Asher Pacey and Damian Wills Heading South for the Winter Lines...
Road Trippin - Gold Coast from Surfing Life on Vimeo.
ASL filmer Nick Pollet last week embarked on a Goldy to Bondi road trip with Asher Pacey and Damian Wills. With the car all packed up for the long journey down south to catch some of that amazing winter swell we've been having they didn't get very far as Snapper and D'Bah caught their eye just after pulling out of Asher's driveway. So the boards came back off the roof and they were out to boost some ramps at D'Bah and enjoy some of those long barrels at Snapper before finally packing up again and heading south.
Stay tuned for more webisodes of their trip...
Surf Photographer Mickey Smith On BBC2
Surf Photographer Mickey Smith On BBC2:
Mickey Smith, a renowned surf photographer from Penzance, Cornwall shares his intimate relationship with the sea in this short clip. Brilliant cinematography and a look at what drives a cold water photographer.
Mickey Smith, a renowned surf photographer from Penzance, Cornwall shares his intimate relationship with the sea in this short clip. Brilliant cinematography and a look at what drives a cold water photographer.
the Tom's new longboard
this is a great board to anyone who want to start riding longboards. It's based on one of the most popular designs from takayama, the DT2, with slight changes
MC in the house
Malcolm will be in the factory shaping next week, so if you need convincing on the merits of a bonzer pop in and say hi from Wednesday onwards… Mr Penwarden or myself will also be around to help you on your way to a more pleasurable surfing experience.
This is one of my all time favourite planshapes from Malcolm… that lovely fullish nose with the curvy middle and straighter drivey tail… oh and masterful pinlines from Moonlight Glassings, Peter St Pierre.
I’ve been doing some American Ash bonzer sides for a few of my boards this week, so hope to get a set on the longboard next week and maybe get in the shaping room as i have a few piling up now!
Rat's Aquatic Almond
Rat picked up a new Cy's Aquatic Almond off the racks the other day; and didn't waste any time putting it through the paces.
Surfing Photo: Hunter Votolato
Surfing Photo: Hunter Votolato
2 new custom hats- SOLD!
Summer is finally here. Sorry it has been so long since the last post. School was the toughest its ever been this semester. Having 4 studio classes makes it nearly impossible to do anything besides school projects and homework. (Stay tuned, I will post some of my many projects I completed this semester) But summer is here so I can finally catch my breath and enjoy what I am doing. Here is the first product of summer. Two new custom hand painted hats for a repeat customer.
Stuart D'Arcy - A Bit of History
Stuart D'Arcy as a young sponsored grommet - Cronulla 1980's
Check this link to the Cronulla Surf Museum blog for more...
http://cronullasurfmuseum.com.au/blog/tag/stuart-darcy/
Epic Surf Adventure
Names and places have been changed to protect the innocent:
What's up Richard? Well the big board made it back from TUBE CITY with 3 man-sized caverns. BRO#1 and I agreed that next time we need even bigger boards. 7'6"-8'0" plus! I surfed a 9' Rawson Pipe Gun at massive TUBE CITY and got one wave. Also charged down to the legendary TEMPE ARIZONA WAVE TANK with Jenson Hasset (google him) and one of his bros who are both big wave hellmen who have lived on the North Shore for a while. Surfed huge 12' Hawaiian (they were saying) open ocean WAVE TANK on the 9'0" and caught one wave in 6 hours. They each caught 3 waves. Once BRO#1 and BRO#2 arrived we caught like 6 days in a row of double overhead plus TUBE CITY. BRO#2 only paddled out one or two days there. He said it was too big. The hurricane really messed things up. Short period wind swell and some wind associated with it. We only caught CHANDLER'S POINT "good" one evening. BURKHEARTS was so so. Surfed the big right on the hurricane swell that was long and fun. Surfed the left on a good decreasing swell but was too spaced out and not breaking right. Def. scored more on the CHANDLER'S POINT and BURKHEARTS last year. Surfed COW PATTIES pretty good. Surfed TROMBONES a few times (not a good wave - you basically have a good drop and maybe a turn and then just do cutbacks, not a real point more like going straight. hard to explain). SALSA POINT is where all the alex knost wannabe s and serious kooks go. Decent wave though but a little soft for my taste. Noone was really down there thats for sure. ALEX RODGERS paddled at TUBE CITY even after the onshore wind (one session after I broke my leash and struggled immensly (don't wanna say almost drowned), he did the same came in, got his board, and immediately paddled back out with no leash... he continued to loose his board and go straight back out 2 or 3 times - mad man!)
I broked my leash string after getting caught inside by a set after paddling back out after a wave. had to bail my board and pop - leash string. took 3 or 4 on the head then paddled outside. treaded water for 30-45 minutes deciding on what to do. i got 3/4 of the way to the river and decided to charge in after a set. got halfway and heard a ski take off. shit, that means there is a set. got caught in the impact zone for 6-8 waves and couldn't get in or out, foam is impossible to float it. i heard that the guys try to get rolled by waves to get pushed in. tried that and it worked. more foam and struggling then made it to wear i could stand. good experience to have that under my belt. felt pretty confident after that.
hope all is well and wish you could have been down there
can't wait to try the new quad
Alex's painted lady
As we all know by now there are lots of old boards lurking under resprays, and here's one Alex uncovered recently. When he bought it resembling some sort of weird biscuit with yellow and brown stripes, he thought there might be a more pure board underneath. And after a visit to the doctors at Fluid Juice out it came in its original state, a late 60s Chris Jones model Bilbo, looking fresh and ready to cruise after shedding its brown skin. Good work ! Thanks to Alex for the photos.
Bilbo brochure mid 60s
Bilbo brochure mid 60s
Joker resin bands
Resin bands planned for the Joker, below… but finally decided on the resin colour scheme, and the pinlines are going to be resin too, which will add time but be a lovely change from the usual sprayed ones… looking forward to feeling that subtle bump on the rail line as I'm paddling around. If you like this please click on the Facebook like button below and if you hate it send me comment with some other ideas as i probably wont get to this until the end of next week anyway as i still have the bonzer fins to foil out of that lovely American Ash!
I’ve been a bit slow on finishing this one due to other design projects pilling up (including a few eco-renovations at our new place, one of which will be for boards)… but warming up again with 3 new shortboard bonzers to shape ASAP and a new Glass Tiger collaboration FreakFish to get into the pipeline.
Asher Pacey Shredding in a quick fire clip for Armourdillo!
Asher Pacey's new sponsor Armourdillo Belts put together this rad little clip recently....check it out!
2-YEAR ANNIVERSARY // JUNE 25th
Join us for a slightly over-due 2-Year Anniversary Party.
{ JUNE 25 @ ALMOND }
We'll have some new surprises, as well as live music by The Red Fox Tails.
{ JUNE 25 @ ALMOND }
We'll have some new surprises, as well as live music by The Red Fox Tails.
hank
My vintage board collection first started via my hunts for jazz and other lps at car boot sales, with friendly competition from Myles and Nick. Whenever I saw an old board I thought - why not, although holding it may hamper carrying lps. Boards back then were cheap - if someone was asking for more than £40 it spun me out and I walked away. Bit by bit the boards grew and I started surfing them more than my modern shortboards, and when I found a wide Freedom dark blue singlefin by Bobby Male that was it - love at first ride.So thanks to Hank and others for kick starting the board habit. I remember one day at the boot buying a british jazz lp by Tubby Hayes in a box labelled 'rare jazz' for £4, and ebaying it to a Japenese gentleman for £560 , funding a few more old boards. I still see the old guy I bought it off and still feel the guilt.
Almond Sano Beach Day // Chad Cress
A few images of from last weekend's beach party, by Chad Cress.
(Andy Nieblas, Aaron Cervantes, Cameron Oden, Jake Zylstra)
(Andy Nieblas, Aaron Cervantes, Cameron Oden, Jake Zylstra)
speak of the devil ?
One reason I love doing the blog is that I never know what's coming in the next email. After my last post about Rod Sumpter's britannia model, an email came out of the blue yesterday from Jersey with this recent find. A mid 60s Keyo longboard made in Australia but with britannia artwork which judging by the permit stickers and condition was done in the 60s. Although its not a Bilbo did Rod use a Keyo as a personal board ? Would be a great find if it was and well worth the restoration on the fin and rotten stringer.News came back from Rod though as a negative - colour and taping in not right, and more importantly - he never rode a Keyo.Ah well, the search continues. Thanks to Jean Pierre, who still has a very interesting old longboard.Thanks also to Henry for this link - http://surfworldgoldcoast.com/?p=982 to one of Rod's surviving boards, in Australia in the the collection of his brother David. This says Rod started using the union jack at the 1966 worlds at the insistence of his patriotic father. Although on second look this doesn't seem to be a 60s board - leash plug and too much nose rocker ?
Eduard, Prince of Wales
Eduard, Prince of Wales, visited Waikiki in 1920. The Kahanamoku brothers taught him to surf, and David let me use his board for 3 Days, well, the story is that Duke told him "Brah, you can use Kavika" for surf riding.
The British Surfing Museum has commissioned me to make a board for them that commemorates that day, and here is the first coat of oil on the board. I used an actual photograph of the Prince riding a wave in Waikiki, and with some computer art tools, placed him on a very nice Queen's surf grinder!
I tried to make it exciting for his highness to let him be on his own "Wave of the Day!". The museum plans to use this board in some of its events at the beaches of England, letting the people of the UK try their luck at historical surfing first hand. I hope that Prince William will get a chance to ride it too, wouldn't that be so cool?
I am so proud to help continue to spread Hawaii's Aloha the way Duke did, in making surfboards and letting people ride them.
The British Surfing Museum has commissioned me to make a board for them that commemorates that day, and here is the first coat of oil on the board. I used an actual photograph of the Prince riding a wave in Waikiki, and with some computer art tools, placed him on a very nice Queen's surf grinder!
I tried to make it exciting for his highness to let him be on his own "Wave of the Day!". The museum plans to use this board in some of its events at the beaches of England, letting the people of the UK try their luck at historical surfing first hand. I hope that Prince William will get a chance to ride it too, wouldn't that be so cool?
Rod Sumpter
Some rare footage of the stylish Rod Sumpter at 0:51 ,on one of his Bilbo Britannia models, 1967. These boards, if they still exist must be on the most wanted list of most collections. I'm pretty sure at least one still exists - no not the one at Gul, that doesn't seem to be the real mccoy.
Schuyler's Quiver
Schuyler McFerran and her multi-purpose quiver; post-Malibu.
9'4 Schuyler Model & 5'6 Quadkumber
north shore
Arizona haole Rick Kane works his way through Chandlers quiver, form weighty d fin logs to singlefins to dayglo thrusters - a very classic clip.
surf meet Newquay
poster above available for £10 incl. p&p ! see belowA bit more on the upcoming meet-This could be the UK's largest get together of vintage surfboards from private collections, with an estimated 100 + boards expected. They will map the evolution of surfing in Britain, from the wooden bellyboards of the 30s, 40s and 50s to the first fibreglass longboards of the 60s. Then the transition to experimental 6ft singlefins and twin fins at the end of the 60s. Then through the artful tints and logos of the 70s and into another time of change, the 80s , which heralded neon twin fins to quads to thrusters and more.There will be notable boards by legendary UK surfer/ shapers Rod Sumpter, Chris Jones, John Conway, Nigel Semmens,Tigger Newling , Roger Cooper, Tris Cokes, Chops Lascalles, Steve Harewood, Tim Heyland and many more.A rare chance to see beautiful boards which are usually tucked away out of view in private collections. The museum of British surfing also plans to bring some of their favourite boards.The boards will be predominantly collectors favourites for show, although there will also be vintage boards for sale or swap. Where better to start a collection than here where you can weigh up the board and chat to its owner . Or if you have a vintage board (pre 1990)you'd like to sell ,bring it along, plonk it down and wait for the offers.Lusty Glaze in Newquay are kindly providing the area for the event, which is a free event except for a small charge for parking. The nearby facilities including a cafe on site and bar/ cafe / restaurant by the beach will be open. There are also award winning toilets - should be worth a visit .Hopefully some of the 60s/ 70s legends will turn up to see how their boards have fared - who knows.A very limited run has been made of the lovely poster by Nick Radford aka frootful.Its A3 size and on heavyweight 300gsm paper, see on the board above. Available for only £10 including p&p ! (to mainland UK). If there are any left they will be for sale on the day too. Contact me at alasdairlindsay@aol.com for a copy.One last thing - this is an outdoor event and if mother nature intervenes with gales or full on rain we may have to cancel. If so I will post a cancelation on the blog the day before. Fingers crossed.
D'Arcy Surfboards in Japan...
Our Japanese surfboard sales manager Yuki recently visited Japan and took some photos of our happy customers, president of the Tenhoo Surfing Club and D'Arcy Surfboards team Japan, Masuo
some of the city sites in Osaka
Kingfisher Bay Surf Resort - Mentawai's
 |
| Private Bungalow |
We have been asked to feature this new surf resort on our blog as a favour to a friend...we haven't been here ourselves so can't comment first hand but if you check out the links below it certainly looks like the place to go if you're after a bungalow (see pics) where you'll be greeted by the impressive sight of Lances Left, arguably the most consistent world class wave in the mentawai archipelago. The resort is located in an extremely wave rich region with 10 different waves within 20 minutes via boat. With such an extensive selection to choose from; fun beach breaks, long lefts and rights, barrel perfection and heavy slabs, whether you are a beginner, intermediate or advanced surfer all levels and appetites are catered for at Kingfisher Bay Resort.
 |
| Resort Bar |
For more information see links below...
Kingfisher Bay Resort
Kingfisher Bay Resort blog
Facebook Page
contact@kingfishermentawai.com
Drifta by Mooney Mc Allum
Here's an absoltuely classic - and very rare UK made Hot Buttered drifta. Shaped in around 1982 by Pete McAllum at Ocean Magic, who had a licence for making Hot Buttered boards over here. Pretty rare though, I haven't seen another UK drifta; I think this one is 6'4. The drifta concept comes from Terry Fitzgerald's experiments in combining twin fin reactions with single fin power., hence the standard fin box with side bites either side.Surf research Australia describes the drifta's performance as -'A basic cut-back is a stalling manoeuvre for a single fin and a sliding manoeuvre for a twin fin. On both boards you wait for the wave - a slowing manoeuvre.With a Drlfta the cut-back becomes an accelerating turn!The central wide base fin drives the board In a pivot arc determined by the rail fin which In turn provides stability and short arc direction.'Sounds promising, and I'm sure Gee enjoys surfing it. Most of the driftas had round noses to prevent catching on the wave face, and pinched stingers or hips in the tail, with plenty of volume mid board. Thanks to Gee in Newquay for sending the photos in, its a beaut !I like the chopped logo on the underside - 'surf hot buttered boards '
Ad from Tracks 1981
Terry Fitz with Driftas. Similar zip spray to Gee's Cheyne Horan board.
Drifta ad, Surfer '81Kye Fitzgerald on a 30 year old Drifta