Wood Bling

This tri-fin set will go on an Al Merrick gun for Larry Fuller, but not just any gun.  This gun is shaped from solid Sequoia Redwood.  Larry procured the wood and Al is the shaper.  The wood for the board is from a 4000 year old Sequoia redwood that feel in the late 50's or early 60's.  The permit to mill and remove the lumber from the fallen tree was issued in 1962.  It was the last permit of its kind to be issued in the redwood forest.  When this tree was alive and standing it was taller than both the general Sherman and the President trees which are currently the tallest trees in the redwood forest.

Template: C.I. Gun  

Woods:  Redwood burl, Quilted maple with pinlines of Flame koa and redwood burl veneers.

The set below is for another Al Marrick / Larry Fuller Sequoia Redwood gun.  This Particular board was shipped to Washington D.C. to be auctioned off at a special event benefiting the Wounded Warriors Foundation.

Woods: Redwood burl, quilted maple, Flame koa veneer.

Two Simm-21 fin sets.

The first set is for an 8'2" Simm for Dan Wenger from L.A.  The board will have a 4" balsa stringer, opaque resin panels in a light bronze tone outside of the stringer, separated by 1/8" black resin pinlines.

This second set is for a 7'6" Simm for Geoff Bergen in Bristol Connecticut.

The board will have a 1/4" cedar stringer and a full tint in California gold.

"Adaptive Surfing" Vehicle #2

I created the first adaptive surfboard as a contribution to the Wounded Warriors Surf Camp in Del Mar, California.  It was designed Specifically for the amputee soldiers having lost one or both legs that still wanted to take on the challenge of surfing with the hopes of enjoying its life-lifting fulfillment.  It had occurred to me as I spent time at the camp that struggling with the longerboards was certainly providing a daunting challenge, but what seemed missing was the pure enjoyment of becomming one with the wave or being able to easily control the board to acheive that end.  As most surfers have always known, standing is cool....but it is not the key to feeling the exileration and freedom that wave riding can provide (Ask Greenough).  The key I think is hooking up with the motion, speed and energy of the wave and having controll and command of your experience within it.

For those who have been left without the weight, leverage and propultion that most of us take for granted, the manipulating (simply getting it pointed from east to west for instance) from our lower extremeties becomes a much more difficult task.  The shorter, wider and more bouyant platform allows ease of manitulation of the board in the water while allowing the board to be paddled and catch waves without assistance much more easily.

Rusty stated simply in one of his surfboard-technology articles not long ago, "shorter and wider is faster".

Rusty was right.  Those elements, combined with the right planshape and rocker, produce unparalleled speed in average surf conditions.  It was my hope for this design that those elements along with some added control devices would reign king and provide the adaptive surfers their ability to connect with the wave, its speed and it's motion and provide the same exileration and joy the we all chase every time we paddle out.

Based on the reports I getting.....It seems to be working!

The board pictured in this post I shaped and outfitted for Julie Carruthers, a determined athlete and surfer who lost her leg in her battle with bone cancer some 13 years ago.  This board was made possible throught the efforts and generousity of K2 Adventure Foundation www.k2adventures.org.

Special thanks to Kevin Cherilla and Kristen Sandquist from K2.

Julie, as my friend Josh Hall would say, "Slide the glide!"

Aloha,

JC

Got Fins?

This batch of Finnish Birch, marine ply fins is for Teppi Uchida in Newport beach

In this photo the fins are shown in bare wood, ready to be sealed and laminated.

Thanks Teppi.  I'm anxious to see some of these boards!

Kustom Rudders for Holly and Joe

Holly Yang and her boyfriend Joe are back in Maine right now, building a couple hollow-wood boards with Mike Lavecchia at Grain Surfboards.  Holly and Joe wanted a couple custom fin sets to take with them.

I finished these just in time for their trip.

Aloha Holly and Joe.    SEND PHOTOS!!!

Koa Quads and Tri's

Thes fins are shown cheater-coated, ready to laminate.  The Tri-fin set is for Steve Schirmacher.  They will go on an 11-0 that Skip Frye is shaping for him.  The quad set is for my young friend and shaping side-kick, Christopher Tomlin.  I am getting ready to shape for Chris the 11-0 Fish-Simmons that these fins will be on.

Tri-fin sets for Dick Brewer Tow-In Boards

Larry Fuller just got back from the Islands where he and Dick just build a series of solid redwood tow-in boards.  But not just any redwood.........They used Sequoia redwood milled from a 4000 year old giant Sequoia which had fallen in the giant redwood forest and river-bottom redwood which was hauled up from the riverbottom where it sank while being rafted down river to the mill many decades ago.  I used the same woods to make the fin sets for the boards.  The lighter fin sets are the Sequoia redwood,  two of which have a redwood burl ray in the centers.  The ebony colored wood is the river-bottom redwood.  this ebony tone penetrates the lumber through and through.  In this photo the fins are cheater-coated, ready to laminate.

Cant wait to see the finished boards!



(2) really "Choice" 11'-0" Gliders

Steven Schirmacher with his (2) new, 11'0", fish-Simmons style gliders by Rich Pavel
Glassing:  Michael Miller http://www.mmillersurfboards.com/
Fins: J. Cherry

 I was truly stoked when Big Steve brought these by for me to have a look.   Photos don't do these incredible boards justice.  Like all of Rich's boards,  the shapes on these are true perfection of form and function.  The pale-yellow board has very subtle concave under the forward trim position, transitioning into a flatter mid-section, with flat "v" through the tail.  it is fitted with a single box.  Nose to tail it has a general down-railer profile.  The lime green one has very subtle, single-into-double bottom, with a sleek, more-neutral rail  profile and is fitted with a glass-on tri-fin set that I had the pleasure of making.

 Michael Millers glass jobs on these are beautiful, sturdy and flawless.....as usual.

 I made the tri-fins of solid flame maple, simple and elegant by the natural beauty of the wood.  The lime green Steven chose makes any wood look great, especially the lighter maple.

 No logo lams on these two customs, just Rich's artful signatures on the blanks.

My thanks to Big Steve and Rich for inviting me ho have a small hand in the creation of these superb boards.

Aloha Guys,       JC

Recent Fins

Tri-fin set for an 11'0" Skip Frye Glider.  Owner;  Luke Brown

Wood burn art on birch plywood.  Woods;  Ash Burl over figured bubinga over 1/4" Finnish Plywood.

Tri-fin set for 11-0 Pavel,  fish-simmons.  owner; "Big Steve" Shirmacher.

solid flame maple.

 Rising Sun, "D" fin for a Weber classic longboard.  Owner;  Scott Johansson

woods: African walnut and flame maple.