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!
I got this flyer from Grandview local Shawn Horn. I was moved when I read the story. It is regarding a fundraiser for a young boy, 5 years old, who suffered a severe head injury in a car accident and lost both of his parents. Ian is now 6 years old, and is at home with his 2 siblings Lauren and Luke who are now 2 and 3 years old. Their Aunt Melissa is their legal guardian. Ian has a 100% potential to walk again with intense therapy, but he needs our help. Please read the attached flyer and anything to help would be appreciated!
Here is a shot that I took that I really like. It represents the simple things that we as surfers do that make up the whole experience. This shot was taken of Erik as he waxed up the retro single fin that he fixed up. He had no idea I was taking the shot and he just took his time waxing her up and getting her ready. Earlier that day he road her for the first time in really clean conditions and killed it. This was his second session of the day and this time around the surf was really bad. He didn't care though and took the same time waxing away and got in the groove. It just shows the time we spend around surfing and the things that make up the entire experience, not just the act of riding waves.
Erik gave me this photo on a drive of a bunch of images he had. It stood out and I thought it was cool. This shot came from taking a picture of his computer screen with this image on it. The original image was taken by Erik's girlfriend and local artist Lauren. I had seen the original and had always liked it but this one came out extra cool. Enjoy.
Here is a shot sent in by David. He actually sent it to me as a joke. But I liked it so much I had to post it. He was shooting one day at Cardiff and this bird came right at him. He swears he was looking to bomb him. He shot off a few and this is what he got. It's really a cool picture. You can see Seaside in the background. If you click on it to enlarge it the detail is cool too. I've never seen a bird in flight shot like that. Look at the wings too, it's got that vee like a swallow tail.
I got more pictures of the progress on the Grain today from Dennis. This time they have finished the rails and have the planks glued up and ready for the deck to be glued on. Once that is complete the Grain blank can be shaped.
Dennis was set to glue the deck this week but we agreed to leave it off so he can take it to the AB3 Fish Fry this weekend. It will be cool for people to see up close what the inside of these boards look like and how much goes into making them. If you want to get a closer look at the innards of a Grain, stop by the event and look for Murphy.
This is one of my favorite parts about this site. I got an email out of the blue from local artist and surfer Juan Flores. He stumbled onto the site and sent me these images of his work. I was really impressed. They are fun and of course I always love art of Leucadia and Encinitas. I really love the lineup point of view as well. I think a lot about how beautiful our bluff line is as I wait for sets. I've always wanted to take a picture of the bluff on a good day but a) it's a good day and I'm surfing. b) You need a good long distance camera to get a good shot. These paintings are cool because it gives you that detail and color from a higher point of view which lets you see the surf and the bluff. I dig it. Great work. You can check out more work of his at www.jfloresw.com.
Since the last time I was up at the Murphy Ranch and did a post on the Grain board the weather up there became too cold to work on the board. The next phase was to build the rails, which consists of a process of stacking 1/4 inch long strips of wood one on top of each other to make the curve of the rail. The process is borrowed from wood boat building and is referred to as the bead and cove method. Meaning that each strip has a concave bottom and rounded top. The bead fits in the cove and lets the wood lock into place with the help of the glue.
The barn it is being built in wasn't heated and the cold temperatures made the risk too high for cracking the bead and cove strips. So it sat for a few weeks until recently when the weather warmed up and they could get going again.
I haven't seen the progress yet in person but was fortunate enough to hook up with Dennis and chat about its progress and get these photos.
While Dennis and Dan were waiting for the weather to warm up for the Grain, they started a little side project to keep themselves busy. To my shock they surprised me with some photos of their next project, a scrap Balsa and 100 year old reclaimed redwood 5'10" Quad Fish. The board is chambered out and is set to weigh in at 10 pounds glassed. That is most likely the weight of a glossed and polished 6' fish. The redwood used is from a recycled water tower on his property. The wood is surprisingly light on it's own because of the age but once chambered it is exceptionally light.
Here are a couple photos of the project. Keep an eye on the Murphy Blog for more details and it's progress.
Glued and rough shaped. The swallow has yet to be cut.
David did his best to get around during this last swell and it paid off. He got some amazing shots. Here are a few that I liked. You can see more at Surfline and Transworld Surf.
I had these shots in my mail box for over a month now and forgot all about them. They are of Erik by his better half and local artist Lauren. When looking for things to post I was stoked to find them.
Erik is an amazing surfer and continues to inspire all of us when we are out with him. He also acts as our surf coach and mentor and tells us that someday we too can punt huge airs and pull four 360's in one wave. We all want to believe him but he may up against the old dog theory. We take the advice though and it makes us feel good that he at least believes in us.
On the other hand the groms flock to him in and out of the water as they intuitively know that they have a chance. I get a big kick out of seeing how he takes his time with random kids in the line up to teach them new things or give them pointers. He is so stoked all the time that it is inspiring to see how he uses that to help others.
Here are a couple of shots by David of Knox at north Leucadia yesterday. Apparently as usually he was killing it. These are the B shots. The A's went off to Surfline so keep an eye out for them.
Does anyone know where this is? Even if you did I bet you wouldn't tell. This image came to me while I took a birthing class over 3 1/2 years ago.
In the class they had us do an exercise to think of a safe place in our minds to relieve stress. I pictured this right point and I was surfing it with my grown daughter of the future. That exercise was powerful yet until recently I had forgotten about it.
Now all this time later it came to me again while my daughter and I were drawing last weekend in the backyard. It was on a whim that I drew this and it triggered that memory. It now sits on my refrigerator as a post card of the future. Someday we will surf this place.
Just a reminder that the reception for Cheryl's show is this Saturday afternoon, March 14th, from 1:00-3:00 in the Community Room at the beautiful Encinitas Library, as well as out on the adjoining patio, with its gorgeous ocean view. Come join her for pastries, caffeine and mimosas! (and art of course....)
Also for you KPBS blog Culture Lust lovers you will find a post on her as well. You can check it out here.
A couple of weeks ago I took Binki II in for some repairs to the Ding King. Binki II was a board made by John Turberville a few years back. John and I go way back and he used to live on Coop when I first lived on Jupiter. He had been shaping me boards since 97'. Now he is retired. I wanted him to make a dupe of Binki and he did but he made this board as well for himself. When I rode it I had to have it so he swapped this one for the one he made for me. I have been trading off between Binki I and Binki II for a about 4 years now. I love them both.
I haven't ridden her in months and was itching to get her fixed up so I could take her out. On the day I took it in my daughter and copilot came with and she got really excited about seeing the place. She loves boards and likes to look around surf shops at them. She was very interested in what they were going to do to my board as she sees it in the garage and even asks to wax it with me. When we dropped off the board she made me promise that I take her with me to pick it up.
A week passed and the board was ready. When I got the call I was really excited. Then I remembered my promise to wait for her to pick it up. As a couple weeks went by our schedules never made it possible for us both to be together to get the board, until today.
So, after I took her to dance class we had a date for Ding King and went over to pick up the board. She was just as excited as I was and my sister from Japan was even there to document it. Look at the first shot of us out front. She is holding the board with me. A proud moment for her and for me. Fatherhood is great.
I was down at the Sorrento Valley Murphy shaping room today with Chris and took a liking to this board. Couldn't help but take some shots. Check out the Murphy blog for more photos.
My friend Hans Enyedi has been sending me photos of the progress of his Casper board. We did a post a while back on it when it was still being shaped. Now the board is ready to surf complete with resin tint and wood fins that he made as well. Personally I'm blown away at how nice the board turned out for shaping, glassing (resin tint no less) and making his own fins out of his shape shake in his back yard. Good work Hans! I can't wait to try this board out. Now that this one is done he has already started on another.
So Anne, Kirk and I went to see the premier of The Present. I don't have any of my own pictures because frankly I got way too excited about the whole thing and left my camera at home. It happens to the best of us. If you want to see some cool shots check out the Sea Layer blog as Maggie is an amazing photographer.
The event itself was really good. The vibe was amazing and some of my favorite parts were actually not in the movie at all. I did love the film don't get me wrong, but when you get to sit back in your own home town theater and listen to the Mattson 2 with Ray Barbee live, (How amazing are these guys? Seriously. The drummer blew me away with his closed eye playing and Ray Barbee is just an amazing energy. Then there is how the Mattson 2 play off each other with a telepathic ability. I can't get enough. These guys are gifted.) and sit through it with some of your favorite surfers (Dan Malloy, Chris Del Moro, Rob. Devon Howard etc. etc. ) you start to get to realize that we live in a magical place.
As for the film, I can't wait to actually get my hands on a DVD. I realize that when I see films for the first time in a setting like that it is really hard to get the full vibe of it. The experience is so great on a lot of levels that you have a hard time focusing solely on the film, which deserves it's own undivided attention. It has to do with the excitement of the event and the energy around you that makes you walk out with everything a blur. At least it did for me.
The thing that I really like about surf films are that the good ones are more like albums then they are like pop culture movies. They get better with time and the really good ones let you explore new depths as you watch them over and over again. I have films I have watched 20 times. Sprout was like that. When my daughter was born I didn't surf much and the film became a great way to reconnect with surfing.
The film had it's standout moments as well, even with the blur of the evening. I really liked the Tudor segment as it was entertaining and I liked hearing him speak of the guys that influenced him. The other stand out segment was the Rasta, Malloy, Del Moro segment at Sunset and Waimea on the Alaia boards. It had the same vibe as the Lopez board segments in Sprout, which was a great segment.
The message of the movie was good and Campbell's narration is always a welcome. All and all a great time. Thank you, Thomas!
Today I received this special piece of wax art by a long time friend Lucas. He did a really good job and even included a little wax man in the tube.
I met Lucas when he was 2 years old and now get to watch him surf. In fact last weekend I had the pleasure of noticing some kid surfing really well and then realized it was him. That was a cool moment. I was able to see him as a surfer not just a grom. His younger brother Logan is surfing really good as well. We'll get some shots of them both up here shortly.
Lucas was the first to send in his wax art. I hope there are more of you out there working away on your dirty wax.
Here are more shots from David of his son and his best friend fulfilling their dream as free surfers. It's a good life if you can get the job. Here they are putting their time in the water with the surf cams on their boards and David on the beach to get all the action. These guys don't mess around. When the surf is solid (2 to 3 foot) they have work to do. They, like all the great free surfers before them, gear up, get their camera crew and go to work.
Here are a couple of fins sent in by proud father and back yard shaper Kipp Denslow. I met Kipp's wife at a meditation class. After the class we started talking surf and she mentioned that her husband shapes fish boards. Naturally I was intrigued so I urged her to have Kipp send in some shots. Turns out he makes some amazing boards. My favorite is the 50/50 blue and brown board. Love the color scheme.
The fins are great. They put a smile on my face when I opened my email. Enjoy.
Erik came over today to show me his wax art. He rides for Sticky Bumps and gets all the R&D wax from the factory. This time he got a bunch of colored wax so he waxed up his fish with these checkers. When he showed me I couldn't help but take a picture.
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.
