Mackie/Mackie/LynchGriffin

5'9" x 21" x 2 5/8" Mackie 2+1, wicked orange tint $700
5'9" x 20 1/2" x 2 7/16" Mackie Sidecut flextail (glassed on keels) $850
6'5" Lynch Design double bump single fin. Kindly loaned to me by T. Griffin, there's one with a juicy yellow tint for sale at the Foam & Function site, $675

I rode that single this AM and LOVE the thing, could well be the next quiver addition if I can convince the missus it's for 'business purposes' and find the coin to get Tim to make me one. It felt quick and lively in mediocre Santa Monica beachbreak so in a decent wave the board will be all-time. It held in through a couple of sketchy backhand drops and on the few waves with a bit of face and push it brought a smile to my face. Better yet it saved me from foolishly waxing and riding that 2+1. Wish I'd saved the orange tint idea for when I can get one for myself. Crap, that's 2 more boards I need in one day. I have a problem.

Foamy goodness just don't quit

Between the hard economic times and the folks having families it seems like there's some quality used boards being shaken loose and put on the open market. Here's a couple of gems I've been made aware of. The first is a 5'4" EPS Bauguess shaped kneeboard, with zinger bottom, pad and sweet avocado tint. Perfect condition as it's barely been ridden due to child care duties and it doesn't get much more cool than an underground SD kneelo. A deal at $600. The twin is another shot of the Hank Warner 5'6" starfish. Seriously cool board and a design that's not easy to find. Keels are shaped by Steve Seebold, board is Hydrodynamica project custom and has a wicked purple tint, pinlines and is $450. Email me at info at foamandfunction.com if you're interested, and prices are firm- I'm just passing the info on for the sellers so I can't negotiate.





The surfboard fun doesn't stop there, in fact I'm nearly in overload. Made a run to San Diego and checked out the new Simster that has appeared on the Hydrodynamica blog. It's a thing of beauty, very odd and sculptural yet it looks like pure performance. I await a ride report with interest. On the way down I stopped in at NineLights and saw Jeff Beck's latest project which, like the Simster seems totally futuristic yet intelligently functional. Jeff made a wood/foam composite for RT of wwaarrbblleess fame that seems from photo evidence to be the proverbial shred biscuit. (Check the Cabinessence blog for proof). A high point of the trip was a meet with Tim Griffin who loaned me a 6'5" double bump Lynch single fin- serious looking board with a Lynch design fin in it that will have at least one post devoted to it when I get the thing in the water. It may prompt a trip to central cal to find a wave worthy of it. Last and certainly not least I'm hoping to collect new Mackies tomorrow night, and there's a couple that will be available for sale, pictures will definitely be following.

Single Fins

Obviously neither of these are mine, but as much as I love the twinnies it has been a single under my feet as the sessions start happening again. Had some fun on the Horan yesterday, the swell isn't epic but it's at least surfable and there's a chance of a loaner Griffin/Lynch single next week, so I'm stoked. I started surfing as a tiny lightweight fellow in the days of the twin fin ascendancy so when I was ready to move on from the cast-off kneeboard I'd been able to standup surf, I swept the floors at a local surfboard factory for what seemed like years and for my troubles was given a single fin they couldn't move off the racks. No doubt the thing was a dog but it wasn't like I knew what I was doing nor had anything close to a decent wave to ride it on, so there I was. All these years on and it's roughly the same situation except I know the boards I have are great so I can't blame them. I'm hoping to be able to update with some incoming Mackies by the end of next week so stay tuned.

Sim Fins, Mirandon Tails and Sacred Crafting

A window between storms got me in the surf which feels great- it was better than I'd hoped and naturally I entirely forgot how to surf, dug a few rails and generally was a complete barney. It was excellent fun, I forgot to buy more coffee and feel much better- I'm going to declare the winter drought over finally. The Trefz tour is shaping up, we're trying to set up something in Santa Barbara at Tom Curren's Rip Curl store for the weekend of the 16th/17th May as we'll also be doing the Sacred Craft show- hopefully I'll have a few new Mackies, Simsters and Lynchs for the booth. It seems Primo will be giving us beer for the tour events which I find amazing, obviously they've never attended one of our tours. Hoping to have a show in San Diego at the Swift HQ with dates in SF, Santa Cruz and LA area being sorted right now. GEF is blogging now too- he's linked on the right, and also in New York is a Mackie flextail now owned by the talented Mr. J. Clams of Grey Ghost/MolluskNY lineage. Looking forward to some pics/ride reports from that one as it's heading to PR soon.

Moving Pictures

Two weeks, no surf and now it's raining. This can't last forever. Meanwhile it's the video that keeps me stoked. Good old Mick Waters sent this one, a short promo for his new piece 'Little Black Wheels'. There's a very strong chance he'll be up here at the end of 2009 to do a little tour and show 'Wheels' and maybe 'Believe' as well. That'll be fun I assure you.

Glen E.

Weird times, we have swell sort of but it's chased in by rain and the good old adverse winds. When I was a frothing youth this was times we'd be out with the skateboards, hitting the local bowl on spells between the rain (there was a lot more rain where I'm from) and hanging at someones house listening to shitty tapes or LPs when the rain came back. Friends older brothers were a huge influence, we learnt about things like Lee Perry, Hawkwind and punk rock. Now all these years on Alva is stoked on the Swift boards and still skates like a madman (check the Hydrodynamica blog for fine video documentation) and the mighty Lux Interior has passed on. Amid all this Glen E. Friedman has been documenting it all. He's still as stoked and crazy as Alva or Lux.

I'm glad these guys do what they do, it makes it all more fun. Here's the last shirt.

More shirts and a surfboard for sale

The goodness keeps coming, here's the rest of the shirts and some hoodies, same deal as in the post below, get on while we have them. Also in the retail arena is the above used Hank Warner starfish- 5'6", probably 2.5" thick, a custom for a colleague who's selling and I'm merely the agent of relocation. Really juicy purple tint and pinlines, Geppy keels and a classic Hank shape in really good condition (except for that wax). $450 and it's a steal. There's new cinematic glory coming from Mick Waters I'll have up soon so stay tuned.

A POSTSCRIPT: Man, I've officially arrived as a blogger- there's a photo of mine (only a photo of dinner, but my photo none the less) up on Shipworm & Gribble, one of the high water marks of of the wavesliding end of the internet. Stoked. One more shirt to come too.