#94

Bolinas seawall

Northwest Passage

Most of you are familiar with the Malloy brothers getting all bearded out, poking around in plaid, and chasing exotic waves around the globe. Well here's a group of guys living the dream right here in the continental US. In true Lewis and Clark spirit, these adventurers show us that the quest is as much fun as getting to the end of the trail. I am reminded that if we take the time to make the time, anyone can enjoy the riches of the outdoors, good friends, good spirits, and good times. __________________________________________________Guest post by Jeff Smith:With a couple of Ward Boards and boat in tow; myself, good bud Rob Sweet and new to the crew Mike Boo ventured out to the Northwest coast to explore a remote break. The plan was to motor my wooden drift boat over to a lake island to camp. From there we boated over to a trailhead to begin the 2 mile hike to the Pacific. We had surfed the spot before but always on very small swells. This weekend we were more hopeful with a 7ft/13sec West rolling in. Due to the remoteness of the 2 mile trail, going was tough on wet, slippery, broken boardwalks with fallen trees to navigate around. Soon, however, we heard the sweet sound of swell and took a break before the last mile on the beach around a couple of headlands. Rounding the last corner, smiles sprouted at the sight of head high peelers coming through offering slow lefts and fast paced rights. For three straight days we were greeted to this sunshine and briny dream followed by satisfied hikes back, evening trout fishing, campfires and booze. 4 days of Autumn paradise.

Trouble in Paradise

Steve sends this photo and some insight into what folks living in paradise are faced with when things get rocking in the big pond (and being a surfer, he also took note of the surf potential and local customs)."I recently went to survey the damage caused by the tsunami in American Samoa. It was my first time working in a disaster area and it was kind of heavy. Some of the villages were completely wiped out. The Samoan people were unbelievably friendly and were quickly cleaning up and rebuilding their homes and lives. Everyone had an incredible story to tell about their experience with the tsunami. I attached a photo I thought you might be interested in, tsunami damge and a perfect wave in the background.Unfortunately too much survey gear to bring a board!! I know, hard to believe. Plus there are basically no surfers on American Samoa. No surf shops. No boards to rent. Not even a surf sticker anywhere. But there are plenty of spots and we saw alot of perfect set-ups. Most of the spots appear to be high tide only shallow reef ledges. There was quite a bit of wind at the places with the most swell as well. The wave in the photo was a few feet overhead, spitting and makeable. At low tide, every wave ended on dry reef. Respect is key in Samoa. You can't just pull up and surf. You have to find the village Chief (Matai) and ask for permission to basically even just hang out. The people are super friendly and there are no problems, but you have to ask."

Trivia Question

Ben finds this rare left to slot himself and set up the barrel. For a free bar of wax and a sticker, this week's trivia question is "name that surf spot."

Summer Stoke

Little groms and big groms alike are digging the summer surf. Eli finds a little bowl to slip into as his buddies wait for the next wedge. Carly is one of those stoked kids who rides both long and shortboards with confidence and grace. Being a goofy foot in the land of right point breaks, she savors the rare left. Not afraid to put it up on a rail, Carly puts her 6'0" through it's paces at a recent contest. Rumor has it that she has a good golf game too. Just shows you how this girl gets into the swing of things by being versatile with her equipment. Walker takes his mom's 6'2" out and slides into a nice one with style. Does he know that just over the jetty and out off the point is Mavericks?Sam and Dad getting ready to join a "bunch of friends" at Malibu on our last road trip down south. It's all aloha when you share the summer stoke.

Otto's Fun Spot

There is a neat story to this picture. I was working for Bob Pearson at the time when he heard that Jeannie was going to sell off all of Otto's boards at the iconic Fun Spot. Bob offered up our help unloading the place and laying out all the boards for her. She was happy to have the help so the next morning Bob picks me up bright and early and we pull his VW van around the back and wait for Jeanie to show. This gives Bob time to hatch his plan. The idea was to get in quick and do a once over on the boards, check the logo, then the condition. The dogs went straight out front in pretty rows and the choice picks went around the back by the van. We had to work quick before someone else started to pick through our pile. The pace was furious and soon my back and arms were killing me. Some of the boards had more resin than foam and weighed a ton. There were boards everywhere, stuffed and crammed in a bunch of different racks and up in the rafters. There were also some boxes of old decals and magazines along with other detritus that was downright scary. There were bikes, mats, even a box of zorries, along with the cage Otto kept his parrot in. Well, after the fire drill a few other folks got into the mix and helped move the boards out and Jeanie was ready to do business. I think her hope was to get $15 - $25 per board, $10 for the dogs.It's at this point, when Bob is getting thanked by Jeanie, that he mentions he would like to buy a few of the boards and some of the stickers. "Sure," she says, "which ones?" "Over here," says Bob, and brings her over to the pile of 20 or so boards and a small box of stickers. Bob made sure that we didn't wipe any of the boards off, that the logos weren't showing, and that we left them as dusty and dirty as possible. "Tell you what Jeanie. I'd like to give you 5 bucks a board for this bunch and maybe something for these stickers too." "Now Bob, what've you done. That's not fair to everyone else." Jeanie had a smile on her face and she kept shaking her head. We did have all the boards laid out nicely. It was the end of the line as far as Otto's goes, and she didn't have a lot of attachment to the boards. But she looked up at Bob and said "You got some good ones in there, don't you?" At that point I wandered away as they worked things out. Next thing I know Bob is saying "Come on, let's go, it's going to take two loads so you'll have to guard the boards." He had his little shop just down the street, right across from the Boardwalk. It wasn't far but I'll tell you in the time he was gone I had to endure telling a bunch of people "these boards are sold". The wise ones weren't too stoked but all the while Jeanie would look over, shake her head, smile, and give me a wink.The next week my job was to strip wax (rock hard paraffin) off all the boards and lightly touch up any dings and cracks. Then Bob would compound and polish out the boards and bring them up to the Mission Street store. It's to Bob's credit that he was able to get measurements and templates off the boards. I believe this helped perpetuate the longboard renaissance that was to transpire in the coming decade. I'll have to admit that in the days when a 5'10" twinfin or a 6'5" single fin was the board of choice, having those nice and shiny old logs in the racks or hanging from the ceiling was very cool. And there were some real gems in there too. My favorite was the 9'10" Coke bottle green Phil Edwards "Honolulu Special". The second I grabbed that board I went "Wow, this board is the real thing." And to this day it still is. Those boards sure attracted a lot of attention at the shop. It was common to have Reddo, Chuck, Tom, and a cast of others in the shop trading barbs as they checked out the boards and lamenting "$125?! You've got to be joking me. This board was only worth $100 new at best. Plus it's twisted and I know what Bob paid for it. Practically stole it!" On and on it would go. It was a great source of stories and history lessons for me. Then there was Pete. He would casually stop by every week just to pick up a sticker or two. He was decimating the Gidget, Con, Katin, and other classic stickers until Bob cut him off. There were a lot of boards at Otto's. Most of them were dogs but I know that there were some other good ones in that place that we didn't get and I hope that there are good stories about those boards too. When I think back, I don't really dwell on the priceless gems covered by dust, sand, and time. I think about the stories each board could tell of stoke, tragedy, and triumph. Like the young gremmie who could barely drag the board across the beach with his dad saying, "If you want to ride it you have to carry it." Or the first time a young girl ever was out on the ocean, paddling out to the kelp beds and the otters, kelp crabs, and schools of sardines flashing silver in the jade green water. Or the show off know it all taking his board across the shins and being forced to watch from the beach as the kooks frolic and splash and carelessly fall in love with the ocean and waves. And of all the stories of those who caught their first waves with the cypress lined cliffs to their left and the wharf to their right and nothing but the spray and the rush of the wind in front of them, hurtling towards shore and knowing they wanted to do this for the rest of their life.

Road Trip

Spring break meant we could pack up our bag of tricks and do a road trip down south to one of our favorite campgrounds. It's tucked in right next to a little point break. With everything from boogie boards to SUPs, we were ready for anything. This gem along the coast has been a family favorite for some time and always seems to pack some pint size surf for the boys to run amuck. Ben was amped to try out his new noserider (thanks, Dad, for staying up late the night before to get the board finished}. This board is 8'2" (that's still 3' over his head) x 21" x 2 1/2". It's fully old school: 50 / 50 rails and solid concave up front. Because of the small size it looks racy. Not to be outdone by his big brother, when Sam wasn't doing his George Greenough thing,...... he stepped up and charged on his short board.

Exploring

As you can see, I missed a few days posting. My excuse is that I've been busy on surf explorations with the family. Over the holiday break we had classic conditions for the groms: small, clean and crisp waves. Perfect for exploring a lot of beaches and coves up and down the coast.

Ho Ho Ho!

Meet Lt Jason Mansour, aka "Mongoose." Being a NOAA pilot, Jason is able to get a bird's eye view of a lot of coastline. In this case he got a little distracted while flying over Santa's workshop. Here's his story: "These photos were taken in Dutch Harbor Unalaska, Alaska in the middle of a blizzard. All I had with me was my 4/3 O'Neill Psycho wetsuit and my crewmember and I became the first surfers ever to surf Dutch Harbor." It's a good thing the elves didn't catch on because no work would have been done that day. " You make excellent products and I want to personally thank you for remaining in the hand-shaping business. Although you may not hear it as often as you should - there are people out there who sincerely appreciate the dedication and energy that you spend on your craft day in and day out."Thanks Jason. Great customers like you and the rest of our wave gliding tribe are what keeps the stoke going. Thanks for the ride. Ward

Day Trippin'

This is one of the places we consider our backyard. It's a short drive from town but seems worlds away at times. The scale of the land and the curve of the coast let you know that these places still have some wild to them. Today was my boys' first surf trip to the famed cove. A perfect pint sized day for the groms.Remnants of the old coast highway are a reminder of days past. A very special thanks to Gary Strachan for his stewardship of this reserve.