Enjoy Handplanes salvages old foam from broken boards to make new bodysurfing handplanes. Each one is made out of recycled broken board foam or manufacturing waste. They are handmade and custom glassed, providing a second chance to a once loved board or wrecked blank doomed to the land fill.
The Color Your Fin Art Project is the first of a series of art projects aimed at promoting art and fun in the surf community. Whether you are young or old, live in Leucadia or in another country, we encourage you to color away and send it in. We will be posting them as they arrive. Enjoy!
After these storms it has been amazing to witness the colors of the sunsets in the lineup. I feel so lucky and thankful when I happen to witness these moments of such pure beauty.
We spend a lot of time in the water searching for waves that we tend to get too busy to stop and look around. I'm just as guilty of that as anyone but when I do stop for a moment, let a wave pass, and watch in awe I feel better for doing so.
Here are a few shots from today. David was down shooting this morning and got some good ones. I was out last night for a walk and it was victory at sea. What a difference a day makes.
If you have never heard these guys you will be blown away. They played for years around town and have now made it big and are traveling the world and playing. This event is a special deal as their parents are both self employed and are both recovering from surgery. The concert will help pay their bills and get them back on their feet. This show will most likely be nothing like you have ever seen. These guys play their hearts out for strangers let alone their own family.
If you can make it you won't be disappointed. If you can't they are graciously accepting donations as well.
Early Valentines Day morning we lost one of Leucadia's strongest and most passionate crusaders - Bob Nanninga. Although a native that never surfed, Bob dedicated his life to the preservation, health and quality of Leucadia, it's beaches, and the ocean. He was our personal Environmental Warrior. An avid believer of the spoken word who also had a remarkable gift of poetry and public speaking - Leucadians were somehow the lucky or "chosen" ones who were the recipients of this gift.
I had seen for years on MTV's Cribs all the pop stars who had movie theaters in their mansions. The first thought that always came to mind was how cool it would be to watch surf films in them. I never thought I'd have the opportunity to have my own personal movie theater until last week when my neighbor went on a trip and his wife was cool enough to loan me their digital video projector.
After looking around my place I realized that if I pulled one of my paintings down I had a wall that was 12' x 12' and perfect for watching surf films. So far this week I have watched at least 6.
After going through my collection I started to branch out to my friends. Erik loaned me One California Day which I hadn't seen in a few years.
The first time I saw One California Day it was at the La Palama on opening night. It was quite the experience. The film was good the first time but like leftover Leucaida Pizza, it got better with age.
That is the one thing that is special about surf films. Ninety-nine percent of the movies I watch in pop culture I can watch once and get bord with them after that. A good surf film is nothing like that. You can watch them over and over and they become like an old friend who you don't see for a while but think about. Once back together, you hit it off like you were never apart.
When given the oppertunity to watch the film again I was immediately transported to the opening night and the scene that inspired me the most. Although they have a ton of great sequences, like Tudor at Big Rock, Joe and Tom Curren in Santa Barbera, Greg Noll in his work shop, and the Malloys in Baja, it was the Alex Knost and Tyler Warren sequences that by far stood out to me in the film. I remember being blown away by Alex and Tyler and walking out of the theater completely inspired. It was the same this time around as well.
If you haven't seen this film yet it is one that you need to own in your collection. The DVD is a great set as you get the extra footage of the Greg Noll segment and a lot more which is really cool. If you can't wait they got it in last week at www.thesurfnetwork.com. Enjoy.
Long time local Eli Mirandon was shot by David at Black's last month on his quad fish shaped by local Manny Caro. Check out Manny's site The Swallowtail Society. Eli is a great surfer and I love these shots. Manny's boards are amazing as well. The second shot is one of the set that made it on Surfline. Enjoy.
Last night I got a great surprise. Jan Rogers, long time friend and neighbor, brought over her fin entry, a stained glass original creation she made just for me! I currently have it displayed in my house and will treasure it forever. Thank you Jan! I Love it!
David sent me these shots from Cardiff. They are both great. The guy in the first photo is classic. The second shot is cool because it gives me that late summer feel. Enjoy.
Have you ever known someone for years and never had a clue how talented they were? It happened to me with my friend and neighbor Genie Huey. She and her husband Allen Herzog have lived in my neighborhood for almost 10 years now and it wasn't until recently that I discovered Genie's amazing talent.
Above are just a few photos she sent me of artwork she has made. She has never shown her work outside of her home and does it just for her own personal enjoyment. When I saw her art I was blown away. It is clearly gallery quality.
I am encouraging Genie to show her work to the public. I think the Encinitas Library would be a good venue. If you know her, encourage her to share her work with others.
My Favorite fin block of all. One of Dan's creations.
The tool of choice. Band saw. It was sitting there in all it's glory. I couldn't resist.
Alia's favorite place of all was the shaping bay. She was fascinated with two things. First was the foam and the next were the fin blocks. Here she is playing with both. As her usual artistic self she quickly assembled the fin blocks to make this heart.
Dan explains to Chris how he makes the fin blocks. Really time consuming and amazing work.
Another fin by Dan.
Our trip to the Murphy Ranch was amazing. It was also a little overwhelming. There was so much going on. We had the Grain board, Dennis' personal quiver (we'll get to that later) and lots and lots of stories. One of my favorite things though were the fin blocks that Dan Lewis is making. He has found a true passion for fins and as you can see he is coming up with some amazing designs. Enjoy.
The 5'10 Waka Fish Grain Board is being built on the Murphy Ranch in Julian, CA. On the property Dennis Murphy has a barn with donkeys, a horse, chickens, a wood shop and shaping room. One of the most amazing shaping situations I have ever seen. Today was 38 degrees and pouring rain. An amazing place for an all wood board to be built.
Tail view with balsa blocks in place to support a quad fin set up.
A close look at the innerds.
Over head view of the tail.
Chris and Dennis going over the board.
Dennis explains his decision to use balsa wood blocks to support the fins. The blocks look heavy but are extremely light.
Dan Lewis getting warm. Dan is no blood relation to me that I know of but a brother indeed. He has been doing a lot of the work on the board and is a fine craftsman in his own right. A true cowboy, bull rider and woodworker Dan is Dennis' right hand man and for good reason. He is a kick to be around and is extremely talented.
Dennis is a man that is for the most part serious about his work. He tells it like it is and for good reason. He has been hand shaping foam, balsa and redwood boards for over 30 years. Here is a shot of him that I love. It shows the kick he gets out of this and the passion he has for shaping.
Today was an amazing day. I have been literally waiting for 4 years to finally see the makings of what will be the most amazing board I will most likely ever own. It was a day that I got to hang out and be a part of a master shaper's world and get to see the board of my dreams start to take shape.
This post is the first of many to come about my Grain board. I will be following it as it gets built and shaped at the Murphy Ranch. When the board is finished we will ride it and shoot the sessions we have.
Although this is my first post, this journey has been going on for a long time. It started out back in 2005 after watching the Tom Wagener section in Sprout. From that sequence I knew that I wanted to ride an all wood fish. It was my destiny.
About a year or so after setting my goal my friend introduced me to the Grain Surfboards website and my search for an all wood fish began to take shape. I looked at the site every week for a year. I talked about the boards with friends and kept telling everyone who would listen about them. But I never pulled the trigger to buy one.
Then in 2007, I received a Waka, 5'10" Grain kit for Christmas! I was so stoked. I was now so close to having my own wood fish. All I had to do was build it. After reading the manual several times I came to terms with the fact that I really didn't want to build the board myself as I didn't want to mess it up. I'm a big believer in sticking to what I do best and wood working and shaping is not one of them.
Over the course of the next year I searched for someone to help me build the board. I showed the kit to friends and looked for someone to help me. Then after the the Secured Craft show in 2008 I got a call from Chris Miller telling me that Dennis Murphy, a long time friend of his and all time favorite shaper, was interested in meeting with me to talk about how to help me get the board built.
Dennis, who had seen the Grain boards at the show, had heard from Chris that I had a kit and was intrigued. He himself builds wood boards from scratch but liked the idea of the Grain boards and wanted to get a crack at one. Chris set up the meeting.
After meeting with Dennis and dropping the kit off I was elated. I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would get the board built by a legend.
Now that the board is in his hands I feel relieved and excited that soon I will be riding my Murphy shaped Grain board.
Today was amazing. First was the rain. It poured like crazy for most of the day and then it glassed off and the surf picked up. When you are lucky enough to experience these days you really feel grateful for living where we do. Enjoy.
This morning I woke up early, heard the rain and decided that it was a good morning for a surf film.
The one I picked out this morning was Ultimate Sessions. I originally got the film as a present for my father in law but borrowed it back to watch one day and it has sat on my shelf ever since. (Sorry Klaus! Anytime you want it please let me know.)
The film is great since it takes all the best sections from classics like September Session, Free Ride, Cosmic Children, Fluid Drive, Morning Of The Earth, Ocean Fever, Amazing Surf Stories and my favorite section Searching For Curren. That alone was why I wanted to watch it. I had never seen the whole Searching For Curren film and that section when Tom Curren rides the 5 foot something board in huge surf is a cult classic. It has been talked about for decades and really was the beginning of what is going on with the fish and micro boards of today.
The film itself is entertaining. It has good music, surf history and documentary style interviews (Which I am a big fan of). You get a sort of cheat sheet to surf film history and you get a lot of good surf for your money. If you don't have the budget to buy all films you do get the best of each in one package.
The film was produced by Ira Opper, a legend in his own right and the godfather of surf content brought to you on your TV.
For those of you out there who surfed in the late 80's early 90's you will remember who Ira is from what he provided for you, prime time stoke. Now that we have Fuel TV and 24/7 action spots programming it is hard to imagine that there was a time when you had to scour the TV Guide to find the time spot that Surfer Magazine the TV show was on. In the days of old, you had to be in front of your TV to watch in real time (yes kids there was no DVR in those days) as the magic of watching surfing on your TV for free came to life. Any of you know from that era that to have surfing on network TV was huge.
In 1986 I used to be a Solana Beach grom. I'm sure if you surfed Pill Box or hung out at Mitch's Surf Shop you would have seen me and my friends walking around town in our full suits pulled down and our booties still on. (Yes, we were kooks but as stoked as anyone.) The parents of my best friend in Jr. High owned the Hide Away Cafe. Both of us lived in Mira Mesa and realized quickly that if we got up at 5:30 am and caught a ride with his parents we could surf all day and be back by 3 to nap. Our summers consisted of nonstop days of free breakfast (ahhh Cinnamon Rolls!), surfing (North Reef), free lunch (Chopper Burger!) and surfing (More North Reef). It was quite possibly the best childhood a surf rat could have.
At the ripe old age of 14 my friend and I became friends with Ira. He was a local at the restaurant and since he was the producer of the Surfer Mag TV show he was our new found idol. He let us hang around and hold up cue cards for Corky Caroll as he did his thing for the show. That was huge at 14. Those memories will always stick with me.
Now 22 years later Ira is still stoking us out. Like he did in the past he has brought us our next surfing fix, the digital surf flix. Armed with www.thesurfnetwork.com and an expanding library of films he has given us the opportunity to search, preview and download surf films of past and present on a whim. It is the iTunes library of everything surf. If you haven't checked out the site you should. I think it has been out for a year now and I have been getting all my videos from there. It is priced well and most of all I can download a video in the middle of the night. You gotta love technology.
Now that we are mid winter I am starting to miss the Leucadia days of summer. The cold water has started to take it's toll. Here is a shot of Kirk that brought me right back. It gives me that feeling of south summer swell and warm water afternoons. How nice would it be to be back in trunks.
When I got this shot I was blown away. The whole essence of the image drew me in. I love soul surfing anyway, then add a back lit glow, over head barrel, throw in a touch of offshore and you have a winner.
The Leucadia Project is a site dedicated to the place we love and live. It's a tribute to the beauty of it's beaches, it's amazingly fun surf, it's unique funk, and the talented people who call it home either in the water or on land.
After these storms it has been amazing to witness the colors of the sunsets in the lineup. I feel so lucky and thankful when I happen to witness these moments of such pure beauty. 
Here are a few shots from today. David was down shooting this morning and got some good ones. I was out last night for a walk and it was victory at sea. What a difference a day makes.
If you have never heard these guys you will be blown away. They played for years around town and have now made it big and are traveling the world and playing. This event is a special deal as their parents are both self employed and are both recovering from surgery. The concert will help pay their bills and get them back on their feet. This show will most likely be nothing like you have ever seen. These guys play their hearts out for strangers let alone their own family. 
Long time local Eli Mirandon was shot by David at Black's last month on his quad fish shaped by local Manny Caro. Check out Manny's site The Swallowtail Society. Eli is a great surfer and I love these shots. Manny's boards are amazing as well. The second shot is one of the set that made it on Surfline. Enjoy.
Have you ever known someone for years and never had a clue how talented they were? It happened to me with my friend and neighbor Genie Huey. She and her husband Allen Herzog have lived in my neighborhood for almost 10 years now and it wasn't until recently that I discovered Genie's amazing talent.
Dan Lewis getting warm. Dan is no blood relation to me that I know of but a brother indeed. He has been doing a lot of the work on the board and is a fine craftsman in his own right. A true cowboy, bull rider and woodworker Dan is Dennis' right hand man and for good reason. He is a kick to be around and is extremely talented. 
Today was amazing. First was the rain. It poured like crazy for most of the day and then it glassed off and the surf picked up. When you are lucky enough to experience these days you really feel grateful for living where we do. Enjoy.
Here is a shot David grabbed while shooting down south. We dubbed it Hawaii 5.0. It was a little macker going off down the beach all by itself.
When I got this shot I was blown away. The whole essence of the image drew me in. I love soul surfing anyway, then add a back lit glow, over head barrel, throw in a touch of offshore and you have a winner.
