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[Poobah]

The Longboard Collectors Club will have the end of the year meet at Doheny beach in Dana Point, Sat, Dec. 2nd. 8 AM until ??? This is always the meet of the year, bar-b-q, raffle, legends ect. This year we will honor Gordie Surfboards. Our wall of fame will be erected again this year for all the Gordie boards to be displayed for all to admire. Bob Bolen, the famous shaper of Greek Surfboards, will again be presenting the awards for the Vintage Surfing person of the year. Rumor has it that Gidget will stop by. This event will be covered by Longboard Magazine and Surfers Journal.

P.S. I'll bring a few boards to ride. Water quality is an issue there. Might rain on Monday.

[Poobah]

I was running late, because my truck had a dead battery Saturday morning. So we took our car, and in the confusion I fogot my camera. Jerp!

There were a hundred or more vintage surfboards, two kneeboards and two bellyboards. I bought a sad looking Newport twin fin for $200. It needs a fair amount of work, but I felt sorry for the poor board. The seller told me he'd rescued it from some boat people. There's a one inch hole clear through the nose where the snobby yacht people attached a rope to tow young Thurston around the harbor. Keep in mind that this surfboard club meeting is near the Dana Point surf that was sacrified to make way for marinas. Holy Karma, Batman...I had to buy that bellyboard.


I was eating burgers and chips during the awards ceremony. So I was behind the speakers, and didn't hear too well. They gave Skip Frye a trophy. I think he was inducted into the Shapers Hall of Fame. Bob Simmons sister accepted an award for Bob. There were a number of other shapers there. I talked to Steve Pandarvis for a little bit. I'm overdue for a new pimp sled, and I always wanted to see how he might interpret the fish bellyboard. He got very excited. He said he had already been thinking of some sort of foam and wood hybrid. I'll know more in a few weeks. He's off to Hawaii on some sort of film project. I really wanted to talk to him longer, but I had to go over to Gidget's book signing table before she ran out of books.

Yes, there really is a Gidget. She bought her first surfboard from 15 year old Mike Doyle, and learned to surf at Malibu. Gidget's mom also gave local neighborhood kids like Matt Kivlin and Buzzy Trent a ride to the beach. Well anyway I did manage to get Gidget to sign a copy of her Dads book. This edition has some photos and an introduction by Gidget. She's not a bellyboarder, but I did get to talking with one of her beach bum friends that was hanging around the book table. He made his first bellyboard in Junior High. He said he always kept a bellyboard in the car back in the day. Didn't take his surfboard everywhere, but the bellyboard was always ready when the surf was up at Zuma.

Something new for retro folks...a Wave Set style fin that's made to fit into a modern Fins Unlimited fin box. Just the G&S Greenough shape (I think.) They had both solid colors and translucent lexan. Beautiful greens, blues and yellows. I was going to buy two and maybe sell one to Tumak for his balsas. They were $60 each with no sales tax, but I spaced it. I just forgot to go back over to the guys table and buy a couple. Oh well. They're still available. Irwin Spitz is the man. He's the same guy that has the Wave Set repros that fit the old Wave Set boxes. You may have seen them on ebay.

No surf that day. Not even ankle slappers, but a it was a beautiful sunny day. This annual Doheney event is always a fun learning experience. Next time I'll bring my camera. Jerp! Maybe the Surfers Journal will fill in the missing pieces of this story.

[rodndtube]

Nice report.

Really needed a WaveSet fin about 10 yrs ago to replace one that had broken from a flying off the racks incident down in Cape Hatteras for my old G&S Hotcurl 8'6" board. Ended up having a pedestrian Fins Unlimited glassed in the box. Blasphemy!
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"Prone to ride"
I love my papa li`ili`i

[tumak]

Thanks for the kind thought, Poobah. I had one of the True Ames Greenough Stage 4A fins in my Mysterious Turtle balsa; it was 10" and red. Just recently, though, I happened upon an 8" Greenough Stage 6 - a "paddle" fin - that I ABSOLUTELY LOVE in the board. It's a translucent green color, and looks really great in the board. Have you tried the Greenough Stage 6 on a paipo yet? I think it's the best I've ever used.

A little note about the Stage 6: My favorite issue of Surfer's Journal is Vol. 7, No. 4, Winter 1998. In it is the Greenough article called "Moving Forward," in which, on page 83, appear two pictures of George's early balsa kneeboard. The appearance of of an early prototype of this fin in the pictures reveals that this fin dates back to about 1960. The fin can be seen on a board lying alongside the one being photographed. It was just a "D" fin of the era with a shallow but deep cutaway. I think that early fin was WAY ahead of its time. The feeling of the Stage 6 is unreal.

On a way different note: I've also been going nuts with Wave Skaters. I do now understand the finless-paipo-as-Holy Grail quest. Wave Skaters are unreal. I like mine best with reverse rocker, really, with a pretty concave slot bottom.