Merry Christmas 1942!

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Right Coast Surfz: Subway Surfers short film

Here is a short film by my good friend Chris Shashaty entilted Subway Surfers that details the winter surf scene in NYC. Check it out.

Subway Surfers (Full Length) from Chris Shashaty on Vimeo.

Sessions : Boards Grow on Trees, The Longboard Tribe, and Moonbeams

Thursday Nov 3rd Manasquan Inlet

Went out at Manasquan Inlet with Mark "Penetrator" Sisom. His board had been sucked up into a tree by a wind gust and got damaged, so I lent him my 6'2" Town & Country. There were about 20 guys out. We surfed for an hour in the chest to head high, slow and sloped waves. It was the first time using a new 4/3, and the first time of season for booties and gloves. YaaaaY!

Sunday Nov 6th Manasquan Inlet north jetty

Went out with the Erie single fin at Squan today. Nothing notable really, save for the fact that I waited too long to paddle out. The wind had gone from W to SE by the time I got out. It was about thigh to waist high. I took off on a crumbly little right just inside of the northern jetty, and the board pokes me in the right bicep. Yow! The Erie single fin has a gnarly old school "beak" nose. I shouldn't even have been out there, really. It was pretty lame.

Monday Nov 7th Gee Gee's Manasquan

Went out at sunset in front of Gee Gee's. They were breaking somewhat close to shore, but of decent size (waist to chest) and shape (light SE wind). Surfed the blue log until the moon came out. It was cool seeing both the sunset and the moonlight reflecting off the water at the same time. Three local groms were the only other people out. Two were surfing and one was sponging off the Brielle Rd jetty. I went over the falls on a fairly steep shoulder high wave, caught about three more and went home. It was getting dark as I walked back to my car.

Tuesday Nov 8th Manasquan Inlet

Took the log out around 12 or 1 pm. Was surprised to see as many people out as I did considering it was the middle of the work day. There were a few loggers way outside and a couple of short boarders on the inside. The waist to chest high wave was clean, but peaky. At one point, one of the short boarders mockingly said " Noooo, go over theerrre with the long boarders apparently identifying me as a member of a tribe of whom I have no knowledge. He pointed out to the main peak. He was struggling to catch waves on the wrong equipment for the conditions. OK, I thought and continued to catch nice, clean rides from all the way out. It was a great session.

Wednesday Nov 9th 18th Ave Belmar

Went out at Belmar today with the old school twin fin fish. There was no one out and it looked pretty good. A hurricane somewhere off shore (I don't know where as I haven't been tracking it) has been generating consistent surf for the eastern seaboard. It was about shoulder to head high and peeling from right to left off the 18th Ave jetty. The paddle out was a challenge. These waves had push. I wasn't long out before I realized a pretty gnarly situation. These waves were ledgey and breaking in about a foot of water. A few were makeable, though, if you popped up and set a line quick. This is what I proceeded to do for about 6 or so waves before heading in. the successive paddle outs weren’t worth it. After changing in the car I got a cup of coffee and ran into Red Eye who was about to paddle out the 16th Ave jetty on a weird pop out shape. It was probably about as odd a choice of board for the day's conditions as my old twin skeg. He told me he was leaving for Puerto Rico in about two days so we made some vague plans to do a couple shows over the coming winter. After that, I headed back home to The Squan.

Wednesday Nov 9th Riddle Ave Manasquan

As my earlier session had left me somewhat lacking, I decided to paddle back out later that afternoon closer to home. The waves were about the same size, still shallow but a bit cleaner on the faces. I took my 6'2" fish out to Riddle Ave. The steep take-offs had me pondering the merits of various amounts of rocker, as my board had almost none, I had to be very conscious of what the nose of the board was doing at almost all times. Caught a bunch of waves before calling it a day and heading home for good.

Stringbean and the Good Reverend

After the Inspecter 7 show at the Wonder Bar Saturday night, we went over to the Langosta Lounge and saw Stringbean and the Stalkers. I was invited to sit in but declined as I was pretty faded after playing the Wonder Bar show. Instead the Good Reverend Wright took to the mike and I to my camera to film this small bit for your enjoyment. It was another fine evening.

Waxin' Poetic

I have a serious love/hate thing goin on with surf wax. Love the way it smells, texture, taste (c’mon, you haven’t?) etc. Hate the way it makes my skin all greasy. Goin out at night with a shiny face after immersing myself in petroleum product all day kinda sux. Also, the brands that smell like cheap air fresheners get no love. A friend from West Coast Surf shop in Florida sent me a bunch of a new (unmentionable) organic wax to try. While it was generally, ok function-wise, I found it had to be reapplied before every session. Lame. No wax=No traction. $3 bucks a bar? You can keep it. I went to The Surf Wax Museum (http://www.surfwaxmuseum.com/ ) and selected a few favorites from some of the more colorful, adventurous, risqué, and just plain classic brands of days past.

Thanks to:

http://www.surfwaxmuseum.com/

Sims '84 New Wave Redux

I got the idea that I wanted to re-create the first skateboard I ever owned. It was a 1984 Sims New Wave in Aqua green that I got at Island Style in Sea Bright, NJ. It had the worst example of 80s style graphic anybody could have come up with. It came with Tracker trucks and yellow Sims Street Wheels. I put some serious miles in on that board, taking it state to state and even getting hospitalized once.

I found out that Sims had recently been reissuing decks, and the New Wave was one of the few. Limited quantities. I grabbed one for like $60 bucks. Tracker Trucks also had a small re-issue program as well. Many of the limited run trucks were already gone. It had been a thing they did in ’09. They did; however, have the Six-Track that was on the original board. Sick. Got two for $30 bucks.

The search for wheels led me to discover that this idea of mine was apparently not an original one and I found myself immersed in the world of black market skateboard wheels. It would seem that 1980s Sims Street Wheels were trading for an absurd $300 bucks! F that. Instead I got a set of 80’s Kryptonics for $34 bucks. That’s pretty much the standard current price for wheels anyway. They were brand new, never used and in a kind of hot/flamingo pink color. They gave the board this Miami Vice color scheme that seriously kicked up it’s 80s cred.

To finish it off proper, I found some new old stock 360 tail plates in the same color as the wheels. Bam! A NOS 80’s “nose bone” guard in purple matched the crazy graphic on the deck, so I grabbed that too. A set of Christian Hosoi (you bet) rail guards in white went perfectly as well.

I got everything together and headed over to Branded Surf & Skate where Adam hooked me up with bearings, riser pads, and grip tape. The grip tape proved a bit of a challenge as they make the rolls thin for the boards of today. He had to do some cutting to make the pattern the original board had. We also did some drilling to the deck too. Sims set it up with the new school bolt pattern. Wow. Once it was done, the board looked sick. Ronnie Jackson was in the shop working on the store sign with a few other guys and everybody was trippin on this board. This kicked off a round of back in the day talk about skate spots, gear, grinds, etc. Killer.

The board rides with a real 80s swag, though at first the trucks felt a lot looser than I remembered. After I tightened them down almost as far as they would go, it was spot on. I listened to some new studio tracks as I took the dog for a run with the board. It was a really cool way to start November.

‘The Devil’s Toy’ 1966 Skateboard Documentary

Asphalt wishes and polyurethane dreams

The coming of Fall and eventually Winter, has me skating a lot more lately. Let's face it, Winter sucks. I don't snowboard, so I'm fkn over it. Enjoy these photos and the last few long days. Feel free.

Sessions : Saturday October 22, 2011

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Took the longboard out to the Inlet today. Waves were chest to shoulder high with the occasional head-high rogue coming through. Wind was hard offshore and causing a lot of spray. Very difficult to see on take off. Lots of fun, but accidentally dropped in on some dude’s bomb peak because I couldn’t see him behind the spray cloud. Got right off, though so – no harm no foul I hope.

Sessions : Big Tom Goes Right. Dophins, Single fins, and Hard Winds

Friday, October 14, 2011

Went out at Seawatch today with Big Tom. He had a G & S 9 ft-something. Big guy, big board. I brought the 9’2. The waves were bumpy, shoulder-high crumblers with some fun sections. Wind was hard south. About 25mph. Got some good ones and then jumped on the fish for a few before switching back to the log. It seemed to work better getting in early with the extra length of the longboard because I was getting dumped on the sandbar taking off much later with the fish.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

The surf was much better today. Took the twin fish down to Riddle. The waves were a consistent chest to shoulder with the occasional head high coming through in 4-5 wave sets. In other words, FIRING! Strange that I had to fight myself down there because I initially decided the wind was gonna be too much. It was a steady 25mph offshore gusting up to God knows what. But I had mentally decided a few days prior that I was gonna be getting wet on Saturday. When the winds went so hard offshore, I figured it was a wrap and planned to stay in the studio and get some work done.  So, anyway, I talked myself down to Riddle Ave and paddled out. I didn’t get any waves initially, but when I looked south to the end of my own street I saw two dudes in barrels in the same set. I paddled all the way there from the jetty where I was. It was sick. The hard offshore held the lip up and forced the waves to peel perfectly (helped along by the extreme angle they were coming in from.) This allowed the fish plenty of face time to gain speed-maximizing fun. Tried to pull into a few barrels, but made it out of none. Did best when taking a high line right from take off and gaining speed for big bottom turns. What a day. Surfed twice and played a great show at night.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

It was only about 2 ft today. Took the log out and paddled jetty to jetty. Caught a few thigh high, machine-stamped  waves. Wind was offshore at about 15mph, water clear and green. Big difference from yesterday. The dolphins were out in force, which was cool cuz I love to see ‘em.

Monday, October 17, 2011

I took the 6’2” Erie Peeples single fin out today to Seawatch. The waves came unexpectedly, so I got to the beach in a hurry expecting to see empty line ups. Nope.  One loner just south of Brielle Rd, plus about 4-5 guys on the jetty of it. Photographers as well Headed to Seawatch, parked and paddled out on the south side of the jetty. Ran into Sean Bernhardt surfing solo. No one else around. Paddled out and immediately got a long right off the jetty. Waves were waist to stomach high with picture perfect, feathering lips. Riding the single-fin has me thinking a lot about different fin set-ups from days past

What I Learned : Ride The Wild Surf (1964)

The beach is a place to graduate from. You don't want to spend your life there. 
Wave pool shots that cut to pumping Sunset Beach and Waimea are awesome!
Barbara Eden is a babe.
"big set outside!!!"
The Jan & Dean theme song is rad.
Dropping in is ok because " the wave belongs to as many guys as can make it"
Steamer Lane is a rad name. Actors real name: Tab Hunter. Really.
Picking up chicks was easy in the 60's.
Fabian is a knucklhead kook.
"you can't spend your whole life surfing"
Da Bull+Pipeline=cool.
If you persist with this surfing nonsense, you will eventually lose the girl.
Shoulder hoppers are outcasts.
Greg Noll is not ashamed to claim.
Miki Dora had a cool pair of boarshorts.

Undergunned

Surf was oil-glass this morning. Took a twin fin old school fish and a 9ft log to the beach. Surf was about 3-4ft. Saw dolphins heading south before my friend Jay showed up. He hates going left.

Blue Cheer Surfboards

The classic Blue Cheer Surfboards label was named after a powerful variety of LSD. Groovy.