falllaalllallllllla

wishing everybody happy holiday, safe travels, and a great new year!

haNDS OF DOOM PART...here we go again

started another board the other day and i'm digging the shape. i have decided to name this the hangnail. it's a 6'2"X20 1/2"X2 5/8" quad. at least that is the plan.

FLOUR POWER

we might not be in maine but we are have some serious fun. oscar helped amy make some asian dumpling and had a great time. there was flour everywhere, from the front of the house to the kitchen.

this explains my friday session!

The population of California sea lions along the Oregon coast appears higher than normal this year.

Biologists say it happens every few years, and it may be due to El Nino, the Pacific Ocean warming cycle.

The scientists say El Nino has pushed many of the so-called "forage fish" -- such as herring, squid, hake, sardine and anchovies -- north from California into Oregon waters.

Jim Rice of Oregon State University says the OSU Marine Mammal Stranding Network has gotten plenty of calls in the past month about the sea lions.

But Rice says don't worry, the sea lions are not stranded -- they're just following the food, and it's getting a little crowded.

-- Associated Press

i have never seen so many of these not so little fellas in the water. they cruzed down the channel splashing and barking. i think they wanted us to know they were there and we were in their water. i was talking to casey in between sets and a big one splashed about a foot from the nose of my board. casey saw the whole thing go up and out of the water and just miss the tip of my board. it really scared the crap out of me cause i didn't see the lion until it was already underwater. once i saw it leap out the water next to casey i felt a little better. the way i decided to look at the situation was there was more than enough food in the ocean for the other larger animals that wear grey suits. we both got some good lefts, and i almost got a small tube on a right. the lip of the wave just smashed me in the side of the head. it has been a good run of surf this december for those who chose to go out in the sub-freezing temperatures.

christmas season

after surfing the turd we took a walk to get a tree. we have been getting trees from the same guy for the last 4 years. he a black dude that stands about 6foot6 and is missing one of his front teeth. he is a gentle giant trying to make a couple of bucks during the christmas season. we picked our tree and paid the man, plus put a little extra christmas cash in his pocket. i packed the tree back 6 blocks and oscar did the rest. a good little decorator he is.

ding ding ding

it not that bad. but still..........my first session on the thing?

offshore, really really offshore....

today was the maiden surf of the turd burger. the ocean was being groomed by 20-35mph offshore or east winds. the air was lingering around the 30deg. mark. let me put it this way, i was the coldest i have ever been after a surf session, maybe the coldest i've been in my life. a dude pulled up next to me in the parking lot and opened his door, the wind ripped it out of his hand and his door smashed my passenger side mirror. i was just hoping this wasn't going to be one of those days. the turd goes pretty well for my first board. it took awhile to figure it out, but by the end of the session i had a couple of good rights and even a left. to top the session off this guy ran me over while i was paddling back out. i don't know if he had tunnel vision or what but he didn't see me and i couldn't paddle fast enough. his fin chopped off the corner of my tail and that's that. looks like i will learn how to do ding repair. i'm glad it was the turd burger that got ran over and not a board i just payed 800bucks for

haNDS OF DOOM PART...done and done

6'3"X22"X2 5/8". the turd burger is finished. it took a little over a month of trial and ERROR to get this thing in riding condition. what a good feeling to go into something so blind and figure it out to some degree. the next test will be if it surfs worth a crap or not. just by looking at the final shape, i think it will be fun in the summer slop. now i'm planning my next board and it will no doubt be a lot nicer looking than this one. i imagine that it will take half the time and look about a million times better.

TOEs on the nose

oscar gettting his soul arch on. he pulled out the deck from under the couch and started hanging 10. look at his style, i can already tell he's going to be a smooth operator!

hanDS OF DOOM PART7

haNDS OF DOOM PART6 polishing a turd

the name of the game has been 1 step forward 3 steps back. i have been getting ahead of myself on a couple of steps, thus creating twice the work. it has given me a new respect for the shapers that make up to 10 boards a week. after researching more and more i have made things really hard for myself. first off, brown in one of the harder colors to work with. it shows every mistake(which there are a lot of). secondly, i got a little aggressive with my new sander/polisher. this has made me have to do 2 hot coats , which means i have had to do twice the amount of sanding than normal. this also doubles my chances at making mistakes sanding. i think i will be happy if the thing just floats and stays water tight. cross your fingers, i'm going to do the hot coat and gloss coat next week.

YA.....I'M A BALLER

oscar drains another 3ball!

HANDS OF DOOM PART5

i started to sand tonight and found out i will be doing a lot of sanding. i'm thinking a grinder would be a good investment. thanks to my dad, we came up with a great fin box jig. hopefully i will get the boxes in this weekend. after that it on to a hot coat, sanding, sanding, sanding, gloss coat. then i will make some bonzer style wing fins for the fcs plugs. the funny thing about building this board is the emotional roller coaster i get to ride every day. one minute i'm happy with it and the next i thing i have ruined the thing. i will be far from perfect. give me some time!

hanDS OF DOOM PART4 the turd burger

WOW..........this is so much harder than shaping the board. only had a couple of complications but for the most part it went well. I THINK.........................................................................................

OSCAR THE NERD

we decided for oscar to be a nerd this year. the funny thing is....he actually wears these clothes every week, just not the top and bottom together.

OScars potty

oscar is always on the go. he pees in the toilet at school but we never can get him to sit on the pot at home. this morning he went and grabbed his seat, amy asked him if he had to go and he said yes. moments later he did his business into the toilet and a little bit on amy. he was so proud, he had to give us a hug and a kiss. everyday we are amazed in how fast this little guy gets it.

logo ideas

1 text to my buddy kenitzer and he came with these logos on his lunch break. i have to say, he is a master of his craft. more logo ideas to come over the next week. the hard part is going to be choosing 1. I'm going to glass next weekend and i'm already nervous.

HANDS OF DOOM PART3

i'm getting closer to the final stages. a little bit of fine tuning a couple of areas and i will be on the the next challenge. i'm going to use bamboo fabric and epoxy to glass the board. it seems to be nice to the environment and easy on the lungs. strength is my only question. will the bamboo be as strong as fiberglass? i have heavy feet and pointy knees.

bottoms up

HANDS OF DOOM PART2

worked on the stick for a bit tonight. i think it's starting to look like a real surfboard. hopefully it will be a mover and shaker.

++++HANDS OF DOOM++++

got things started*******++++++++*********

*******++++++++********

Shaping room finished!

i finished my shaping room this weekend. only a few tools are needed to start my winter project. surfing on friday afternoon was really fun. the swell was going to drop off to lake status, thank the heavens that i got it until dark with some shoulder high set waves. sunday the swell was going to be small in the morning but building to 7' by midnight. what to do.....surf again in the early evening and score some of my best rides of fall. it wasn't small or big, but i was able to link together at least 10 top to bottom turns on my first wave on my backhand of all things. so that is what if feels like to flow with a wave. i must say that if feels really good.

there's a monster in my basement

lookn back

this trip was all time.  it was a last minute trip dreamed up by colin and his buddy from college.  with oscar on the way in a matter of a couple of months  i didn't think it would work out for me.  i got the go ahead from amy and we were on our way for a good adventure.  we didn't score the best waves, but for some reason it was one of the best surf trips i've taken.  the top photo is a break we found with nobody out, in fact there was nobody out for miles and miles of the coast.  the second photo is colin up against the wall in hermosa.  leaving all of our stuff in the car for a session seemed like not the best idea, but guess what we did it anyway.  fun little beach break with some power.

T&C sting......my 1st board 1985

this needs to be surfed asap

silver slipper

this was the silver slipper.  i think that it slipped away with the full tide.  there were some good sized set waves that had some push but that was about every half an hour.  i scored some long right handers that had a good drop but then got fat and mushy like the potatoes i had for lunch.  see i like to race down the line and there was none of that.  cutback after cutback i waited for the wave to wall up and give me something to smack a couple of times.  this wouldn't happen for me today.   i will still chalk this on up on a average to good session, after all i was in the water in the middle of the week with no crowds.

new ink

yes.......i have defaced.......my temple........again.  i love my son big time!

water that wasn't cold

tuesday warm water session

there were some fun little peaks today.  the swell was a mix of i don't know what,  some south and some west, with a little northwest.  for a tuesday afternoon there were quite a few people out.  none the less i got my mid week fill!  i rode my new 6'5' quad and finally got a good sessions.  i was starting to think i had made a bad call on the shape.  today it was like a rocket, with lots of drive down the line .  i'm glad i rode  my 6'2" bing the last couple of sessions to get my confidence back.  now i'm super stoked on my new board, it turns good, fits in the pocket, and rides like a dream.

OSCARS 1st TUBE

oscar has been in some small tubes at our house, but today he was so pitted!  he dropped in grabbed some hay and went full speed ahead.   i counted how long he was in the tube and it had to at least 30 seconds.  don't worry he claimed it!!!!

my morning drive

i drive a lot.  70mph down the 5.  5 days a week.  on average i will drive a minimum of 500 miles a week.  that's about 10hrs a week not including trips to the coast, which i do weekly and sometimes several trips out there.  needless to say i spend a lot of time in the old Saab mashing  down the road.  this time of year is the best.   it's dark when i leave and the sun rises over mt hood to the east when i pass the open farmlands of the valley.  today i saw my first morning rainbow.  it made my morning and actually made my week of driving worth it.