Irene, YES!

Friday night's Authentic Sh-t show was blasting the Scorpions' "Rock You Like a Hurricane".

Woke up at 5 on Saturday to get in early before the NYC-wide mass transit shutdown. At 7am things were foggy and mysterious. It was hard to get a read on it.


I was joined by Albert and his firewire quad. I busted out my 6'4 thruster cause it's narrow and fast and duckdives like a bandit.

Soon the fog lifted, and so did the size.


The waves were meaty, but the 13 second period made for an easier entry than the usual beachbreak. It was great accelerating down the face into the flats before bottom turning. Some of them turned into super fast walls that kept their energy all the way down the line. I love speed, so I was loooooving it.


Albert busting a cutback. He was showing off some fine moves, throwing spray off the back of the wave and just generally having loads of fun.

Lots of attempts at cover ups, but no actual barrels.






Fat faces meant plenty of room for expression.








Running for the subway before the 12 noon subway/bus/rail shutdown!


Then it was straight to 388 Atlantic Ave for some more painting, helping get Rebecca's acupuncture business, Brooklyn Open Acupuncture, ready for a Sept 1st opening. It's gonna be great. Surfers welcome!


Rebecca knows I've been dying to get my hands on this book, so she flashed me a big grin when the library turned out to be closed when she was supposed to return it.

She disappointed some who were hoping for a more apocalyptic experience, but Irene gave the wave stalkers among us the best waves of the summer. 2011 was forecasted to have a higher than usual number of named storms. Word is, they're upping the forecast again. Hopefully lots more to come!

Grain in Maine

It's that time of year again for the summer vacation. Instead of going to Florida like we typically do, Carrie and I decided it would be nice to head to Maine. We have both wanted to go for some time now, so we booked the trip and headed north. I have been following Grain Surfboards for awhile now thanks to Justin. The concept of building a board out of wood, which is sustainably harvested, is a great one. The boards have a unique character that's different from the foam boards -- wood last longer and it's easier on the environment. Wood, after all, can re-enter the environment in an organic way, whereas foam can not.

above: pulling into the Grain Surfboards shop

above: the Grain van

We stopped in at Grain's shop in York, Maine on a Thursday afternoon after making the five hour drive up from NYC. I called ahead first once we stopped to check into our hotel in Portsmouth, N.H. I ended up talking with Alison who gave me some pointers on finding the shop. Once we arrived at the shop, Alison met us in what looks like the lunch area in the front that doubles as a showroom for Grain's boards. Alison is super nice and hooked us up with awesome local restarrants. Thank you, Alison! You made our trip that much more fun.

above: parts of the inner frame waiting to be cut out.

We then headed to the back where the workshop is located and met with John, one of Grain's board-builders. He gave us the nickel tour of the shop and explained how the boards are made and how the classes are run. I very much want to take a class and build a board!

above: this board is in the process of have the rail strips glued down.

John is a very stoked individual, we talked about surfing in Maine and hand planes. I told him about the time I used a water bottle as a makeshift hand plane last year in FL. He was blown away by the idea... a little trick I picked up from Justin. I hope John tries it out one day. More on hand plains in a moment.

above: tools of the trade.

As we were going though the tour I felt a genuine sense of stoke from everyone in the shop. I don't know if it's because Maine is so beautiful, but everyone was so nice and really spent time with us and answered all of our questions. I'm glad it was our first stop in Maine because it set the tone for the rest of our vacation.

above: board with the rail strips glued down waiting for the top deck.

above: I didn't know this but Grain makes a Bonzer! This is one in progress.

above: shop wall art.

above: shavings on the shop floor.

above: the wood locker.

above: Sea Sled with some art applied with a burn tool.

I was already stoked out of my mind after looking at all of the boards and talking about hand planes, then came the Sea Sled! I about lost it. It's a bodyboard made of solid cedar with two deep channels on the bottom for grip. When the waves are small and hollow there is nothing better then ripping down the face on your belly!

above: a long fish and a sea sled.

above: a view of the glassing room

Just when I thought the tour was over, John invited us up to the glassing room. He pointed out how clean the floor is for a glassing room. That's because they use just enough epoxy resin to glass the boards and try to make the least amount of waste as possible.

above: a view of the glassing room

above: a view of the bottom deck before glassing.

Once the tour was over Carrie and I talked with Alison and John a little longer about things to do and see in the area. Before leaving they mentioned that if I wanted to come back and demo a board I could! My ears perked up and my pulse quickened... yeah I was stoked. The report was calling for Sunday to be the best day during our stay. We made arrangements to call ahead later in our trip to pick up a board.

I had my eye firmly on the surf report, Sunday called for 1-2 feet with poor-fair conditions. It was better than 1-2 feet with poor conditions. A south swell was mixing in with a south/west swell so there was a little more energy in the water.

above: The Grain Jack Plan.

Many miles were explored in southern Maine, and much seafood was consumed. Then Sunday arrived. The surf report was not looking good but I was determined to get in the water. After breakfast we arrived at Grain around 9:30 a.m. and met Nolan. With the waves being small I opted to pick up the Steamer, Grain's 8' mini-tanker. I was so stoked on the hand planes that I wanted to purchase one. However, Nolan mentioned they were all out but just about to complete a batch and offered a Jack Plane to take out along with the Steamer. I'm glad he did.

above: some bumps in the water

After loading everything up in the car Nolan was kind enough to look over the surf report with me and check out google maps to determine the best spot to catch the south swell. It looked like York beach would be the best spot. Thanks Nolan for sharing some of your local knowledge!

above: Suiting up. I was the only dude on the beach in a suit, but hey, I'm from FL and 60 dgree water is cold for me. At least for now.

After cruising up and down the beach I determined that the best spot was a little cove on the south end of York Beach. There were some rocks in the water that helped the wave jack up and create a better shoulder. We settled in on a spot and I changed.

above: going in to get an up-close feel for the waves and a look at the bottom.

While changing I continued to observe the waves and began to doubt that the Steamer would be the tool of choice on this day. The waves seemed to crumble off of the shoulder. I decided on the Jack Plane and swim fins to go explore.

above: waiting for a rideable wave.

I'm glad I had the Jack Plane handy for this trip. It's the one piece of equipment that I had the most fun on. I ended up hanging out next to the rock and waiting for a bigger wave to break over them. After getting a feel for the spot and the waves I was able to get on the shoulder, if briefly, and was planing across the surface. It's hard not to have a great time while bodysurfing.

above: paddling for a wave.

above: getting into a wave.

above: wave

After a few fun ones on the Jack Plane, I took my bodyboard out to see how it might fare before paddling out the Steamer. It was okay but the waves really didn't have enough force to get me going fast enough down the line, so after a few rides I came in and immediately took the Jack Plane back out.

above: getting into a wave.

above: getting into a wave.

By this time the waves were building slightly. I noticed a wave breaking in the middle of the cove that had just a little more punch. I swam out and patiently observed the situation to find the takeoff spot. After hanging out for a while I finally saw a bigger set coming in and quickly swam to the outside just in time to catch a bomb relative to the other waves. I was finally really able to project out over the shoulder and feel the rails dig into the face.

above: wave

above: a shot of the rocks

After a few more waves like that I was stoked and thought that I may be able to bring out the Steamer. Just as my hopes were up it was like someone turned off a switch. I waited and waited. Set after set came in but nothing like what I rode earlier. We were out of quarters and our meter was up. It was time to pack it in.

above: a grin from ear to ear from all of the fun on the Jack Plane

We arrived back at Grain headquarters and I was stoked! The waves were virtually non-existent yet I had a blast. I met up with Nolan and promptly put in an order for a Jack Plane. With the way the waves have been in NYC lately I know this is a piece of equipment that I can not live without. It's always at least head-high when you're bodysurfing. Before leaving we had a chance to chat with Mike, the founder and principle owner. We talked about hand planes and the surf community in NYC. He mentioned that they are going to do a class in San Francisco which I think is awesome, but it got me thinking, maybe one day they will do a board building class in NYC. Who knows, one can dream, and the future looks bright for Grain Surfboards. They were just featured on MSNBC. Check it here.

It was sad to leave Grain and Maine. The weather is great this time of year and so are the people. Thank you to everyone at Grain, you helped make our vacation the best yet. The next step is to come back and build a board!

SUP @ LL Bean

I have come to find out that SUP is a big deal and getting bigger in Maine. People surf them along with paddling around in rivers and lakes.

Grain Surfboards comes to NYC

Grain Surfboards will be in town tomorrow for a shaping demo!

Who's going?

New York's urban aloha in the NYT

Excerpt

"In New York City, slipping off to ride waves virtually within view of granite Gotham provides a unique, slightly illicit, dreamlike pleasure. Surfing shouldn’t be possible here, and yet it is.

Artists, writers and others in trend-conscious fields are plugged in to New York’s surf scene now, but most of the rest of the city is not, and riding the subway with a board clasped to one’s chest like a dance partner still elicits smiles and queries from otherwise game-faced straphangers. There is something disarming about the sight of a surfboard in New York, where it has a nutty, quixotic quality, like a pair of wings.

When New York City surfers cross paths, they greet one another, exchange notes. Because so many of them are new to surfing, having taken it up in adulthood, they are less like seen-it-all New Yorkers than surfers in pre-“Gidget” California, who would pull over when they passed another car of surfers and introduce themselves. Anyone who has surfed in Santa Cruz or Huntington Beach — chilly, xenophobic “surf cities” — knows how exceptional this urban aloha is."

Full article. New York's Urban Aloha by Thad Ziolkowski in the New York Times

Another surf log

Chilling on the Mollusk deck.

Indo Costume Surfing!

News Flash: Indonesian Spiderman pulls into epic barrel at Padang Padang. Green Goblin got pitched and was last seen limping up the steps, pulling coral out of his behind.

Courtesy BaliWaves.com

Finding Stoke in Ohio

I was in Ohio for most of last week. Every time I go I stop by a Half Price Books to pillage their art section. For fun I looked to see if they had any books on surfing and to my pleasant surprise they did. They had three so I got all three. The biggest score is Surfboards by Guy Motil. It's a history book of surfboard shape and design. The other two Surfin'ary and Surfing the World I got for fun. Surfin'ary looks like a fun read. It's a look at surf slang and its influence on american english and beyond. A quote from the book "Howzit, brah? The surf was epic today, fully making double overhead corduroy to the horizon. Now it's all burgery. Think I'll jet to the food hut and grab a burrito and some sweet nectar. Latronic dude. Translation: The surf was great, now it's not, let's eat." Surfing the World is total eye candy surf porn.

The image of the 1940's Bob Simmons alone is worth the price of the book.