Celebrating With Stoke Harvester

In February of 2011, my friend Shawn launched an online surf shop dubbed Stoke Harvester. After surviving a severe case of the brick and mortar blues, Shawn has since built an online community where surfers, skinny dippers and stand up paddle people can spend money and stay stoked. Last weekend, Stoke Harvester celebrated their one year anniversary at the Capitol Club. A good time was had.

Mining Tools

Mike Black, the man responsible for Invasion! From Planet C and 'surf a pig,' a blog about "surfboards with weight, belly, wide point aft, a skeg (D fin) and narrow noses," was kind enough to send me a fresh copy of his first film, as well as a handful of stickers! Tools to mine stoke. Much appreciated, Mike!

Ukulele 101

In this episode of Surf Sufficient, Hank Johnson of Kimo Ukulele demonstrates a few chords and strumming techniques on one of his handcrafted ukes. Additional info is available here.

Two Much Fun

Surfed on Sunday. Shoulder high sets. Little to no wind. After one too many weekends going the wrong way on rights, I was in desperate need of some long lefts. Something slow and steady. Something small. Had my way with lots of waves. Took a few trips to the nose. 9" Future Fin was fun. A marked improvement. Shared swell with some friends from the south. It was crowded, but we had a lot of fun. Had to head home early. I hate short Sunday sessions, but I'll be back in the water before the weekend.

Surf Wagon: Extra Long Econoline

Spotted this extra long Econoline on Sunday. Pretty sure it's a Quigley conversion. Four-wheel drive, pop-top, canvas awning, big ass bumpers and barn doors. Don't know the details. Didn't have time. Damn thing must drink diesel, though. Let's just hope it's not petrol powered! Either way, I want one.

Greenough 4-A

The Dynamic Duo at Stoke Harvester have asked me to review a few of the fins they'll have for sale on their new website. Figure I can do a little plug and play with my 9'6" Becker UFO. The first fin I've been asked to review is a 9.75" Greenough 4-A, a fin that features "a narrow, flexible tip that enhances maneuverability and a flared base for increased stability and drive." Sounds like the right recipe.

What's In Your Wagon?

I took this photo just before I paddled out a few weeks ago. Shit all over the Subaru. Blankets, towels, flip-flops, a sleeping bag. Jesus, what sort of strange, misguided transient type drives this pile of shit?! And what the hell is that, a six-foot long piece of driftwood? Whatever. I know it looks like a mess, but there's a method to all this madness. I promise. So with that being said I'm curious, what's in your wagon?

Winter Sessions

Short bit of film featuring Peter Devries, "Canada's most recognizable surfer." And while this isn't my style of surfing, Peter sure makes the most of all those hollow rights rolling down the Canadian coast.

"One Fast Move or I'm Gone."

It wasn't a good idea, paddling out. The buoy was reading 27 feet. The swell was pushing from the northwest. A gail warning was in effect. But it didn't look that bad. Big, but surfable. So we suited up. The horizon was difficult to define. Sky and sea blending together before us. A lull allowed us to get outside without much trouble. The first wave was fun. An overhead left that didn't last long. And then, pushing it's way in from somewhere out at sea, came a change, an increase in both size and shape.

Sunday Funday

The surf on Sunday was a lot better than the day before. Chest to shoulder high. A little inconsistent, though. Current was working. Five minutes in the water and you were a hundred feet from where you started. Mostly rights. I went the wrong way all day. Derek had a handful on his new pig. Todd, his wife Nadia and their friend Joe came out for the day. Shared some swell. Follow the link for a few photos.

Sidewalk Surfing

Jake Zylstra and Andy Nieblas cruising the streets of Newport Beach on a pair of Shakastics Sidewalk Surfer skateboards. If you don't have the scratch for one of these, you can pick up a Penny at the Seaside Surf Shop for $100. Classic. Had a blue banana board back in the day. Might need a new one.

The Godfather of Surf Photography

"Knowing surfing makes a good surf photographer, and here's why. I've seen good professional photographers arrive at the beach with the best equipment money can buy, but they didn't know anything about surfing. They would shoot dozens of rolls of him, but they couldn't come up with as good shots as those who were actually surfers!"

- LeRoy Grannis

Margaux Arramon-Tucoo

Margaux Arramon-Tucoo, a surfer from Southern France, recently visited Shaper Studios in San Diego, California where she shaped herself a stick, surfed it and then returned to her home near the Bay of Biscay. Just thought you'd enjoy some lady log riding. Additional info on Margaux is available here.

Sticky Bumps

A care package courtesy of Wax Research Inc. arrived at the cabin yesterday. A variety of compounds were included, from cold water wax to sticky stuff for summer surfing - as well as some stickers and an air freshener. I'll use and review the different varietals over the next few months. Stay tuned.

Mr. Pipeline

‎"Surfing happens on a seascape that’s continually in motion. The waves, everything, are always moving. This is why surfing is such a great metaphor for life. Because life doesn’t hold still for us. If we don’t move with it, life just passes us right by. It leaves us behind. Surfing teaches you to be in that moment spontaneously, to go with the flow smoothly. That’s how you get the most out of the wave. And it’s also how you get the most out of life."

– Gerry Lopez

Blue Sky Black Death

What I've been listening to lately.

Surf A Pig

Mike Black, the man responsible for Invasion! From Planet C and Jazz The Glass, just posted a few photos of my friend Derek's custom Bing to his blog, Surf A Pig! Like I told Mike, Derek's stoke is pure, unadulterated and infectious. He is one of my favorite people to share swell with. I'm glad he and his board made their way onto Mike's blog. A real honor. Click here and have a look at the entry.

GPOY

Here are a few gratuitous photos of myself, Ms.Wood and our good friend Derek. They were taken two weeks ago by Mark Velez. Can't even begin to tell you how grateful I am. Until now, the only shots of me surfing came from one of those crappy disposable Kodak cameras. These are much better.

Familiar Faces

Short bit of film featuring Ryan Burch, Cyrus Sutton and Bryce Frees. Music by The Blank Tapes.

Six Feet Thirteen Seconds

It had been far too long. Months since I'd surfed there. A place that I call home. Far from everything. Disconnected. We didn't intend to drive all the way out. But offshore winds and a northwest swell sounded like the right recipe. So we skipped the Strait and drove all the way to the end. Looking for lefts. We arrived around noon. No one else was there. In our suits, out past the breakers, into the lineup.

Gauguin @ SAM

Paul Gauguin was a French Post-Impressionist and an important figure in the Symbolist movement. Gauguin worked as a painter, sculptor, print-maker, ceramist and writer. In 1891, Gauguin sailed to Tahiti to escape European civilization and "everything that is artificial and conventional." He returned to Paris in 1893 and published a book about his experiences titled Noa Noa. After suffering from severe depression, Gauguin returned to Tahiti in 1895. He never returned to Paris.

Too Blue Stew & Berry The Bing

Two boards, similar in both shape and size, yet completely different. The first, a 9' Stewart Hydro Glide that I purchased on the list of craig, surfs like a log and paddles like a canoe. Straight and steady. Easy entry. Sharp turns. All the way to the nose. Nothing to it. The second, a 9' Bing Elevator we recently acquired, is a whole other story. Not much foam up front. Heavy in the rear. He's all business. A bitch to paddle. Big, slow bottom turns. But once you've rotated the bastard - turned left on a long peeler - you'll fly down the line. And then the nose will call to you. It wants to taste your toes!

Minivans Make Sense

I've had a lot of cars. Thirty one to be exact. Everything from Alfa Romeos and MG roadsters to big ass Jeeps and BMWs. I guess I have a short attention span. I'm usually bored before I transfer the title. But now, since selling my Grand Cherokee, I'm without an automobile. Well, I have the Subaru, but this is the first time since I was sixteen that I don't have a second car. Some piece of shit that runs when it wants to. Something fun to drive, but forever in need. So now we're in search of a new surf wagon. Something we can sleep in. Something that can carry us to the ocean and Karissa to her office in Everett.

Someone Bought a Bing

Karissa bought a Bing. It's purple, nine feet long and has a single fin. It once belonged to my friend Shawn Jennings, former frontman at Cheka-Looka and currently the fearless leader of Stoke Harvester. It's an Elevator. " A board which combines concave and step deck in the nose with a subtle tail rocker, creating a well balanced lift suitable for mind-altering noserides." Sounds like it should surf her well.

Dane Peterson - Fair Share of Peelers

Beautiful bit of film featuring So-Cal surfer, Dane Peterson. Shot and edited by Andrew Gough.

Memo from the Surf Desk: Six One & Shameless

They usually look like a sunflower seed. Always a little taller than I am. You see so many of them - these soulless surf boards. Sold to someone that wants to surf a swell we rarely see. Someone that wants to look the part. Play make-believe. All lip and no trousers. The result of reading Surfer magazine, or perhaps watching too many Red Bull meets GoPro videos on YouTube. Then reality sets in...

You see him struggle, arm over arm, hopelessly trying to catch a wave. “It’s not big enough!” the poor bastard screams. He'd rather Huntington hop than walk to the nose. Six one and shameless. Three fins and a squash tail. Ingredients that won’t work well. Not here. Not when it’s waist high. I’m not saying they don’t have their place. Shit, I own one. But what good is it to struggle. All day and no waves. On the inside, looking for leftovers. You see it so often. Sad surfers chasing wet dreams. Just buy a bigger board and surf smaller waves. But remember, save for the stache, you're no Derek Ho!

Sincerely,

Duke Dangerpants

Something Sticky

Thanks to Ryan from Static Invasion we now have some stickers! They're available in two different sizes (2.5" and 3.25") and three different colors (white, blue and purple). Let me know if you'd like one.

justin(at)peanutbuttercoast(dot)com

Splinters

Splinters is the first feature-length documentary about the evolution of surfing in the developing nation of Papua New Guinea. In the early 1980s, an Australian airline pilot left a surfboard in the remote seaside village of Vanimo. Twenty years later, surfing is not only a way of life, but the only way out. The film, which debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival, "follows four local surfers competing in the country's first national surfing competition, in the hopes their surfboards will carry them to a better life."

Voice of the Wave

"While on a board, either surfing or paddling, one is truly free from land-bound restrictions. For that hour he is the captain of his fate, of his miniature ship. The burden of city, school, job, as well as the cares and worries of the subconscious mind, are erased and forgotten until the tensions of living again build up. The remedy again is obvious. Go surfing."

- Tom Blake

Lonely Lefts & Right Handed Pigs

Surfed on Saturday. Brought my father, my fiance, my friend Beads and my sixteen year old cousin, Anna. A little dawn patrol with friends and family. Up at five, on the boat by seven, in our suits before noon. Waves were waist high when I paddled out. An incoming tide generated some sizable swells later in the afternoon. Surfed for five hours. Plenty of rights. A handful of head high lefts. Water felt warm.

Sunrise on the Sound

Snapped this photo from the back deck of the Puyallup, while crossing the Sound on Satuday morning. From the back of the boat one could see Seattle and Mount Rainier to the south, as well as both the Cascade and Olympic mountain ranges to the east and west. A very surreal sunrise.

Kook Stack

We're getting ready to surf on Saturday. Mike Beads, my father and my cousin are planning to tag along. We have enough space in the Subaru, just one too many surfboards. Especially considering my old man just bought a 12' Mickey Munoz Super Glide. What a big ass board. Hopefully it'll float him. Also, Derek is dragging his new Bing pig out for it's maiden voyage. We're all rather excited to see how she surfs. Just not sure how to get all those boards to the beach. Might have to build a kook stack ;)

Surging with Mickey Muñoz

In a video posted to Patagonia's website last August, legendary wave rider and waterman, Mickey Muñoz, shares some of the more esoteric lessons he's learned from a life spent surfing. Additional info on Muñoz is available in his book, No Bad Waves. Photo taken at Makaha in 1963 by LeRoy Grannis.

Bass Head Jazz

What I've been listening to lately.