patrick isn't alone!

Irish Grimace?? C'mon, now...

So, to the millions and millions of people that choose to be Irish for one day of the year, have fun; I'll pass. Enjoy that pint of Guinness--much the same way you'll enjoy the Corona on Cinco de Mayo--but do everyone a favor and don't be a dumb-ass tonight; we all know there are enough dumb asses out there. Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Spiderman. NOT Irish

I heart my Stretch quad

So, I bought by 1st ever used board last weekend in my 6 years of surfing. It's pretty hard to believe I've never bought used but, quite frankly, everything I ever see used is a total POS that's overpriced and misrepresented. "Only ridden twice; 9/10 condition!!" Bullsh*t. Only ridden twice, if the sessions were about 40 hours long.

Anyway...I found a killer deal on a Stretch quad shortboard with Marko EPS foam down in San Diego from a cool dude named Matt. He surfed the board for a few months and it just didn't work for him. The price was right. The condition was flawless. I like to call his board an "adult-owned" board as it was taken care of and used responsibly, and it shows.

Surfed it for the first time yesterday in some shoulder high and clean waves--head high sets if you waited--and was blown away. Fast as hell. Light as a feather. Loose as a street-walker, with drive for days. In a word: bitchin.

Super thin and narrow (2.4 x 19.125) but for some odd reason, the EPS foam floats me with a length of 6'6". Sure, it's no fish or Bonzer in terms of flotation and paddle but it works. It works because that's how I wanted this board: thin. I needed to get onto something that I could throw around; bury a rail and change direction on a dime. This board accomplishes that with ease.

All my boards are quite thick and wide. I felt that I needed the float and paddle that a wider/thicker board would give me as I push 200+ pounds and not the most talented surfer in the lineup (just being honest). Turns out, I might be wrong. The way the rail engages during a turn with this board is sick. Floating ON TOP of the water with the aforementioned boards works great, for the right board and right conditions; has a fun/different feel to it. But, is it worth it to have a board that sacrifices performance for a little extra "oopmh" in the paddle and float department? I'm not so sure, anymore...

In a perfect world this board would be 2.5" and maybe 19.25" but as-is, it works fine. I'm back on my workout and healthy diet kick and when I lose those pesky 10-lbs from a holiday season of gluttony and laziness, I'll be back to my fighting weight of 195 from last summer. Then, I think this board will be magic.

There's still a lot of courting that will happen in the weeks to come but I caught the wave of the year on that board and I'm still amping on it! Stay tuned for more news and some photos of the Stretch quad...