Los Angeles azules

Sí mis amigos, the los ángeles azules were in town today. i snapped one photo, my camera phone does not do the Angels much justice. The wind also died and the surf cleaned up. I shot a pic while walking the dog and headed back about an hour later to get a sunset paddle. Curious Note to Self: Everyone I saw in the water this weekend was wearing a top or fullsuit. Water temp is 75 degrees and the air is 68, WTF? I paddled in after dark and never even felt a chill, and I'm a total pussy when it comes to the cold. Is it the herd mentality or is everyone not really paying attention.

*11/06 Update on the Wetsuit Situation: After talking with my friend Kyle on the beach, it occured to me; because of my built in 3/2 flabtacular fullsuit and Castaway era Tom Hanks beard, I don't chill as easily as skinny folk.

No Mo Noel?

After checking my favorite tropical weather update, it seems as if Noel is no mo. Here is the infrared satellite as of 12am, November 4th. Also posted is a pic of a fore mentioned favorite spot from the Ocean State. Google maps are really cool when you get to see the ocean floor, in this case the reef that lines the beach.

Noel Blasts DownEast

With Hurricane Noel running up the coast, I checked in with my favorite DownEast surf site, NEsurf. I poached a couple pics from the forum to highlight some of the juice their getting. First two shots are from my favorite spot in the Ocean State. (Is it still not cool to name spots? How bout on blog that nobody reads? sorry jason, your not a nobody. it's Matunuck, damn it!

Total Sargassum

By Thursday the NE winds and surf had blown in a fair amount of Sargassum, from the Sargasso Sea.

High Tides and Roof Racks

Tuesday had some serious high tides. So I built some new racks for the van.

Grain and Bamboo Cloth

Grain Surfboards has posted their progress on moving to Bamboo cloth. I have to agree with them, the positives outweigh the negatives. Bamboo is an amazing sustainable resource. Amazing because of it's heartiness, sustainable because of it's growth rate and resource, well cause it's a natural resource. Fiberglass cloth is not a toxic substance in it's final form but it's genesis and manufacture are the work of doom. Read the whole essay here.

ps.-i luva the "Grain Experimental" logo, very Dr. Zarkoff.

The Surf Today

I was working today (bathroom vanity) and missed out on some classic "victory at sea". Winds NNE:10-15, Air:68, Water:79. Cam Pics courtesy of 10cam, COS and Fluidgroove, respectively. Vanity photos courtesy of my stankass camera phone, it rocks.

Wicked Cool

Year Built: 2007
Dimensions: 6'1" x 20" x 3"
Shaper: Ed Tekeian
Manufacturer: King of Nahant Surfboards
Location: Cambridge MA

Poached from Swaylocks

The Twisted Guerilla

I Poached this post from Swaylock's, via Tree to Sea - username: Thomas.
I love this board and the way it was made.


read more at swaylocks

The Mark of a 45 Pound Paddleboard

The wind died down and the surf cleaned up a bit this afternoon. Had a nice lunchtime paddle with my neighbor, Tim. Then, on a little wave, it got ugly.
Trying to pull out the back of a late breaker I got the business end of my paddleboard. Pintail to the groinal area and rail to the forehead. Not as bad as I would have expected. The head wound pictured is negligible, a small knot and an even smaller abrasion, the pintail wound is centered around my dignity and does not photograph well. I need to build a board with rounded rails.

And then there was Crap...

Slowly Building Wind swell infused with the pervasive Red Tide.
pics courtesy of www.cleanoceansurfboards.com and www.10thstreetcam.com

New APC Logo

Racks

Built some racks for the living room (also known as the large empty room between the front and back door).

Black Flag

Here's one for the kids:

Hats for the Founding Fathers

Plywood Surfboards From Brazil

The latest from Felipe Siebert. The pictures say it all.
Checkout more on his blog and website:http://plywoodsurfboards.blogspot.com/

Alternative Blank Materials

I heard an interesting report on NPR today talking about the use of Elephant Grass as a source for ethanol. It got me thinking about using the pulp from elephant grass or a more locally friendly resource like banana pulp and pressing that into surfboard blanks. Using some kind of binder or glue and whammy, it's a friendlier surfboard blank.

The Shelly

Eight Foot - Single Rib - Blake Style - Plywood Paddleboard

The Bishop Fish

5'11" Western Red Cedar - Lis Style Fish

The Big Mac in Restoration Mode