Llama Love Fin by Pepa Age 28

Here is another Fin from the Australian Gold Coast.  The Llama Love Fin is from Pepa Ivnoff who lived in Leucadia for years before returning home to Australia. If you know Pepa you know that she is an amazing artist and designer. I first meet her when she came to Leucadia for a holiday. She was a friend of a friend  who decided that she loved the place and moved here to work for JetPilot as a designer. From that point on she was a local. She surfed everyday and made lasting friendships with the natives.  Pep we will miss you here!

Here is the email that came with it.

hey ed!
sending you some llama love from the gold coast, i'm not a leucadia resident anymore but anne turned me on to your site and it looks great!
here's a llama fin for you....
waves have been really fun here for about a week now, been surfing currumbin alley on my fish almost every day.
warm, clear water, fun waves and lotsa sun, loving the australian summer!
-pepa

A Casper Is Coming To The Project

For those of you who get the Surfers Journal  you all read the article about the Bob Simmons board that was recreated by Joe Bauguess and lovingly called Casper. After reading about this board a back yard shaping room has been buzzing away to create a version of it. Here are a few photos from the creation process of such a board. Although the shaper, Hans Enyedi is from Newport his back yard boards have been trimming their way in the Leucadia line up for decades.  Hans, who has been shaping his own boards since the 70's, has been lovingly making seacraft for members of the Leucadia Navy.  His boards are called Flying Fish.

Hans, who is a firefighter by his day job, is a true craftsmen by passion. His attention to detail is amazing and he never lets a board go out that isn't the best he can do.  

The above board, when finished will be trimming our waters. We hope to get Erik Baldwin on it to see how it flies. 

Here is the email that came with the shots.

Ed, Thanks for the email! I started cutting on Casper today!!!! I couldn't keep myself from not touching it!!!! However, it is my interpretation of the simmons and I couldn't keep the end of the tail as full as the Hydrodynamica one by Joe Bauguess because the blank didn't lend itself to going fuller. I'm still fine tuning the template but right now it's 6'1" L, 18 1/8 NOSE, 23 HIPS, 19 TAIL, (Close to Joes' measurements.) Mine has a slight George Greenough influence on the trailing edge, very subtle arc like. If you have more curve in the template outline it will turn sharper and easier. I will get to making a exact Hydrodynamica when I get a EPS blank, and it will be 5'10". I'll send you a photo soon possibly tonight. I would love to take measurements of the Lis board if possible. I used to ride nothing but my own fishes copied after a Lis fish in High School and College. I know you are busy but I get so excited about surfing and shaping and you are another person who can appreciate my passion! Take care, get some waves, Hanso

Speed Dialers By Paige Age 4

Here is a cool set of fins I received all the way from Cherry Hill, NJ.  They are the first Speed Dialers we have had.  It puts a smile on my face to see the kids getting so inspired by this project and the parents who have fun with them while doing it.  Dad let me know that she liked the color of the fins so much that she wanted them overlaid.  I think it is a nice touch. I showed them to my own daughter and she was so inspired by them she wanted to do a new one.  This time she decided she needed to have Little Mermaid stamps as well. 

Black's in Black and White

In anticipation of the next big swell, David sent over these shots. My favorite is the first one. I love the angle as it looks so rideable, even at this size. David goes down to shoot Black's every huge swell and this one will be no different. So if you are out and you get the barrel of your dreams you might just end up on our site or a little known site called Surfline. 

Getting You Through The Week

If you are like me this latest flat spell has been good and bad. The bad news obviously is that what you rely on for your balance in life is not there.  The good news is that productivity in Leucadia has never been higher. I've talked with friends and have noticed that many of them have been spending their time wisely and have been doing their shopping, getting their art done and finishing up clients' work ahead of schedule.  For those of you who have been diligently working away while the surf has been small this post is for you.  With all your chores done you deserve the next round of surf that is heading our way.  In the meantime, here are a few shots from David to get you through the week.

Erik Takes On The McCoy Project

Last week Erik took on the project to restore the McCoy I rescued from the trash.  Erik is one of those guys who is good at everything and one of those things he does really well happens to be board repair. When he saw the board he fell in love with it.  Now the more time he spends with it the more he thinks of  surfing it.  Here is Erik doing the first step of the repair, cutting out all cancer and getting the board ready for some healing.  In the next few weeks I'm going to track his progress and at the end we'll see she rides. If anyone is interested in trying it out let us know.

More Cardiff Green

Here are a two shots from David that he sent me. They are a two shot sequence of which the second image made it up on Surfline.  He has been shooting at Cardiff lately in the evening and getting these amazing shots of the water glowing from the back lit sunset. I know you all have been out at sunset and have been mesmerized by the glow of the green wall in front of you. These images bring me back to that feeling. Click on them to enlarge and look at the detail. Enjoy.

Surf Art

Here is some surf art from my 6 year old nephew Austin from Japan.  He drew them while we were doing a Skype video session one day and I made his mom send them to me. When he showed me over the video you couldn't really make out exactly what they looked like. But when she sent them to me I was blown away. How he came up with these on his own I don't really know.  He doesn't have surf magazines lying around and doesn't get subliminally influenced by surf videos. However, he came up with them the result is amazing.  Obviously he is a surfer at heart. In somewhat of a vacuum he managed to draw some very interesting pictures of some very real surf moves complete with barrel shots, and even an off the top. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Dugan... We Will Miss You

Anyone who knew Dugan had respect for him.  He was a one of a kind sort of guy who was a living link to surfing's past.  For the past 12 years that I have surfed Grandview I have been both inspired and humbled by him.  On the days that I would wear a 4/3 he would trunk it. On the days that I was nervous to paddle out, he would be out at the crack of dawn (in trunks) taking off on the biggest sets.  On the small days when the surf was flat he would entertain me with stories of the places he's been and the people he met along the way.

Dugan was a true waterman, a living legend, and a friend to all he surfed with.  He lived life to the fullest and made a lot of friends along the way. Personally I will never forget him.  This world and our little surf spot he called home were better places for having him.

Good bye Dugan.  We will miss you.

Ed

Photos courtesy of John Costan.  The story of them is below.

Dugan was always and will always be the master of his universe, the
ocean. I am thankful for the opportunity to know him. I had the good
fortune of many fun sessions with him in the water.

This was a Fall day in 2006, cold water and a big swell. Dugan
trunking it, of course... as usual!! I happily had these printed and
presented to them to Dugan at Grandview. We agreed on payment of a
good wave, or two!

There will be a Celebration of Dugan's life Memorial Paddle out Scheduled for Sunday January the 18th, 12:00 noon.  Memorial will start at Ponto Beach and then be followed by a short walk to Grandview for the paddle out. Please pass this info on...For more information please contact 760-445-9839.

Camper Fin by Rodney McCoubrey

Camper Fin by Rodney McCoubrey, Age 54 going on 13. Camper Siding, Paint and Fun

Here is a longboard fin by Rodney McCoubrey which is a stand out. In standard Rodney fashion he thinks completely out of the box.  Having fun as usual he takes a piece of camper siding, sprays a fin template and goes to work.  I spent over an hour shooting his back yard studio and getting inspired.  If you've never seen Rodney's work in person go check out the Encinitas Library. He has a permanent display in the children's section.

In a new section I'm going to feature some of the most beautiful places we never see, our local artist's back yards.  I have been lucky enough to have seen the yards of Rodney and Mary Fleener, who both have some of the most amazing spaces I've seen. Look for them in future posts. 

Cobble Fin by Kevin

Here is an entry by Kevin who with his submission simply said. "I really like Cobbles."  I'm with you Kevin. I dig them as well.  Thanks for the submission!

A side note on cobbles, a friend of mine and local artist Steve Klinsky started to take notice at how beautiful the stones were wet and wanted to see what they looked like polished. He bought himself a tumbler and was amazed at what he found. It turns out that the cobble we keep trying to bury under the sand are often rare and sometimes valuable stones. He gave me a few and I was blown away at their beauty. It changed my outlook forever on those little things I keep stubbing my cold toe on. 

Little House Fins

Little House Fin by Mick Waters, Age 38

Ruby Fin by Ruby Waters, Age 4

Skye Fin by Skye Waters, Age 1

Here are a set of fins all the way from Australia. Mick Waters is the creator of the surf film Believe.  I have become a huge fan of his work and he has become a regular visitor of the site. Check out the two fins from his kids Skye and Ruby. They are great. If you look closely the little figures are on boards complete with fins. Great works guys.

As soon as it hits the shelves I'll be doing a post on his new film set to release in the next few months called Little Black Wheels.  He sent me the trailer and I was blown away. Checkout it out for yourself, it looks so good I can't wait to see the whole thing.

Another Road Trip to Cardiff

Here are two shots sent in by David Gray. He has been getting these unreal shots at dusk with the back lit waves. I love these. I hope you do as well. Below is what came with the email.

Well, finally after a month of absolutely NO surf whatsoever we get our first ray of hope in the form of 3' - 4' clean little waves! Nice! I think the curse Aaron brought down on us all due to his wetsuit covetousness issues has finally been lifted! (see lucasurfsblog for details of how he started all of this mess!) He even had to get a suit with a key holder... absolutely the straw that broke the camel's back for the entire last 30 days. All kidding around aside, the surf was pretty fun last night and I scored a few good shots. Enjoy. David

Katie Keel Fin

Here is the youngest artist we've had yet. This is from my niece Katie who is almost 2 years old. Her fin just puts a smile on my face. Those of you with kids remember the innocence of drawings by a toddler. The exploration of the paper with her favorite colored crayons is apparent. Good job Katie!

Abstract Keels by Ethan

Here are two form my nephew Ethan age 5 from Japan.  My favorite is the top one. Click on it to make it larger and take a closer look. It is really great. Well done Ethan!

Ethan is very much into Star Wars like his brother. We do Skype video chats and they perform some serious Jedi moves for me. They usually come home once a year and as they get older I'm going to teach them how to surf.  Once hooked and they get a bit older I'm going to send them a list of all of the surf spots in Japan.

Star Wars Keel by Austin

Here are three entries from my nephew Austin, age 6 from Japan. Check out  The Star Wars Keel! I love it.  He is a huge Star Wars Fan so he drew Darth Vader and Yoda having a light saber duel. He was so inspired that he wanted to do two more. This time he felt like expressing his abstract side. Good work Austin!

Local Leucadian Alex Woodard Thursday at the Belly Up

Local Leucadian and musical talent Alex Woodard will be playing at the Belly Up this Thursday Jan. 8th at 8pm. Those of you who know Alex know he can surf as well as he plays.  This is his last local show for a long time so if you can try and make it.  Check out his website if you've never heard his music.