Ebb and Flow Grand Opening- Saturday Aug 8th, 5-10PM

Saturday night is the grand opening of the new shop Ebb and Flow. If you haven't made it down there check it out. They are featuring a show called "Stay Casual" by Andy and Ashley Davis.

Check out the photos of the shop here. They have some great art and tees.

Oh yea. One more huge reason to go... the Mattson 2 are playing. I love these guys. They were unbelievable at the Present premier. Enjoy.

Dirty Wax Art - Mini Quad

Here is the latest dirty wax art to come through, a sweet little quad fish complete with deck patch. This little guy was up late using his mom's best utensils to shape this bad boy. He was so excited to claim his Wax Buddy he left his post at the top of the GV stairs, leaving tourists free to walk up with their body boards in peace. 

Amazing Day: John Peck and Rochelle Ballard Stop By

Today was amazing. It was one of those magical days that start off great and get better and better.

It started out with a day at the beach with my daughter. Kipp and I took our kids to the beach and did a little "daddy daycare" and surf session. There is nothing like having your kids run around and have a blast at the beach while you get to take turns surfing with your friends!

The session was super cool because I felt like a pro. It was the maiden voyage of the new board Kipp just shaped so he wanted some feedback. I got to try it out with different fin setups and multiple sessions and Kipp got all stoked as he saw all his hard work pay off by watching me have a magical session. (The board was super fun and is beautiful to boot.)

As if it couldn't get any better, as we rapped up the day I ran into Rochelle and John in the GV parking lot! Rochelle and I have been doing some work together on her new passion project Surf Into Yoga. She's in town to spread the yoga love so I talked her into starting up her own blog so she can share her journey along the way. More on that later.

After seeing them briefly I got a surprise house call by the two of them. Once they rolled up I got the pleasure of getting to know John, shoot him and gave them both a few parting gifts. (They both dug the Wax Buddy!) 

John had the most amazing van. His rolling Ashram as he calls it. He chatted with us, gave me some much needed spiritual guidance and even showed us this super cool body surf hand plan. 

All and all it was an amazing day. Never had I thought I would meet John Peck, especially at my house! Thank you Rochelle!  

If you are into yoga or want to start, check out her new DVD. I have a copy and have been practicing so I don't look lame when I go to the studio. If you want, you can save some trees and plastic and buy it as a download here. Enjoy.

Jeff Gollong Rips

I love featuring locals who rip. They go down to the same spot day after day, big or small and kill it. Jeff is one of those guys. He was born and raised in Leucadia and you will find him out in our local waters every day. 

If you surf Grandview you know you've seen him. He's the one that you see from the stairs killing it on any day and he makes you want to paddle out.

This shot was taken a week ago by Dona Wettstien. She is another GV local and caught this one while shooting her 4 yr old catch some waves.  The only thing better then the local ripper is the local ripper shot by the local photographer. Do we have some talent around here or what? Enjoy.

Aaron's New Log

Aaron, was like a little kid when he picked up his new Murphy 10'2" log last week. This thing is beautiful. Red resin tint with silver band on the nose. Complete with a TLP glass in. Aaron's main goal is to nose ride this thing. I'm hoping David will be able to get a shot of that. 

It has been fun to watch the influence his sons Lucas and Logan have been having on him. As they get better the more it pushes Aaron.  Pretty cool how the little ones he taught how to walk and then surf start to teach him a thing or two. Enjoy.

The Surfy Surfy Project

For those of you who look at the Surfy Surfy or Moonlight Glass blogs this is my tribute to those guys. J.P. does a good job over there inspiring us and showing off all the boards that come through that place. He has done such a good job I started fantasizing about a Bonzer this last swell.  I know I am a diehard fish guy but when it got big I was wishing I had one.  J.P. was also one of the first long time bloggers to promote us and give us his stamp of approval. For that we are grateful. Long live Moonlight Glass and Surfy Surfy! Thanks for all the support.

Necko and the Bunny Man - Dirty Wax Art

Portrait of Miss Anne's cat Necko. The real Necko was accidentally run through the dryer and survived. She is the most zen cat you will ever meet. Nothing bothers her except the sight of the laundry being done. If you look closely you can see some dryer lent in her ear. Very authentic.

Portrait of Miss Anne's rabbit Merlin a.k.a. the Bunny Man. Merlin is a very cool rabbit they rescued. 

Here is Miss Anne and Daisy who stopped by to show me her dirty wax art and claim her new Wax Buddy. Anne did a great job with the wax art. I really liked the use of clam shells, flower peddles and leaves. Very creative Miss Anne.

The Trifecta: TSJ, El Norte and TLP

I ordered some food from La Especial Norte and stopped by my mail box on the way over. To my excitement I found the Surfers Journal waiting for me. I came home got my computer out and found a new post from David from the last swell. Seriously, does it get any better then that?

South Swell Juice 2

5'10" Bat Trail Quad is Done

Kipp Denslow sent in these photos of the Bat Tail Quad he has been working on in his garage. The board looks amazing. I love the resin tint. I can't wait to try it out. He and I love looking at all the resin tints on the  Sea Surfboards site. This is his version of that. Very impressive Kipp. Keep up the good work!

South Swell Juice

A few more shots from earlier in the morning on July 24 09. 

South Swell

The news of a good south swell had been out for about a week or so and I had more or less planned where and how I was going to shoot the entire thing. It was set that I was going to shoot Blacks on Friday during the peak of the swell. I even went so far as to put a ladder in the car so I could setup and get some new angle shots.

So, I roll up at Blacks ready to put my plan in motion and I ask the first surfer I see "how are the waves" and he says "not that good." What? "How big?"  and he says "chest to head high and a bit blown out." So, I ask a few other people who confirm what the first guy had told me. My friend whom I drove down there with and I have a quick  discussion and conclude that we need to go to La Jolla and check things out there. 

We setup at Big Rock under cloudy skies and watch the crowd grow to about 30 guys in about a 20' take-off radius. The surf is about 5'- 6'... maybe a few larger sets. I was able to get a few good ones but nothing like I was hoping for and not any where near what was predicted by the forecasters. There I was... my plans shattered and it looked like it was just going to be another small swell to shoot in bad lighting... kind of like the way the entire winter swell season went this last year. 

Then, out of the blue a friend of mine who lives down there was driving by and noticed me shooting down on the beach. He pulls over and tells me of a spot that he said would be 3 times as big as Big Rock and 4 times as heavy. I wasn't sure if it would be true and I really didn't want to drive around and just miss everything so I stayed put for about 45 more minutes. The guy I came down to the beach with didn't want to surf at Big Rock because of the crowd so we left. 

We decided to drive by this supposed location that was going to be going off and it was a zoo!  Cars everywhere and not a parking spot for blocks! But, as we approached a car started backing out of the 1st parking spot right in front of the break. We park and get out... I look over and think to my self holy shit it looks like Pipeline! A heavy wave for sure! I get the camera out walk to the beach just as the sun comes out for the first time all morning and I look through the lens as I see Damien Hobgood charging down the line ... click click click... as if it was just meant to be! 

Stoked!

Hugo's Quiver

Left to right... The first board is a replica of the board his dad made him for his 1st birthday. He would carry it around with him everywhere. I think one day he lost it in the water at Beacons. This one was a board his grandparents made for him on a trip back east. The second board is one his dad bought for $30 on Neptune from a dad who made it for his son.  When Hugo got this board he slept with it for at least a week straight. 

Here he is feeling the rails.

Hugo showing me his style.

A standard thruster fin was used for the single fin.

Cool line art drawings were glassed in.

I like the acid wash paint job. Very cool. Grandma has some skills.

My neighbor Hugo is 3 and is one of the most surfed stoked kids I know. He hasn't actually learned to surf yet but he does have a quiver and a lot of imagination. At 1 he was carrying around this wood plank his dad cut out for him and would take it to Beacons and play with it in the white water.  Now that he has this mini board, this is the summer for him to paddle out. 

Erik Baldwin Video

Here is a cool little video I found on Erik's Looped site. He has been working with his shaper Roy Sanchez a lot lately to make a board that is fun to ride in just about anything. It has been fun to watch him experiment with  different shapes and fin set ups. This video is of him testing these boards out. Enjoy.

A Few From Today

Erik was out this morning doing his thing. 

Here he is again doing a Whirly Bird. That's a no footed, no handed, backflip to no landing. It's even better in person.

Grandview or Hawaiian shore break?

Here are the first shots in from the day. When a swell comes all productivity comes to a halt. Not a job anywhere has a full staff. As soon as Surfline puts up the forecast a flurry of phone calls go into bosses taking sick days. Some reports came in that there were a few hundred people from Beacons to Grandview this morning.  I believe it. There were at least 100 at my spot. Enjoy.

Photos by Lauren Tolford

Vanity Fin

Kipp sent in this photo the other day. He had a huge bathroom mirror just give way and crash to the ground. Luckily no one was in the bathroom at the time. 

In the middle of cleaning up he finds this piece of mirror. Any other person would have through it right away. Only a surfer would find fascination in it so much they felt compelled to photo it and share it with their friends. Who, being surfers themselves, all said "wow! that looks like a sweet single fin!"

Wicked Good Wood - Mini Boards

Cowboy Dan has been at it again and making some amazing new mini boards. All from scrap wood. These things are so beautiful and he has been going nuts on the stands. A bunch of you took us up on our offer for a blank. I'll see if I can get more. Once you are are done send them in so we can show them off. If you want to own one of these contact me and I'll put you in touch with Dan. He puts a lot of tme and love into these boards. He would be stoked to see these on people's walls.  Enjoy.