Here's a Photo Collection of some of my shapes...

"Just me and my pal Johnny Walker, and his brothers Black and Red..." I made these DESTROYER TWINS for my Thrailkill Twin arsenal...

These Falkenau Fins "DESTROYER TWINS" work "'Thoroly' good" in my Thrailkill Twin box set-up with my arsenal of Falkenau - Thrailkill Square / Arc / and Broom Tail boards (5'10", 6'0", 6'8", 6'9", 7'0", 7'4", 7'10", 8'4", 8'10", and 9'0"). They are a tribute to one of my favorite bands... George Thorogood and The Destroyers

New Caledonia Shark Steaks

New Caledonia Shark Steaks

3lbs. shredded coconut
5lbs. shark filets (calls for Great White, but obviously that's not possible or even cool to use... so I just used Thresher, Blue, and Mako)
3 tbsps. coconut oil
4 cups crushed pineapple
1 clove garlic, crushed (may be left out if you prefer)
Pinch of Saffron (I couln't find Saffron that didn't cost a grip of money, so I just used Mexican Saffron and it worked just fine)
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup water or fish stock (I think fish stock is nasty, so I used chicken stock and it worked just fine)

Lightly fry the shredded coconut in coconut oil.
Add crushed pineapple, garlic, saffron, salt & pepper, plus water or stock.
Place shark filets over the mixture and bring to rapid boil.
Let boil for 20-25 minutes, keeping the kettle tightly covered.
Remove shark steaks and place over French bread, if available, or yams which have been baked.
Now boil down the remaining liquid so that it is thick and pour over the shark.
this is really delicious, although the garlic can be left out if you don't like garlic.
It is just that Garlic is ubiquitous in all French recipes whether it is needed or not, so since this is a French recipe and I love Garlic, I use it... all of it!

Enjoy!

Here's my Vintage Relic Surfboards Australia Pin Machine around 7'

This was made in the G & S Factory in PB back around 1968-1970 when Floyd Smith was mowing foam in the bays. It is #9098. I couldn't find a signature anywhere, but maybe it's a Floyd Smith, or a Skip Frye. I've even been told that Larry Mabile shaped it, Hence the "Lion" logo, but I don't think so because Lairmo didn't start with G & S until 1979, and this was definitely shaped before 1979.

Report #3 for the 5'10"... and pics of the board...

12-11-08
2:39PM - 3:47PM
Army and Navy Academy Beach
2' to the occasional 4'
Clean and Glassy
Super Low Tide

I am starting to really get used to this board, riding it standing up, riding it prone, and riding it as a knee board.

The board can be as fast as the wave allows it, allowing me to be where I need to be, when I need to be there. I can always slow it down by putting my hand in the wave face.

Also, I've noticed that it is very maneuverable... just as maneuverable if not more maneuverable than any single fin, twin fin, fish, quad, 5 fin, tri-fin (thruster), widow-maker, 2 + 1, or whatever that I've ridden.

I used to have a quiver of over 150 surfboards, hanging from the ceilings and walls of my living room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, deck, and stashed around the campus at the school where I teach.

I used to surf a minumum of 4 sessions per day... in the morning when I woke up before school, on my break, at lunch, and after school with my students. On the weekends, I would surf for hours at a time... my longest being 10 hours before I felt like a wet prune, burned to a crisp by the sun, and weak from paddleing with no food or water. I just loved to surf.

My point in telling you this is that, all of those sessions gave me the oportunity to take out a new board, or try out a new fin, or experiment with a new set-up... basically what ever I felt like doing with that board at the time. Changing boards through my entire quiver allowed me to really know what worked, what didn't, how it worked, what I liked, what I didn't, what I would have changed, How each board and fin set-up felt, etc.

All of this R & D out in the water allowed me to absorb it, think about it, and take it all back to my shaping bay to apply what I had learned to the boards I was shaping at the time.

I think that was the most valuable lesson in learning how to shape the perfect board for me and my style of surfing (and how to really surf to my highest potential), because I learned exactly what I needed to learn from each of those boards and from the waves I was surfing, so I could apply it to the surfboard designs I was refining, the shapes I was designing and the boards I shaped in my shop.

This board is one of those "perfect" boards for "me". This 5'10" is the end product of all of those surf sessions on 150+ different surfboards with various fin set-ups, countless discussions with Master Shapers and Master Craftsmen... Artisans like Mike Diffenderfer, Carl Ekstrom, Skip Frye, Bill Thrailkill, Jerry Ingham, Donald Takayama, Danny Hess, Paul Jensen, etc. -- not to mention all of the countless hours of posts, PM's, reading, conversations, and research on SWAYLOCKS!

I have finally found the perfect board.