Stoke on the Water

A 7' egg for Neil, who is English, so his language is peppered with exclamations like, "Brilliant!" and "behaviour."

I like talking to Neil about design. Our conversations take the form of a doubtful speculation by Neil, followed by me telling him what's basically industry standard, followed by Neil exploding with stoke as if I had just invented aluminium (aluminum). Here are a few examples of conversations last month, translated just in case you don't speak the Queen's English:
Neil: "The thickness in the centre (center)...I guess it's not possible to make it somewhere between 2 1/2 and 2 3/4 thick..."
Me: "I can make it 2 5/8 thick."
Neil: "Brilliant!"

Another time:
Neil: "I'd like to talk about colour (color)...grey (gray) seems a bit too much...I wish there were something a bit lighter..."
Me: "How about light gray?"
Neil: "Brilliant!"

Later:
Neil: "Different fin setups allow for different manoeuvres (maneuvers)...I wish there were a way to allow for multiple fin setups..."
Me: "We could put in multiple boxes."
Neil: "Brilliant!"

Leslie calls this color 'smoke.' When I asked her why she added double pinlines to the deck when the order card only called for a single pinline, she said, "You talk too much."
Brilliant!

War Pony Chronicles Vol.III

First gasp of air in ten days--what have I missed?

Still Life With Wavepecker
Ten days of shuffling around the house in a sleep-deprived stupor, occasionally staring into the bleary eyes of my lovely wife, alternating asking, "How can we love something so much we've known for less two weeks?" and "What the hell have we done?"
SweetJane, unfazed, sleeps on. Warm. Peaceful. Occasional baby sighs escaping her perfect, tiny mouth.
But nature's machine cannot be slowed. Just as babies are born, the moon spins our oceans into wavemakers, and sea meets earth. Boards must be shaped!

This single-wing War Pony is for Shred Ted, a NorthCoast institution. Ted's got the stoke for sure--the dude tows into behemoth, sharky heavies by the light of dawn, goes for a three hour run after lunch, then finishes off the day with a matte in his House of Invention. He's got more energy than a herd of two-tailed cats in a room full of rocking chairs.

The little race car quad is 5'6x 19.5x pretty thin--Ted's got arms like stovepipes, so paddling isn't a huge concern.
Red cedar stringer gives the board extra zing!
ps--thanks to all who sent email and bloggie wishes. Made me want to do two things:
1. Answer some of your email inquiries in my next posting.
2. Recommend Jack Kerouac's The Dharma Bums. Don't ask why, just pop the cork on a nice California syrah, read it, and stay tuned.

pps--Surf Movie Night this Thursday at Santa Rosa's Toad in the Hole Pub, right there in historic Railroad Square. Last Surf movie Night was a huge success: Mr. December's HulaBilly stylings rocked, hushed, and inspired the crowd, Mr. Wegener and Mr. Farberow's south of the border wave-sliding shenanigans brought a smile to everyone's faces, and I got loaded! Festivities kick off at 6pm. I recommend showing up early for a table, some eats, and front row seats to the fun.

It's A Girl!

February 6, 2100 hours. The walkie-talkie in my shop (inspired by our friend Kev on our first Baja run many years ago) registers the following communique as I'm putting the finishing touches on an eight footer:
"I'm having a baby. Over (we follow strict military protocol). Oh, I also made a chicken parmigiana."
What a woman!

Guess which one of these lives in the shaping bay?
2200 hours. Arrive at hospital. She more uncomfortable than me, but still.
2311 hours. Sweet Baby Jane!
February 7, 0800 hours. Sisters meet for the first time. Gentle cooing ensues. Not a dry eye in the house.

My two favorite shapes.