The Perfect Firestorm
My buddy Mike called me during his drive down from Oregon last Sunday.
"California is on fire!" he yelled, then the line went dead.
He called back a minute later. "Sorry," he said, "had to find a charger."
His reports were grim--much of the Shoreline Highway was socked in with an unclean-fishtank-shade of brown haze, areas were being evacuated.
Air quality was ten to fifty times worse than normal, dangerous for the sick, old, and young. I, personally, fit into at least two of those categories.
Satellite Photo of Northern California
Now, more than a week later, California is still in a State of Emergency with inestimable damages.
Here's how it went down:
Spring, 2008: dry.
Early June, 2008: hot and dry. Water resources and inland temps resemble August in 'normal' years. The word 'drought' is tossed around. Since we won't get any significant rainfall until late Fall, this is a problem.
Saturday, June 21st: atmospheric instability (usually seen in winter) produces lightning storms of epic (for California) proportions. At dawn's first light on Sunday, the reported 6,000 lightning flashes spark over 1,000 fires from Ukiah to Crescent City.
Farther south, fires in Santa Cruz destroy homes and close highways.
Sunday, June 22nd: news agencies offer hope. Reports abound of fires being '90% contained.' We breathe a sigh of relief, but not too deeply, as we are warned against this.
Monday, June 23rd: smoke fills our quaint little valley up here North of the Bridge. A brown haze settles in, as if we are staring out at life through an old coffee pot. News reports take a turn for the less-than-hopeful: temps are climbing, winds shifting, fires are no longer contained. Governor Schwarzenegger calls in the CA National Guard for assistance.
My Backyard
Tuesday, June 24th to Saturday, June 28th: fires worsen, air quality worsens, the state of firefighting worsens. Helicopters and planes can't drop retardant, as they have no visibility. Firefighters are exhausted after nearly a week of constant struggles. Fire are at an estimated 5% containment. Medical experts warn against doing anything outside, even surfing, as the coast is plagued with the same poor air-quality. Gov. Schwarzenegger declares a State of Emergency. Mendocino county begins evacuating hundreds of citizens.
Even worse, overnight storms are predicted to bring more lightning, fires.
Sunday, June 29th: the storms never materialize. Patches of blue sky appear for the first time in eight days. Temperatures back off, humidity increases, and firefighters intensify their efforts. It is claimed that 20% of the fires in Mendocino County are contained. Over 900 homes are still considered 'at risk.' It appears as if the tides have turned, but we've heard this many times this week as more than 18,000 firefighters continue to battle on.
And, we're just getting underway in a long, hot, dry fire season.
Did I mention how badass firefighters are? They ask for very little, and we owe them very much. Down from Shasta, up from L.A., how can you express gratitude to those willing to put their lives on the line to protect your own?
Much respect.
If you're the praying type, I'm sure many families would appreciate some thoughts sent their way.
As if that's not enough, in a snarky, nose-thumbing gesture, Mother Nature blessed those of us lucky enough to not be fighting fires or evacuating our homes with calm coastal winds and a clean south swell. I snapped exactly two shots in the parking lot this morning--the first was a clean soul turn under glassy conditions, the second was a hawk, perhaps enjoying the increased visibility at a slightly less hazy coast. The connection between the two pictures and the fires seemed clear to me at the time, but escapes me now. Anyone want to take a stab?
Take care out there.
"California is on fire!" he yelled, then the line went dead.
He called back a minute later. "Sorry," he said, "had to find a charger."
His reports were grim--much of the Shoreline Highway was socked in with an unclean-fishtank-shade of brown haze, areas were being evacuated.
Air quality was ten to fifty times worse than normal, dangerous for the sick, old, and young. I, personally, fit into at least two of those categories.
Satellite Photo of Northern California
Now, more than a week later, California is still in a State of Emergency with inestimable damages.
Here's how it went down:
Spring, 2008: dry.
Early June, 2008: hot and dry. Water resources and inland temps resemble August in 'normal' years. The word 'drought' is tossed around. Since we won't get any significant rainfall until late Fall, this is a problem.
Saturday, June 21st: atmospheric instability (usually seen in winter) produces lightning storms of epic (for California) proportions. At dawn's first light on Sunday, the reported 6,000 lightning flashes spark over 1,000 fires from Ukiah to Crescent City.
Farther south, fires in Santa Cruz destroy homes and close highways.
Sunday, June 22nd: news agencies offer hope. Reports abound of fires being '90% contained.' We breathe a sigh of relief, but not too deeply, as we are warned against this.
Monday, June 23rd: smoke fills our quaint little valley up here North of the Bridge. A brown haze settles in, as if we are staring out at life through an old coffee pot. News reports take a turn for the less-than-hopeful: temps are climbing, winds shifting, fires are no longer contained. Governor Schwarzenegger calls in the CA National Guard for assistance.
My Backyard
Tuesday, June 24th to Saturday, June 28th: fires worsen, air quality worsens, the state of firefighting worsens. Helicopters and planes can't drop retardant, as they have no visibility. Firefighters are exhausted after nearly a week of constant struggles. Fire are at an estimated 5% containment. Medical experts warn against doing anything outside, even surfing, as the coast is plagued with the same poor air-quality. Gov. Schwarzenegger declares a State of Emergency. Mendocino county begins evacuating hundreds of citizens.
Even worse, overnight storms are predicted to bring more lightning, fires.
Sunday, June 29th: the storms never materialize. Patches of blue sky appear for the first time in eight days. Temperatures back off, humidity increases, and firefighters intensify their efforts. It is claimed that 20% of the fires in Mendocino County are contained. Over 900 homes are still considered 'at risk.' It appears as if the tides have turned, but we've heard this many times this week as more than 18,000 firefighters continue to battle on.
And, we're just getting underway in a long, hot, dry fire season.
Did I mention how badass firefighters are? They ask for very little, and we owe them very much. Down from Shasta, up from L.A., how can you express gratitude to those willing to put their lives on the line to protect your own?
Much respect.
If you're the praying type, I'm sure many families would appreciate some thoughts sent their way.
As if that's not enough, in a snarky, nose-thumbing gesture, Mother Nature blessed those of us lucky enough to not be fighting fires or evacuating our homes with calm coastal winds and a clean south swell. I snapped exactly two shots in the parking lot this morning--the first was a clean soul turn under glassy conditions, the second was a hawk, perhaps enjoying the increased visibility at a slightly less hazy coast. The connection between the two pictures and the fires seemed clear to me at the time, but escapes me now. Anyone want to take a stab?
Take care out there.
WOW
Just got 2 boards back from Pureglass in Costa Mesa, and I couldn't be happier with the job they did.
The boards turned out sick, thanks guys.
Soft flex or hard flex pattern ?
Flex enables the surfer to propel the board through a pumping action, this is well known.More flexibility gives greater deflection and a softer twang, the board takes more time to spring back.The advantage of this kind of flex is that it responds to even the most subtle weighting and unweighting movements, so that the board is in a constant springing motion even when it appears to be in trin with little happeningA very tight or hard flex response cannot utilise this range of more subtle input, and can only respond to very hard and aggressive input.A soft flex pattern is also able to respond to aggressive rider input, and gives the best of both worlds.More about this later.
The Bomb!
Here is the newest design coming out of the D'Arcy Factory... dubbed, the BomB... Pictured is a 5’5 X 20 ¼ X 2 3/8Pronunciation:\ˈbäm\
Function:noun
Etymology:French bombe, from Italian bomba, probably from Latin bombus deep hollow sound, from Greek bombos, of imitative origin
Date:1684
Definition: a device that generates and releases its energy very rapidly.
Slang: He bombed that wave.
- Extremely fast top speed, drivey and smooth yet incredibly snappy. Extra volume means easy paddling while adding stability
- Thruster or Quad, hip rounded square or diamond tail
- Single to deep double concave with a V exit off the tail
- Very wide and round 1980s style outline originating from working with world champion Martin Potter.
- Ride the bomb 4-5 inches shorter and 2 inches wider than your usual dimensions.
We have had heaps of riders putting this design through its paces and all have come back with excellent feedback. These boards are being ridden everywhere from South Straddie to Snapper on waves which measure one foot!
Put the FUN back in to your surfing! With the proper boards, you can surf anything! Only one foot and onshore? Go BomB it!
A Clean, Poorly-Lit Surfboard
There's something about a clear longboard with a T-Band stringer that makes me feel good. A simple, elegant set of curves without bells, whistles, mudflaps, spinners, dingle balls, or anything else to distract the eye and the water.
I'm thinking of calling this new model: The 9'2x22.5 2+1 Squash Tail Longboard Designed with both NorCal Beachbreak and Central Cal Poinbreaks in Mind for a Tall, Svelte History-Teaching RipMaster.
Thoughts on the new marketing approach?
There's something about a guy showing up to pick up his board with a cold sixer. The board is a speed demon, as well as the brew.
And, like the IPA, this shred sled is all Sonoma County. Take that, fossil fuels!
*The Gobstopper* shortboard !
This device will be known as ' The Gob Stopper' we have done lots of boards at 27 wide and they go rail to rail just fine as long as the tail is fairly narrow and there's some curve in the tail planshape. Going 28.5" wide is new territory for us but should be sweet, the board will have a 10 inch tunnel or ' barrel' fin. I want something super skatey and fast which can carve tight arcs on flatter water, sort of an alaia/skimboard/Thrusterbuster mutation if that makes any sense. The first one's for my son James he's doing most of the build, I started building it and he immediately liked it and kind of took over ( that's how he gets a new board).
So far we have 3 of the 4 panels missed getting pics today as the light was too low, here's the planshape drawn, it doesn't really show much will post more pics of the actual components tomorrow.
The tail shape is a circular arc with the addition of a straight section behind the fin. . . there's a lot of curve in that tail so the last bit has a straight section to drive off, kind of like a fin section with a hollow trailing edge, it sort of looks like the planshape curve flares out slightly but really it's just a straight, this makes the squaretail an inch or so wider too.
The wide point is 30% back from the nose or 15 inches forward of the midpoint, lots of nose tweak and the tail is as flat as a pancake.
So far we have 3 of the 4 panels missed getting pics today as the light was too low, here's the planshape drawn, it doesn't really show much will post more pics of the actual components tomorrow.
The tail shape is a circular arc with the addition of a straight section behind the fin. . . there's a lot of curve in that tail so the last bit has a straight section to drive off, kind of like a fin section with a hollow trailing edge, it sort of looks like the planshape curve flares out slightly but really it's just a straight, this makes the squaretail an inch or so wider too.
The wide point is 30% back from the nose or 15 inches forward of the midpoint, lots of nose tweak and the tail is as flat as a pancake.
Asher drops in...
Team rider Asher Pacey was in today to talk boards, here he is with D'Arcy going over some board designs.
Watch Asher rip it up in the team videos section of our blog!
Check out the newest issue of Waves magazine for our write up in the board test!!! Also some words of wisdom from D'Arcy in the article "future boards or false prophets?"
Have a great weekend!
Watch Asher rip it up in the team videos section of our blog!
Check out the newest issue of Waves magazine for our write up in the board test!!! Also some words of wisdom from D'Arcy in the article "future boards or false prophets?"Have a great weekend!
Wednesday
We finished 2 more logs today.
Jeremy and Dylan are each a glass job away from their new sliders.
The Best of Times, The Worst of Times
80s television hit series The Facts of Life's (featuring a then unknown George Clooney, pictured with full cast below) theme song urged us to take The Good, to take The Bad. "Take them both," the peppy jingle advocated, because, when combined, these two opposing forces form 'The Facts of Life.'
(whose hair is feathered better--Clooney, or Tootie?)
I was too soft-brained during this SitCom's run to appreciate how the abject nihilism and tenacious good-cheer embedded in its opening lyrics reflected our 80s nation: engaged in a dark, secretive Cold War, yet hypnotized by bright colors, reckless fashion choices, and dancing, dancing, dancing!
It's been a week of opposing forces up here, too. First (The Bad), my beloved MacBook was stolen. However, six days later (The Good), the teenage architect of this heinous crime was brought to justice, my laptop returned lighter by a few thousand personal files and photos, but heavier by some disquieting porn and game downloads.
Speaking of lighter (The Bad), this week also saw gastrointestinal gnarliness strike, leaving nothing in the house unscathed. It was like Invasion!From Planet C if the invaders were parasites and 'C' stood for 'colon.' Not pretty. However, (The Good) saltines were ingested, ginger ale was sipped, and most of us are feeling better.
Surf-wise, (The Bad) there was wind, and there was wind. However (The Good), a few pulses of south swell fought their way to our shores, providing a few peelers for those in the know.
The week continued, offering up some classic oppositions. It was hot (Bad for baby) so we blew up the pool (Good for baby). Gas prices rose (Bad), so we didn't drive (Good).
School ended (Good), so...well, that one has no downside.
(6'10" round-tail bonzer-inspired egg with 101 Fin Co bamboos for stoked bro up north)
In the midst of all this Facts of Life, a few plugs of foam were transformed into sparkling surfboards, resin and fiberglass were added, hardened, got sanded, got polished, got waxed, got surfed. A trip to the Fattyshack restored the stoke and belief in human generosity. Some beautiful fins arrived from 101 Fin Co.
(rootbeer tint Fatty special quad ripstick)
It's the stuff inbetween the Facts of Life, when I'm not struggling with a setback or a solution, where I find some sort of grace.
Neither good nor bad, but there you have it.
(whose hair is feathered better--Clooney, or Tootie?)
I was too soft-brained during this SitCom's run to appreciate how the abject nihilism and tenacious good-cheer embedded in its opening lyrics reflected our 80s nation: engaged in a dark, secretive Cold War, yet hypnotized by bright colors, reckless fashion choices, and dancing, dancing, dancing!
It's been a week of opposing forces up here, too. First (The Bad), my beloved MacBook was stolen. However, six days later (The Good), the teenage architect of this heinous crime was brought to justice, my laptop returned lighter by a few thousand personal files and photos, but heavier by some disquieting porn and game downloads.
Speaking of lighter (The Bad), this week also saw gastrointestinal gnarliness strike, leaving nothing in the house unscathed. It was like Invasion!From Planet C if the invaders were parasites and 'C' stood for 'colon.' Not pretty. However, (The Good) saltines were ingested, ginger ale was sipped, and most of us are feeling better.
Surf-wise, (The Bad) there was wind, and there was wind. However (The Good), a few pulses of south swell fought their way to our shores, providing a few peelers for those in the know.
The week continued, offering up some classic oppositions. It was hot (Bad for baby) so we blew up the pool (Good for baby). Gas prices rose (Bad), so we didn't drive (Good).
School ended (Good), so...well, that one has no downside.
(6'10" round-tail bonzer-inspired egg with 101 Fin Co bamboos for stoked bro up north)
In the midst of all this Facts of Life, a few plugs of foam were transformed into sparkling surfboards, resin and fiberglass were added, hardened, got sanded, got polished, got waxed, got surfed. A trip to the Fattyshack restored the stoke and belief in human generosity. Some beautiful fins arrived from 101 Fin Co.
(rootbeer tint Fatty special quad ripstick)
It's the stuff inbetween the Facts of Life, when I'm not struggling with a setback or a solution, where I find some sort of grace.
Neither good nor bad, but there you have it.
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