california 2012. part two. surfing heritage museum.

while in san clemente i headed up on the hill to check out the surfing heritage museum. i arrived to find the door open and the lights off. i was worried they were closed, but even better, i was the only visitor. museum of surfing history all to myself. 

hawaiian boards from early 1900's.

 nazi surfboard? no.

a symbol with good connotations before its bad associations. 

simmons. 2 on right.

 2nd from right: early carl eckstrom assymetrical.

boards for chargers. dead center: butch van artsdale model. black board to the left of that: herbie fletcher gun. black and white board on far right: greg long's eddie aikau winnging christenson.

i was fortunate to come just as they were wrapping up the innovations of hobie exhibit. would have been bummed to miss it. right to left: innovation and evolution of hobie.

innovations of hobie. items ranged from polarized sunglasses to skateboards to catamarans, to kayaks, to removable fin systems to remote control airplanes and beyond. the man dabbled.

hobie tandem boards.

whats left of the first board hobie ever shaped.

skateboards.

"shortboards"

#two. mini simmons.

5'5.5" mini simmons. shaped dec. 2010 in the seagate shed. wilmington. nc. glassed by greg eavey.

slight belly in the nose. flat middle third and slight single concave through the fins and out the tail. down turned rails to hard rail starting at the fins. bamboo half moon fins from larry mabile. with a removable cheater fin for good measure. super fun surf nugget. short. wide. and fast. fun in most conditions. great board for the inconsistent surf of the north carolina coast. glides across flat sections and mushy surf and flies in steeper conditions. as is previously stated, i am an advocate of these surf craft.

shaped this board as a surprise christmas gift for vern. i had been itching for a simmons since i rode one last fall. got allen at seagate to shape me one (hit the link to see said board). he was kind enough to let me observe and later give me pointers so that i could in turn shape one for vern. killing two birds with one stone. 1. getting vern a present 2. relieving me from having to share my simmons. everyone is happy.

i thought this board would be too small for me to ride. but actually pretty fun in punchy waist to chest high surf. rails are a little thinner than my other simmons so the board has a little more bite on those steeper days. both serve their purpose.

this is the second board i shaped, the first was a catastrophe. was and still am pretty stoked with how it turned out. definitely flaws, but none too great.

seagate simmons.

the mini simmons is derived from a design engineered by bob simmons in the 50's. long parallel rails. hulled out nose. and wide twin fin tail. a planing machine. his boards were generally in the nine to ten foot range. 

i first rode a mini simmons last september. had a blast on it. full volume board that paddles like a log but condensed to a sub six foot package (i ride mine at 5'8'' and 5'5.5'').  very much suits the way i surf. we had a few done by larry mabile come in the shop but i ultimately opted to get allen over at seagate to shape me one and i am stoked on it.

i am very much an advocate of these surf craft. i have had the most fun on them. good waves or bad. so small, it easily fits in the pocket. a suprising amount of hold for a twin fin. im guessing because of the fin being so close to the rail and tail. i really enjoy laying into the rail off the bottom and speeding around sections. fun all around.

..so happy together.

still stoked on these two little nugs. thanks again to allen at seagate surfboards.

right: 5'8" mini by allen

left: 5'5.5'' mini by me

zing!!

first rode a mini simmons back in september. immediately obsessed. did some research. talked to a lot of people. looked at a lot of internet stuff. after seeing some that friend allen from seagate surfboards made, decided to ask him to make one. later decided wanted to try to shape one for vern. allen was kind enough to let me observe. and lend me his shape shed. and tools. and knowledge. and give me mucho pointers. got greg at eavey rider surfboards to glass them. and the result follows. it was a super rad project/process and many thanks to allen and greg for letting me be so involved. truly truly enjoyed. and couldn't be happier with the outcome.

shapes.

colors.

smiles.

and more smiles.

right: 5'8" simmons by seagate surfboards.

left: 5'5.5" simmons by sandwich jones.

far left: 5'5'' vern

p.s. it was a suprise xmas gift for vern. she didn't know till today. fun.

rOy.g.biv.

almost there.