Skip's Frye

During his recent stay in NY Josh Hall contacted the shop about shaping a board while he was out here. Dutchie relayed the message and set it up. Being as though we never rode one of his boards before he was anxious to shape us a shop demo board. I had the perfect blank lined up for him. It was an 8' Clark blank. He told me it was the same blank Skip used to shape his long fish. So we decided on shaping a 7'6" quad "Fish Simmons". After lunch, a chat and a phone call from Skip we got to mowing. It was great to see his techniques in person, he really taught me a lot. Josh is an awesome guy and a great shaper. Definitely looking forward to working with him again. Needless to say the board came out sick!

PS: Stay chuned for more photos of the finished product.

Flight of the Dragon

Finally. My bredran Mike came by the shop this weekend from Rockaway, Queens and slayed the loading dock doing huge grabs and ollie to manuals. Mike is an OG local Rockaway surfer and super stylish skater and one of my best pals. Go Mikey Go!

Back From The Candy Shop

Sal cradling the 5'5" "Skippy" inspired Shredder

5'5" Grey Ghost Twin Keel w/ Peanut Butter Opaque

5'8 Grey Ghost Single Fin w/ Vanilla Tint

5'10 Grey Ghost Stubbie Hull w/ 10 oz Volan and clear resin

5'10 Grey Ghost San Bumps Quad Fish w/ Cedar Flex Tail

(This board was glassed with Resin X for extra flex)

5'8" Grey Ghost Dee Bump Quad Fish w/ Merlot Opaque

Bridging the Gap

The Gil Hodges bridge is responsible for linking two of New York's  most thorough boroughs so needless to say it is a bad ass bridge. They just finished replacing some old support beams and the bridge is looking better than ever. The bridge has seen some wild shiz in its time from twisted car crashes and hanging bodies to pedestrians looking to illegally jump off into the bay (my dad did that in the 70's). I think there has even been a couple cement shoe divers who've been casted off. So I just wanted to celebrate the bridge in its 70 years of existence. Its still tip top. Happy Birthday Gil Hodges Bridge!

Italian 50 Cent

During my stay in Italy this past week my girlfriend and I stayed at her families house in Rome. The sites were amazing. The life style was incredibly relaxed and the food was to die for. I eagerly anticipated lunch and diner mostly because the food was incredible but also because after a couple glasses of vino with the meal and a little Grappa as a digestivo everyone started acting funny. On our last night my girlfriends cousin Christian decided to put on a concert for us. Above is a photo of him pretending to be 50 cent with aluminum foil fronts and Mama's pearls for added affect.

Italian P I M P pt. 1

Italian P I M P pt. 2

Italian P I M P pt. 3

Deer Balls

Specimen A was found in Chris "Knuckle Head" Caiazzo's garage the other day while we were building a quarter pipe.

Flex Tail Hull

This is a 5'10 flex-tail stubbie hull I shaped after being inspired by Brian Hilbers of Fineline surfboards. Brian is one of the coolest dudes I know. Before ordering one of his "Gee Bee" stubby hull models Brian schooled me on the working properties of board with its insane bottom contours and razor sharp rails. Following a long conversation with Hilbers he gave me the blessing to give the shape a go! This board is being glassed right now with a single layer of Volan on each side to keep the flex of the tail. 

And So It Began....

Every epic session I can every recall surfing in the sacred winter waters of NY I just never felt alone. The presence of a friend or two isn't what I mean. I'm not talking about the marine life either, yet something more precious than that. It is more of a erie grey presence. The presence of low hanging smoke colored clouds draped over the sky, winds just strong enough to make that howlin' sound in your ear, long witch hair like over spray growing off the lip of the breaking waves and the black and chocolate colored water. All of those ingredients are part of a secret recipe. When all of the above is combined it creates what I like call the "Grey Ghost".