Bagus Surf

Uppers, Point, and Mary Jane

Had an awesome session today with Mr. Lee out in da country.  Headed up early a little before 6.  Took out the 7'2" egg and hit uppers to find some tasty head high sets rolling through.  Many were closint out like a taco, but we managed to catch a bunch of fun rides left and right.  Tried to tuck into a couple mini barrels, but ended up on my ass most of the time.  Saw lots of folks in the water as we headed back towards Mary Jane's.  There was a school of phish that showed up when we left.  Rode a couple of waves as we headed in.  Clean conditions and clear water.  The swell was just not the perfect direction, but good enough to have plenty of fun.  This might be the last gasp for the northshore before the summer doldrums set in.

Dale Velzy R.I.P.

Just heard that legendary shaper Dale Velzy passed away.  No details yet.  Will post if I hear anymore.  Quick session at Queens on my new (used) Takayama In the Pink epoxy.  Funny board, super light, noserides like a demon, but the deep rake fin that came with it made for a bit sticky turns.  More after I get it into some juice.  Super small and inconsistent... as per usual.  Pray we don't get the June/July doldrums.

Quick Dale Velzy story:

After World War II and a stint in the Merchant Marines, an older Velzy got into automobiles, along with his surfing. From money he'd saved while in the Merchant Marines, he bought a 1940 Mercury for $4,500. "That was a lot of money for then, you could buy a new house for eight thousand in those days... But to take a look at me, I never wore shoes or a shirt, I was cruising... Guys couldn't believe that car. Walt Hoffman would just shit when he'd see it. Bev Morgan had a clean Chevy and we'd go cruising. We had all the girls we wanted. We'd just toss the boards in there and roll off with the puss. Morgan and I would spend one day a week washing and cleaning our cars."

Velzy recalled a memorable time while he was a guard, involving Johnny Rice who would later go on to work under Velzy and take his own shaping skills north to Santa Cruz and become that town's first local commercial shaper. "I was guarding at Manhattan Beach when this lieutenant came by and told me to get my hair cut or else. It was sort of long and I kept it that way just to aggravate him. I looked down from the tower and I spotted Johnny Rice. I called him over and said, 'Hey Greek, you went to beauty college, come up here and give me a haircut.' Rice got his professional barber tools and he's cutting away on my hair while I'm on duty. Up comes these two hard-shoe cops and they order us to stop because it's against the law to cut hair in a public place. I told 'em, 'Bullshit, this guy is a licensed beautician and I'm in charge here because I am the lifeguard.' That really got 'em hot, but I had Johnny keep on cutting. Next thing they say that if he doesn't stop, they're going to arrest us. So I tell them, 'Fuck off, the Greek's almost done.' Rice was just finishing up when they took me off to jail. I thanked Johnny for the haircut and apologized to him for the cops being such assholes. That haircut was the best one I got all that year. The lieutenant never again asked me to get another haircut."

Who is Jenny C?  Prize for the first person to know.

Eye Candy for Hughes

Hughes asked for more pictures...

Summer's Here!

Summer has arrived and it is flat, pretty muc flat out there.  Taking a work week to get caught up on stuff.  Winds are calm and if you had your 10+" board, you could probably find something somewhere.  Nice to be alive!

Garcia

Neal Miyake

south africa (photos from www.wavescape.co.za)

rest and recovery

Decided to take a day to rest my body after the trip to Maui.  Looks like nice kind winds outside early this morning.  Small somethings in town?

sarge photos of kelly's teahupoo drop-n-pit

Branden Aroyan photos from allaboutsurf.com

Standup Surf

Maui Wowey... Had three super fun days in Maui with my buddy from SFO.  We totally chilled and surf our brains out.  Small kine south swell in town as we headed out to launiupoko for some super fun times.  Tried a new thing this weekend... standup surfing.  Standup surf is about paddling with a seven foot paddle while standing on a 12'6" or so board that is 24-26" wide and over 4" thick.  This is the ultimate.. you can stand up on the outside, see sets coming in a turn around and paddle smoothly onto the wave.  You can catch anything you want and once on the wave you use the paddle to turn the board.  Definitely a monster of a board to turn around, but once you get going it is smooth as butter.  I got to try a couple of boards, including Laird Hamilton's board.  His buddy Loch was giving me pointers.  It was a great time.  I can't remember the last time I had the chance to surf all day, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.  Lots of opportunities to come in, talk story, eat some food and head back out when the waves looked good again.  I also got to try a 9'6" Ole which was a fun board.  Anyways, lots of good aloha all around.  Definitely going to try to set up a standup surf gig here in town.  Anyone got a line of a 12' board?

More tips when I recover from the sunburn.

Oh.. if you have not seen this video of Slater at Chopes.. you got to check it out!

4 ur viewing pleasure

I'm off to Maui today to meet up with some friends.  Not sure if I'll get wet, but I hope so.  This week has been pathetic for me getting in the water.  Been dry for many days.  Here's a pic for Mr. Hughes.  I also set up a Flickr account to post all my favorite pics.  Check them out on the right sidebar.

Jeff Hakman

Quick surf with Jeff Sat at Lanis... nothing great, but fun to get in the water.  Jeff was ripping up the Fish.  Ended up leaving it at his house for a while so he can play with it.  Great article on Jeff Hakman on Outside magazine online.  Long story, but interesting read.  No surf for me today, but there's supposed to be a small bump in da country.

Jeff Hakman

Chopes

Picture Day!

Not much surf in town.  Country has some nice waves.  Took the 9'6" Miller out for a paddle to Queens... a couple small fun waves, but lots of Aloha in the water.  It was a much needed surf session for this kid.  Hoping to head up da country this weekend for some waves.

The little kid inside

We all have that little kid inside us that tries to sneak out and take us away from the grind of adult life.  Whatever happened to the tranquility and life of childhood?  Where and when did it slowly disappear to be replaced by the societal trappings of adultdom?  I think that surfing for me has been a way for the inner child to break free.  Not only do I feel the sense of youth and vigor of life when I am in the water, but it usually carries through for a period of time after I get out.  I know when I have been out of the water a couple of days b/c my attitude and outlook begins to get fuzzy.  So I guess I'll have to keep surfing until I pass on to the next life.  Oh shucks... could be worse.