Eco-Friendly Surfing

Having a topic that I am involved with, I have had plenty of room to apply board culture in my personal life. While reading my collection of books and articles, I noticed that a huge theme in board culture is preservation. So much of the production is based around eco friendly materials. There are all kinds of new technologies and such that are out and being advertised that are becoming substitutes for traditional board shaping. I have been riding this one shortboard by a local shaper for about a year now. Surfboards always end up with dings that ruin the water-tight aspect of the epoxy-sealed shape. Once you see a hole in your board its always very important to get out of the water right away to limit the amount of water that seeps in before you make your repair. As my board got older and I stopped keeping track and taking care of the dings I figured it was time to grab a new board. I have been in the market for about a month now. I used a board-building technique I learned, tested it out and such but that still remains a trial and error process to be completed. Still with a lack of a reliable board, a few days ago I picked up a board shaped by Firewire Surfboards. This is a board that can be considered eco-friendly for sure. Instead of an epoxy shell, Firewire’s TIMBERTEK technology consists of the basic foam core with a veneer width wrap of paulownia wood around the entire board. The thing looks beautiful. I have always been a huge fan of companies using wood as a primary material and I am happy to be a part of the eco friendly surfing community.

Quote Blog: The World Tour

“The answer to that question is no, surfing on the tour is not merely as rewarding as shredding with your buddies” – Kelly Slater during an interview with Stab Magazine The spot lite of surfing has shined its way over to different things over the few most recent years. Instead riders releasing photos of themselves on monster waves to gain publicity, the surfers are now all about winning the big competitions as a way to get their name out. There are many different kinds of competitions in surfing. There are ones that are only known by the local community that surrounds and those that are part of the ASP World Tour. ASP is an acronym for association of surfing professionals; this includes the top 35 ranked surfers in the world for both men and women. The world tour consists of ten stops around the world touring from east to west, visiting the all the best surf spots in the world with the ability or running an event. Because so many of the most beautiful breaks are in such rural areas and cannot provide the recourses and basic living supplies in order to sustain a world-wide competition, some spots have to be passed. An example of this is Skeleton Bay, Africa. Skeleton Bay is known as the longest ride a surfer can find; more or less an endless tunnel of water shooting left along the slanted coast of this bay. However, it is in the middle of the desert and one needs an offroad-going vehicle with additional gas storage in order to make it there. Below is a picture of surfer Koa Smith inside on of the longest barrels in surfing history which happens to be from Skeleton Bay otherwise known as the "Diamond of the Desert".

In another interview with Stab Magazine pro surfer Jordy Smith, another member of the tour, talks about his incident with the ASP officials suing him for wearing his Red Bull cap up on the podium after his victory at the Hurley Trestles Pro in California. “That’s a headline you’ll only hear in 2014” states Kirstin, a journalist for Stab. Jordy was sued $50,000 for doing so. He narrowly escaped the fine and was able to keep his well-deserved winnings. This was Jordy’s response to when Stab asked him how it all went down. “When I was standing there before going on the podium, there had been a miscommunication. I’m not too sure exactly, but if you’d signed your contracts before a certain point then you’re allowed to wear your Red Bull hat on stage. But if you have new contracts, signed after the date, you can’t. They weren’t sure about my contracts so I was like, “Dude I’m going to take part, I’m going to wear my hat up there.” Then they said, “Hey, you know you’re going to get a $50 grand fine, then? I was like, “Okay… I’m pretty sure I know what my deal is, and if you’re going to give it to me, then yeah, I’ll go ahead and take it.”” Its situations similar to this one that makes top athletes like Kelly Slater, the author of the quote above, hate going along the tour, but the recently increased fame and rewards from both tour money and personal sponsers make it all worth it. The picture below is of Jordy Smith sporting his Red Bull cap on the top of the podium victim of a champagne shower by runner up John John Florence who is one of Jordy's best friends and top competitors.

Creativity: A Theme of Board Culture

Society has come up with all kinds of labels and assumptions for those who consider them to be a part in board culture. Some may be false, but the outside community’s take on the themes and vibes that come out of this lifestyle are completely accurate. One thing that I noticed is that all of these themes can also be qualities of humanity. Creativity is one of the themes that come to mind when thinking of these board sports. Surf Craft does an excellent job visually and literally explaining how creativity is involved with surfing in specific. There are two main ways that it can relate: First, a high level surfer has to be creative in which the way that he portrays his style along with being innovative and original with his maneuvers; second, and most evident in the book, is the creativity involved with creating new shapes and concepts when it comes to surfboard creating. This could be a whole array of things. A fin adjustment, volume increase in a specific area, radial changes to the rocker or concave (vertical/horizontal curve) of the board, materials, weight, width or even the length of the board are all extremely common change applications to board creation. Since surfing has been a progressing sport for so long now, there are all kinds of different board types that suit specific conditions and purposes. Want to have stability and speed on a choppy wave but you don’t want to ride a board that feels like a longboard? Of course! Make the tail of a board the shape of the tail of a fish so you have the volume in the back that keeps your speed but still allows your tail to sink and slice through the rough water! Live in an area with steep-faced waves that seem to move sideways too fast for how much room you have to pump to generate speed? Sell your tri fin board and pick one up with a quad-fin setup so you can lock yourself in the sweet spot on the steep face and thrust your way horizontally across the wave to beat the whitewater! Not only does this book explain what can differ between all surfboards both conventional and nonconventional, but it also describes there applications to every-day riding. Photo: Lost Surfboards This book is also filled to the brim with information on surfboard shaping history. From ancient finless wooden planks to the modern dual hulled thrusters this book covers almost all shapes of surfboards, body boards and kneeboards that I have ever came across in my solo research. Along with all of these shapes, the book also goes on to describe the shapers themselves who have come up with these ideas and expressed their own creativity. The photo above taken by Craig Richardson is of shaping legend Jon Wegener. Jon's work is widely recognized thorughout the community and generally consists of modern approaches on ancient finless surfboard styles.

Quote Blog: Innovation

“This was a shape that would change the progression of surfing forever.” Something I can proudly say about the action sport industry is that besides the medical and military systems, this industry is one of the most innovative in all of America. These boardsports progress in skill level like nothing else. For example, in the X-Games 6 years ago the winning trick for big air snowboarding was a switch (opposite of normal stance) rodeo seven. This is essentially an off axis slightly inverted 720. Now, just 6 years later in 2014 I am on first name basis with at least 4 people who can do that same trick on the same size jump. Going back to my chosen quote, surfing used to be something completely different than what it is now. It used to be a fameless activity where people would just cruise down the side of some beach brake in Malibu, traversing up and down the face of the wave on these long heavy single finned boards. The timeline of different shaped boards is directly correlated with the progression of the sport. Once people started to venture off crowded California beach breaks in search of double overhead tubular reef breaks, it was brought to many of their attentions that the boards that they were riding simply could not comply with what waves the athletes wanted to ride. The next generation of surfboards that would redefine the sport as a whole was these pointed nose, narrow hulled boards with increased volume for more buoyance which would allow riders to catch the same waves at the same time that they used to, but still have the maneuverability of a shorter board. These boards came in lengths around 7’6”, a whole foot and a half longer than what the pros are riding now. After these came the modern shortboard. This shape came directly from the advancement of skill level of all the pros. These boards are thin, short, very pointed nosed and have 3, 4 or sometimes 5 fins, differing from the traditional single fin style surfers rode for hundreds of years. They require twice the precision, twice the balance and twice the creative mind because now launched surfing’s innovation phase. Riders could now squeeze themselves into fast turbulent barrels, air out of the wave performing 360s, flips and grabs to an astonishing level and could dig the narrow side rails of the board deep into the face of the wave to carry out sharp turns that could send walls of spray 6 feet in the air. This was the shape that would change the progression of surfing forever. Along with these spotlight shapes came the hard work of thousands of shapers trying new ideas that made surfing a little different, or shaped boards to fit a certain areas typical conditions. The book where this quote came from “Surf Craft” does a phenomenal job describing all of these interesting concepts famous shapers came up with and prototyped. One shape that really caught my eye was the planing hull board, shaped by a famous Japanese shaper. All this board was made up of was a foam block. He called it the “lord board” as it could reach speeds and make sections miles above any board of its date. It was 4’8”, very wide and finless. It displayed the textbook volume ratio of a planing hull. Below is an image of the difference between a conventional short board and a planing hull board. This has inspired me to try it out. Currently in my basement I have a hollow wood rib frame almost ready to glue down the veneer. I am beyond excited to ride this thing as I have never constructed my own surfboard before.

Anylitical Blog 10/2/14: Earth Connections

While turning over the pages of Kook: What Surfing Taught Me About Love, Life, and Catching the Perfect Wave for a few days now, I've learned about all of the different kinds and stereotypes of surfers from a first hand account in southern California, the Mecca of board culture as a whole. Reinforcing my previous opinion, the text of this book clearly displays the fact that all who surf surf for a different reason; each who surfs finds a different high from the sport, and each who surfs goes about the sport in a different way. There are those who are aggressive towards others that get in their way, and, there are those who go out of their way to make surfing a more enjoyable experience for others. One section in my readings introduced a new idea to me, and idea that relates all surfers to others. Each rider has a very unique and strong connection with mother nature. Why is this? Isn't the majority of the surfing crowd just a bunch of people who chose adrenaline over the SAT's? Well, the answer to that question is yes; although that goes to show how important the activity is to their lives. This raises the question: why is it such a crucial part of their lives? This is, in my opinion, because it is such a direct contact with earth and what it has to offer us.

Photo: Parajape

 It was no shock to me when I read that the Surfrider Foundation was responsible for the second largest Clean Water Act in American history. Those who surf truly know how amazing the earth is because we use it in such an amazing way. Treating such a powerful force as the ocean is in such an enjoyable and expressive way is what makes a surfer so incredibly humble to mother nature. The Surfrider Foundation is an organization based out of Oregon that takes steps not only to preserve what hasn't been touched but to rehabilitate the areas that have. In Kook, the author goes on to describe how a portion of California's coastal wetlands was approved to be slated and used as an area for marinas, ports and high rises along with southern California's 85% of coastal wetlands already lost to development. This lagoon known as Bolsa Chica was part of the Pacific Flyway, the worlds largest north/south bird migration route in the planet. In 1997, the Foundation "stopped the project and got the state to put up $91 million to restore the marsh and to widen a cut through the beach to increase crucial tidal flow." At 880, it has been one of the biggest and most successful coastal wetland restoration projects in the country and as both preserved and and reestablished a stepping-stone in the flyway for migrating waterfowl. As the industry that follows board culture gains more popularity and wealth, it is easily foreseeable that those involved in the lifestyle will use their earth-minded heads to take steps in creating more funds and actions to preserve and revive the acres upon acres that they share a special connection with.

Bolsa Chica Wetlands

Photo: Ed O'Donnel