Winter in Italy

Francesco Di Tommaso just sent this photo to me. Near Bari, It gets colder there in the winter than here in Southern Cal. It looks like a fun wave, but Francesco is riding his older 9-0 G&S 2+1 instead of one of his more cherished boards. I guess the wave breaks into a shallow rock reef that likes to eat boards. He also sent photos of his G&S taken after this session. I believe him. Taken January 9th, 2010.

JZ's Incredible Longboard

This stunning longboard was Shaped by Jeremy Zagarella. I met Jeremy a few months ago when he dropped by my house to score a few balsawood sanding blocks for his board shaping. we hit it off and Jeremy told me he would shoot me some board photos. I sensed from our conversation that he was an experienced shaper............But this beauty really got my attention.
Jeremy shaped this one for his Dad. I had to share it. Great job Jeremy!!! Wow!
It was glassed at Resinworks. Sorry, I don't have the dimensions, other than......beautiful.

6'3" Simm-21 for CK

This 6-3 Simm-21 is for Cary Kinkead, a Windansea area local. I guess he heard Morgan Smith's report after Morgan returned from Mainland Mexico where he rode his Simm 21 (also 6-3)on
Big, beautiful, lined-up point breaks. He had to order his own. This one will be tinted coke-bottle green. Michael Miller is glassing it for us.

Fins: Imbuya (Brazilian walnut) and figuered white ash.

Each Simm-21 gets a hand-drawn Simm-21 logo on the bottom.

Aloha Cary.

Something New for Myself

8.75" tall ~ 9" base. Purpleheart, Phillipine Mahogany, Maple, Peruvian walnut.

Almost all of my work goes to clients. Once and a while I build something for myself.

This reverse -"D" template box fin is for my 9'-6", Donald Takayama Model-T . It will be glassed with 3 layers of 6oz each side and have a 1/2" clear bead. The base will be laid up by hand using alternating layers of heavy skate deck cloth and 8oz volan, then hand fitted to the box.

Personally, I much prefer this fin over a pivot fin. Although it is slightly less in height than the 9-5 pivot fin, the leading edge has approximately the same degree of rake and the depth is plenty to anchor the tail while nose-riding and bottom turning. The trade-off advantage is that the soft radius of the trailing edge is incredibly smooth and loose to turn and can be turned form a more forward position on the board. For me, it provides better all-around performance from an already incredible board.

I almost always have ridden boards that I shaped for myself. In the 70's I always had a Takayama LB in my quiver. I had been reminiscing and eying the Model-T's for quite a while recently. Today's Model-T is not much different than what Donald was already shaping in the 70's. When I saw one at Mitch's North that I liked, I bought it.

After the first wave I took off on I remembered exactly why I loved them so much.

I think I will hang on to this one!

Scot Cherry, Simmons Sequence

Sunday, December 20th, '09 - Simmons Reef, La Lolla
Lil Bro, Scot Cherry getting behind the curtain on a 9'0" semi-gun that I shaped for him back in 1995.

I know.........you are all wondering why there are no similar photos of me on this blog.

Truth is, I'm usually so SHACKED.................you can't tell who it is surfing anyway.

Really.

PS: And it grows in italy!

One of my favorite surf Bro's at home in Bari Itay with agave he harversted there, after being infected by the Agave bug here in SC during the summer.

Step 1; Getting it Rough-Milled

Milling Jig.

After cutting the agave to length, I clamp it into a simple jig and follow the top of the jig with a chain saw to cut level both sides. The deck and bottom sides are against the jig. A new, sharp chain makes a HUGE difference.

After the agave is milled to this state, I band saw off the bark on the deck and bottom sides. I then run the blank sections through a thickness planer to obtain smooth, even-width sections for glue-up.

Out of 13 trunks, only one had to be wasted because of pithy wood. The stack next to the balsa contains mostly 4" + wide sections, ranging from 7'-9'. The stack next to the wall averages 3" wide and 7' long. The entire batch yielded, firm, light, colorful wood. STOKED!

This agave was collected over the past year from several sources and locations around San Diego County. It grows on public and private property. It is not hard to find (not always so easy to harvest) if you know where to look and if you have sources that locate it for you or turn you on to it. Special thanks to Surfer Brett Wellington and Jerry McCann for some of the best stuff this year.

More to come on this project.