Weak

Man. Was kinda stoked for the weekend and waves. Then I went surfin'. Weak, not much umph, short rides, closeouts, knee high beatings.

Bring on the winter juicy thumpers. Please.

1.8 @ 14 secs from 180

Semi Homespun Part 2

The ol' foam was dirty and brown with some deep water holes. But then the beautiful pristine white foam started to come out. I thinned the rails down super, tryin' to get a smooth rail outta a dinged up waterpatched rail. In the end, the rails came out very hully, or what I believe the definition of hully is, meaning very thin and pinched. On my boards, I love makin' the fish tail kinda flare out. That Mackie dude down in OZ calls them sidecut fish, or at least I think that is what he means by the term sidecut. You can tell that I have my own interpretations as to the shapin' definitions. Ha.

Anyway, I was thinkin' hard about just clear glassing this board so I could keep this same cool look. Loved how the brown faded into the white. Wish I woulda stuck with that idea in hindsight.

Come on swell. Damn.

1.1 @ 20secs from 230

Semi Homespun Part I

The crowded small southie days of the last couple of weeks were a reminder of older crowded small southie days a couple years back. That is when I found her broken and beaten. Noticed the front half of an ol' weathered log under the pilings. My buddy grabbed the back half of her that was halfway down the sand. A wetsuited lad came swimming up out of the ocean and yelled "Fuck it, you take it, was shit anyway" and he walked off towards the path pissed.

It was about 5'3 by 22 inches of stoke.

I finally got around to scrapin' off all the old glass and underneath it all was brown and pockmocked. I was kinda bummed.



It sat in my rafters while I would get nice clean new blanks and shape them. But,I always thought it would be fun to try to make a shape out of the brown blob. So, I got back into the shed one day and measured and brainstormed but deemed it too short. Plus, it had this big v where I would be cutting out the tail.

Then, one rainy day I was bored and needed some inspiration so I looked at it again and started wonderin'. Just like the old owner said to me, Fuck it. So I traced out a little fishy shape and went to sawin'.



EDIT: Lookin' at the first pic, you can see where I was toyin' with the idea of having the fish tail cut out of the front of the board. Kind of a rounded fish tail with a lot of rocker. Wonder how that would have made the board come out? Would been interestin'. Has anyone ever tried that it on a half longboard blank? Or have one to try?!
1.1 @ 11secs from 170

Good Week

Mutherfucker. Someone has been breakin' Pelican wings down in Bolsa Chica. 10 have died already. $5,000 dollar reward so please if you live down that way and know anything, spill the beans to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Is there anything more calming than watching these beautiful birds trim the waves and get most of the sets in the dawn?

"The birds targeted are new birds arriving from the Channel Islands," she said. "They are young and inexperienced and don't have a fear of humans. Because they're so hungry, they'll go right up to people."


Readin' this crap ruined a great week of slidin' and dippin' in the mornings. Fun, fairly consistent south all week. Made it 4 out of 5 of the days. First out everyday although I had to run on a couple of 'em. Crowd was "light", compared to last couple weeks at least. Even had a pleasant experience with a SUP dude. ONLY because he would take off and kinda block the others from going, so I would just paddle deep and take off behind him. He usually fell or stayed waaay out on the shoulder. Good, clear, sunny, warm full mooned mornings. Still a lil' left for the weekend although I don't have much left.

2.3 @14secs from 185

America

Smaller today but it don't matter. Catch one for the fallen.

2.7 @ 14secs from 185

Diff'ent Vibes

A little smaller.
Super fun before sunup soloness.
Crowds show up.
Less cool heads than yesterday.
More drop-ins and aggro-ness.
A couple big collisions and screamin'.
I just smiled and sat in my spot pickin' off the tweeners.
Didn't care because I got my early fill.
Goddamn the breaks are swollen lately.
But I can't really complain.

3.2 @ 17secs from 195

Stoked!

J. Mallman snap.

Damn clouds lettin' all the sleepyheads wake up late and crowd up the lineup. I miss those 30 minutes you can get if there are no clouds and the dawnlight shows sooner. Oh well, it was a super fun morning.

First out in the dark, snaggin' a couple. The crowd comes and I am in a rhythm. For once, the crowds didn't throw me off. Didn't get in my head. Caught one of the big sets at the end and swooped and looped forever 'til I stepped off on the sand. Two hours of chest high olas. Stoked. A couple heads walking down the trail as I got out saw my homemade and said "Good wave. Man, we are groovin' on that shape". Stoked! Made up for a comment last week out at a south bay beachbreak, 15 year old kid in the water says "what is that? that is not a surfboard is it?" ha!

3.4 @ 14secs from 210

Sail!

This rad kid has been settin' sail around the world. First mornin' he left Marina Del Rey and started out over the Pacific. He's on a little yacht and seems like he really immerses himself into the different culture stops where he anchors. He's been broke down in Papua New Guinea for a week or so and I was thinkin', if I was him, I would find some swell and a hut. But then I read about the city he is in.

"Port Moresby was ranked the worst capital city in the world to live in the Economist Intelligence Unit's ranking of 130 of the world's capital cities . High levels of rape, robbery and murder and large areas of the city controlled by gangs of thugs, known locally as "rascals".



Anyway, he just got the word all's good so the teenage kid from South Bay is back up sailin' again!! Go Zach!

Kept track of the voyage and learn more: zacsunderland.com/blog


On the surf note it has been small and crowded and frothing and stoking. Fun for the first 1/2 of the day and then it would be no fun. Still some southie out there too!

2.4 @ 12secs from 190