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".
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".
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