Today it's windy, cold, and what little swell there was yesterday was blown away by last night's NW gale. A little on the bored side so I flipped through some of the photo archive. Here are a few boards that I have some fond memories of....
9'2" Anderson Bojorquez(grande) - Sort of my first intro into the hull world. I had a 70s egg at one point that was probably my first board with a lot of belly but this one really changed how I felt about surfboard design and it opened my eyes to the displacement hull realm. It was "the" board I felt I could surf just about anything I decided to paddle out into. One particularly large day in Nicaragua really comes into view when I recall some of my fondest memories of this board. And while getting caught inside on some of the well overhead sets on a 9'2" was not all that fun, the smooth drops and down the line speed on waves that were well above anything I have ever ridden, were pure bliss. Up to the month before that fateful day, I had only ridden her with volan flex fins. Had a 9" Greg Liddle narrow base that was crazy loose and just seemed to make the board fly. The board would slide sideways sometimes as I dropped down the face and then catch and when it caught it seemed like there was a gas paddle that I could never push all the way to the floor. It was so cool. I went to a 10" Larry Allison pivot flex after a while to get a bit more grip and it eventually become my fin of choice. On a whim I got my hands on this Scotty Stopnik fin because I really dug the shape of it. Although it wasn't a volan flex it did have a little flex in the tip and it seemed to work pretty good for me. She broke on a rather heavy day at Poverty during the Igor swell. We'd had a couple of good waves and few nice big walls to play on before I took one that opened up and just pitched, so we pulled in, got shut down and she was gone. I miss her dearly.
This was a custom order from Mike Hague over in Lewes,DE. I met Mike through Surfrider DE and ended up with one of his shapes through a mutual friend. When I first moved back to south jersey I ordered this one for those days that were not "longboard friendly". It was a 7'6" single to double concave that I really never fully got the hang of. Not saying I didn't have fun on it because I truly did. I kinda put it to the side too quickly and in hindsight, that was a poor decision. A few winter sessions in Cape May that first year were great on this, looking back I can't figure out why I let it go...
7' Hobie Peter Pan Slug - I had been riding longboards and my Devine egg(mentioned below) and wanted to go smaller. Bought it on a whim off of Ebay for maybe $200. It was almost flat with little to no rocker at all. As I was still in the dark in regard to flex fins, I rode it with the fin it came with. It was a good paddler and I had a lot of fun on it. It too fell to the wayside as my mind wandered and was sold off to make room for something else. A few particular good days down in DE on this thing still bring a smile to my face.
6'10" Heritage pintail - I wish I still had it but to be honest, I could never surf it. Would like to have it back if only as a piece of NJ surfing history. For its age, it was in great shape. If my memory serves, I bought it in Stone Harbor for $150 sometime in the early 1990s.
7'4" Brian Bulkley & 7'6" Jay DeVine egg - The Bulkley was another impulse purchase. In 2005 I had high hopes of getting myself to mainland Mexico with some friends and the trip plans fell apart. I rode it only a handfull of times and never in anything like what it was designed for. It held so nice on a steep face I can only imagine how much fun it would have been in bigger surf. As for the Devine, when I got it, it was my first board back under 8'6" in almost ten years. After I left Cape May in 1997 my surfing time had become quite limited until the later part of 2001 and I only felt comfortable on longer equipment. I met Jay at East of Maui surf shop in Dewey Beach, DE and after a few conversations, I had him make me this one. It was by no means perfect but it sure put some stoke back into my surfing. A great paddler and a fun all around board. I have to say that after 4 years of being "out" of it, this was the board that got me back "in".
So when I headed over to "Trestles" this morning, I was stoked to find that there was still some swell in the water and even more pleased to see how clean and lined up it was. Super fun in the waist high range with some plus sets sliding in out of the north east. So many fun waves and a couple of friends out to share them with. Stoked!!!
CMNJ
