John Peck and His Cyrus Sutton Handplane

Last year I got to meet John Peck. He was really soulful and a joy to be around. In the visit he pulled out his new toy, a little handplane he said his friend gave him. He was very proud if it and said he was taking it out all the time. It was one of his favorites.

Months later I got to meet Cyrus Sutton at sacred craft. He was doing his DIY demonstration about making your own handplanes. It was right when his new film came out along with the korduroy.tv website. We chatted and I told him I got to meet John and that he had a handplane as well. Turns out that was the first one Cyrus made and he had given it to John.

It's a small surf world after all.

Photos, Ed Lewis

Sacred Craft Day One

The guys I went to see, Grain crew Mike, Brad and Allen, were there to answer questions and share the stoke of wood board building. Here's a shot of forever stoked Kevin, a two time kit builder from LA with a third in his sights.

The booth was busy all day as people came in to see first hand what these boards are all about.  I have to admit I was a booth rat. They couldn't get ride of me as I kept asking questions and looking over their boards.

This is the board that I think is going to be amazing. It's copy of a 60's relic that somehow made it to their shop. It's called the Leaf. It's 4.6 and guys have been surfing these things. They hinted that I might get to demo one! Erik, you down to try her out?

Man of the weekend, Dick Brewer, was on hand to judge the shape off and take part in the festivities. I got a chance to say a few words to him and he was a really cool humble guy.

Dennis Murphy was up first in the shape off. He did really good. It was so much fun to watch.

Brewer came in and complemented Dennis on his shape. Dennis was blown away to meet him. He said later "That was soo cool. As a kid everyone wanted to be Dick Brewer. "

Erik was there to represent Sticky Bumps. He has a cool wax art project at the booth for kids.

Moonlight and Surfy Surfy were there. Good news for us Leucadians. We will soon have a new place to hang out. The old Longboard Grotto space will be the new site of the Surfy Surfy board shop!

Surf Heritage museum was there was some amazing boards.

Lots of great craftsmanship. This was a cool hand burned sign.

Lot's and lots of Brewer boards, old and new.

The old ads were posted up and were really cool. My favorite was John Peck.

Karl Eckstrom was there with his amazing asymmetrical boards.  I really wanted to ride this fish.

Eli Marandon was on hand to show off his work. He is one of David's favorite guys to shoot at Blacks. He is a well rounded guy, with skills in the shaping bay and in the water.

Eli has a new set of fins out based on his unique tall twin fins. These are shorter and wider with the same hatchet style template. I am hoping to demo a pair. They look like they will work good.

Murphy Brewer shaped and ready for judging.

This is what I like to see. I love how it looks like a guy in the '50s bought it for a $100 and was his daily ride to the beach. 

MR was there. What can I say. I grew up with him as a hero.

Back today.  Hope to see you there.

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.