Rusty

I was lucky enough to get to visit Rusty Preisendorfer yesterday in San Diego and sneak behind the curtains and get a look at where the magician perfects his tricks. A kinder gentleman you will never meet. A true poet warrior.


Knowing of my passion for 80's twin fins, Rusty showed me a recent acquisition of his, an early bat tail twinny he shaped back in the old days at Canyon.


Where the magic happens.


Scary big boards.


There was history everywhere.


Half the top 44's home numbers are up on that wall.


Local break.


Local culture.


Trip planning.

Fine example of the species.

Here we find an excellent example of the the species.
Original early 1980's Simon Anderson shaped Energy Thruster with all the characteristics you would want and expect.

Order- Innovation period polyurathane foam and fibreglass surfboard.
Family- Northern beaches, Sydney. University of Narrabeen.
Genus- Energy (simonus andersaurus)
Species- Thruster

Classic markings. Subtle hips. Big fat square ass.

Phil has this for sale on ebay.

Leucadia

Lightning Bolt Twin Fin Fetish

I made a friend on the weekend who shares my fetish for 80's Lightning Bolt twin fins. We were like two 12 year old grommies getting completely stoked out in the shed.






Sadly, I had to leave my collection behind in Australia.

Innovation isn't alway pretty

Innovation in surfboard design isn't always pretty nor is it always functional. Sometimes you've got to push things to their logical extreme to work out where the right balance is.





The hollow fins are a nice touch.

Observations of a tsunami

It was interesting to observe the effects of the horrific Japanese tsunami on Californian coast the 11th of March.
The Coast Guard were reporting the the wave was due to hit San Diego at 8.45am.
The Fire Department were in position, the Lifeguards cleared the beach with flashing lights on their truck and the choppers buzzed the coast.
At approx 8.42, when the tide was meant to be pushing in, it drained out equal to that of a mild low tide. 3 or 4 mins latter the water level returned to the high tide mark.
The hearts of all San Diego go out to the people of northern Japan affected by the disaster.

Feels like home....

This morning Swami's tried its hardest to make me feel at home.
The tide was a little high but it felt a lot like a SE swell at Sandon.

World's most famous obscure surfboards 5- Red tint Lightning Bolt pin tail single fin

Laura Blears Ching won title of Hawaii's number one amateur female surfer, won the women's division in 1972 Makaha Invitational surfing competition, became only female to compete in the Smirnoff men's championship in 1973 and took part the following year with six other women and won title of world's number one lady surfer.

She is perhaps most famous for her appearance in Playboy's July 1975 issue in her six page pictorial titled "Super Surfer".

This could be one of the most famous and often reproduced surfing photos out side of traditional surfing circles. To me, the stunning red Bolt is the most impressive aspect of the photos. The bolt and the fact she's surfing a north shore reef with no wax and no leg rope.

I wonder where this board is now?

Uncle Keith

Uncle Keith sent me this pic he took from his front porch last week. He tells me its a river mouth break located between Melbourne and Brisbane.

Dear Mr Systems. Part 2.

In july 2007 I wrote a post called Dear Mr Systems about my favorite twin fin and how I couldnt keep a fin in it. The story goes, after breaking off and losing the original fin on rocks I decided to put in FCS plugs so I could travel more easily with my most trust worthy board. After losing a number of sets of FCS twin fins I wrote an angry blog from Sydney that was very kindly and promptly responded to, on the other side of the world, by Tyler Callaway, Director of Business Development Surf Hardware International in San Diego.

As if to prove how small the world really is, I was surfing this very same board from Australia at the the world famous Wind 'n' Sea in San Diego yesterday and who should I met in the water- Tyler Callaway!

Little dragon

My work took me to Sydney last week.
On the weekend I was lucky enough to visit my very good friend Mick Mock at his beautiful store "Little Dragon" and indulge my senses in his stash of surf collectables, memorabilia, vintage surfboards, old school skateboards, records, books, magazines, Island kitsch, Hawaiiana and beach life.
He spesifically told me not to take any photos or blog about his store.
Please visit him at 1 Bramley Street, Newport NSW 2106 and tell him you saw the pics here.

You can phone Mick on 0403 974 967.

Shaun Thompson

I met Shuan Thompson last night at the SIMA awards.
He said "Nice to meet you".
I said, "oh no, we've met before, 1981 Surfabout at Narrabeen, don't you remember, I do"