- Mark Twain
Wednesday
Over the falls
I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.
Tuesday
Help Wanted!
A CALL FOR PLANETARY DUTY!
Become a Shepherd of the Sea
Photo by Paul Taggart/WPN News
Sea Shepherd is looking for dedicated individuals to crew aboard our ocean-going ships.
Our obstacles are immense. The motivation to destroy life in our oceans is fueled by material greed. It is easy to recruit crew for money, however, we need to recruit a crew motivated by a passionate compassion. We need people who burn inside with a rage against the injustices perpetrated upon whales, dolphins, seals, sea turtles, sea birds, fish, and every living thing in the world's oceans. We need such people on our ship and in the ranks of our supporters.
All marine wildlife and the ecosystems in which they live are worth fighting for. We need your help in this endeavor.
Help Wanted -
Volunteers Needed!
Guaranteed: Adventure, fulfillment, and the hardest work you will ever love. The experience of a lifetime.
Benefits:
 Pull longlines from the ocean |  Save wildlife |  Educate future generations |  Make good friends |
Positions Available:
We are looking for navigators, sailors, engineers, mechanics, electricians, carpenters, welders, airplane and helicopter pilots, cooks, doctors, medics or nurses, small boat operators, scuba divers, photographers, videographers, computer specialists, and even a few unskilled dedicated Whale Defenders.
Time Frame:
Sea Shepherd Campaigns rarely last less than a month. Preference is given to crew who can give the most time.
Room and Board:
Sea Shepherd provides bunk, bedding, food, and water.
Warning:
No whiners, malcontents, mattress lovers, and wimps need apply.
Goals:
Our objective is protect and save ocean wildlife and to uphold International Conservation Law.
Join Us and Lets Do It.
TO APPLY, GO TO http://www.seashepherd.org/get-involved/crewing-at-sea.html
Lars and the 42 Crew
Monday
Thursday
Wednesday
Be grateful
The Whale Killers set sail
Japanese whale killers have left for the Whale Sanctuary
And so it begins.
The Yakusa owned and controlled Japanese whaling fleet has left Japan in a very low key manner, without the traditional celebratory send-off, with fewer crewmembers and with less support than years before. They are also departing on the threshold of a major recession in the Japanese economy.
And as President Bill Clinton once said, "It's the economy stupid."
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship Steve Irwin is scheduled to depart at the end of November which should put both the whaling fleet and the Sea Shepherd crew on a course that will bring them together somewhere in the remote and hostile waters off the Antarctic coast in mid-December.
"We have them on the ropes economically," said Captain Paul Watson. "We intend to make this yet another year of profit loss for the whalers. It is the one language they understand and it is the only thing that is going to shut down whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary."
Australian Environment Minister Peter Garrett has announced that Australia will invest millions into whale research to prove that non-lethal methods are sufficient and that Japan does not need to employ lethal research to secure their research objectives.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society certainly supports any non-lethal research that will further our understanding of the great whales but does not think that Australia's initiative will convince Japan to cease their slaughter.
"Japan is not interested in research," said Captain Watson. "We all know that this whale hunt has absolutely nothing to do with research. It's about killing whales for meat to send to market in Japan. It's a sham, a façade, in short it is a whale of a lie. They will never participate in non-lethal research for the simple reason there is no profit in it."
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society also does not believe that whaling will be ended by efforts to convince Japanese citizens to pressure their government to end whaling. Such a campaign could take decades and the whales need to stop dying now.
"The argument that we should not interfere, that we should not take direct action and instead lobby for change in Japan is absurd," explained Captain Watson. "Would this approach have worked against the Nazis? Would the German people have made the decision to not kill Jews and other people they did not like on their own? Would we have counseled the allies to not interfere? I don't think so. Did the appeasement by Jewish leaders in the Warsaw ghetto work? No, the people died. And the whales will continue to die as we wait for some miracle within Japan that may or may not eventually arrive."
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society believes that only direct intervention will work in a world where governments refuse to take action and refuse to uphold international conservation law.
The simple solution is for governments to demand that illegal whaling be ended and if not they should invoke economic sanctions. U.S. law already has provisions to implement sanctions but these sanctions are being withheld for political and trade reasons. It is because governments are not upholding their responsibility that Sea Shepherd is being forced to intervene.
In December, Sea Shepherd will once again engage the Japanese fleet and once again, the lives of whales will be saved and the whaling fleet will lose a great deal of money.
"We intend to give a Christmas gift to the whales this year," said Captain Paul Watson. "We intend to give as many of them as possible - the gift of life."
Don't burn yourself out...
"Do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am-- a reluctant enthusiast...a part time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it is still there. So go out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, encounter the grizz, climb the mountains, and bag the peaks.... and I promise you this much: I promise you this one sweet victory over your enemies, over those deskbound people with their hearts in a safe deposit box... I promise you this: you will outlive the bastards." - Edward Abbey
Monday
Inventor de Junio de 2008
42 Surfboards elegido "Inventor de Junio de 2008"12:55 - 1/09/2008
La empresa 42 Surfboards dedicada al diseño y fabricación de clásicas tablas de surf de madera, ha sido elegida Inventor del mes de junio de 2008 por la Comunidad Internacional de Fabricación de Autodesk, con el objetivo de distinguir su proyecto como el más innovador y avanzado en ingeniería del resto de candidatos. La tecnología de diseño utilizada por la empresa es Autodesk Inventor, la base de los prototipos digitales, con la que ha diseñado y desarrollado su línea de tablas de surf de alta calidad y que están formadas completamente de la cosecha de madera local de Oregón, Estados Unidos. Así la compañía evita utilizar materiales como la espuma o la madera de balsa, los cuales tienen un gran impacto de carbono, se quiebran con facilidad con la consiguiente compra de otra tabla. De este modo 42 Surfboards provee a los entusiastas del surf de una alternativa sostenible.
La función de Modelado Sólido lidera la innovación.
La solución Autodesk Inventor permite a la compañía crear una nueva generación de tablas de surf, aprovechando la fuerza y ligereza de maderas locales como la de abeto o la de álamo que además son más resistentes.
42 Surfboards encuentra la clave de la innovación en la función de modelado sólido de Autodesk Inventor, la cual le permite digitalizar la forma de una pieza de madera noble y crear una superficie de madera tan gruesa o delgada como se necesite. Gracias a la precisión con la que se da forma a la madera, la compañía puede minimizar el peso total mientras maximiza la fuerza, creando una tabla muy resistente, rápida y maniobrable.
La creación de prototipos digitales permite a la empresa, explorar rápidamente nuevas ideas de productos y diseños sin dedicar el tiempo y el gasto que supone fabricar prototipos físicos. Como resultado, ahora ofrece siete modelos diferentes de tablas de surf de madera cien por cien, dentro de su gama de productos. Cada modelo está diseñado hasta su acabado completo.
Asimismo 42 Surfboards, invierte el concepto de "tabla desechable" barata y frágil tan arraigado durante décadas, por tablas de surf de madera cien por cien más resistentes y maniobrables.
De acuerdo con Lars Bergstrom, presidente de 42 Surfboards, "Inventor es la diferencia entre ser capaz de diseñar lo que quieres y ser capaz sólo de imaginarlo. Con la función de modelado sólido de la solución de Autodesk somos capaces de diseñar con precisión cualquier tabla, ya sea de miles de centímetros o de uno sólo, fabricamos las tablas de surf con las especificaciones que establecemos. Sin esta función de Inventor seríamos incapaces de usar la cosecha de madera local ni podríamos ser respetuosos con el medio ambiente".
Según Robert Buzz Kross, senior vice-presidente de Industria y Fabricación de Autodesk, " 42 Surfboards observó la necesidad del mercado de una tabla de surf que respetara el medio ambiente, y la solución Autodesk Inventor les facilitó la tecnología para convertir esta visión es una realidad. Es un placer nombrar a 42 Surfboards como Inventor del mes de junio".
Sobre el Programa Autodesk Inventor del Mes
Cada mes, Autodesk nombra a un Inventor del mes de entre más de 700,000 usuarios de la solución AUTODESK Inventor, el software base del diseño de prototipos digitales. Los ganadores son elegidos por su innovación y excelente uso de la ingeniería.
Para más información sobre Autodesk Inventor del mes, contacta con IOM@autodesk.com
Sobre 42 Surfboards
La compañía situada en Oregón, Estados Unidos, diseña y fabrica las clásicas tablas de surf americanas. La compañía tiene como objetivo cambiar el paradigma en la elección de una tabla de surf optando por la madera local de alta calidad.
Para más información visite: http://www.42surfboards.com
La empresa 42 Surfboards dedicada al diseño y fabricación de clásicas tablas de surf de madera, ha sido elegida Inventor del mes de junio de 2008 por la Comunidad Internacional de Fabricación de Autodesk, con el objetivo de distinguir su proyecto como el más innovador y avanzado en ingeniería del resto de candidatos. La tecnología de diseño utilizada por la empresa es Autodesk Inventor, la base de los prototipos digitales, con la que ha diseñado y desarrollado su línea de tablas de surf de alta calidad y que están formadas completamente de la cosecha de madera local de Oregón, Estados Unidos. Así la compañía evita utilizar materiales como la espuma o la madera de balsa, los cuales tienen un gran impacto de carbono, se quiebran con facilidad con la consiguiente compra de otra tabla. De este modo 42 Surfboards provee a los entusiastas del surf de una alternativa sostenible.
La función de Modelado Sólido lidera la innovación.
La solución Autodesk Inventor permite a la compañía crear una nueva generación de tablas de surf, aprovechando la fuerza y ligereza de maderas locales como la de abeto o la de álamo que además son más resistentes.
42 Surfboards encuentra la clave de la innovación en la función de modelado sólido de Autodesk Inventor, la cual le permite digitalizar la forma de una pieza de madera noble y crear una superficie de madera tan gruesa o delgada como se necesite. Gracias a la precisión con la que se da forma a la madera, la compañía puede minimizar el peso total mientras maximiza la fuerza, creando una tabla muy resistente, rápida y maniobrable.
La creación de prototipos digitales permite a la empresa, explorar rápidamente nuevas ideas de productos y diseños sin dedicar el tiempo y el gasto que supone fabricar prototipos físicos. Como resultado, ahora ofrece siete modelos diferentes de tablas de surf de madera cien por cien, dentro de su gama de productos. Cada modelo está diseñado hasta su acabado completo.
Asimismo 42 Surfboards, invierte el concepto de "tabla desechable" barata y frágil tan arraigado durante décadas, por tablas de surf de madera cien por cien más resistentes y maniobrables.
De acuerdo con Lars Bergstrom, presidente de 42 Surfboards, "Inventor es la diferencia entre ser capaz de diseñar lo que quieres y ser capaz sólo de imaginarlo. Con la función de modelado sólido de la solución de Autodesk somos capaces de diseñar con precisión cualquier tabla, ya sea de miles de centímetros o de uno sólo, fabricamos las tablas de surf con las especificaciones que establecemos. Sin esta función de Inventor seríamos incapaces de usar la cosecha de madera local ni podríamos ser respetuosos con el medio ambiente".
Según Robert Buzz Kross, senior vice-presidente de Industria y Fabricación de Autodesk, " 42 Surfboards observó la necesidad del mercado de una tabla de surf que respetara el medio ambiente, y la solución Autodesk Inventor les facilitó la tecnología para convertir esta visión es una realidad. Es un placer nombrar a 42 Surfboards como Inventor del mes de junio".
Sobre el Programa Autodesk Inventor del Mes
Cada mes, Autodesk nombra a un Inventor del mes de entre más de 700,000 usuarios de la solución AUTODESK Inventor, el software base del diseño de prototipos digitales. Los ganadores son elegidos por su innovación y excelente uso de la ingeniería.
Para más información sobre Autodesk Inventor del mes, contacta con IOM@autodesk.com
Sobre 42 Surfboards
La compañía situada en Oregón, Estados Unidos, diseña y fabrica las clásicas tablas de surf americanas. La compañía tiene como objetivo cambiar el paradigma en la elección de una tabla de surf optando por la madera local de alta calidad.
Para más información visite: http://www.42surfboards.com
El Mysteriouso
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.
-Albert Einstein
-Albert Einstein
Thursday
Cell phones...
I don't own a cell phone or a pager. I just hang around everyone I know, all the time. If someone wants to get a hold of me, they just say 'Mitch,' and I say 'what?' and turn my head slightly.
- Mitch Hedberg
- Mitch Hedberg
With the herd
"Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one."
- Charles Mackay
- Charles Mackay
Wednesday
Filling out the form...
Filling out the form:
Race? Human.
Religion? Paiute.
Occupation? Criminal anarchy.
Hobbies? Survival with honor.
- Edward Abbey
Race? Human.
Religion? Paiute.
Occupation? Criminal anarchy.
Hobbies? Survival with honor.
- Edward Abbey
Tuesday
Enjoy the drop!
Enjoy the drop. You only get one per wave. Make it count. Make it beautiful. Make it stylish.
Here's a link to a photo on Sean Davey's website of someone doing exactly that at Waimea Bay. Sean's work is beautiful and he has a lot of it available for sale on his website.
Lars and the 42 Crew
Monday
Why we support Sea Shepherd
Sea Sheperd is The Ocean's Navy!
In 1986, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) enacted a moratorium on all commercial whaling. Since then, three nations – Iceland, Norway, and Japan – have brutally slaughtered over 25,000 whales under the guise of scientific research and for commercial purposes. The IWC does not have the capacity to enforce the moratorium. Sea Shepherd, guided by the United Nations World Charter for Nature, is the only organization whose mission is to enforce these international conservation regulations on the high seas.
Highlights from Sea Shephered's past three decades include:
Ramming and disabling the notorious pirate whaler, the Sierra
Shutting down half of the Spanish whaling fleet
Documentation of whaling activities in the Faeroe Islands chronicled in the BBC documentary Black Harvest
Scuttling half of the Icelandic whaling fleet and whale processing station
Scuttling of the Norwegian whaling vessels Nybraena and Senet
Confronting and opposing Japan's illegal whaling in Antarctica 
Sea Shepherd has gone on to end the careers of 9 illegal whaling vessels, saving thousands of whales. These campaigns and other Sea Shepherd efforts have kept the issue of whaling in the international spotlight for the past thirty years.
Sea Shepherd's mission is to end the destruction of habitat and the slaughter of wildlife in the world's oceans in order to conserve and protect ecosystems and species. Sea Shepherd uses innovative direct-action tactics to investigate, document, and take action when necessary to expose and confront illegal activities on the high seas. By safeguarding the biodiversity of our delicately-balanced ocean ecosystems, Sea Shepherd works to ensure their survival for future generations.
42 Surfboards is proud to support Sea Shepherd!
Lars and the 42 Crew
Friday
Sea Shepherd Announces Operation Musashi
While in Santiago, Chile for the 60th Meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), Sea Shepherd Conservation Society officially announced plans to return to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to once again oppose illegal Japanese whaling activities. Sea Shepherd is represented at the IWC by Captain Paul Watson, Founder and President of Sea Shepherd, and the Honourable Ian Campbell, former Minister of the Environment for Australia and current member of Sea Shepherd's international Advisory Board.
This year's campaign, Sea Shepherd's fifth campaign to Antarctic waters, will be called Operation Musashi in reference to the legendary Japanese strategist, Miyamoto Musashi. Musashi's Book of Five Rings included the approach of the Twofold Way of Pen and Sword. Sea Shepherd's goal is to send two fast ships to the Southern Ocean with the purpose of continuously keeping the Japanese whaling fleet on the run.
"We intend to sink the Japanese fleet economically," said Captain Watson. "Our strategy is to prevent whales from being killed, to force Japan to spend money on fuel without killing whales. My crew and I will not watch whales die, we will not bear witness to the cruel slaughter of a single whale without risking our lives to prevent its unlawful and cruel murder. If the members of the IWC refuse to act to save the whales, then it is up to us to take this fight onto the high seas where we will prevail in the next season even more successfully than we prevailed in the last season."
The name Operation Musashi was chosen to reflect Sea Shepherd's approach of aggressive, yet nonviolent, confrontation and the increasing global awareness of Japan's ongoing illegal whaling activities; thus the crossed feather pen and katana (sword) under the skull with the imbedded sperm whale and dolphin yin-yang symbol. The Banzai flag background gives reference to the ecological imperialism that Japan is committing against the whales of the Southern Ocean.
Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645) was the greatest samurai warrior, strategist, and tactician of all time and is a personal role model and hero of Captain Watson, who incorporated Musashi's ideas into his book Earthforce! An Earth Warriors Guide to Strategy. Sea Shepherd intends to transform Setsuninto - the sword {harpoon} that takes life - to Katsujinken - the sword {harpoon} that gives life. Sea Shepherd's ship, the Steve Irwin, will be outfitted with a very special harpoon for this year's campaign.
Sea Shepherd is not a protest organization. It was established in 1977 to intervene against the illegal exploitation of marine life in accordance with the principles of the United Nations World Charter for Nature. However, as with all Sea Shepherd campaigns, all strategies and tactics are designed to avoid any physical injury to the whalers.
"We have never injured a single person in our 31 year history," said Captain Watson, "and we intend to keep that record unblemished."
Ok, smart guy...
"One of the indictments of civilizations is that happiness and intelligence are so rarely found in the same person."
-William Feather
-William Feather
Thursday
K.I.S.S.
Keep it simple.
Don’t bring a bunch of boards to the beach. Big words, I know, from a shaper. Grab a board at home and go use it. Have you ever paddled out on a nose rider in twenty foot surf? Talk about exciting! How about a fish in triple overhead? Or a semi gun in two foot slop?
Don’t bring a bunch of boards to the beach. Big words, I know, from a shaper. Grab a board at home and go use it. Have you ever paddled out on a nose rider in twenty foot surf? Talk about exciting! How about a fish in triple overhead? Or a semi gun in two foot slop?
Good for you and good fun all.
Lars and the 42 Crew
Don't do what I do....
Don’t talk. Just surf.
There is nothing more annoying than someone that stands there talking about surfing and then paddles out and just gapes.
I know, I did exactly this just the other day. Stood there talking about how awesome this new fish was, paddled out, and went over the falls on the first two waves I went for.
I'll be quiet now....
Lars and the 42 Crew
There is nothing more annoying than someone that stands there talking about surfing and then paddles out and just gapes.
I know, I did exactly this just the other day. Stood there talking about how awesome this new fish was, paddled out, and went over the falls on the first two waves I went for.
I'll be quiet now....
Lars and the 42 Crew
California
"There is science, logic, reason; there is thought verified by experience. And then there is California."
Edward Abbey
Come in out of the channel!
Tip of the day:
Don’t just sit in the channel. Get in there and catch some waves. Or paddle over to a peak where you can catch some waves.
It's true that you are going to catch a couple on the head. But you aren't going to get any better sitting there like a channel marker!
Lars and the 42 Crew
Don’t just sit in the channel. Get in there and catch some waves. Or paddle over to a peak where you can catch some waves.
It's true that you are going to catch a couple on the head. But you aren't going to get any better sitting there like a channel marker!
Lars and the 42 Crew
Tuesday
More from USA Today
Autodesk Inventor helps 42 Surfboards increase performance AND remain sustainable!
"Check out the latest blog entry on USA Today’s Technology LIVE, “Stoked On A Wooden Surfboard” featuring 42 Surfboards—the June Inventor of the Month —and Autodesk Inventor. Not only did Inventor help the surfing designers create lighter wood surfboards, (older, traditional woodies weighed over 70 pounds!), they were able to create a non-toxic board lasting 20 times longer than modern surfing materials."
"Check out the latest blog entry on USA Today’s Technology LIVE, “Stoked On A Wooden Surfboard” featuring 42 Surfboards—the June Inventor of the Month —and Autodesk Inventor. Not only did Inventor help the surfing designers create lighter wood surfboards, (older, traditional woodies weighed over 70 pounds!), they were able to create a non-toxic board lasting 20 times longer than modern surfing materials."
From Connect Press
Autodesk Names 42 Surfboards Inventor of the Month for June
By Lauren Browne, ConnectPress Editor
Surfing dates back thousands of years, and yet many things are still the same in the sport. Its simplicity is appreciated in that it only takes a few things to be able to surf: a board, some waves, and a gutsy surfer. But the surfboard design company 42 Surfboards is taking this simplistic sport and adding an element of complexity to their designs.
By using Autodesk Inventor, the company makes precise boards that are also environmentally friendly. Their designs are so innovative that out of the 700,000 users of Inventor, Autodesk has named 42 Surfboards the Inventor of the Month for June, 2008.
Based out of Oregon, 42 Surfboards’ owner and self-proclaimed “floor-sweeper-in-chief” Lars Bergström said “solid modeling lets us iron out all of the kinks in a design before we ever make a woodchip. It lets us analyze various designs from every angle and greatly decreases the time between concept and creation.”
Even better, Bergström focuses on making his carbon footprint as little as possible. The boards are made out of local, sustainably harvested wood and abalone, they compost the sawdust, and the board will last a lifetime with the right tender loving care.
42 Surfboards makes many different models of surfboards. An important aspect to making a good surfboard is to get the density to strength ratio correct. Most modern-day surfboards achieve that ratio, but are made out of foam or balsa wood, which are products that increase a carbon footprint. Foam is a petroleum-based product and balsa wood must be imported all the way from South America.
However, boards made out of solid wood don’t have the lightness and performance as boards made with foam or balsa wood. But that’s where Inventor makes it possible through solid modeling for Bergström to design a board with the lightness of a foam board and combine it with the sturdiness and longevity of a wooden board. With the program, Bergström can digitally create a surfboard as thin or as thick as he wants, while being able to test the strength of the board. In this way, Bergström reduces the amount of unnecessary wood to create a light, yet durable wooden surfboard.
Bergström’s college background helped him develop his surfboard design. “I am an environmental scientist. I have a Ph.D. in Environmental Science and have taught at several Universities around the world.” He started the company in 2005, and has been shaping surfboards for family and friends since he was a child. “The combination of these two backgrounds led to the inception of 42 Surfboards,” said Bergström.
42 Surfboards has been using Inventor for over a year. Bergström was using another type of software when a friend told him about Inventor. “It did not take long before we made the switch.” They also use Board Cad, a Scandinavian-based free software.
42 Surfboards uses sustainably harvested wood as much as possible. They have it milled, then glue and chamber their own blanks.
It takes Bergström about 30 hours in a week-long time span to take a design from the concept to the manufacture of the surfboard, and Inventor makes this process smoother. “A surfboard is not your typical mechanical shape. Instead, it is a thoroughly organic shape. Still, if it is to be manufactured, the idea needs to be transferred to a digital file. Inventor makes this easy,” said Bergström.
Unfortunately not all of 42 Surfboards’ secrets are revealed. When asked what design techniques are used in the process, Bergström said, “That, I am afraid, is all top secret and happens behind a door marked with a skull and crossbones.” Regardless of not knowing all Bergström’s secrets, one thing is certain: thanks to Inventor’s digital prototyping capabilities, 42 Surfboards is able to make the dream of creating an environmentally friendly surfboard into a reality.
Every month, Autodesk awards a new Inventor of the Month to a user who exhibits extremely innovative uses of the software. Stay tuned for next month’s feature on the July Inventor of the Month.
By Lauren Browne, ConnectPress Editor
Surfing dates back thousands of years, and yet many things are still the same in the sport. Its simplicity is appreciated in that it only takes a few things to be able to surf: a board, some waves, and a gutsy surfer. But the surfboard design company 42 Surfboards is taking this simplistic sport and adding an element of complexity to their designs.
By using Autodesk Inventor, the company makes precise boards that are also environmentally friendly. Their designs are so innovative that out of the 700,000 users of Inventor, Autodesk has named 42 Surfboards the Inventor of the Month for June, 2008.
Based out of Oregon, 42 Surfboards’ owner and self-proclaimed “floor-sweeper-in-chief” Lars Bergström said “solid modeling lets us iron out all of the kinks in a design before we ever make a woodchip. It lets us analyze various designs from every angle and greatly decreases the time between concept and creation.”
Even better, Bergström focuses on making his carbon footprint as little as possible. The boards are made out of local, sustainably harvested wood and abalone, they compost the sawdust, and the board will last a lifetime with the right tender loving care.
42 Surfboards makes many different models of surfboards. An important aspect to making a good surfboard is to get the density to strength ratio correct. Most modern-day surfboards achieve that ratio, but are made out of foam or balsa wood, which are products that increase a carbon footprint. Foam is a petroleum-based product and balsa wood must be imported all the way from South America.
However, boards made out of solid wood don’t have the lightness and performance as boards made with foam or balsa wood. But that’s where Inventor makes it possible through solid modeling for Bergström to design a board with the lightness of a foam board and combine it with the sturdiness and longevity of a wooden board. With the program, Bergström can digitally create a surfboard as thin or as thick as he wants, while being able to test the strength of the board. In this way, Bergström reduces the amount of unnecessary wood to create a light, yet durable wooden surfboard.
Bergström’s college background helped him develop his surfboard design. “I am an environmental scientist. I have a Ph.D. in Environmental Science and have taught at several Universities around the world.” He started the company in 2005, and has been shaping surfboards for family and friends since he was a child. “The combination of these two backgrounds led to the inception of 42 Surfboards,” said Bergström.
42 Surfboards has been using Inventor for over a year. Bergström was using another type of software when a friend told him about Inventor. “It did not take long before we made the switch.” They also use Board Cad, a Scandinavian-based free software.
42 Surfboards uses sustainably harvested wood as much as possible. They have it milled, then glue and chamber their own blanks.
It takes Bergström about 30 hours in a week-long time span to take a design from the concept to the manufacture of the surfboard, and Inventor makes this process smoother. “A surfboard is not your typical mechanical shape. Instead, it is a thoroughly organic shape. Still, if it is to be manufactured, the idea needs to be transferred to a digital file. Inventor makes this easy,” said Bergström.
Unfortunately not all of 42 Surfboards’ secrets are revealed. When asked what design techniques are used in the process, Bergström said, “That, I am afraid, is all top secret and happens behind a door marked with a skull and crossbones.” Regardless of not knowing all Bergström’s secrets, one thing is certain: thanks to Inventor’s digital prototyping capabilities, 42 Surfboards is able to make the dream of creating an environmentally friendly surfboard into a reality.
Every month, Autodesk awards a new Inventor of the Month to a user who exhibits extremely innovative uses of the software. Stay tuned for next month’s feature on the July Inventor of the Month.
Thursday
From Experiencemanufacturing.com
42 Surfboards, the innovative manufacturer of classic surfboards has been named as Autodesk Inventor of the Month for June 2008.
The Oregon-based company uses Autodesk Inventor software to create its line of high-performance surfboards that are shaped entirely from sustainably harvested local woods. By avoiding materials like foam and balsa wood, which have a large carbon footprint, 42 Surfboards provides surf enthusiasts with a green alternative that reduces the environmental impact of the sport. In the past, foam and balsa wood have been the only materials that manufacturers could use to achieve the proper density ratios for their boards. But neither of these materials is very strong: foam and balsa wood boards often break within the first few months of use and need to be replaced. Additionally, both materials raise environmental concerns. Foam is petroleum-based, with a highly toxic manufacturing process, while balsa wood needs to be transported from South America to other parts of the world, making it prohibitive from a carbon-impact standpoint. Hardwoods have offered a greener alternative, but their weight adversely affect the speed and maneuverability of the boards.
Now, using Autodesk Inventor, 42 Surfboards has created a new generation of wooden surfboards by taking the strength of woods like spruce and poplar and giving them the lightness and performance of materials like foam and balsa wood. The key has been Inventor software's solid modelling functionality, which offers the ability to digitally shape a piece of hardwood and create a wooden surface exactly as thick or thin as needed. By precisely shaping the wood, 42 Surfboards minimizes the total weight while maximizing strength, creating a sturdy board that is very fast and highly maneuverable.
"Inventor is the difference between being able to do what we do, and only being able to imagine it", said Lars Bergstrom, president of 42 Surfboards. "With Inventor's solid modelling capabilities, we are able to be precise on the order of thousandths of an inch in designing our boards, and build them to exact specifications. We would not be able to get anywhere near the tolerance levels we require, and we would not be able to use locally grown and sustainably harvested wood for our surfboards, without solid modelling."Digital Prototyping enables 42 Surfboards to rapidly explore new product ideas and designs without the time and expense of creating physical prototypes. As a result, the company now offers seven different 100% wood surfboard models, designed to last a lifetime, helping to reverse the "disposable board" culture brought about by decades of inexpensive but fragile foam and balsa wood boards.
www.42surfboards.com/.
Each month, Autodesk selects an Inventor of the Month from the more than 700,000 users of Inventor. Winners are chosen for engineering excellence and groundbreaking innovation. For more information contact Autodesk at IOM@autodesk.com.
The Oregon-based company uses Autodesk Inventor software to create its line of high-performance surfboards that are shaped entirely from sustainably harvested local woods. By avoiding materials like foam and balsa wood, which have a large carbon footprint, 42 Surfboards provides surf enthusiasts with a green alternative that reduces the environmental impact of the sport. In the past, foam and balsa wood have been the only materials that manufacturers could use to achieve the proper density ratios for their boards. But neither of these materials is very strong: foam and balsa wood boards often break within the first few months of use and need to be replaced. Additionally, both materials raise environmental concerns. Foam is petroleum-based, with a highly toxic manufacturing process, while balsa wood needs to be transported from South America to other parts of the world, making it prohibitive from a carbon-impact standpoint. Hardwoods have offered a greener alternative, but their weight adversely affect the speed and maneuverability of the boards.
Now, using Autodesk Inventor, 42 Surfboards has created a new generation of wooden surfboards by taking the strength of woods like spruce and poplar and giving them the lightness and performance of materials like foam and balsa wood. The key has been Inventor software's solid modelling functionality, which offers the ability to digitally shape a piece of hardwood and create a wooden surface exactly as thick or thin as needed. By precisely shaping the wood, 42 Surfboards minimizes the total weight while maximizing strength, creating a sturdy board that is very fast and highly maneuverable.
"Inventor is the difference between being able to do what we do, and only being able to imagine it", said Lars Bergstrom, president of 42 Surfboards. "With Inventor's solid modelling capabilities, we are able to be precise on the order of thousandths of an inch in designing our boards, and build them to exact specifications. We would not be able to get anywhere near the tolerance levels we require, and we would not be able to use locally grown and sustainably harvested wood for our surfboards, without solid modelling."Digital Prototyping enables 42 Surfboards to rapidly explore new product ideas and designs without the time and expense of creating physical prototypes. As a result, the company now offers seven different 100% wood surfboard models, designed to last a lifetime, helping to reverse the "disposable board" culture brought about by decades of inexpensive but fragile foam and balsa wood boards.
www.42surfboards.com/.
Each month, Autodesk selects an Inventor of the Month from the more than 700,000 users of Inventor. Winners are chosen for engineering excellence and groundbreaking innovation. For more information contact Autodesk at IOM@autodesk.com.
Tuesday
From Manufacturing Community Update
"Oregon-based 42 Surfboards is a manufacturer of classic American surfboards. By hand shaping local wood into beautiful high-performance surfboards, the company aims to change the very paradigm of choosing a surfboard."
Wow! That sounds really serious.....
Lars and the 42 Crew
Wow! That sounds really serious.....
Lars and the 42 Crew
From Valley of The Sun
"Valley of the Sun Sponsor 42 Surfboards was named Inventor of the Month by Autodesk for June 2008. 42 Surfboards uses Autodesk Inventor software to create its line of high-performance surfboards that are shaped entirely from sustainably harvested local woods. By avoiding materials like foam and balsa wood-which have a large carbon footprint-42 Surfboards provides surf enthusiasts with a green alternative that reduces the environmental impact of the sport. Nice work 42! ->"
Check out Valley of The Sun at Sponsorvalley.blogspot.com. Valley of The Sun is a movie you are not going to want to miss!
Check out Valley of The Sun at Sponsorvalley.blogspot.com. Valley of The Sun is a movie you are not going to want to miss!
From 360 Guide
42 surfboards is one of the rare surfboard creators that make surfboards out of wood. Hollow, retro wooden beauties that can last a lifetime. Wood was the choice material for surfboards for a long long time and in recent times it looks like it has made a comeback.
The guy behind wooden surfboards from 42 surfboards is Lars Bergström. You can catch an interview with him at Phoresia.org or you can go straight to his blog where he follows the making of many of the wooden surfboards they make.
Taken from the Lars Bergström interview: "I have no clue what the volumes of our boards are. Our shapes are typically a little thicker with a little fuller rail than many of the other boards that you see in the water. This has less to do with the fact that we shape in wood and more to do with the idea that I like to build cheaters. Cheaters are boards that ride so well and so easy and grab you so many waves, that you feel like you are cheating. The rest of the world can feel like they are “progressing” by sitting neck deep in the lineup on their quad-fin skimboard. Don’t think I am not stoked to have them out there – I use that poor guy as my bouy marker so I know where to sit when I come back from my 50th wave of the session. "
How much? This might not be the first question from the wood surfboard buyer because for sure price can't be his motivation :) but right now you can get one for $4500.
As one might expect, people building wood surfboards care about their environment so another cool thing we found on their blog is the fact that besides giving money to both Sea Shepherd and Surfrider, they plant hundreds of trees for surfboard they build. In the coming year they plan on planting between 5000 and 7000 trees on the Oregon Coast. Good luck!
The guy behind wooden surfboards from 42 surfboards is Lars Bergström. You can catch an interview with him at Phoresia.org or you can go straight to his blog where he follows the making of many of the wooden surfboards they make.
Taken from the Lars Bergström interview: "I have no clue what the volumes of our boards are. Our shapes are typically a little thicker with a little fuller rail than many of the other boards that you see in the water. This has less to do with the fact that we shape in wood and more to do with the idea that I like to build cheaters. Cheaters are boards that ride so well and so easy and grab you so many waves, that you feel like you are cheating. The rest of the world can feel like they are “progressing” by sitting neck deep in the lineup on their quad-fin skimboard. Don’t think I am not stoked to have them out there – I use that poor guy as my bouy marker so I know where to sit when I come back from my 50th wave of the session. "
How much? This might not be the first question from the wood surfboard buyer because for sure price can't be his motivation :) but right now you can get one for $4500.
As one might expect, people building wood surfboards care about their environment so another cool thing we found on their blog is the fact that besides giving money to both Sea Shepherd and Surfrider, they plant hundreds of trees for surfboard they build. In the coming year they plan on planting between 5000 and 7000 trees on the Oregon Coast. Good luck!
From Besportier.com
“... disposable boards just aren't going to cut it anymore. Nor are toxic boards made from the same old poisonous soup that has been used since the early ‘60s. By hand-shaping local wood into beautiful high performance surfboards, our goal is to change the very paradigm of choosing a surfboard. Instead of choosing the quick and easy, the cheap and sleazy, the pop-out molded spray-painted cookie cutter foam toy, we want you to think a little. Think about the long-term cost. The environmental cost. The aesthetic cost. The social cost. And then go with the choice that is simply better by nature.” So says Lars Bergström, who has a PhD in Environmental Science and is the founder of 42 Surfboards.
The makers of 42 Surfboards stand by their words and use sustainably harvested wood and abalone with the waste sawdust composted at a local nursery.
42 Surfboards believe that making the most durable boards possible is the best first step towards taking care of our environment. Even their offices use wind power and they are members of both Sea Shepherd and The Surfrider Foundation. 42 Surfboards.
Inventor of the month
Autodesk Names 42 Surfboards as Inventor of the Month for June 2008
Innovative Manufacturer Uses Autodesk Inventor Digital Prototyping Software to Develop Environmentally Friendly, High-Performance Wooden Surfboards
SAN RAFAEL, Calif., June 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Autodesk, Inc. has named 42 Surfboards, an Oregon-based manufacturer of classic surfboards, the Autodesk Inventor of the Month for June 2008. 42 Surfboards uses Autodesk Inventor software to create its line of high-performance surfboards that are shaped entirely from sustainably harvested local woods. By avoiding materials like foam and balsa wood-which have a large carbon footprint-42 Surfboards provides surf enthusiasts with a green alternative that reduces the environmental impact of the sport.
The Inventor of the Month program recognizes the most innovative design and engineering advancements made by the extensive community using products from the Autodesk Inventor software product family -- the foundation of the Autodesk solution for Digital Prototyping. A digital prototype is a realistic 3D model of the entire end product, used to virtually optimize and validate a product before it is built to reduce the necessity of constructing physical prototypes.
Historically, foam and balsa wood have been the only materials that major surfboard manufacturers could use to achieve the proper density ratios for their boards. Unfortunately, neither of these materials is very strong: foam and balsa wood boards often break within the first few months of use and need to be replaced.
What's more, both materials raise environmental concerns. Foam -- which is a petroleum-based product -- has a highly toxic manufacturing process, while balsa wood needs to be transported from South America to other parts of the world, making it prohibitive from a carbon-impact standpoint. Hardwood is much stronger than these materials -- and has been used by individuals for centuries to fashion surfboards -- but it has the disadvantage of being very heavy, which affects the speed and maneuverability of the board and its surfer.
Solid Modeling Leads to Innovation
Autodesk Inventor enables 42 Surfboards to create a new generation of wooden surfboards by taking the strength of woods like spruce and poplar and giving it the lightness and performance of lighter materials like foam and balsa wood.
The key is Inventor software's solid modeling functionality, which enables 42 Surfboards to digitally shape a piece of hardwood and create a wooden surface exactly as thick or thin as needed. By precisely shaping the wood, 42 Surfboards minimizes the total weight while maximizing strength, creating a sturdy board that is very fast and highly maneuverable.
"Inventor is the difference between being able to do what we do, and only being able to imagine it," said Lars Bergstrom, president of 42 Surfboards. "With Inventor's solid modeling capabilities, we are able to be precise on the order of thousandths of an inch in designing our boards, and build them to exact specifications. We would not be able to get anywhere near the tolerance levels we require, and we would not be able to use locally grown and sustainably harvested wood for our surfboards, without solid modeling."
Digital Prototyping enables 42 Surfboards to rapidly explore new product ideas and designs without the time and expense of creating physical prototypes. As a result, the company now offers seven different 100% wood surfboard models within its product lineup. Each model is designed to last a lifetime, helping to reverse the "disposable board" culture brought about by decades of inexpensive but fragile foam and balsa wood boards.
"42 Surfboards saw a market need for an environmentally friendly surfboard, and Inventor gave them the technology to make that vision a reality," said Robert "Buzz" Kross, senior vice president of Autodesk Manufacturing Solutions. "It is a pleasure to name 42 Surfboards as our Inventor of the Month."
About the Autodesk Inventor of the Month Program
Each month, Autodesk selects an Inventor of the Month from the more than 700,000 users of Autodesk Inventor software, the foundation for Digital Prototyping. Winners are chosen for engineering excellence and groundbreaking innovation. For more information about the Autodesk Inventor of the Month program, contact us at IOM@autodesk.com.
About 42 Surfboards
Oregon-based 42 Surfboards is a manufacturer of classic American surfboards. By hand shaping local wood into beautiful high-performance surfboards, the company aims to change the very paradigm of choosing a surfboard. For additional information about 42 Surfboards, visit http://www.42surfboards.com/.
Innovative Manufacturer Uses Autodesk Inventor Digital Prototyping Software to Develop Environmentally Friendly, High-Performance Wooden Surfboards
SAN RAFAEL, Calif., June 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Autodesk, Inc. has named 42 Surfboards, an Oregon-based manufacturer of classic surfboards, the Autodesk Inventor of the Month for June 2008. 42 Surfboards uses Autodesk Inventor software to create its line of high-performance surfboards that are shaped entirely from sustainably harvested local woods. By avoiding materials like foam and balsa wood-which have a large carbon footprint-42 Surfboards provides surf enthusiasts with a green alternative that reduces the environmental impact of the sport.
The Inventor of the Month program recognizes the most innovative design and engineering advancements made by the extensive community using products from the Autodesk Inventor software product family -- the foundation of the Autodesk solution for Digital Prototyping. A digital prototype is a realistic 3D model of the entire end product, used to virtually optimize and validate a product before it is built to reduce the necessity of constructing physical prototypes.
Historically, foam and balsa wood have been the only materials that major surfboard manufacturers could use to achieve the proper density ratios for their boards. Unfortunately, neither of these materials is very strong: foam and balsa wood boards often break within the first few months of use and need to be replaced.
What's more, both materials raise environmental concerns. Foam -- which is a petroleum-based product -- has a highly toxic manufacturing process, while balsa wood needs to be transported from South America to other parts of the world, making it prohibitive from a carbon-impact standpoint. Hardwood is much stronger than these materials -- and has been used by individuals for centuries to fashion surfboards -- but it has the disadvantage of being very heavy, which affects the speed and maneuverability of the board and its surfer.
Solid Modeling Leads to Innovation
Autodesk Inventor enables 42 Surfboards to create a new generation of wooden surfboards by taking the strength of woods like spruce and poplar and giving it the lightness and performance of lighter materials like foam and balsa wood.
The key is Inventor software's solid modeling functionality, which enables 42 Surfboards to digitally shape a piece of hardwood and create a wooden surface exactly as thick or thin as needed. By precisely shaping the wood, 42 Surfboards minimizes the total weight while maximizing strength, creating a sturdy board that is very fast and highly maneuverable.
"Inventor is the difference between being able to do what we do, and only being able to imagine it," said Lars Bergstrom, president of 42 Surfboards. "With Inventor's solid modeling capabilities, we are able to be precise on the order of thousandths of an inch in designing our boards, and build them to exact specifications. We would not be able to get anywhere near the tolerance levels we require, and we would not be able to use locally grown and sustainably harvested wood for our surfboards, without solid modeling."
Digital Prototyping enables 42 Surfboards to rapidly explore new product ideas and designs without the time and expense of creating physical prototypes. As a result, the company now offers seven different 100% wood surfboard models within its product lineup. Each model is designed to last a lifetime, helping to reverse the "disposable board" culture brought about by decades of inexpensive but fragile foam and balsa wood boards.
"42 Surfboards saw a market need for an environmentally friendly surfboard, and Inventor gave them the technology to make that vision a reality," said Robert "Buzz" Kross, senior vice president of Autodesk Manufacturing Solutions. "It is a pleasure to name 42 Surfboards as our Inventor of the Month."
About the Autodesk Inventor of the Month Program
Each month, Autodesk selects an Inventor of the Month from the more than 700,000 users of Autodesk Inventor software, the foundation for Digital Prototyping. Winners are chosen for engineering excellence and groundbreaking innovation. For more information about the Autodesk Inventor of the Month program, contact us at IOM@autodesk.com.
About 42 Surfboards
Oregon-based 42 Surfboards is a manufacturer of classic American surfboards. By hand shaping local wood into beautiful high-performance surfboards, the company aims to change the very paradigm of choosing a surfboard. For additional information about 42 Surfboards, visit http://www.42surfboards.com/.
From USA Today
"Stoked on a wooden surfboard"
For me -- an old school soul surfer who writes about technology -- it doesn't get any cooler than this.
Portland, Ore.-based surfboard maker Lars Bergstrom, of 42 surfboards, has used Autodesk Inventor software to create a line of seven high-performance surfboards shaped entirely from local woods. Bergstrom's boards could help "reverse the disposable board culture brought about by decades of inexpensive but fragile foam and balsa wood boards,” says Autodesk Senior Vice President Buzz Kross.
(Confession: I'm guilty of discarding a few pintailed guns in my time. Wish I had those back.)
Autodesk's prototype designing program enabled Bergstrom to digitally pre-shape a piece of wood exactly as thick or thin as needed. No trees killed wastefully. "Without this technology, we would not be able to get anywhere near the tolerance levels we require," Bergstom told me. "We would not have been able to use locally grown, sustainably-harvested wood that not only give soul to our boards, but give soul back to the earth.” Righteous!
By Byron
Posted at 05:30 AM/ET, July 21, 2008
For me -- an old school soul surfer who writes about technology -- it doesn't get any cooler than this.
Portland, Ore.-based surfboard maker Lars Bergstrom, of 42 surfboards, has used Autodesk Inventor software to create a line of seven high-performance surfboards shaped entirely from local woods. Bergstrom's boards could help "reverse the disposable board culture brought about by decades of inexpensive but fragile foam and balsa wood boards,” says Autodesk Senior Vice President Buzz Kross.
(Confession: I'm guilty of discarding a few pintailed guns in my time. Wish I had those back.)
Autodesk's prototype designing program enabled Bergstrom to digitally pre-shape a piece of wood exactly as thick or thin as needed. No trees killed wastefully. "Without this technology, we would not be able to get anywhere near the tolerance levels we require," Bergstom told me. "We would not have been able to use locally grown, sustainably-harvested wood that not only give soul to our boards, but give soul back to the earth.” Righteous!
By Byron
Posted at 05:30 AM/ET, July 21, 2008
Wednesday
Arrival Etiquette
Don't show up at a spot with six buddies and dominate. Pull up by yourself. Paddle out by yourself. And don't hog all the waves. It's as easy as that.
If you are car-pooling (good for you!), spread out.
There are few things as annoying as enjoying a nice session and having it instantly crowd-ified by a single group.
Be cool. Be mellow. And enjoy.
Lars and the 42 Crew
If you are car-pooling (good for you!), spread out.
There are few things as annoying as enjoying a nice session and having it instantly crowd-ified by a single group.
Be cool. Be mellow. And enjoy.
Lars and the 42 Crew
Thursday
Don't hassle others.
Don't do it in the line up. And let that carry over into the rest of your life.
Lars and the 42 Crew
Lars and the 42 Crew
Wednesday
Eric and his 9'3
Eric likes his 9'3. 
Next week hope to surf it at (NAME OMITTED), a special spot that you either walk a mile on the beach to get to it. or have someone with a key to the special gates that bring you through private prop. Like (NAME OMITTED)in San Diego.
Speak soon
PS Got a 2x4 for the living room and decided to walk on that instead. There was thick carpet between the floor and the board, but wil stay off the land surfing..... "
All the best,
Lars
"Lars, I just got the board.
"I surfed it all day saturday and all day sunday at Malibu. Can you say speed sled?.......Love the board, so much fun to ride, holds like glue in the white water if you can't make the section. Overall, responsive, crazy speed once you get moving. Very fluid ride, can get her higher in the pocket quicker and stay there.
Thanks again for everything Lars. You're a man of your word and a great builder and shaper and someday I will be able to tell my grandkid the story of this board when he is riding it. Hope to catch a couple with you here in socal.
Next week hope to surf it at (NAME OMITTED), a special spot that you either walk a mile on the beach to get to it. or have someone with a key to the special gates that bring you through private prop. Like (NAME OMITTED)in San Diego.
Speak soon
Eric
PS Got a 2x4 for the living room and decided to walk on that instead. There was thick carpet between the floor and the board, but wil stay off the land surfing..... "
"Hi Eric,
I'm happy that your board is home. The membrane that you see in your plug is masking tape. They put that there when they glass so they won't fill the plug. Never surf without screwing in that plug! As far as how far to screw it in - it needs to be sealed. When you come out of the water and unscrew it before heading home, you will hear a distinct exhalation.
As far as walking on the board on land, I don't think I would do that. That just puts unnecessary stress on the board in a much more concentrated fashion than what you are doing in the water. In the water, all of that stress is spread over the whole board. On land you focus it between your heel and one spot.
The cracking you heard was definitely the glass flexing over the wood. If you have ever done that to a foam board, it would have done that too, but you wouldn't have heard it because the foam would absorb the sound of the cracking.
Your board is chambered down to right around 3/16ths of an inch throughout. This is much thinner than any other chambered boards that I know of. This lets us glass with two layers of 6 oz on top and one on the bottom as opposed to one 4 oz on each side. What we are doing by doing this is taking the weight that we are pulling out of the core and focusing it at the very outside of the board, right where you need the strength.
The weight might be similar to a chambered balsa or a heavy Tyler or Bing, but our weight is all at the surface. Still, I wouldn't walk on any board on land. Hope you had a good session on Saturday.
All the best,
Lars
42 Surfboards
"Lars, I just got the board.
Thank you so much for everything with this. I am heading out to Malibu to surf it. Can't wait.
Thanks again lars.
Best Eric
PS 2 tech questions about board
How tight do I screw in the plug on the rear of the board? Is there a something down the hole like a fabric membrane? It looks like they punctured it (the membrane) when they glassed the board.
When I put the board in my living room and walked on the deck it makes sound of the wood cracking or settling. I assume this is normal but I have never experienced this on a surfboard. Just checking to make sure all is cool with the board. ek"
Joe and the Black Sun Fish
Joe wrote the other day. He is the proud new owner of the Black Sun Fish.
Here is a bit of what he and I had to say:hey lars,you crack me up,
i'm still laughing from the explanation of 42. i read hitchhikers guide a long time ago but it still rang a bell with me. maybe i should have phrased it as an answer. i know there were no underlying hints on my size... i was laughing at myself. last question i promise. is the epoxy job a gloss? reason i ask is the gloss foam boards i have always seems to get scratched up from my board bags... salt/sand etc. this board iwould like to try and keep it nice for obviousreasons. thanks for the excellent answers. you sold it. let meknow where to send the check. oh and snackles are what i call cracks that don't ding but leave a snowflake or sunburst pattern in the glassand cloth. if you could mail a bill of sale or receipt when youget my check i would appreciate it. when you get downhere to deliver we can work out the meet-up. in a month i'll be on schedule at work (la countylifeguard) up at zuma or malibu and not home (venice area) much.best, joe
Hi Joe,There were no underlying hints about your size. We are all exactly who we are. I am a little smaller than you and I surf this same shape in spruce in a 5'10. I'll shoot a few more pictures for you of the BlackSun fish. No problems there.
Our boards have all been glassed in resin research epoxy since early 2007. Before that, we glassed all of our boards in polyester. The epoxy is way stronger and as long as our glassers stay clean, it is a lot healthier for them as well. As far as heel dents go, I don't know that there is anything stronger than wood and epoxy. I have never seen one of our boards "dent" like a foam or balsa board.
I surf without a leash and one of the three spots that I surf most commonly is a long left rock point. In the winter, we sometimes have to wait for months before the swell will drop below 12 feet (my cut-off). Who knows what that means for faces on a rock point?! In any case, I do lose my board every now and then and when I do, it goes up on the rocks. If the rocks are sharp, the board can get a gash through the glass and epoxy and into the wood. If the rocks are round, the board can definitely pick up a ding. However, these are all things that can be ground out at the glass shop and repaired. I don't know what "snackling" is but you shouldn't walk on our boards in the living room. One of my clients liked to do that for some reason. There was no apparent damage to the board but he did hear crackling. Which could be similar to snackling... I'm not sure about that though.
The Black Sun fish has never been surfed. I did bring it with me to the Longboard Collectors Show in Pacific Beach two weeks ago. Of the ten boards that Ibrought, the Black Sun was the hit. The guys there all wanted our longboards though.
The Black Sun on this fish is covering two knots that are side by side. We love knots. Without them, people can't even see that your board is wood. They are what add the natural character to the board. However, whenever there is a large knot we glass it from the inside as well as from the outside. The way that we chamber boards though, doesn't let us see exactly what will be where when the board is finished. In this case, there were two largish knots next to eachother that I wanted to reinforce and fair out (Knots are much harder than the surrounding wood). So I ground down the knots, glassed them from the inside of the board, faired them out with epoxy thickened with spruce sawdust on the outside, painted the black sun, inlaid the abalone at the same time as the logo, and glassed the board with double 6 oz on the top and a single layer of 6 oz on the bottom. Bomber.
I didn't wrap the sun around the bottom because I didn't think about it. I've always done my art separate - top and bottom. I'll definitely wrap it around the rail next time though. That's a cool idea.
The vent is for flying or leaving your board in a hot car.
42 is the Latitude that separates Oregon from California. 42, according to Douglas Adams is the meaning of Life, The Universe, and Everything. 42 is probably how old I will be before I stop paying my employees out of my kids' college funds. 42 was the number on the license plate of my 1959 Chevy Apache. I don't know - what IS the significance of 42?
OK Joe. I've had enough of a break. Back to the woodpile.
All the best,
Lars42 Surfboards
www.42surfboards.com
www.42surfboards.blogspot.com
Monday
Open your eyes
Don’t close your eyes in the tube.
Open them wide. Stay focused on your goal, that spot 100 yards down the line out in the light. And let your peripheral vision take in all the sights that will come flooding back to you in dreams, day dreams, and visions. The lip folding over your head. The curve of the wall in front of you. The water falling on the far side of your board. The foam ball being kicked up and back by the crashing lip. All of these things are too priceless to be missed by just standing there and closing your eyes.
Plus you are much more likely to trip, fall, and go flying over the falls.
On the wave, as in life.
Lars and the 42 Crew
Open them wide. Stay focused on your goal, that spot 100 yards down the line out in the light. And let your peripheral vision take in all the sights that will come flooding back to you in dreams, day dreams, and visions. The lip folding over your head. The curve of the wall in front of you. The water falling on the far side of your board. The foam ball being kicked up and back by the crashing lip. All of these things are too priceless to be missed by just standing there and closing your eyes.
Plus you are much more likely to trip, fall, and go flying over the falls.
On the wave, as in life.
Lars and the 42 Crew
Eco-Iconic
Always in the lead, 42 Surfboards has most recently been described by some as ECO-ICONIC.
Not satisfied to be out filming eco-documentaries, performing carbon emission studies, or being part of the latest corporate greening initiatives, 42 Surfboards wanted to part of the solution. We don’t want to talk about it. We want to be in the thick of it. We are dedicated being part of the move from a wasteful, polluting economy to a sustainable one.
And so are our customers.
As all of the media attention of late has highlighted for us, consumers are way beyond simple ‘eco awareness’. It isn’t just treehuggers, and deep green celebrities that are into the change anymore. It is every one of our customers. These are surfers. Just like you and me.
According to Trendwatching.com, the trend (coincidence?) has gone something like this:
From ECO-UGLY (ugly, over-priced, low-performance, unsavory yet eco-friendly versions of the ‘real thing’) to ECO-CHIC (eco-friendly stuff that actually looks as nice and cool as the less sustainable originals) to now ECO-ICONIC.
ECO-ICONIC "Eco-friendly goods and services sporting bold, iconic markers and design, helping their eco-conscious owners show off their eco-credentials to their peers. At the heart of ECO-ICONIC is a status shift (isn’t there always?): many consumers are eager to flaunt their green behavior and possessions because there are now millions of other consumers who are actually impressed by green lifestyles.”
According to the above definition, ECO-ICONIC is exactly what 42 Surfboards is. It's not about bragging. It's about caring. Caring about where your board came from and what it was made of and how it was made. We are talking about sustainably harvested wood and abalone. Wind-powered office and shop. And beautiful surfboards flying across beautiful waves.
We are green. We’re stoked to be green. And we are stoked to build boards for surfers that care that we are green.
Then again, we’re just as stoked to build classic wood surfboards for our customers that just enjoy a long screaming-fast ride from one end of the point to the other. Standing tall on the nose. Hand in the lip. Eyes tearing. Hair flying.
I guess nothing’s changed after all…
See you out there.
Lars and the 42 Crew.
Not satisfied to be out filming eco-documentaries, performing carbon emission studies, or being part of the latest corporate greening initiatives, 42 Surfboards wanted to part of the solution. We don’t want to talk about it. We want to be in the thick of it. We are dedicated being part of the move from a wasteful, polluting economy to a sustainable one.
And so are our customers.
As all of the media attention of late has highlighted for us, consumers are way beyond simple ‘eco awareness’. It isn’t just treehuggers, and deep green celebrities that are into the change anymore. It is every one of our customers. These are surfers. Just like you and me.
According to Trendwatching.com, the trend (coincidence?) has gone something like this:
From ECO-UGLY (ugly, over-priced, low-performance, unsavory yet eco-friendly versions of the ‘real thing’) to ECO-CHIC (eco-friendly stuff that actually looks as nice and cool as the less sustainable originals) to now ECO-ICONIC.
ECO-ICONIC "Eco-friendly goods and services sporting bold, iconic markers and design, helping their eco-conscious owners show off their eco-credentials to their peers. At the heart of ECO-ICONIC is a status shift (isn’t there always?): many consumers are eager to flaunt their green behavior and possessions because there are now millions of other consumers who are actually impressed by green lifestyles.”
According to the above definition, ECO-ICONIC is exactly what 42 Surfboards is. It's not about bragging. It's about caring. Caring about where your board came from and what it was made of and how it was made. We are talking about sustainably harvested wood and abalone. Wind-powered office and shop. And beautiful surfboards flying across beautiful waves.
We are green. We’re stoked to be green. And we are stoked to build boards for surfers that care that we are green.
Then again, we’re just as stoked to build classic wood surfboards for our customers that just enjoy a long screaming-fast ride from one end of the point to the other. Standing tall on the nose. Hand in the lip. Eyes tearing. Hair flying.
I guess nothing’s changed after all…
See you out there.
Lars and the 42 Crew.
Men's Journal
Claire from Men's Journal called with some questions the other day. Something about a coming article about wood boards...
Here's what we had to say:
Hi Claire,
Thanks for your questions. They are very timely. If you need photos of wood boards, feel free to use anything off of our website or blog. If you click on the photos on the blog, you'll usually get carried to a hi-res version.
42 Surfboards is here today because of the eco-movement in surfing and in the world. Our goal is to build surfboards that are as easy on the environment as they are fun to ride. And so far so good!
Although I believe we build more 100% wood surfboards than anyone else in the world, we don't do it to be retro. We don't do it to be cool. And we don't do it because it is the latest thing to hit the surfing world. We build surfboards from wood because it is a fantastic sustainable material that surfs great.
Unlike many companies that shape a wood board every now and then, 42 Surfboards only builds chambered wood surfboards. When the day comes that we introduce another line of boards, it will only be because we have come up with something that is even more environmentally friendly.
Pushing our work further and further in the direction of being 100% green is the most important thing at 42 Surfboards. And it isn't something that is new to us. Our lead designer, Forrest Hubler, has one degree in environmental science and is working on a second one in mechanical engineering. Our lead shaper, Lars Bergstrom, has a masters degree in environmental science and a PhD in environmental and natural resource sciences. We are serious!
And if it isn't green enough for you that your shaper has a PhD in environmental science, Lars has been shaping surfboards for over twenty years. We are serious and we know what we are doing.
42's wood surfboards are designed to last a long time. They are super fun to ride. They are beautiful. They didn't get pulled out of the top of an oil well. And they didn't kill the poor guy who built the blank.
Here at 42 Surfboards, all we build are chambered wooden surfboards. That is just what we build though. In everything we do, our focus on sustainability. This means we not only maximize the resources that we use but also our time on the water. Because if we aren't having fun, our customers won't keep getting the most beautiful surfboards in the world.
Beyond having a good time at and around work though, sustainability directs where we get our materials from, where we buy our energy from, what we do with our waste, how we glass our boards, and even what our coming designs will look like. And every day, we get a little better.
After the huge storms of last winter, our wood is coming primarily from blown down trees that we harvest ourselves. We power both our offices and our shop with power generated by windturbines. We glass our boards with super-durable, low VOC epoxy. And we are always looking for the next step.
At the center of this approach though, lies the quality of our surfboards. At 42 Surfboards, our boards are built to serve as high-speed surf vehicles, shockingly beautiful art, and heirlooms. We want these boards to be passed down to our customers' grandkids.
By always questioning our business approach and our durability, we hope to reach our goal of not only having the least environmental impact of any board builder on the planet but to actually have a net positive impact on both our local and global environment.
42 Surfboards is small, but we are not little. We are loud and we always carry a big stick. One of those sticks is the money that we donate to the Surfrider Foundation, Sea Shepherd, and local environmental causes. In 2007, we donated over 6% of our sales to these causes, investing directly in the world we want to live in. This is a quote from a 2007 interview with Phoresia.org;
"Edward Abbey once said something on the order of "Constant growth is the philosophy of a cancer cell." I admire Yvon Chouinard and "Let my people go surfing" is required reading for all of our employees at 42 Surfboards. But I greatly admire the work of Edward Abbey and 42 Surfboards is not here to grow. 42 Surfboards is not here to become some mega-conglomerate. 42 Surfboards is here to build surfboards, be a great place to work, and show that you can have a positive impact on the environment while feeding your kids and doing something you love.
Being part of Sea Shepherd and The Surfrider Foundation are not something we do for image or marketing. These fantastic groups are actually part of our reason for existing. It is thrilling to take part of our earnings and commit them to real on-the-ground activism. At the same time though, it is an investment that any business that actually cares about our environment can't afford to miss. Just as David Brower said "There is no business to be done on a dead planet", there are no waves to be ridden in a dead ocean. We hope that all of our colleagues will join us in supporting Sea Shepherd and The Surfrider Foundation."
There is some notion that this idea of wood boards is new to surfing. That couldn't be further from the truth. The natural stoke that someone gets when they see one of our boards for the first time is something that I swear sits on a surfer's DNA. Surfboards have been built out of wood for 4000 years. And once people catch on to how fun wood boards are to ride and how much easier they are on the world around them, foam will be relegated to a blip on the surfing timeline. A foamy anomoly. Foam is the new kid on the block, not wood.
Wood is nicer to shape and it doesn't get stuck under your eyelids (although balsa and agave dust are pretty awful to work around). Wood is easier on the eye, easier on the planet, and easier under foot.
At 42 Surfboards we are surfers. We are scientists. We are fifth generation wood workers. And our customers are surfers who enjoy the fruits of our wierd culmination.
42 Surfboards has gone beyond the call of duty with our wood surfboards. Our boards are not only green, super durable, and build from beautiful wood, the boards are handcrafted to the tightest tolerances imaginable. Again, from Phoresia.org:
"No blank builders to date have ever been able to build chambered wood blanks to the specifications that we are today. Between this and using crystal clear epoxy and bomber layups, our boards are burly but are very light. Not as light as the imported pop-out you can find on Isle 11 at Sprawlmart, but so light that I constantly have to remind people in the shop to be careful. Otherwise they grab the board and, thinking that they are going to be lifting a log, they ram it solidly up into the ceiling. Sheepishly.
I have no clue what the volumes of our boards are. Our shapes are typically a little thicker with a little fuller rail than many of the other boards that you see in the water. This has less to do with the fact that we shape in wood and more to do with the idea that I like to build cheaters. Cheaters are boards that ride so well and so easy and grab you so many waves, that you feel like you are cheating. The rest of the world can feel like they are "progressing" by sitting neck deep in the lineup on their quad-fin skimboard. Don't think I am not stoked to have them out there - I use that poor guy as my bouy marker so I know where to sit when I come back from my 50th wave of the session.
For 42 Surfboards, sustainability is the only morally acceptable option. We are not doing what we are doing because some marketing consultant told us that it would sell. This is what is right. And this is what we do.
The surfers that agree have made us the single largest builder of wood surfboards in the world. Every month we build more boards than we did the month before. And every month those boards take the place of more foam boards out in the line-up. People ask me from time to time if we are afraid of the giant pop-out builders in Thailand stealing our niche. Worried? No way! If anything, I hope they try. As a start though, they would have to do it without using pirated lumber out of Burma. That's what their accountants would try to get them to do.
You see, in order to do what we do, you have to mean it. Even if it costs more to do it that way. Our customers know that when we build our boards like we do, we mean it. And if the giant suppliers of cookier cutter boards suddenly change their tune and want to become environmentally conscious, and they mean it, I won't feel ripped off. I'll be stoked! That would be fantastic.
Nobody can smell a fraud better than surfers though. So if someone goes claiming to be green, they better be serious. Or they better prepare to be roasted by the most unappologetic group I have ever had the pleasure of being part of.
If you have any other questions Claire, let me know and I'll get back with you later this weekend.
All the best,
Lars
42 Surfboards
www.42surfboards.com
www.42surfboards.blogspot.com
Here's what we had to say:
Hi Claire,
Thanks for your questions. They are very timely. If you need photos of wood boards, feel free to use anything off of our website or blog. If you click on the photos on the blog, you'll usually get carried to a hi-res version.
42 Surfboards is here today because of the eco-movement in surfing and in the world. Our goal is to build surfboards that are as easy on the environment as they are fun to ride. And so far so good!
Although I believe we build more 100% wood surfboards than anyone else in the world, we don't do it to be retro. We don't do it to be cool. And we don't do it because it is the latest thing to hit the surfing world. We build surfboards from wood because it is a fantastic sustainable material that surfs great.
Unlike many companies that shape a wood board every now and then, 42 Surfboards only builds chambered wood surfboards. When the day comes that we introduce another line of boards, it will only be because we have come up with something that is even more environmentally friendly.
Pushing our work further and further in the direction of being 100% green is the most important thing at 42 Surfboards. And it isn't something that is new to us. Our lead designer, Forrest Hubler, has one degree in environmental science and is working on a second one in mechanical engineering. Our lead shaper, Lars Bergstrom, has a masters degree in environmental science and a PhD in environmental and natural resource sciences. We are serious!
And if it isn't green enough for you that your shaper has a PhD in environmental science, Lars has been shaping surfboards for over twenty years. We are serious and we know what we are doing.
42's wood surfboards are designed to last a long time. They are super fun to ride. They are beautiful. They didn't get pulled out of the top of an oil well. And they didn't kill the poor guy who built the blank.
Here at 42 Surfboards, all we build are chambered wooden surfboards. That is just what we build though. In everything we do, our focus on sustainability. This means we not only maximize the resources that we use but also our time on the water. Because if we aren't having fun, our customers won't keep getting the most beautiful surfboards in the world.
Beyond having a good time at and around work though, sustainability directs where we get our materials from, where we buy our energy from, what we do with our waste, how we glass our boards, and even what our coming designs will look like. And every day, we get a little better.
After the huge storms of last winter, our wood is coming primarily from blown down trees that we harvest ourselves. We power both our offices and our shop with power generated by windturbines. We glass our boards with super-durable, low VOC epoxy. And we are always looking for the next step.
At the center of this approach though, lies the quality of our surfboards. At 42 Surfboards, our boards are built to serve as high-speed surf vehicles, shockingly beautiful art, and heirlooms. We want these boards to be passed down to our customers' grandkids.
By always questioning our business approach and our durability, we hope to reach our goal of not only having the least environmental impact of any board builder on the planet but to actually have a net positive impact on both our local and global environment.
42 Surfboards is small, but we are not little. We are loud and we always carry a big stick. One of those sticks is the money that we donate to the Surfrider Foundation, Sea Shepherd, and local environmental causes. In 2007, we donated over 6% of our sales to these causes, investing directly in the world we want to live in. This is a quote from a 2007 interview with Phoresia.org;
"Edward Abbey once said something on the order of "Constant growth is the philosophy of a cancer cell." I admire Yvon Chouinard and "Let my people go surfing" is required reading for all of our employees at 42 Surfboards. But I greatly admire the work of Edward Abbey and 42 Surfboards is not here to grow. 42 Surfboards is not here to become some mega-conglomerate. 42 Surfboards is here to build surfboards, be a great place to work, and show that you can have a positive impact on the environment while feeding your kids and doing something you love.
Being part of Sea Shepherd and The Surfrider Foundation are not something we do for image or marketing. These fantastic groups are actually part of our reason for existing. It is thrilling to take part of our earnings and commit them to real on-the-ground activism. At the same time though, it is an investment that any business that actually cares about our environment can't afford to miss. Just as David Brower said "There is no business to be done on a dead planet", there are no waves to be ridden in a dead ocean. We hope that all of our colleagues will join us in supporting Sea Shepherd and The Surfrider Foundation."
There is some notion that this idea of wood boards is new to surfing. That couldn't be further from the truth. The natural stoke that someone gets when they see one of our boards for the first time is something that I swear sits on a surfer's DNA. Surfboards have been built out of wood for 4000 years. And once people catch on to how fun wood boards are to ride and how much easier they are on the world around them, foam will be relegated to a blip on the surfing timeline. A foamy anomoly. Foam is the new kid on the block, not wood.
Wood is nicer to shape and it doesn't get stuck under your eyelids (although balsa and agave dust are pretty awful to work around). Wood is easier on the eye, easier on the planet, and easier under foot.
At 42 Surfboards we are surfers. We are scientists. We are fifth generation wood workers. And our customers are surfers who enjoy the fruits of our wierd culmination.
42 Surfboards has gone beyond the call of duty with our wood surfboards. Our boards are not only green, super durable, and build from beautiful wood, the boards are handcrafted to the tightest tolerances imaginable. Again, from Phoresia.org:
"No blank builders to date have ever been able to build chambered wood blanks to the specifications that we are today. Between this and using crystal clear epoxy and bomber layups, our boards are burly but are very light. Not as light as the imported pop-out you can find on Isle 11 at Sprawlmart, but so light that I constantly have to remind people in the shop to be careful. Otherwise they grab the board and, thinking that they are going to be lifting a log, they ram it solidly up into the ceiling. Sheepishly.
I have no clue what the volumes of our boards are. Our shapes are typically a little thicker with a little fuller rail than many of the other boards that you see in the water. This has less to do with the fact that we shape in wood and more to do with the idea that I like to build cheaters. Cheaters are boards that ride so well and so easy and grab you so many waves, that you feel like you are cheating. The rest of the world can feel like they are "progressing" by sitting neck deep in the lineup on their quad-fin skimboard. Don't think I am not stoked to have them out there - I use that poor guy as my bouy marker so I know where to sit when I come back from my 50th wave of the session.
For 42 Surfboards, sustainability is the only morally acceptable option. We are not doing what we are doing because some marketing consultant told us that it would sell. This is what is right. And this is what we do.
The surfers that agree have made us the single largest builder of wood surfboards in the world. Every month we build more boards than we did the month before. And every month those boards take the place of more foam boards out in the line-up. People ask me from time to time if we are afraid of the giant pop-out builders in Thailand stealing our niche. Worried? No way! If anything, I hope they try. As a start though, they would have to do it without using pirated lumber out of Burma. That's what their accountants would try to get them to do.
You see, in order to do what we do, you have to mean it. Even if it costs more to do it that way. Our customers know that when we build our boards like we do, we mean it. And if the giant suppliers of cookier cutter boards suddenly change their tune and want to become environmentally conscious, and they mean it, I won't feel ripped off. I'll be stoked! That would be fantastic.
Nobody can smell a fraud better than surfers though. So if someone goes claiming to be green, they better be serious. Or they better prepare to be roasted by the most unappologetic group I have ever had the pleasure of being part of.
If you have any other questions Claire, let me know and I'll get back with you later this weekend.
All the best,
Lars
42 Surfboards
www.42surfboards.com
www.42surfboards.blogspot.com
Thursday
Garret Lisi - 42 Team Rider in the news
From Wired Online:
Freelance physicist A. Garrett Lisi made headlines last year when he published his "Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything" to an online wiki. The theory purports to be a blueprint of the universe, showing how all of the particles and forces of the universe are connected.
Lisi, who is speaking at the TED conference in Monterey, California this week, rejects string theory -- currently the dominant model of the universe. Instead, his unification theory places all known particles and the four fundamental forces of nature (electromagnetic, the strong force, the weak force and gravity) onto an exceptionally complex 248-point mathematical model known as E8 that was formulated in the late 19th century. Lisi's schema uses 228 points of the model, with 20 points left over for what he predicts will belong to 20 as-yet-undiscovered particles. His theory met with enthusiastic media coverage, but to date, the scientific community has been far more skeptical about the validity of Lisi's model.
Lisi left academia after obtaining his Ph.D. in 1999, and since then has been working odd jobs to support himself while spending the rest of his time working on physics, surfing and snowboarding.
Wired.com interviewed him by e-mail before his appearance.
Wired: Your entire career has been focused, in essence, on your rejection of string theory. What do you have against strings and extra dimensions?
Garrett Lisi: It's more accurate to say my career (or, often, lack of one) has been focused on doing what I wanted. There are a lot of good things about string theory, and it's great that some people want to work on it. But, to me, it seemed too disconnected from real particle physics and gravitation. It seemed unlikely that many of these string constructions could ever be experimentally tested, or connected up with the real world. So I set off to follow my own interests.
Wired: Please explain in layman's terms why the gravitational force fits this model when it has so resolutely resisted fitting other models except, presumably, string theory?
Lisi: The way gravity fits came from recent research in the Quantum Gravity community. This research provided a framework in which gravity could be treated as one of the other three forces, while still agreeing with Einstein's general relativity. When this was combined with a description of the Higgs field, it all fell into place perfectly. I was shocked to see it work so well; but that shock quickly diffused into excitement, which then congealed into a physics paper.
Wired: If your theory is proven correct, what will the implications be? What will we know about the universe and how it works other than that its structure is incredibly beautiful and ordered?
Lisi: For me, it would be enough to know that the fundamental structure of the universe is incredibly beautiful. I don't think there would be any practical implications within our lifetime. (Physicist Richard) Feynman put it the best when he said: "Physics is like sex. Sure, it may give some practical results, but that's not why we do it."
Wired: Will it be able to tell us anything about the Big Bang or about Neil Turok's multiple Big Bangs? If not, will it at least be able to explain some of the confounding mysteries of Lost?
Lisi: If this theory turns out to be true about nature, it will certainly provide some new insights into the conditions of the universe shortly after the big bang. It might also lead to interesting speculation on multiple universes. As to resolving the (mysteries) in Lost . . . I'm afraid the workings of J.J. Abrams' mind falls outside the predictive capacity of any coherent theory.
Wired: Your model predicts the existence of 20 mysterious and as-yet-undiscovered particles. Have you been able to calculate masses for those mysterious particles that would help researchers find them?
Lisi: These suggested particles are not so mysterious -- they would be a lot like the Higgs particle, but with color charges that keep them in bound states. I haven't yet solved the problems required to predict their masses, but they would still be recognizable if detected. Of course, if a bunch of particles are detected that are clearly not any of these 20, then this theory is in trouble. And if the Large Hadron Collider (scheduled to go online later this year in Switzerland) finds superparticles or other evidence for strings, I'm going to have to pay out some bets.
Wired: Tell us about your decision to pursue your research independently. Why, after getting your Ph.D., did you decide to mostly avoid academic teaching and research positions?
Lisi: It is extraordinarily difficult, even in academia, to find a job that will let you do whatever you want with your time. If you are determined to spend your time following your own interests, you pretty much have to do it on your own. After my Ph.D., there just weren't any positions open to support the research I wanted to do. And, of course, the surfing and windsurfing in Maui is amazingly good. I did the best I could to make my daydreams happen -- and that didn't put me in an office.
Wired: You're used to working in isolation. But this is a theory that's being developed in the wiki tradition with input from others. Have there been any exciting and noteworthy contributions from others to further the theory?
Lisi: Sure, I've made all my physics open source, and documented it as well as possible. I've got a personal wiki, Deferential Geometry, where I work on ideas out in the open. Many people have taken ideas from my work and run with them, to advance their own, which is good to see. The biggest help with the theory that I've received from others has been from mathematicians, who have provided answers to some of the trickier aspects of E8 group theory. And there has been practical help as well: friends who have offered me places to stay, or donated support, and there's even a surfboard shaper making me a new board -- from 42 Surfboards.
Wired: A media storm ensued last year after New Scientist published a piece about your theory. Since then you've been hailed a genius and likened to Einstein. But you've also received some pretty sharp ridicule. Does it worry you that so much could be riding on this for you personally? Do you regret putting your ideas out there for public consumption before they were fully formed?
Lisi: The comparisons to Einstein really aren't well justified -- he accomplished much more in physics than I ever possibly will. This story has been sensationalized in the media, which has been quite stressful. Although, the media spectacle has also been pretty amusing at times.
Some of the harsher personal criticism is an unfortunate but understandable backlash. I try to pull what I can from useful criticism, but most of it has been from people encountering unfamiliar mathematics and being confused by it. I'm not worried about being portrayed as amateurish, because I'm not an amateur, and my work reflects that.
As it develops, this theory may or may not turn out to be true about nature, but it's a solid beginning founded on well-established mathematics. I thought the theory was well enough along to present it to the greater community, get some feedback, and develop it from there.
Wired: You've no doubt received a lot of interesting correspondence from people who interpret your findings to support their own beliefs about various things. What have been some of the wilder e-mails and comments you've received?
Lisi: After this story broke, I awoke to Pandora's Inbox. I received the oddest e-mails you can imagine: Hundreds espousing their own grand Theories of Everything which they conceived while on acid, many from readers of Kabbala, mystic incantations, religious revelations, astrology . . . you wouldn't believe some of it. Some of the e-mail has been rather charming and random, such as poems, songs, funny pictures and encouragement. The only thing I haven't received yet is a theory of everything expressed through interpretive dance -- I'm still waiting for that one. I swear never again to complain that a paper I published didn't get enough attention.
Wired: You said recently: "Since E8 is perhaps the most beautiful structure in mathematics, it is very satisfying that nature appears to have chosen this geometry." Did nature have a choice? Could the E8 framework be the result of an evolutionary process of trial and error that adapted until the universe got it right or do you think that beautiful structure was "ready made"? I guess the equivalent philosophical question for this would be, which came first -- the mathematics or the forces?
Lisi: This is a very unusual aspect of this theory. The largest simple exceptional Lie group, E8, is a unique structure in mathematics. If this structure turns out to be fundamental to how the universe works, then it seems to indicate our universe is not one that exists in a landscape of other possibilities. It would mean our universe is exceptional, and perhaps singular. Of course, it is philosophically questionable to consider other universes to begin with, since we're only aware of one. But, whether this theory works perfectly or not, it is undoubtedly true that the fundamental nature of our universe can be described by mathematics.
Wired: What's the connection, if any, between the board sports you pursue and your interest in physics?
Lisi: Surfing and snowboarding are what I do for fun -- to get out and play in nature. We live in a beautiful universe, and I wish to enjoy it and understand it as best I can. And I try to live a balanced life. Surfing is simply the most fun I know how to have on this planet. And physics, and science in general, is the best way of understanding how everything works. So this is what I spend my time doing. I do what I love, and follow my interests. Shouldn't everyone?
No whining!
Don’t be such a whiner. Don’t you realize how good you have it? 99% of the people on this planet will never understand what you have had the good fortune to be born into, stumbled onto, been led into, or been given as a gift. Don’t whine.
Wednesday
The man without words
The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish, and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten.
The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits. When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten.
The purpose of words is to convey ideas. When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten.
Where can I find a man who has forgotten words? He is the one I would like to talk to.
-Chuang Tzu
The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits. When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten.
The purpose of words is to convey ideas. When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten.
Where can I find a man who has forgotten words? He is the one I would like to talk to.
-Chuang Tzu
Do your homework.
In the winter, most of the people that I surf around have it completely together. It is freezing cold, the waves are big, and if you don't know what you are doing, you don't make it off the rocks.
Summer is a bit different. Summer is a lot softer and a lot friendlier. Summer is great.
Still, you need to learn how to study the ocean before paddling out. Find the rips, time the sets, see who is ripping, find the peak you want. By doing this you will get so much more out of your session than just throwing yourself out into the breaking waves and hoping for something good.
Last time I was out, it was a couple feet overhead but it was breaking pretty far out. Nobody was out, as usual. Before long though, one guy pulled into the parking lot and suited up. I suited up to join him. Right as we were getting ready to head down the trail and jump in the water, another guy came running up to join us for the paddle out. I had been watching the lineup for 20 or 30 minutes. I knew where the channel was, where it was breaking, and how to get back out after each wave. And it paid off. Two of us paddled out, not hair dry by any means, but we made it out cleanly. The third guy never made it outside of the inside.
My buddy and I, Matt his name turned out to be, traded waves for almost three hours. Long fast rides from outside the rocks to the other end of the beach. And then long paddles back out watching the other guy firing along in the pocket.
Watch. Study. Think. Surf.
In that order.
Lars and the 42 Crew
Summer is a bit different. Summer is a lot softer and a lot friendlier. Summer is great.
Still, you need to learn how to study the ocean before paddling out. Find the rips, time the sets, see who is ripping, find the peak you want. By doing this you will get so much more out of your session than just throwing yourself out into the breaking waves and hoping for something good.
Last time I was out, it was a couple feet overhead but it was breaking pretty far out. Nobody was out, as usual. Before long though, one guy pulled into the parking lot and suited up. I suited up to join him. Right as we were getting ready to head down the trail and jump in the water, another guy came running up to join us for the paddle out. I had been watching the lineup for 20 or 30 minutes. I knew where the channel was, where it was breaking, and how to get back out after each wave. And it paid off. Two of us paddled out, not hair dry by any means, but we made it out cleanly. The third guy never made it outside of the inside.
My buddy and I, Matt his name turned out to be, traded waves for almost three hours. Long fast rides from outside the rocks to the other end of the beach. And then long paddles back out watching the other guy firing along in the pocket.
Watch. Study. Think. Surf.
In that order.
Lars and the 42 Crew
Friday
All Day I Hear the Noise of Waters
All day I hear the noise of waters
Making moan,
Sad as the sea-bird is, when going
Forth alone,
He hears the winds cry to the waters'
Monotone.
The grey winds, the cold winds are blowing
Where I go.
I hear the noise of many waters
Far below.
All day, all night, I hear them flowing
To and fro.
- James Joyce
Making moan,
Sad as the sea-bird is, when going
Forth alone,
He hears the winds cry to the waters'
Monotone.
The grey winds, the cold winds are blowing
Where I go.
I hear the noise of many waters
Far below.
All day, all night, I hear them flowing
To and fro.
- James Joyce
Thursday
Too expensive?
A surfer emailed us the other day to complain that our chambered wood boards are too expensive.
Ferrari.
Picasso.
Screaming Eagle.
42 Surfboards.
Somethings are supposed to be expensive.
Lars and the 42 Crew
42 Surfboards
Ferrari.
Picasso.
Screaming Eagle.
42 Surfboards.
Somethings are supposed to be expensive.
Lars and the 42 Crew
42 Surfboards
Seal Slaughter Suspended for a Week
04/02/2008
The savage slaughter of the baby seals has been suspended for a week.
The sealers of the Quebec’s Magdalen Islands have returned home to bury three of the four sealers killed by Canadian Coast Guard incompetence. The fourth is still missing and is presumed dead.
Some of the Magdalen Island sealers will not be returning. According to the Canadian media: Wayne Dickson hasn't caught his quota of seals this season. But the 53-year-old says he no longer has the will to hunt after watching his friend's sealing vessel capsize while being towed by a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker in the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the weekend. Dickson and his six-member crew managed to rescue two fishermen, but three other sealers drowned and a fourth is still missing after the damaged L'Acadien II fishing vessel overturned while being dragged over a large chunk of ice, about 70 kilometres north of Cape Breton Island. "I just don't have the heart for it - I don't think many of the guys are going back out," Dickson said Tuesday. "It is just too devastating."
Canadian Minister of Fisheries and Oceans has accused anti-slaughter organizations of exploiting the tragedy to underscore how unsafe sealing is, citing that the sealers are well aware of how dangerous their occupation is.
“We did not kill these men,” said Captain Paul Watson. “Canadian government incompetence and the political ambitions of Loyola Hearn killed them. Hearn allows hundreds of undersize, wooden and aluminum vessels into treacherous ice conditions and does not provide adequate Coast Guard protections and training. Those men died because they were in conditions they should not have been in and the Canadian government put them in that position.”
Canadian Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn is attempting to discredit the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society with contradictory accusations. First he accuses Sea Shepherd of being a wealthy organization and then describes the Sea Shepherd ship Farley Mowat as an unsafe “decrepit rust bucket.”
The Farley Mowat is an ice class steel hulled 60 meter ship that has years of experience navigating ice conditions both in the Arctic and the Antarctic yet according to the Minister it is unsafe for our ship to be in the ice yet it is okay to send 12 meter fragile vessels into the same ice.
In the last week, two sealing boats have sunk, numerous sealing boats have broken down, the government failed to rescue the crew of the boat they were towing after their tow capsized the vessel and then they twice rammed the Farley Mowat with a large ice-breaker.
The crew of the Farley Mowat also observed the ice-breaker running down and crushing seal pups on the ice and they observed absolutely no enforcement of the humane regulations with regard to killing the seals.
“We’ve seen seals suffering in agony on the ice. We’ve seen enough to know that Canada’s claim that the seal hunt is humane has no credibility” said Farley Mowat communications officer Shannon Mann 35 from Alberta.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society recognizes that the deaths of four sealers is a tragedy but Sea Shepherd also recognizes that the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of seal pups is an even greater tragedy.
“One of the sealers was quoted as saying that he felt absolutely helpless as he watched the boat sink with sealers onboard,” said Captain Paul Watson. “I can’t think of anything that defines helplessness and fear more than a seal pup on the ice that can’t swim or escape as it is approached by some cigarette smoking ape with a club. This is a seal nursery and these men are sadistic baby killers and that might offend some people but it is the unvarnished truth – they are vicious killers who are now pleading for sympathy because some of their own died while engaged in a viciously brutal activity.”
The Farley Mowat is berthing in the French islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon until the slaughter resumes next week. The crew intends to get the video off the ship of the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker twice ramming the Farley Mowat. The Canadian Minister of Fisheries and Oceans has accused Sea Shepherd of lying about the ramming. First he claimed that the Coast Guard did not ram the Sea Shepherd vessel, then he claimed that the Coast Guard only “grazed” the Farley Mowat and then he said that it was the Farley Mowat that hit the Coast Guard icebreaker. The video will be able to confirm the Sea Shepherd story. The Canadian Coast Guard has not released any video and is not expected to.
Attempts to retrieve the video by helicopter failed when the Canadian Department of Transport grounded the helicopter from HSUS that was going to pick up the video.
The Sea Shepherd ship Farley Mowat is in the middle of very hostile territory, in the middle of dangerous ice conditions, unable to rely on the Canadian Coast Guard for assistance, under attack by that same Coast Guard, threatened by powerful Canadian politicians, threatened with physical assault from armed and angry seal killers.
“My crew of volunteers are all courageous men and women and they are risking their lives and their freedom to expose the lies of the Canadian government,” said Captain Paul Watson. “They have seen, and they have documented the cruelty of the seal slaughter. They are there to gather evidence to support a European ban of seal products. They do not get paid for this, they make personal sacrifices and I resent the Minister of Fisheries making offensive remarks about their motivations. It is amazing when compassion for life is dismissed as radical and those who slaughter the innocent are given the full support of the government and the Minister of Fisheries. The last time this happened the man’s name was Herod and now it’s Hearn.”
The savage slaughter of the baby seals has been suspended for a week.
The sealers of the Quebec’s Magdalen Islands have returned home to bury three of the four sealers killed by Canadian Coast Guard incompetence. The fourth is still missing and is presumed dead.
Some of the Magdalen Island sealers will not be returning. According to the Canadian media: Wayne Dickson hasn't caught his quota of seals this season. But the 53-year-old says he no longer has the will to hunt after watching his friend's sealing vessel capsize while being towed by a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker in the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the weekend. Dickson and his six-member crew managed to rescue two fishermen, but three other sealers drowned and a fourth is still missing after the damaged L'Acadien II fishing vessel overturned while being dragged over a large chunk of ice, about 70 kilometres north of Cape Breton Island. "I just don't have the heart for it - I don't think many of the guys are going back out," Dickson said Tuesday. "It is just too devastating."
Canadian Minister of Fisheries and Oceans has accused anti-slaughter organizations of exploiting the tragedy to underscore how unsafe sealing is, citing that the sealers are well aware of how dangerous their occupation is.
“We did not kill these men,” said Captain Paul Watson. “Canadian government incompetence and the political ambitions of Loyola Hearn killed them. Hearn allows hundreds of undersize, wooden and aluminum vessels into treacherous ice conditions and does not provide adequate Coast Guard protections and training. Those men died because they were in conditions they should not have been in and the Canadian government put them in that position.”
Canadian Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn is attempting to discredit the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society with contradictory accusations. First he accuses Sea Shepherd of being a wealthy organization and then describes the Sea Shepherd ship Farley Mowat as an unsafe “decrepit rust bucket.”
The Farley Mowat is an ice class steel hulled 60 meter ship that has years of experience navigating ice conditions both in the Arctic and the Antarctic yet according to the Minister it is unsafe for our ship to be in the ice yet it is okay to send 12 meter fragile vessels into the same ice.
In the last week, two sealing boats have sunk, numerous sealing boats have broken down, the government failed to rescue the crew of the boat they were towing after their tow capsized the vessel and then they twice rammed the Farley Mowat with a large ice-breaker.
The crew of the Farley Mowat also observed the ice-breaker running down and crushing seal pups on the ice and they observed absolutely no enforcement of the humane regulations with regard to killing the seals.
“We’ve seen seals suffering in agony on the ice. We’ve seen enough to know that Canada’s claim that the seal hunt is humane has no credibility” said Farley Mowat communications officer Shannon Mann 35 from Alberta.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society recognizes that the deaths of four sealers is a tragedy but Sea Shepherd also recognizes that the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of seal pups is an even greater tragedy.
“One of the sealers was quoted as saying that he felt absolutely helpless as he watched the boat sink with sealers onboard,” said Captain Paul Watson. “I can’t think of anything that defines helplessness and fear more than a seal pup on the ice that can’t swim or escape as it is approached by some cigarette smoking ape with a club. This is a seal nursery and these men are sadistic baby killers and that might offend some people but it is the unvarnished truth – they are vicious killers who are now pleading for sympathy because some of their own died while engaged in a viciously brutal activity.”
The Farley Mowat is berthing in the French islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon until the slaughter resumes next week. The crew intends to get the video off the ship of the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker twice ramming the Farley Mowat. The Canadian Minister of Fisheries and Oceans has accused Sea Shepherd of lying about the ramming. First he claimed that the Coast Guard did not ram the Sea Shepherd vessel, then he claimed that the Coast Guard only “grazed” the Farley Mowat and then he said that it was the Farley Mowat that hit the Coast Guard icebreaker. The video will be able to confirm the Sea Shepherd story. The Canadian Coast Guard has not released any video and is not expected to.
Attempts to retrieve the video by helicopter failed when the Canadian Department of Transport grounded the helicopter from HSUS that was going to pick up the video.
The Sea Shepherd ship Farley Mowat is in the middle of very hostile territory, in the middle of dangerous ice conditions, unable to rely on the Canadian Coast Guard for assistance, under attack by that same Coast Guard, threatened by powerful Canadian politicians, threatened with physical assault from armed and angry seal killers.
“My crew of volunteers are all courageous men and women and they are risking their lives and their freedom to expose the lies of the Canadian government,” said Captain Paul Watson. “They have seen, and they have documented the cruelty of the seal slaughter. They are there to gather evidence to support a European ban of seal products. They do not get paid for this, they make personal sacrifices and I resent the Minister of Fisheries making offensive remarks about their motivations. It is amazing when compassion for life is dismissed as radical and those who slaughter the innocent are given the full support of the government and the Minister of Fisheries. The last time this happened the man’s name was Herod and now it’s Hearn.”
Canadian Coast Guard Rams Farley Mowat
03/30/2008
The Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker CCGS Des Groseilliers twice rammed the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship Farley Mowat today.
The Coast Guard had ordered the Farley Mowat to not approach the area where seals are being slaughtered. When the Farley Mowat did not comply, the Coast Guard rammed the vessel near the port aft stern area. After the Farley Mowat stopped in the ice, the Coast Guard rammed the ship a second time in the same area of the ship causing damage to the plates in that area.
The Coast Guard has demonstrated extreme recklessness with this move. The crew of the Farley Mowat were engaged in documenting the slaughter of seals. They were not interfering with the hunt.
“I’m beginning to wonder if anyone on the bridge of the Groseilliers has a license to command a ship,” said Captain Alex Cornelissen. “The incompetence of the Coast Guard has already cost the lives of four sealers this week-end and now they are ramming ships in dangerous ice conditions. This is unbelievable. It’s like the Coast Guard has declared war on seal defenders and the sealers are collateral damage.”
The Farley Mowat will remain in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and will continue to document the atrocities on the ice. Already the crew have seen enough evidence to understand that the Canadian government’s pretense that the slaughter is humane has no basis in reality – in other words it’s a state sponsored lie.
“It appears that Canada is prepared to use violence to cover-up the truth of this slaughter,” said Captain Paul Watson. “Our duty is to resist their violence and continue to document the truth.”
The Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker CCGS Des Groseilliers twice rammed the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship Farley Mowat today.
The Coast Guard had ordered the Farley Mowat to not approach the area where seals are being slaughtered. When the Farley Mowat did not comply, the Coast Guard rammed the vessel near the port aft stern area. After the Farley Mowat stopped in the ice, the Coast Guard rammed the ship a second time in the same area of the ship causing damage to the plates in that area.
The Coast Guard has demonstrated extreme recklessness with this move. The crew of the Farley Mowat were engaged in documenting the slaughter of seals. They were not interfering with the hunt.
“I’m beginning to wonder if anyone on the bridge of the Groseilliers has a license to command a ship,” said Captain Alex Cornelissen. “The incompetence of the Coast Guard has already cost the lives of four sealers this week-end and now they are ramming ships in dangerous ice conditions. This is unbelievable. It’s like the Coast Guard has declared war on seal defenders and the sealers are collateral damage.”
The Farley Mowat will remain in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and will continue to document the atrocities on the ice. Already the crew have seen enough evidence to understand that the Canadian government’s pretense that the slaughter is humane has no basis in reality – in other words it’s a state sponsored lie.
“It appears that Canada is prepared to use violence to cover-up the truth of this slaughter,” said Captain Paul Watson. “Our duty is to resist their violence and continue to document the truth.”
Friday
Full Disclosure
In the interest of full disclosure, after much feedback following the last post regarding Sea Shepherd, I felt that it was my responsibility to disclose that one of my good friends is an avid seal clubber.
Please accept our apologies for the inital ommission.
Lars and the 42 Crew
Please accept our apologies for the inital ommission.
Lars and the 42 Crew
No rest for the Sea Shepherds
Sea Shepherd Announces:
Seal Defense Campaign 2008!
Sea Shepherd Crew to Shift from the Southern Ice to the Northern Ice
Captain Paul Watson and some of his crew will not rest after defending whales when they return to Australia after three and a half months of chasing and harassing Japanese whaling ships, and will instead continue on to defend baby seals.
Within days of returning to Australia in late March, they will be flying halfway around the world to Bermuda where Sea Shepherd’s other ship the Farley Mowat is docked. From there they will head North into the ice packs off Eastern Canada to defend baby harp seals from the ruthless clubs of Canadian sealers.
“There is no rest on planetary duty,” said Captain Paul Watson from onboard the Steve Irwin off the coast of Antarctica. “Half our year is spent amongst icebergs and on ice floes. Our job is to hunt the hunters to defend their victims and that takes us from the bottom of the world to the top and many places in between.”
Captain Watson has been fighting the Canadian seal slaughter all his life. It was shut down in 1984 and resurrected in 1994.
“All our victories are usually temporary,” he said. “Unfortunately our defeats are usually permanent.”
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is confident that years of risk and effort will soon pay off. The European nations are banning seal products and seal products have been banned in the United States since 1972. Sea Shepherd has been slowly lobbying to remove the markets at the same time as we have been mounting dramatic confrontations on the ice to physically save the seals from the cruel clubs of the sealers.
Patience and persistence is paying off. The seal hunt survives only because of subsidies doled out to the sealing industry by the government of Canada. It has become a glorified welfare scheme where in return for killing seals for a few weeks the sealers can qualify for unemployment insurance for the rest of the year.
“They say it’s part of their culture,” said Captain Watson who himself grew up in an Eastern fishing village in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. “It’s a culture based on the cruel clubbing of baby seals for a few weeks each year and drinking Canadian Club and beer the rest of the year. It’s a culture that any Maritimer with half a brain abandoned generations ago.”
In addition to the hazards of thick ice and nasty weather, the Sea Shepherd crew face the threat of violence from the sealers and the threat of arrest under the Canadian “Seal Protection regulations” that make it a criminal offense to “witness or document the killing of a seal without the permission of the government of Canada.”
“As a kid I remember these baby killers bragging how they would slice open the beating heart of the first baby seal they kill each spring,” said Captain Watson. “They drank the hot blood and smeared it cross upon their foreheads and dabbed blood on their cheeks. They called it the “Rites of Spring.” I called them barbarians then, and I call them barbarians still, and as a Canadian and a Maritimer, I have been ashamed of this bloody evil tradition all my life and I’ve dedicated my life to shutting this monstrous obscenity down forever, and I believe that soon we will see that day when the killing is ended.”
In 2005 twelve Sea Shepherd crew were arrested after being attacked and assaulted by sealers on the ice. Despite being struck by sealing clubs, punched and kicked, not one sealer was arrested for assault. The attack was video-taped and the sealers identified yet the Royal Canadian Mounted Police stated there was “insufficient evidence” to charge the sealers. The Sea Shepherd crew were jailed and fined for approaching within a half a nautical mile of a seal being killed.
Seal Defense Campaign 2008!
Sea Shepherd Crew to Shift from the Southern Ice to the Northern Ice
Captain Paul Watson and some of his crew will not rest after defending whales when they return to Australia after three and a half months of chasing and harassing Japanese whaling ships, and will instead continue on to defend baby seals.
Within days of returning to Australia in late March, they will be flying halfway around the world to Bermuda where Sea Shepherd’s other ship the Farley Mowat is docked. From there they will head North into the ice packs off Eastern Canada to defend baby harp seals from the ruthless clubs of Canadian sealers.
“There is no rest on planetary duty,” said Captain Paul Watson from onboard the Steve Irwin off the coast of Antarctica. “Half our year is spent amongst icebergs and on ice floes. Our job is to hunt the hunters to defend their victims and that takes us from the bottom of the world to the top and many places in between.”
Captain Watson has been fighting the Canadian seal slaughter all his life. It was shut down in 1984 and resurrected in 1994.
“All our victories are usually temporary,” he said. “Unfortunately our defeats are usually permanent.”
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is confident that years of risk and effort will soon pay off. The European nations are banning seal products and seal products have been banned in the United States since 1972. Sea Shepherd has been slowly lobbying to remove the markets at the same time as we have been mounting dramatic confrontations on the ice to physically save the seals from the cruel clubs of the sealers.
Patience and persistence is paying off. The seal hunt survives only because of subsidies doled out to the sealing industry by the government of Canada. It has become a glorified welfare scheme where in return for killing seals for a few weeks the sealers can qualify for unemployment insurance for the rest of the year.
“They say it’s part of their culture,” said Captain Watson who himself grew up in an Eastern fishing village in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. “It’s a culture based on the cruel clubbing of baby seals for a few weeks each year and drinking Canadian Club and beer the rest of the year. It’s a culture that any Maritimer with half a brain abandoned generations ago.”
In addition to the hazards of thick ice and nasty weather, the Sea Shepherd crew face the threat of violence from the sealers and the threat of arrest under the Canadian “Seal Protection regulations” that make it a criminal offense to “witness or document the killing of a seal without the permission of the government of Canada.”
“As a kid I remember these baby killers bragging how they would slice open the beating heart of the first baby seal they kill each spring,” said Captain Watson. “They drank the hot blood and smeared it cross upon their foreheads and dabbed blood on their cheeks. They called it the “Rites of Spring.” I called them barbarians then, and I call them barbarians still, and as a Canadian and a Maritimer, I have been ashamed of this bloody evil tradition all my life and I’ve dedicated my life to shutting this monstrous obscenity down forever, and I believe that soon we will see that day when the killing is ended.”
In 2005 twelve Sea Shepherd crew were arrested after being attacked and assaulted by sealers on the ice. Despite being struck by sealing clubs, punched and kicked, not one sealer was arrested for assault. The attack was video-taped and the sealers identified yet the Royal Canadian Mounted Police stated there was “insufficient evidence” to charge the sealers. The Sea Shepherd crew were jailed and fined for approaching within a half a nautical mile of a seal being killed.
What is real? Then again, who cares?
"It may be true that my desk here is really "nothing but" a transient eddy of electrons in the flux of universal process. Nevertheless, I find that it continues to support my feet, my revolver, and my cigars all day long. What happens when my back is turned I don't know. Or much care. That's no concern of mine."
-Edward Abbey
-Edward Abbey
Wednesday
Look at me!
Nothing can be so amusingly arrogant as a young man who has just discovered an old idea and thinks it is his own.
-Sidney J. Harris
-Sidney J. Harris
Friday
Spontanaity
"Our spontaneous action is always the best."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Stop to consider the consequences, and you are likely to miss the best day of your life.
- Your Guide
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Stop to consider the consequences, and you are likely to miss the best day of your life.
- Your Guide
Wednesday
Genius?
"He attacked everything in life with a mix of extraordinary genius and naive incompetence, and it was often difficult to tell which was which."
- Douglas Adams
- Douglas Adams
Tuesday
I find...
"I find more and more, as I grow older, that I prefer women to men, children to adults, animals to humans.... And rocks to living things? No, I'm not that old yet."
- Edward Abbey
- Edward Abbey
Good Job Sea Shepherd - Welcome Home!
Sea Shepherd Heads Home As Whaling Season Comes To A Close
There are less than 10 days left in the Japanese whaling season, and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s ship, the Steve Irwin, has reached the limit of its fuel reserves.
“We have no alternative but to retreat from the Southern Ocean,” said Captain Paul Watson, Founder and President of Sea Shepherd. “We have just enough fuel to make it back to port. We’ve done everything we can do down here for this season, and it has been an enormous success. I believe we have saved the lives of over 500 whales.”
Since departing Melbourne on February 14, the Steve Irwin has covered over 6,000 nautical miles chasing the Japanese fleet from as far west as 96 Degrees East to as far east as 136 Degrees East. The majority of the chase took place inside the Australian Antarctic Territorial waters between 62 Degrees South and 65 Degrees South. In total, the Steve Irwin pursued the Japanese whaling fleet for over 3,500 nautical miles. The Nisshin Maru was tailed and harassed for over 1,800 of those miles.
Sea Shepherd can reliably report that no whales were killed during the 17-day period of February 23 to March 10. Added to the 3 weeks that Japanese whalers were prevented from killing whales in January, that brings it to a total of 5½ weeks—or nearly half the whaling season—in which no whales were killed.
“Our success will be reflected in the final kill figures,” said 1st Officer Peter Brown. “There is no doubt in my mind that we have made a significant impact on their profits this season, and I am assuming they are not very happy.”
In response to the International Whaling Commission’s condemnation of Sea Shepherd’s interventions in the Southern Ocean, Captain Watson said, “While they were in London talking about whales, we were down here actually protecting the whales. So they can condemn us until the cows come home, but I think we served our clients, the whales, as best we could, and every whale’s life saved has been a victory for us. We feel satisfied for the lives we have saved, and we feel remorse for the lives we were unable to save. The IWC members should feel ashamed for allowing Japan’s criminal poaching activities to continue.”
Sea Shepherd will work to secure a second ship to return to the Southern Ocean next season along with the Steve Irwin, although it is hoping that Japan will choose instead to withdraw from continued illegal whaling in the Southern Ocean.
“We don’t enjoy this conflict with the Japanese,” said Captain Paul Watson. “We do this to defend the whales, not to offend Japan, but if we are offending Japan by defending the whales, then that is the way it must be.”
There are less than 10 days left in the Japanese whaling season, and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s ship, the Steve Irwin, has reached the limit of its fuel reserves.
“We have no alternative but to retreat from the Southern Ocean,” said Captain Paul Watson, Founder and President of Sea Shepherd. “We have just enough fuel to make it back to port. We’ve done everything we can do down here for this season, and it has been an enormous success. I believe we have saved the lives of over 500 whales.”
Since departing Melbourne on February 14, the Steve Irwin has covered over 6,000 nautical miles chasing the Japanese fleet from as far west as 96 Degrees East to as far east as 136 Degrees East. The majority of the chase took place inside the Australian Antarctic Territorial waters between 62 Degrees South and 65 Degrees South. In total, the Steve Irwin pursued the Japanese whaling fleet for over 3,500 nautical miles. The Nisshin Maru was tailed and harassed for over 1,800 of those miles.
Sea Shepherd can reliably report that no whales were killed during the 17-day period of February 23 to March 10. Added to the 3 weeks that Japanese whalers were prevented from killing whales in January, that brings it to a total of 5½ weeks—or nearly half the whaling season—in which no whales were killed.
“Our success will be reflected in the final kill figures,” said 1st Officer Peter Brown. “There is no doubt in my mind that we have made a significant impact on their profits this season, and I am assuming they are not very happy.”
In response to the International Whaling Commission’s condemnation of Sea Shepherd’s interventions in the Southern Ocean, Captain Watson said, “While they were in London talking about whales, we were down here actually protecting the whales. So they can condemn us until the cows come home, but I think we served our clients, the whales, as best we could, and every whale’s life saved has been a victory for us. We feel satisfied for the lives we have saved, and we feel remorse for the lives we were unable to save. The IWC members should feel ashamed for allowing Japan’s criminal poaching activities to continue.”
Sea Shepherd will work to secure a second ship to return to the Southern Ocean next season along with the Steve Irwin, although it is hoping that Japan will choose instead to withdraw from continued illegal whaling in the Southern Ocean.
“We don’t enjoy this conflict with the Japanese,” said Captain Paul Watson. “We do this to defend the whales, not to offend Japan, but if we are offending Japan by defending the whales, then that is the way it must be.”
Monday
Calmness
Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own unguarded thoughts. Develop the mind of equilibrium. You will always be getting praise and blame, but do not let either affect the poise of the mind: follow the calmness, the absence of pride.
- Sutta Nipata
- Sutta Nipata
Captain Paul Watson Shot!
Sea Shepherd Captain Paul Watson Survived a Shooting Attempt in Antarctica this morning.
Today around 3:45pm Australian Eastern Standard Time in the Australian Exclusive Economic Zone of Antarctica, an attempt was made on the life of Paul Watson, Captain of the Sea Shepherd vessel Steve Irwin.
A single bullet was fired by an expert marksman at Paul’s chest, which embedded in his Kevlar vest and also damaged a metal badge worn behind the vest. Fortunately, this stopped the bullet penetrating his flesh.
The ships’ doctor was emphatic that without protection, the shot would have been lethal.
At the time the shot was fired, the Japanese whaling vessel Nisshin Maru was moving parallel to the Steve Irwin in stormy seas. The high level of movement indicates that the shot must have been fired by an expert.
The Steve Irwin continues to track the Nisshin Maru west after it altered its northerly course.
We have received verbal confirmation that the Australian Embassy has been advised by the Japanese that a crew member on board the Nisshin Maru fired “warning” shots. In addition to the lead bullet lodged in Captain Watson’s Kevlar vest, up to seven flash grenades were also hurled by armed Japanese Coast Guard Officers, injuring two other Steve Irwin crew members.
Captain Watson is now in a comfortable condition, and no whales are being slaughtered in the name of bogus research by these illegal poachers.
No warning was given that a bullet would be fired.
Video and still footage is now available at SeaShepherd.org.
The questions that need to be asked are who fired this shot, and who gave the authority to do it?
- Report from Peter Brown, 1st Officer on board the Steve Irwin
As part of our 1% for the Planet committment, 42 Surfboards supports Sea Shepherd with 2% of our sales.
Today around 3:45pm Australian Eastern Standard Time in the Australian Exclusive Economic Zone of Antarctica, an attempt was made on the life of Paul Watson, Captain of the Sea Shepherd vessel Steve Irwin.
A single bullet was fired by an expert marksman at Paul’s chest, which embedded in his Kevlar vest and also damaged a metal badge worn behind the vest. Fortunately, this stopped the bullet penetrating his flesh.
The ships’ doctor was emphatic that without protection, the shot would have been lethal.
At the time the shot was fired, the Japanese whaling vessel Nisshin Maru was moving parallel to the Steve Irwin in stormy seas. The high level of movement indicates that the shot must have been fired by an expert.
The Steve Irwin continues to track the Nisshin Maru west after it altered its northerly course.
We have received verbal confirmation that the Australian Embassy has been advised by the Japanese that a crew member on board the Nisshin Maru fired “warning” shots. In addition to the lead bullet lodged in Captain Watson’s Kevlar vest, up to seven flash grenades were also hurled by armed Japanese Coast Guard Officers, injuring two other Steve Irwin crew members.
Captain Watson is now in a comfortable condition, and no whales are being slaughtered in the name of bogus research by these illegal poachers.No warning was given that a bullet would be fired.
Video and still footage is now available at SeaShepherd.org.
The questions that need to be asked are who fired this shot, and who gave the authority to do it?
- Report from Peter Brown, 1st Officer on board the Steve Irwin
As part of our 1% for the Planet committment, 42 Surfboards supports Sea Shepherd with 2% of our sales.
Roadways
One road leads to London,
One road leads to Wales,
My road road leads me seaward
To the white dipping sails.
One road leads to the river,
As it goes singing slow;
My road leads to shipping,
Where the bronzed sailors go.
Leads me, lures me, calls me
To salt green tossing sea;
A road without earth's road-dust
Is the right road for me.
A wet road heaving, shining,
And wild with seagull's cries,
A mad salt sea-wind blowing
The salt spray in my eyes.
My road calls me, lures me
West, east, south and north;
Most roads lead men homewards,
My road leads me forth
To add more miles to the tally
Of grey miles left behind,
In quest of that one beauty
God put me here to find
"Roadways" by John Masefield
One road leads to Wales,
My road road leads me seaward
To the white dipping sails.
One road leads to the river,
As it goes singing slow;
My road leads to shipping,
Where the bronzed sailors go.
Leads me, lures me, calls me
To salt green tossing sea;
A road without earth's road-dust
Is the right road for me.
A wet road heaving, shining,
And wild with seagull's cries,
A mad salt sea-wind blowing
The salt spray in my eyes.
My road calls me, lures me
West, east, south and north;
Most roads lead men homewards,
My road leads me forth
To add more miles to the tally
Of grey miles left behind,
In quest of that one beauty
God put me here to find
"Roadways" by John Masefield
Thursday
1% For The Planet
42 Surfboards is a member of 1% for the Planet. Every year we choose a direction to reinvest a portion of our sales in the world around around us. This year we have chosen three groups to donate almost 6% of our sales to.
Locally, we are donating almost 2% of our sales to The Hood River Waterfront Park. This is a park that we fought hard and long to get and now it is exciting to actually see it being built.
In the water, we are supporting The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and The Surfrider Foundation with almost 2% of our sales going to each of these groups. These are two groups that we could not be more proud to support.
We look forward to our continued success and growth, primarily so we can reinvest our sales in organizations like these.
Lars and the 42 Crew
42 Surfboards
Locally, we are donating almost 2% of our sales to The Hood River Waterfront Park. This is a park that we fought hard and long to get and now it is exciting to actually see it being built.
In the water, we are supporting The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and The Surfrider Foundation with almost 2% of our sales going to each of these groups. These are two groups that we could not be more proud to support.
We look forward to our continued success and growth, primarily so we can reinvest our sales in organizations like these.Lars and the 42 Crew
42 Surfboards
Wednesday
Surfers and Sea Shepherd Take Action for Dolphins
Each year from October through March, in small towns across Japan, thousands of dolphins and small whales are confined and brutally killed. These slaughters take place in fishing towns including Taiji, Iki, Ito, Futo and Izu. During those months, Japanese fishermen herd whole families and pods of dolphins, porpoises and small whales into shallow bays and mercilessly hack them to death. Most of these small cetaceans are sold as meat in restaurants and stores, while some are destined for a life in captivity.
In addition to the small cetaceans being massacred on the beaches, Japan kills approximately 100,000 more marine mammals (primarily Dall’s porpoises and also dolphins) in its fishing industry. This killing must stop!
Sea Shepherd has been in the forefront of fighting against the slaughter of dolphins, whales and all marine wildlife for over 25 years, and we are committed to ending the barbaric and senseless slaughters in Taiji and other villages in Japan.
Sea Shepherd is currently in Osaka, Japan working with the international surfing community's efforts to stop the annual dolphin slaughter that claims more than 25,000 intelligent and innocent lives every year in Taiji and adjacent seaside towns and villages. Pro Surfer Dave Rastovich is a leading advocate for the plight of these animals and refers to as dolphins as "the original surfers." He has called on the surfing community to take a look at what's going on. Rasta's group, Surfers for Cetaceans, along with Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Save the Waves, Minds in the Water, and The Whaleman Foundation joined in an action in Taiji, Japan on October 27. In one of the bays where thousands of dolphins are killed, 22 people with surfboards and wet suits paddled into the water and formed a prayer circle to honor their memory. After the surfers returned to shore the police asked for passports and took photos of everybody that was there.
The police had known for weeks that a plan was in the works to oppose the killing of the Taiji dolphins. It so happens that no dolphins were being killed during this time because the Japanese were afraid of being exposed. Rastovich was able to meet with some local community members and discuss the high mercury level in the dolphin meat. The action raised the noise level and opened people's minds. Sea Shepherd's presence puts the dolphin killers on notice that we will not rest until the slaughter stops. This is another episode in a battle to save the world's cetaceans.
For more information on Sea Shepherd's campaign to oppose the dolphin slaughter visit their Taiji Campaign homepage.
Tuesday
Keep on paddling
This winter has been exceptional for big waves. I love being out in the water when it is big. I love riding big waves, of course, but I also love the physical metaphor that riding big waves offers for life.
You can never give up until its really over. The drop. The barrel. The floater. The air. The paddle out. The injury. Getting sucked out the rip. Swimming in. The double wave hold-down. The leash tied around the coral head. The board sucked down a hole in the jetty. The buddy getting bashed into the cliff. The guy lifeless on the beach. The school work. The house work. Raising good kids. The schedule that you just can’t seem to pull together.
Giving up means its over. Giving up means that this is how it is. How it ends. Don’t let that happen.
Keep on paddling!
And keep on riding some beautiful big waves. In life and on the water.
Lars and the 42 Crew
42 Surfboards
You can never give up until its really over. The drop. The barrel. The floater. The air. The paddle out. The injury. Getting sucked out the rip. Swimming in. The double wave hold-down. The leash tied around the coral head. The board sucked down a hole in the jetty. The buddy getting bashed into the cliff. The guy lifeless on the beach. The school work. The house work. Raising good kids. The schedule that you just can’t seem to pull together.
Giving up means its over. Giving up means that this is how it is. How it ends. Don’t let that happen.
Keep on paddling!
And keep on riding some beautiful big waves. In life and on the water.
Lars and the 42 Crew
42 Surfboards
Monday
From 360 Guide
"42 surfboards is one of the rare surfboard creators that make surfboards out of wood. Hollow, retro wooden beauties that can last a lifetime. Wood was the choice material for surfboards for a long long time and in recent times it looks like it made at least a little comeback. The guy behind wooden surfboards from 42 surfboards is Lars Bergström. You can catch an interview with him at Phoresia.org or you can go straight to his blog where he follows the making of every wooden surfboard they make. There are 21 more woodies to be made this year.
Taken from the Lars Bergström interview: "I have no clue what the volumes of our boards are. Our shapes are typically a little thicker with a little fuller rail than many of the other boards that you see in the water. This has less to do with the fact that we shape in wood and more to do with the idea that I like to build cheaters. Cheaters are boards that ride so well and so easy and grab you so many waves, that you feel like you are cheating. The rest of the world can feel like they are “progressing” by sitting neck deep in the lineup on their quad-fin skimboard. Don’t think I am not stoked to have them out there – I use that poor guy as my bouy marker so I know where to sit when I come back from my 50th wave of the session. "
How much? This might not be the first question from the wood surfboard buyer because for sure price can't be his motivation :) but still, with January 1st 42 surfboards prices will be $1999 for their 100% wood shortboards and $2999 for their 100% wood longboards.
As one might expect, people building wood surfboards care about their environment so another cool thing we found on their blog is the fact that besides donating to the Surfrider Foundation, The Sea Shepherd Society, and belonging to 1% for the Planet, in 2008 they are planting hundreds of trees for every one they turn into surfboards. Good luck."
Taken from the Lars Bergström interview: "I have no clue what the volumes of our boards are. Our shapes are typically a little thicker with a little fuller rail than many of the other boards that you see in the water. This has less to do with the fact that we shape in wood and more to do with the idea that I like to build cheaters. Cheaters are boards that ride so well and so easy and grab you so many waves, that you feel like you are cheating. The rest of the world can feel like they are “progressing” by sitting neck deep in the lineup on their quad-fin skimboard. Don’t think I am not stoked to have them out there – I use that poor guy as my bouy marker so I know where to sit when I come back from my 50th wave of the session. "
How much? This might not be the first question from the wood surfboard buyer because for sure price can't be his motivation :) but still, with January 1st 42 surfboards prices will be $1999 for their 100% wood shortboards and $2999 for their 100% wood longboards.
As one might expect, people building wood surfboards care about their environment so another cool thing we found on their blog is the fact that besides donating to the Surfrider Foundation, The Sea Shepherd Society, and belonging to 1% for the Planet, in 2008 they are planting hundreds of trees for every one they turn into surfboards. Good luck."
From Surfline.com
"There is a revolution going on in the surfing world. In the midst of industry-wide panic about globalization and the impact that thousands of cheap "pop-out" surfboards being mass-produced by toy factories in Thailand, China and Vietnam will have on the cottage industry of surfboard building, many surfers have begun to buy hand-made surfboards closer to home.
At 42 Surfboards, one of the world's leading builders of traditional chambered wood surfboards, hand-shaping is alive and well. And it is being supported by customers excited to pay a bit more for one of the finest hand-crafted surfboards in the world. Because, while many surfers are indeed just looking for the cheapest thrill possible, for many others their surfboard matters. These surfers care about who shapes their surfboard. They care about what their surfboard is made of. And they care about how long their surfboard will last.
At www.42surfboards.com, you can see some of the wood fish, retro rounded pins, diamond tails, single fins, longboards, and big-wave guns that 42 Surfboards has been shaping without even getting covered in wood chips and sawdust.
And at www.42surfboards.blogspot.com, you can see some of Lars Bergstrom's clients' unique wood boards as they make the transition from sustainably harvested log to superbly shaped surfboard.
www.42surfboards.com
www.42surfboards.blogspot.com"
At 42 Surfboards, one of the world's leading builders of traditional chambered wood surfboards, hand-shaping is alive and well. And it is being supported by customers excited to pay a bit more for one of the finest hand-crafted surfboards in the world. Because, while many surfers are indeed just looking for the cheapest thrill possible, for many others their surfboard matters. These surfers care about who shapes their surfboard. They care about what their surfboard is made of. And they care about how long their surfboard will last.
At www.42surfboards.com, you can see some of the wood fish, retro rounded pins, diamond tails, single fins, longboards, and big-wave guns that 42 Surfboards has been shaping without even getting covered in wood chips and sawdust.
And at www.42surfboards.blogspot.com, you can see some of Lars Bergstrom's clients' unique wood boards as they make the transition from sustainably harvested log to superbly shaped surfboard.
www.42surfboards.com
www.42surfboards.blogspot.com"
From Thisnext.com
"Man, these boards are beautiful. Made of chambered Oregon fir or spruce, with no foam whatsoever, a stick crafted by 42’s Lars Bergström is built to last “for generations, not months.” I’d love to get one under my feet, and seeing how they are made in my home state, I just might. Buy local!"
From Besportier.com
“... disposable boards just aren't going to cut it anymore. Nor are toxic boards made from the same old poisonous soup that has been used since the early ‘60s. By hand-shaping local wood into beautiful high performance surfboards, our goal is to change the very paradigm of choosing a surfboard. Instead of choosing the quick and easy, the cheap and sleazy, the pop-out molded spray-painted cookie cutter foam toy, we want you to think a little. Think about the long-term cost. The environmental cost. The aesthetic cost. The social cost. And then go with the choice that is simply better by nature.” So says Lars Bergström, who has a PhD in Environmental Science and is the founder of 42 Surfboards.
The makers of 42 Surfboards stand by their words and use sustainably harvested wood and abalone with the waste sawdust composted at a local nursery. 42 Surfboards believe that making the most durable boards possible is the best first step towards taking care of our environment. Even their offices use wind power and they are members of both 1% for the Planet" and The Surfrider Foundation. 42 Surfboards."
The makers of 42 Surfboards stand by their words and use sustainably harvested wood and abalone with the waste sawdust composted at a local nursery. 42 Surfboards believe that making the most durable boards possible is the best first step towards taking care of our environment. Even their offices use wind power and they are members of both 1% for the Planet" and The Surfrider Foundation. 42 Surfboards."
Friday
Check out this tail!
At some point, I am going to shape a flex tail that looks just like this. These guys are amazing! 
These shots are from about a week ago on Maui.
These shots are from about a week ago on Maui.
Tuesday
Surfmobiles
Getting to the surf can sometimes be as good an adventure as the surf you get to. One way to set the tone for a good session is to pick a good surfmobile. You definitely want something friendly for the environment in some way. I just sold my 1959 Chevy to a collector for this reason. It was a super fun truck to drive around but I felt guilty every time I started it up. At the same time, you don't want something boring and super straight.
You want something that says something about you. And you want something with room for your boards.
VW busses have always been a favorite of mine. I have had 1960, 1965, 66, 67, 68, 69, and 79 buses as well as a couple Vanagons. Fun all of them. But slow.
But slow can be exciting too. I was skiing with Kass in one of my buses once when I saw a big semi-truck tailgating a woman in a little station wagon. My misplaced sense of chivalry kicked in and I slipped in between the little wagon and the big truck and shifted down. Slowly but surely I slowed the truck to a crawl just in time for the next big hill. Man, he was mad. Honking, flashing his lights, and flipping me off. At the bottom of the hill, I took off at full speed. Full speed for a VW Bus. Boy did we ever leave him behind.
Until the next downhill.
About five minutes down the other side of the pass I saw this small truck shape in my rear view mirror rapidly getting larger and larger. Right as he was about to catch us I whipped off the road (again, whipped is relative in a Bus) and down an exit. Now I had him fooled!
Apparently the handling of a speeding semi-truck is almost identical to that of a speeding VW Bus. Because he followed me down the offramp at full speed, aiming to squash us like a bug.
I eventually outran him but Kass was not pleased with the car-chase.
VW Bugs are fun too. A little squirlly in the wind though. I came around a bend in the road and straight into a headwind with three longboards side by side on an extra-wide rack once. The whole front of the Bug lifted up in a dragrace-style wheelie. That was exciting.
Volvo wagons are less exciting. Safe though. And safe is good. I rolled one off the cliff and into the branches of an oak tree hanging over N-Bay once. Took me and half the tribe a day to get that car back up onto the gravel road. The car was a little banged up, I was a little shook up, but my dad's longboard was never the same.
Another time I was heading south in a big wagon after an afternoon session at the F-Jetty. Corky and I had caught it good and solo'ed it (ok, we duo'ed it) all afternoon. Tired and wet, we were hoping to make it down to Pistol River that evening. Corky was driving at the same time as he was supervising my opening of a couple pop-tarts, the poor man's energy bar of choice. He was in the middle of telling me how he didn't want his tart broken when I felt the car bump a few times. By the time I looked up, we had veered off the long straight newly asphalted road, punched wagon-sized hole in the brush and were half way though a 150 foot air down a sand dune. It was a steep soft landing though, and we were fine. One of my sponsors paid to get us towed out and I drove the rest of the trip.
I guess maybe any surfmobile that gives you a good story is worthwhile.
I'll let you know when I find a good replacement for my '59 Apache.
Saturday
From Treehugger.com
"42 Surfboards. They’re Wooden. As Are Many Others."
“... disposable boards just aren't going to cut it anymore. Nor are toxic boards made from the same old poisonous soup that has been used since the early ‘60s. By hand-shaping local wood into beautiful high performance surfboards, our goal is to change the very paradigm of choosing a surfboard. Instead of choosing the quick and easy, the cheap and sleazy, the pop-out molded spray-painted cookie cutter foam toy, we want you to think a little. Think about the long-term cost. The environmental cost. The aesthetic cost. The social cost. And then go with the choice that is simply better by nature.”
So says Lars Bergström, founder of 42 Surfboards and holder of a PhD in Environmental Science.
42 Surfboards use sustainably harvested wood and abalone (it’s used for the set-in logo), with the waste sawdust composted at a local nursery. Their offices use wind power and they are members of both 1% for the Planet" and The Surfrider Foundation.
But they aren’t the only guys making wooden surfboards. For background on the where wooden surfboards came from in the first place, paddle over to the Surf History Preservation Collection.
“... disposable boards just aren't going to cut it anymore. Nor are toxic boards made from the same old poisonous soup that has been used since the early ‘60s. By hand-shaping local wood into beautiful high performance surfboards, our goal is to change the very paradigm of choosing a surfboard. Instead of choosing the quick and easy, the cheap and sleazy, the pop-out molded spray-painted cookie cutter foam toy, we want you to think a little. Think about the long-term cost. The environmental cost. The aesthetic cost. The social cost. And then go with the choice that is simply better by nature.”
So says Lars Bergström, founder of 42 Surfboards and holder of a PhD in Environmental Science.
42 Surfboards use sustainably harvested wood and abalone (it’s used for the set-in logo), with the waste sawdust composted at a local nursery. Their offices use wind power and they are members of both 1% for the Planet" and The Surfrider Foundation.
But they aren’t the only guys making wooden surfboards. For background on the where wooden surfboards came from in the first place, paddle over to the Surf History Preservation Collection.
From Phoresia.org
42 Surboards: Lars Bergström Interview from September 23rd, 2007
Wooden surfboards are an interesting animal. They were the first, and some believe they’ll be the last. They can be super fast and responsive. They can be beautiful and last a lifetime. And yet, many people still view them as throwback technology and low performance wave tools.
There are however some seriously committed shapers/surfers out there rapidly changing this image and Lars Bergström of 42 Surfboards is no exception.
42 Surfboards is based in Oregon. They make chambered wooden surfboards and focus on a sustainable business model. This means maximizing every resource used in production and keeping work fun and rewarding. Lars is eloquent and well versed in the science of sustainability. Please be sure to check out 42’s blog and website. As always, we welcome your feedback and comments.
Main Website: http://www.42surfboards.com/index.html
42 Blog: http://42surfboards.blogspot.com/
Lars Bergström Interview
Q. There are so many things I’d like to ask you but I think first it would be cool to know how you went from a PhD. in Environmental Studies to making wooden surfboards full time (or vice versa I guess)? Are you from Oregon?
Like most things in life, there is no pattern until you look back. And you don’t get to look back until it is all over. Which makes me a little apprehensive about looking back… Still, if I had to wager a guess, I think it probably all happened at the same time.
I grew up in Laguna Beach, California. My dad went to school in Laguna and ran track on the same team as Billy Hamilton and a bunch of other great surfers. We lived down there, surfing, sailing and playing in the water until I was about twelve. At that point my parents had had all the crowds that they could handle and we moved up the coast to the Northwest. I shaped boards all through high school before moving first to Europe and then to Maui. Riding my boards in different conditions around the world has definitely influenced what I think about what shapes work well in different conditions.
For someone who eventually ended up with a Ph.D., my life has been remarkably centered on surfing. Growing up, that’s just what we did every day. As a teen, I skipped out on a year of high school and spent it surfing. Then after high school I took off for another couple years and spent them surfing. And again after my bachelors’ degree. And again after my masters degree. And now again, surfing is just what I do.
It wasn’t until after earning my Ph.D. in environmental science and teaching at a number of universities though, that I switched from shaping foam to wood. Here I was teaching my students about what needed to be done, or what could be done, and I just felt like it was time to put my money where my mouth was. Or maybe my planer where my mouth was.
Q. Before we talk about your boards I’m really interested in knowing more about the workings of your factory. I understand that you use sustainably harvested wood, recycle all of your waste, etc. Tell us about your sustainable business approach to 42.
The sustainable approach at 42 Surfboards is a work in progress. It isn’t something that is ever finished. Instead, it is how we come to work every morning. Every day we look at the work that we do and ask ourselves if there is a better way. Where are our materials coming from? How far did they have to travel? Are we happy with how our woods are grown and harvested? How much energy is used in building our blanks and shaping our boards? Where is that energy coming from? How much waste are we generating? How much of that can be reused? How much can be recycled? Is there a “higher” use for any of that waste? And every day, we push a little further.
In the end though, and at the core of our sustainable approach, is the quality of our surfboards. Just as we are constantly pushing for the most sustainable approach possible, we are also constantly pushing for the most durable approach to construction and design.
Between those two things, we hope to not only have the least environmental impact of any board builder on the planet but to actually have a net positive impact on both our local and global environment.
Q. You are part of the 1% For The Planet initiative. Additionally, you drastically reduced the prices on all of your boards, some by $1000. What gives? Yvon Chouinard talks a lot about (in Let My People Go Surfing) controlling growth to keep the company sane and employees happy. Where do you see your company’s growth in the future as wait times increase?
Edward Abbey once said something on the order of “Constant growth is the philosophy of a cancer cell.” I admire Yvon Chouinard and “Let my people go surfing” is required reading for all of our employees at 42 Surfboards. But I greatly admire the work of Edward Abbey and 42 Surfboards is not here to grow. 42 Surfboards is not here to become some mega-conglomerate. 42 Surfboards is here to build surfboards, be a great place to work, and show that you can have a positive impact on the environment while feeding your kids and doing something you love.
Being part of 1% For The Planet and The Surfrider Foundation are not something we do for image or marketing. These fantastic groups are actually part of our reason for existing. It is thrilling to take part of our earnings and commit them to real on-the-ground activism. At the same time though, it is an investment that any business that actually cares about our environment can’t afford to miss. Just as David Brower said “There is no business to be done on a dead planet”, there are no waves to be ridden in a dead ocean. We hope that all of our colleagues will join us in supporting 1% For The Planet and The Surfrider Foundation.
Reducing the prices of our boards this year had nothing to do with growth. Instead, it had everything to do with building surfboards. At 42 Surfboards, we want to build the best surfboards in the world. Beautiful, yes. Sustainable, yes. Durable, you bet. Ripping, absolutely! So while we are honored that people were treating our boards as art, we are more honored when we see riders pull into a ten-foot Puerto barrel on something that we have shaped for them. The reduction of our prices was intended pull boards off of living-room walls and put them up on long green walls all over the world. And so far, so good. The only drawback for our customers has been that the waiting line has gotten a little longer.
This leads right into the idea that one of 42 Surfboards’ reasons for existing is to be a great place to work. We refuse to freak out about waiting lines that ebb and flow. Instead, we take great care of our customers, put just as much care into every single surfboard, and we refuse to take deposits. In other words, every board is equally important to us. And if your board takes two months for our crew to get to you, that’s just how long it takes. At the moment, boards have been taking three to four months to get to our customers and that is something that everybody seems totally comfortable with.
Our growth to date has felt very natural. We aren’t out hyping our boards. People see them, see what they do, and they want them. And every year the word slowly spreads. And every year we slowly add employees to satisfy that demand. When that demand curve stops climbing and we have all of the people we need to do what we do, our growth will have come to its natural end. And we will still be having the best time of any group of people that I know who build surfboards for a living.
The secret to a good board? Perfection is the only acceptable result. The secret to a good company? Low expectations. At 42 Surfboards, its not about the “company”. Only the boards need to be perfect.
Q. Having lived in Portland, Oregon for a few years I know that locally made, socially and environmentally responsible products are not a hard sell. Where do your customers come from and have you had any challenges overcoming the stigma of the wooden surfboard?
Our customers come from all over the world. And I had no idea that there was a “wooden surfboard stigma” to overcome. The only response that I have ever gotten when someone sees one of our boards for the first time is absolute pure stoke. This is how boards have been built for 4000 years. OK, we are cheating with some of the tools we are using but, what the hell! It is, after all, the 21st century. But seriously, foam boards have only been popular since 1959 when some crabby chemist stole the formula from a fellow surfer and proceeded to monopolize the industry. There are no crabby chemists at 42 Surfboards. We are surfers who enjoy working with wood. And our customers are surfers who enjoy surfing a board that is simply better by nature.
Wood is not the newcomer on the block. Foam is the newcomer. Wood is cleaner to work with, easier on the planet, and rides better. Just ask the guy on the wood single fin that just caught ten waves to your one.
Q. I noticed that one of the longboards on the blog is chambered. Are the fishes and shortboards also chambered? Can you tell us a little about your construction methods and technical aspects of your boards like weight and volume?
All of our boards are radically chambered. No blank builders to date have ever been able to build chambered wood blanks to the specifications that we are today. Between this and using crystal clear epoxy and bomber layups, our boards are burly but are very light. Not as light as the imported pop-out you can find on Isle 11 at Sprawlmart, but so light that I constantly have to remind people in the shop to be careful. Otherwise they grab the board and, thinking that they are going to be lifting a log, they ram it solidly up into the ceiling. Sheepishly.
I have no clue what the volumes of our boards are. Our shapes are typically a little thicker with a little fuller rail than many of the other boards that you see in the water. This has less to do with the fact that we shape in wood and more to do with the idea that I like to build cheaters. Cheaters are boards that ride so well and so easy and grab you so many waves, that you feel like you are cheating. The rest of the world can feel like they are “progressing” by sitting neck deep in the lineup on their quad-fin skimboard. Don’t think I am not stoked to have them out there – I use that poor guy as my bouy marker so I know where to sit when I come back from my 50th wave of the session.
Q. We always want to know people’s different definitions and approach to the topic of sustainability. Having an academic background in environmental studies must have given you lots of exposure to the theories behind sustainability. But what are your views and how do you see it pertaining to the surf industry?
Sustainability is not BS. And it shouldn’t be about marketing. Sustainability means that your approach could continue on indefinitely. The idea can be applied to something small like 42 Surfboards, or your shopping habits, or your own household. Or it can be applied to something larger like capitalism. In the end though, sustainability is the only morally acceptable option. If you are not approaching your surfing, your business, and the rest of your life sustainably, you are stealing from your children and grandchildren. Period.
At the moment, I do not feel that many companies in the surf industry are taking sustainability seriously. And they won’t until their customers tell them, by taking their business to those who do, that sustainability really matters to them. And I can tell you from our experience that that is happening right now.
Q. We’ve interview Tom Wegener, Danny Hess and Paul Jensen, all master wood board craftsmen. Who has inspired your design methods?
I admire all of those guys, along with Mike Leveccia from Grain. They are all doing super cool things in so many different ways. But more than anybody, I have been influenced by my dad, my grandfather, and my great grandfather, all master woodworkers and watermen. I grew up surfing, sailing and working with my dad, Paul Bergstrom. He definitely taught me everything I know about working with wood. And it had been handed down the line to him from the two or three generations prior. To this day, many of the hand tools that we shape 42 Surfboards with originally belonged to my Great Grandfather and many of the fantastic power tools, big heavy steel beasts from Skil and Milwaukee, belonged to my Grandfather.
It may sound redundant coming from the shaper of chambered wood boards, but tradition is really important to us here at 42 Surfboards.
Q. Any words of wisdom /plans for the future?
Life is short. You are good. Ride a board that makes you proud.
Wooden surfboards are an interesting animal. They were the first, and some believe they’ll be the last. They can be super fast and responsive. They can be beautiful and last a lifetime. And yet, many people still view them as throwback technology and low performance wave tools.
There are however some seriously committed shapers/surfers out there rapidly changing this image and Lars Bergström of 42 Surfboards is no exception.
42 Surfboards is based in Oregon. They make chambered wooden surfboards and focus on a sustainable business model. This means maximizing every resource used in production and keeping work fun and rewarding. Lars is eloquent and well versed in the science of sustainability. Please be sure to check out 42’s blog and website. As always, we welcome your feedback and comments.
Main Website: http://www.42surfboards.com/index.html
42 Blog: http://42surfboards.blogspot.com/
Lars Bergström Interview
Q. There are so many things I’d like to ask you but I think first it would be cool to know how you went from a PhD. in Environmental Studies to making wooden surfboards full time (or vice versa I guess)? Are you from Oregon?
Like most things in life, there is no pattern until you look back. And you don’t get to look back until it is all over. Which makes me a little apprehensive about looking back… Still, if I had to wager a guess, I think it probably all happened at the same time.
I grew up in Laguna Beach, California. My dad went to school in Laguna and ran track on the same team as Billy Hamilton and a bunch of other great surfers. We lived down there, surfing, sailing and playing in the water until I was about twelve. At that point my parents had had all the crowds that they could handle and we moved up the coast to the Northwest. I shaped boards all through high school before moving first to Europe and then to Maui. Riding my boards in different conditions around the world has definitely influenced what I think about what shapes work well in different conditions.
For someone who eventually ended up with a Ph.D., my life has been remarkably centered on surfing. Growing up, that’s just what we did every day. As a teen, I skipped out on a year of high school and spent it surfing. Then after high school I took off for another couple years and spent them surfing. And again after my bachelors’ degree. And again after my masters degree. And now again, surfing is just what I do.
It wasn’t until after earning my Ph.D. in environmental science and teaching at a number of universities though, that I switched from shaping foam to wood. Here I was teaching my students about what needed to be done, or what could be done, and I just felt like it was time to put my money where my mouth was. Or maybe my planer where my mouth was.
Q. Before we talk about your boards I’m really interested in knowing more about the workings of your factory. I understand that you use sustainably harvested wood, recycle all of your waste, etc. Tell us about your sustainable business approach to 42.
The sustainable approach at 42 Surfboards is a work in progress. It isn’t something that is ever finished. Instead, it is how we come to work every morning. Every day we look at the work that we do and ask ourselves if there is a better way. Where are our materials coming from? How far did they have to travel? Are we happy with how our woods are grown and harvested? How much energy is used in building our blanks and shaping our boards? Where is that energy coming from? How much waste are we generating? How much of that can be reused? How much can be recycled? Is there a “higher” use for any of that waste? And every day, we push a little further.
In the end though, and at the core of our sustainable approach, is the quality of our surfboards. Just as we are constantly pushing for the most sustainable approach possible, we are also constantly pushing for the most durable approach to construction and design.
Between those two things, we hope to not only have the least environmental impact of any board builder on the planet but to actually have a net positive impact on both our local and global environment.
Q. You are part of the 1% For The Planet initiative. Additionally, you drastically reduced the prices on all of your boards, some by $1000. What gives? Yvon Chouinard talks a lot about (in Let My People Go Surfing) controlling growth to keep the company sane and employees happy. Where do you see your company’s growth in the future as wait times increase?
Edward Abbey once said something on the order of “Constant growth is the philosophy of a cancer cell.” I admire Yvon Chouinard and “Let my people go surfing” is required reading for all of our employees at 42 Surfboards. But I greatly admire the work of Edward Abbey and 42 Surfboards is not here to grow. 42 Surfboards is not here to become some mega-conglomerate. 42 Surfboards is here to build surfboards, be a great place to work, and show that you can have a positive impact on the environment while feeding your kids and doing something you love.
Being part of 1% For The Planet and The Surfrider Foundation are not something we do for image or marketing. These fantastic groups are actually part of our reason for existing. It is thrilling to take part of our earnings and commit them to real on-the-ground activism. At the same time though, it is an investment that any business that actually cares about our environment can’t afford to miss. Just as David Brower said “There is no business to be done on a dead planet”, there are no waves to be ridden in a dead ocean. We hope that all of our colleagues will join us in supporting 1% For The Planet and The Surfrider Foundation.
Reducing the prices of our boards this year had nothing to do with growth. Instead, it had everything to do with building surfboards. At 42 Surfboards, we want to build the best surfboards in the world. Beautiful, yes. Sustainable, yes. Durable, you bet. Ripping, absolutely! So while we are honored that people were treating our boards as art, we are more honored when we see riders pull into a ten-foot Puerto barrel on something that we have shaped for them. The reduction of our prices was intended pull boards off of living-room walls and put them up on long green walls all over the world. And so far, so good. The only drawback for our customers has been that the waiting line has gotten a little longer.
This leads right into the idea that one of 42 Surfboards’ reasons for existing is to be a great place to work. We refuse to freak out about waiting lines that ebb and flow. Instead, we take great care of our customers, put just as much care into every single surfboard, and we refuse to take deposits. In other words, every board is equally important to us. And if your board takes two months for our crew to get to you, that’s just how long it takes. At the moment, boards have been taking three to four months to get to our customers and that is something that everybody seems totally comfortable with.
Our growth to date has felt very natural. We aren’t out hyping our boards. People see them, see what they do, and they want them. And every year the word slowly spreads. And every year we slowly add employees to satisfy that demand. When that demand curve stops climbing and we have all of the people we need to do what we do, our growth will have come to its natural end. And we will still be having the best time of any group of people that I know who build surfboards for a living.
The secret to a good board? Perfection is the only acceptable result. The secret to a good company? Low expectations. At 42 Surfboards, its not about the “company”. Only the boards need to be perfect.
Q. Having lived in Portland, Oregon for a few years I know that locally made, socially and environmentally responsible products are not a hard sell. Where do your customers come from and have you had any challenges overcoming the stigma of the wooden surfboard?
Our customers come from all over the world. And I had no idea that there was a “wooden surfboard stigma” to overcome. The only response that I have ever gotten when someone sees one of our boards for the first time is absolute pure stoke. This is how boards have been built for 4000 years. OK, we are cheating with some of the tools we are using but, what the hell! It is, after all, the 21st century. But seriously, foam boards have only been popular since 1959 when some crabby chemist stole the formula from a fellow surfer and proceeded to monopolize the industry. There are no crabby chemists at 42 Surfboards. We are surfers who enjoy working with wood. And our customers are surfers who enjoy surfing a board that is simply better by nature.
Wood is not the newcomer on the block. Foam is the newcomer. Wood is cleaner to work with, easier on the planet, and rides better. Just ask the guy on the wood single fin that just caught ten waves to your one.
Q. I noticed that one of the longboards on the blog is chambered. Are the fishes and shortboards also chambered? Can you tell us a little about your construction methods and technical aspects of your boards like weight and volume?
All of our boards are radically chambered. No blank builders to date have ever been able to build chambered wood blanks to the specifications that we are today. Between this and using crystal clear epoxy and bomber layups, our boards are burly but are very light. Not as light as the imported pop-out you can find on Isle 11 at Sprawlmart, but so light that I constantly have to remind people in the shop to be careful. Otherwise they grab the board and, thinking that they are going to be lifting a log, they ram it solidly up into the ceiling. Sheepishly.
I have no clue what the volumes of our boards are. Our shapes are typically a little thicker with a little fuller rail than many of the other boards that you see in the water. This has less to do with the fact that we shape in wood and more to do with the idea that I like to build cheaters. Cheaters are boards that ride so well and so easy and grab you so many waves, that you feel like you are cheating. The rest of the world can feel like they are “progressing” by sitting neck deep in the lineup on their quad-fin skimboard. Don’t think I am not stoked to have them out there – I use that poor guy as my bouy marker so I know where to sit when I come back from my 50th wave of the session.
Q. We always want to know people’s different definitions and approach to the topic of sustainability. Having an academic background in environmental studies must have given you lots of exposure to the theories behind sustainability. But what are your views and how do you see it pertaining to the surf industry?
Sustainability is not BS. And it shouldn’t be about marketing. Sustainability means that your approach could continue on indefinitely. The idea can be applied to something small like 42 Surfboards, or your shopping habits, or your own household. Or it can be applied to something larger like capitalism. In the end though, sustainability is the only morally acceptable option. If you are not approaching your surfing, your business, and the rest of your life sustainably, you are stealing from your children and grandchildren. Period.
At the moment, I do not feel that many companies in the surf industry are taking sustainability seriously. And they won’t until their customers tell them, by taking their business to those who do, that sustainability really matters to them. And I can tell you from our experience that that is happening right now.
Q. We’ve interview Tom Wegener, Danny Hess and Paul Jensen, all master wood board craftsmen. Who has inspired your design methods?
I admire all of those guys, along with Mike Leveccia from Grain. They are all doing super cool things in so many different ways. But more than anybody, I have been influenced by my dad, my grandfather, and my great grandfather, all master woodworkers and watermen. I grew up surfing, sailing and working with my dad, Paul Bergstrom. He definitely taught me everything I know about working with wood. And it had been handed down the line to him from the two or three generations prior. To this day, many of the hand tools that we shape 42 Surfboards with originally belonged to my Great Grandfather and many of the fantastic power tools, big heavy steel beasts from Skil and Milwaukee, belonged to my Grandfather.
It may sound redundant coming from the shaper of chambered wood boards, but tradition is really important to us here at 42 Surfboards.
Q. Any words of wisdom /plans for the future?
Life is short. You are good. Ride a board that makes you proud.
Real life
Waist to chest high at Pacific City last session. Sunny, breeze out of the north - rode my 6'9" single fin. Sailed the sailed the fourteen footer in 15-25 knots a couple days ago. Hoping for a bit of kiteboarding today or tomorrow. Went clamming the other morning (actually I surfed while the rest of the crew fearlessly but unsuccsessfully hunted clams) and crabbing later that afternoon (just as fearless and unsuccessful). I've been running across an awful lot of folks lately that are waiting for "real life"/retirement/the weekend. Don't do it! Life is happening right now while you are killing time. Get on it! Get busy! Do what it is that you want to do and do it now. This is "real-life"!
Friday
Surf well.
Its been a little crazy up here. All the same, I apologize for the gap in writing. Many of you have told me that you subscribe and wait anxiously for pictures of the new boards to arrive. We definitely appreciate that and do our best to keep the pictures coming.
Other than the crazy swell and storm after storm, there is all sorts of other action going on up here. For one, we are moving! We are buying the tools that our blank maker has been using to build our blanks and moving into a giant old brick icehouse in down-town Hood River. We’ll keep you posted as we slowly get moved in. There will be a bit of a gap while we move but by spring we should be throwing wood chips consistently again.
The other action that happens here at this time of year is skiing. The snow is falling and we are all up on the mountain two or three days a week. Or four or five, depending on the week.
The Pacific Northwest is fantastic!
Surfing here though, is not for the meek. On Thanksgiving Day I was surfing a well known rock point. This is not some out-of-the-way secret spot. This is one of the main spots up here. If you surf there, you know exactly where I am talking about. If you don’t surf there, the exact location doesn’t really matter that much.
The swell was supposed to be bigger but ended up at 14-16 at right around 16 seconds. This put the surf that morning at several times overhead - more than 2X but less than 4X overhead.
The sky was clear and the temperature was a few degrees below freezing. There were pools of ice on the ground where guys had taken their wetsuits off the afternoon before. I say afternoon and not evening because it gets dark around four this time of year. The water in the gutter was frozen and all of the rocks down to the waterline were covered with a thick frost.
The rockfrost combined with a huge surge caused by the highest tide of the year was making getting into the water a real trick. While slithering into my wetsuit I watched two people get flatly denied. Getting denied here does not just mean getting caught inside. It means getting thrown up on the rocks, dragged back out, thrown up again, etc… It’s never pretty and it happens rarely because you are so focused.
The wind was howling offshore. The 20-30 knots of thick cold winter air seemed to be throwing half the water in the lip out the back. The other half of the lip was being held up impossibly long before pitching out twice as far as the wave was high. As beautiful as it was from the beach, the reality of what that meant from the water would soon become apparent.
I slipped out with no adventures. Watching the handful of other surfers ride was a trip. It struck me that we are so small out there. Between the raging currents, the howling wind, the ever-present wildlife, the cold water, and the forest hanging off the rocks, you just get the feeling that you are so insignificant.
I caught a couple fast waves and was having a good time. It is always wild to drop in on a big wave when it is blowing that hard. Even on a wood board you just get blown off the top of the wave. Now admittedly, I should have been on a bigger board. But the biggest that I had in the rack was a 6’8” single fin. So a 6’8” single it was.
On a board that short, in waves that big, when it is blowing that hard, your only choice is to take off under the lip. The tricky part on Thanksgiving Day was that the wind was holding the lip up so long and there were so few guys out that you couldn’t quite tell where “just under the lip” was going to be. In conditions like that, sometimes you are early and you just get a face full of cold buckshot spray. Sometimes you are right on and you find yourself feathering a long bottom turn under a few tons of chilly green Pacific juice. And then sometimes you mess up and get caught inside begging for the lip to stay vertical for just two more seconds.
On one of those waves I sprint-paddled towards the heaving lip with equal parts hope and dread. Even as the lip pitched, split between the tons of water coming down and the tons of spray going up and out the back, I hoped that I could sneak under. Even as the lip split the ocean’s surface 15 feet in front of me, I still hoped I could dive down the rabbit's hole that the glass hammer had just punched. But none of that was to be. Instead, the crushing lip laughed at my feeble three foot duck-dive and just ripped me to pieces. I didn’t let go of my board and instead rode it free-falling down the holes of foam and shooting up the geysers of green water until I finally came back up into the sun. At that point I couldn’t really move my upper body and for a second I wondered if I had broken my neck. My subconscious is always a little melodramatic.
It took me a couple seconds to realize that the wave had blown my hooded vest off my head and down my shoulders. My whole upper body was sticking out of the face of my hood! Crazy. I wriggled back into my hood and took a couple more on the head before making it back into the rip.
Now I was cold.
My suit is two years old and it is amazing how cold it is. I have been meaning to order a new one from Hotline but I just haven’t done it yet. I really need to do that.
As it was, I was freezing, thoroughly pounded, and stroking madly down the rip when I spotted my buddy.
Contrary to the popular image, here in the Pacific Northwest you never surf alone. There may or may not be other humans with you but you always have a couple seals or sea lions to keep you company. My buddy today was a big beefy sea lion, at least as tall as my friend Didi, a big Kiwi, but much bigger around.
The rip was dredging out right through the impact zone. Right along the long rocky point. I was paddling out on the right side of the rip, left of the eddy but right of the rock shelf. This shelf was pronounced because of one of the highest tides of the year. The smaller waves weren’t really affecting it much but the larger waves were emptying that shelf like water pouring off a waterfall. I wondered about that as I watched the sea lion power down the point on the left side of the rip, between me and the shelf.
Obviously my buddy had thousands more water hours than me but I still wondered about his line. He ducked under the first wave of the next set with no trouble and I did the same. As I came up out of the back of the wave, the second wave of the set was already feathering and the shelf was pouring off into its path.
My buddy was ahead of me by almost a whole wave period at this point so I was able to watch the whole thing in slow motion. As the shelf emptied off, he slid across in the four to five foot deep slab of water that was pouring off the side. And then, along with all of that water, he became part of the lip and crashed back down in the thick airborne slab onto the freshly emptied rocks.
We've all been there. We've all gone over the falls. Admittedly, not in such a dangerous spot. But this guy was experienced and I wondered how he was going to make it out of such a bad spot.
By the time I duck dived under the wave, my buddy was back in the rip and headed out to sea. With his head and tail down, he was curled into a "U" shape. He must have either hit his head or broken his back. In either case, he was clearly dead. He floated all the way out the end of the rip just behind me and never moved.
I felt really sad. Sad, shook up, and, to be completely honest, more than a little scared. I mean, here was a true waterman, a guy who had spent his whole life in the water, and he was killed by the wave less than 100 feet from me. He was much more skilled than I. Much stronger than I. Much faster than I. Much more experienced than I.
My session was wrecked. For the rest of the morning, I flailed. I blew every critical take off, wussed every critical turn, and didn't pull into the barrel for the rest of the session. Every time I kicked out and spun around into the rip, I was freaking. And whenever I wasn't thinking about my short-lived acquaintance with the sea lion, I was wondering how I was going to get in without suffering the same fate.
I finally caught a particularly long wave at the end of a set and made a mad scramble to the beach. To safety. And to another nice day of working with wood.
Surf well.
Lars and the 42 Crew
Other than the crazy swell and storm after storm, there is all sorts of other action going on up here. For one, we are moving! We are buying the tools that our blank maker has been using to build our blanks and moving into a giant old brick icehouse in down-town Hood River. We’ll keep you posted as we slowly get moved in. There will be a bit of a gap while we move but by spring we should be throwing wood chips consistently again.
The other action that happens here at this time of year is skiing. The snow is falling and we are all up on the mountain two or three days a week. Or four or five, depending on the week.
The Pacific Northwest is fantastic!
Surfing here though, is not for the meek. On Thanksgiving Day I was surfing a well known rock point. This is not some out-of-the-way secret spot. This is one of the main spots up here. If you surf there, you know exactly where I am talking about. If you don’t surf there, the exact location doesn’t really matter that much.
The swell was supposed to be bigger but ended up at 14-16 at right around 16 seconds. This put the surf that morning at several times overhead - more than 2X but less than 4X overhead.
The sky was clear and the temperature was a few degrees below freezing. There were pools of ice on the ground where guys had taken their wetsuits off the afternoon before. I say afternoon and not evening because it gets dark around four this time of year. The water in the gutter was frozen and all of the rocks down to the waterline were covered with a thick frost.
The rockfrost combined with a huge surge caused by the highest tide of the year was making getting into the water a real trick. While slithering into my wetsuit I watched two people get flatly denied. Getting denied here does not just mean getting caught inside. It means getting thrown up on the rocks, dragged back out, thrown up again, etc… It’s never pretty and it happens rarely because you are so focused.
The wind was howling offshore. The 20-30 knots of thick cold winter air seemed to be throwing half the water in the lip out the back. The other half of the lip was being held up impossibly long before pitching out twice as far as the wave was high. As beautiful as it was from the beach, the reality of what that meant from the water would soon become apparent.
I slipped out with no adventures. Watching the handful of other surfers ride was a trip. It struck me that we are so small out there. Between the raging currents, the howling wind, the ever-present wildlife, the cold water, and the forest hanging off the rocks, you just get the feeling that you are so insignificant.
I caught a couple fast waves and was having a good time. It is always wild to drop in on a big wave when it is blowing that hard. Even on a wood board you just get blown off the top of the wave. Now admittedly, I should have been on a bigger board. But the biggest that I had in the rack was a 6’8” single fin. So a 6’8” single it was.
On a board that short, in waves that big, when it is blowing that hard, your only choice is to take off under the lip. The tricky part on Thanksgiving Day was that the wind was holding the lip up so long and there were so few guys out that you couldn’t quite tell where “just under the lip” was going to be. In conditions like that, sometimes you are early and you just get a face full of cold buckshot spray. Sometimes you are right on and you find yourself feathering a long bottom turn under a few tons of chilly green Pacific juice. And then sometimes you mess up and get caught inside begging for the lip to stay vertical for just two more seconds.
On one of those waves I sprint-paddled towards the heaving lip with equal parts hope and dread. Even as the lip pitched, split between the tons of water coming down and the tons of spray going up and out the back, I hoped that I could sneak under. Even as the lip split the ocean’s surface 15 feet in front of me, I still hoped I could dive down the rabbit's hole that the glass hammer had just punched. But none of that was to be. Instead, the crushing lip laughed at my feeble three foot duck-dive and just ripped me to pieces. I didn’t let go of my board and instead rode it free-falling down the holes of foam and shooting up the geysers of green water until I finally came back up into the sun. At that point I couldn’t really move my upper body and for a second I wondered if I had broken my neck. My subconscious is always a little melodramatic.
It took me a couple seconds to realize that the wave had blown my hooded vest off my head and down my shoulders. My whole upper body was sticking out of the face of my hood! Crazy. I wriggled back into my hood and took a couple more on the head before making it back into the rip.
Now I was cold.
My suit is two years old and it is amazing how cold it is. I have been meaning to order a new one from Hotline but I just haven’t done it yet. I really need to do that.
As it was, I was freezing, thoroughly pounded, and stroking madly down the rip when I spotted my buddy.
Contrary to the popular image, here in the Pacific Northwest you never surf alone. There may or may not be other humans with you but you always have a couple seals or sea lions to keep you company. My buddy today was a big beefy sea lion, at least as tall as my friend Didi, a big Kiwi, but much bigger around.
The rip was dredging out right through the impact zone. Right along the long rocky point. I was paddling out on the right side of the rip, left of the eddy but right of the rock shelf. This shelf was pronounced because of one of the highest tides of the year. The smaller waves weren’t really affecting it much but the larger waves were emptying that shelf like water pouring off a waterfall. I wondered about that as I watched the sea lion power down the point on the left side of the rip, between me and the shelf.
Obviously my buddy had thousands more water hours than me but I still wondered about his line. He ducked under the first wave of the next set with no trouble and I did the same. As I came up out of the back of the wave, the second wave of the set was already feathering and the shelf was pouring off into its path.
My buddy was ahead of me by almost a whole wave period at this point so I was able to watch the whole thing in slow motion. As the shelf emptied off, he slid across in the four to five foot deep slab of water that was pouring off the side. And then, along with all of that water, he became part of the lip and crashed back down in the thick airborne slab onto the freshly emptied rocks.
We've all been there. We've all gone over the falls. Admittedly, not in such a dangerous spot. But this guy was experienced and I wondered how he was going to make it out of such a bad spot.
By the time I duck dived under the wave, my buddy was back in the rip and headed out to sea. With his head and tail down, he was curled into a "U" shape. He must have either hit his head or broken his back. In either case, he was clearly dead. He floated all the way out the end of the rip just behind me and never moved.
I felt really sad. Sad, shook up, and, to be completely honest, more than a little scared. I mean, here was a true waterman, a guy who had spent his whole life in the water, and he was killed by the wave less than 100 feet from me. He was much more skilled than I. Much stronger than I. Much faster than I. Much more experienced than I.
My session was wrecked. For the rest of the morning, I flailed. I blew every critical take off, wussed every critical turn, and didn't pull into the barrel for the rest of the session. Every time I kicked out and spun around into the rip, I was freaking. And whenever I wasn't thinking about my short-lived acquaintance with the sea lion, I was wondering how I was going to get in without suffering the same fate.
I finally caught a particularly long wave at the end of a set and made a mad scramble to the beach. To safety. And to another nice day of working with wood.
Surf well.
Lars and the 42 Crew
42 surfboards
All over the world, surfboard production slows according to conditions. We, as an industry, could be used as a global conditions barometer.
Here at 42 Surfboards, we are no different. In fact, if anything, we are even more vulnerable to it than most. At most shops, the staff only disappears when the surf is good. And believe me, I am the first out the door when the surf is good. And I am not alone - we lose our entire glass shop every winter to Mexico and points south!
The surf is only the beginning though!Forrest is Jonesing when the water in the rivers is up (kayaking). Or when the dirt on the trails is that perfect humidity on the spectrum from ball-bearings slick dust to bike-eating muck (mountain biking).
Frank is out racing his cars around as soon as the sun is shining and the track is dry (Ferrari, Cobra, M3, Austin Healy, Lotus, etc...).
And I am no better than the rest. I am constantly watching the weather. If the swell is up and the period is long, I want to surf. No excuses. If the wind is up, I want to sail the catamaran. Or go windsurfing. Or kiteboarding. I just want to ride waves! I don't really care how.
The problem is, what conditions does that leave? Man, if we didn't enjoy building wood surfboards so much, no work would ever get done.Today, Mark's board had to wait. One board, a 6'3 five-fin Bonzer for Maui, got sanded and the rest of the day went to carving turns on frozen water.
Look at what we have to deal with up here! This is for Mount Hood, 35 minutes from our shop:
Tonight: Periods of snow. Low around 21. Windy, with a west southwest wind between 24 and 31 mph, with gusts as high as 37 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total nighttime snow accumulation of 10 to 14 inches possible.
Monday: Periods of snow showers. High near 21. Breezy, with a southwest wind between 14 and 24 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible.
Monday Night: Snow likely. Cloudy, with a low around 22. Windy, with a south wind 14 to 17 mph becoming southwest between 29 and 32 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of 7 to 11 inches possible.
Tuesday: Periods of snow. High near 26. Windy, with a west southwest wind 41 to 44 mph decreasing to between 16 and 19 mph. Winds could gust as high as 55 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%.
Tuesday Night: Periods of snow showers. Low around 21. West wind 8 to 16 mph becoming south. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
Wednesday: Periods of snow. High near 21. Windy. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
When are we every going to get any work done? Luckily Mark confirmed his board today, and we will, in fact, get it finished at some point during the next week/four feet of snow!Not tonight though - tonight went to mounting up my new skis, a pair of Salomon Gun 188's. So stoked.
Play hard!Lars and the 42 Crew
42 surfboards
Browsing around
We were up north browsing around over the weekend. As always, the no surf-spot pictures policy is in full force. Sorry about that. Many of you have complained about the lack of Pacific Northwest action shots. There is just no other way to travel around up here and be welcome though. C'est la vie.
As it is, when we show up somewhere, everybody knows that we never kiss and tell.That doesn't mean we can't share some non-surf spot shots with you though.
Let's get with the program here, kids.
"The view from space. The harpooning of whales. The Cuyahoga in flames. Smog in Los Angeles. The clubbing of baby seals. Toxic waste dumps. The hunting of wolves near Yellowstone. The Amazon in flames. Polar bears on melting ice." - from Break Through
What's it going to take?
Not being able to surf after a rain? That junk in the water is coming off of your street!
Oil spills shutting down the entire central coast? That stuff goes into the foam that your board is shaped out of! You use it to drive to the beach!
When is going to hit home? When are you going to start paying attention? When exactly are you going to take your first step?Let's get on it!
Time for the winter leash
Head and half today and fantastic. Long, fast, fun rides and I only lost my board twice. Winter is here and I have got to put a leash on. Both swims were from the outside. The first time, I only had to swim all the way in. The second time, I had to swim all the way in and then chase the board all the way out the rip again. I'll get a leash.
Thanks a lot for all the great feedback. I am glad that you like the boards. As long as you do, we'll keep making them.
Life is short. You are good. Ride a board that makes you proud.
I'm a karmatarian
Winter is here in full force. The swell hung around 25 feet all week and we got another two feet of snow on the mountain last night. Things are back to normal!
Don't eat shark. Karma, karma, karma!
Life is short. You are good. Ride a board that makes you proud.
Summer is so nice
In the last three weeks, we have surfed wood longboards, fish, and single fins at Cannon Beach, Malibu a couple times, Cardiff, Encinitas, spent a killer week in the water north of here, and got a nice little session back home in Cannon Beach again yesterday. I've been itching to get out and do some sailing but have just been too busy surfing and shaping.
I am sorry that we don't have any good shots from last week. I enjoying seeing cool action shots as much as the next guy. Unfortunately we have a strict no-names, no-maps, no-pictures policy on all of our trips. It's the only thing that makes you a welcome guest in this day and age of cyber-explorers. Besides, you'll have a lot more fun finding all of this stuff yourself anyway!
Summer is so nice!
Life is short. You are good. Ride a board that makes you proud.
Being good just gets better and better
Forrest called me the other day in shock. He and Frank had just started chambering our latest blank - a 5'10 fish hewn from a single three-foot thick hemlock log that fell on our road this winter.
The big old tree fell on it's own, I cut it into sections with my lime-green chainsaw, Matt Meyers milled it for us at his house, and Forrest has been waiting to mill and chamber the blank. Now he was calling to tell me how beautiful it was turning out. With grain running in full wide swaths, the whole board was slowly being released from the tree it had lived in for the past 150 years.
This baby won't be a $1,999 board, I'm afraid. But, then again, a board not only built from 100% wood, but milled, chambered, and shaped from a single storm-felled log from the Oregon Coast is not something you run across every day. We have a fresh batch of sustainably harvested abalone on the way from the South Pacific for logos and for pin-lining for this board.
Wood is good!
Life is short. You are good. Ride a board that makes you proud.
Watch. Study. Think. Surf.
It is key that you learn how to study the ocean before paddling out. Find the rips, time the sets, see who is ripping, and find the peak you want. By doing this you will get so much more out of your session than just throwing yourself out into the breaking waves and hoping for something good.
A few months ago, it was a couple feet overhead but it was breaking pretty far out. Nobody was out, as usual. Before long though, one guy pulled into the parking lot and suited up. I suited up and got ready to join him for a session. Right as we were getting ready to run down the trail and jump in the water, another guy came running up to join us for the paddle out. I had been watching the lineup for 20 or 30 minutes. I knew where the channel was, where it was breaking, and how to get back out after each wave. And it paid off. Two of us paddled out, not hair dry by any means, but we made it out.
The third guy never made it outside of the inside. My buddy and I, Matt his name turned out to be, traded waves for almost three hours. Long fast rides from outside the rocks to the other end of the beach. And then long paddles back out watching the other guy firing along in the pocket.
Watch. Study. Think. Surf. In that order.
Life is short. You are good. Ride a board that makes you proud.
No whining!
Go surfing. Have fun. Smile real big.
Just don’t whine.
Life is short. You are good. Ride a board that makes you proud.
One Percent
42 Surfboards is a proud member of 1% for the planet. For us, paying our earth tax is no problem. We are about doing it right whether we are surfing, shaping, or doing our accounting. Edward Abbey once said something on the order of “Constant growth is the philosophy of a cancer cell.” 42 Surfboards is not here to grow. 42 Surfboards is not here to become some mega-conglomerate. 42 Surfboards is here to build surfboards, be a great place to work, and show that you can have a positive impact on the environment while feeding your kids and doing something you love. Being part of 1% For The Planet and The Surfrider Foundation are not something we do for image or marketing. These fantastic groups are actually part of our reason for existing. It is thrilling to take part of our earnings and commit them to real on-the-ground activism. At the same time though, it is an investment that any business that actually cares about our environment can’t afford to miss. Just as David Brower said “There is no business to be done on a dead planet”, there are no waves to be ridden in a dead ocean. We hope that all of our colleagues will join us in supporting 1% For The Planet and The Surfrider Foundation.
Check out http://www.onepercentfortheplanet.com/. And then join us.
Life is short. You are good. Ride a board that makes you proud.
Do your own exploring
You know you have something good going on when every board coming through the shop is seriously lusted over by the very guys that are building them. All week, Forrest has been absolutely drooling over the new 6'3 Rocket. It is a an all-spruce retro rounded pin that will be set up with one of 101 Fins three-fin bamboo bonzer sets. Oh my!
Forrest thinks it might just be the ultimate surfboard....
Do your own exploring. Just because everyone says there isn’t any surf there, doesn’t mean it isn’t going off today. And actually, I happen to know that there is surf around that corner. I had the good fortune of growing up in some parts of the world with very few surfers. It is by no means that I am the first person to ever surf these spots, it is just that the odds of running into any of the other guys is so phenomenally low that you might as well be. People forget that most of the world is like this. Get out and be a part of it.
Life is short. You are good. Ride a board that makes you proud.
Don't be afraid of big surf.
There is a little swell on the way. It isn't very big but it makes me think of winter and the big surf we get then.
Don’t be afraid of big surf. The rewards are so much greater than the punishment that not going isn’t really even an option. I have only caught ten or so really giant waves in my life and I remember every one of them in perfect detail. In fact, they are among the only things in my life that I remember with such clarity.
Life is short. You are good. Ride a board that makes you proud.
Go surf with your buddies!
Appreciate the surfs you get with your buddies. The time you get with your friends. There won’t be as many as you think. Think back on the sessions you have had. I bet you can remember a handful of them with your best friends that really stand out. That’s how it is in life, I think. You don’t get as many days as it might seem in the beginning. Make them count. And make sure there are as many good ones as possible.
Life is short. You are good. Ride a board that makes you proud.
Appreciate the wildlife!
Look around.
Did you see that fish go by? Did you see that pelican hoversurfing past you? Did you see the osprey checking you out? How about the seals? Have you ever stopped to consider how many different species of seals you see out in the water?
I surfed with two seals the one morning last fall. I went down to Short Sands specifically because I didn’t feel like surfing by myself. It was nine on a Thursday morning in mid-October and I thought a little company would be quite nice.
The swell was 4-6 feet but I hadn’t checked the wind or period. As it turns out, it was a long enough period to push the faces up to around eight feet. Eight feet and barreling. Admittedly barreling and closing out for the most part.
Anyway, I was the only person that felt like surfing in that this morning. There were four other guys on the beach, evenly spaced down the beach, each pretending to be enjoying the view in totally solitary selfness. I hadn’t brought a leash because I thought it was going to be four feet.
Waxing up, I spotted a channel, paddled out, and got hammered by a seven wave set. Should have counted that from the beach, I guess. Oh well. That is the benefit of getting hammered by a set on the way out; you get a chance to have a good close look at what is going on. This morning, the waves were coming in in sets of seven with the first or second wave the biggest. The problem with that is that you either give up the biggest wave of the set or you risk getting hammered by the next five or six waves. Although, that is usually not a very difficult decision.
After surfing for an hour or so, I was joined by a seal. He popped up a couple hundred feet away. We stared at each other until I spun around and took a wave.
One of the nice things with surfing by yourself is that the only factor in choosing a wave is whether you want it or not. I wanted this one, spun, paddled two strokes and zipped off down the line. Kicking out a couple hundred feet later, I could see that my new buddy was gone. Two minutes later though, while I was still catching my breath from my paddle back out, he popped up again. Now only 50-60 feet away, I could see that he was a nice broad shouldered spotted seal. A male I would guess.
We enjoyed each other’s company until the next set swung through. I missed this one though, a bit aggravating as the sets were a solid ten minutes apart. I missed it because when I spun around, there was another, slightly smaller seal right behind me. This one, a female I would guess, although I don’t know why, was only 20-30 feet away. I am surprised that I didn’t smell her.
Often when a large fish eating mammal is that close, you can smell them (remind me later and I will tell you that story too). Anyway, I missed the set and hung out with my seal friends for another ten minutes. When the next set came through, I had to paddle a little deeper behind the peak to grab the wave I wanted so I wouldn’t hit the little seal on the inside. Ironic, since I had just been enjoying the absolute freedom of surfing by myself. In any case, the little seal forced me a little deeper than I would have taken off. It was no big deal. I was on my fish, a super fast little board, so I just had to speed under the pitching lip to make the wave. From there I flew on down the line. But I was always just a little behind. Just barely under the pitching lip. Not deep in the barrel, by any means. Just deep in the pocket.
Too deep to kick out when the whole thing closed out at the end. Which is also no big deal. Except it was the second wave of the set, it was a solid eight feet, and I wasn’t using a leash. So I zipped as high as I could on the wave before shooting the board up in the air, into the offshore breeze and over the crashing lip. Ducking under the barrel, I popped up behind the wave and swam over to my board. To the applause of the outside leopard seal.
My buddy on the outside was barking and he didn’t stop until I got back to my spot between him and his girlfriend. She forced me deep on the next one as well, on which the whole performance was repeated to the repeated applause of her boyfriend on the outside.
I surfed with the jokers for another hour before heading back in for another day of shaping wood boards. They had helped me surf better than I ever would have ever surfed alone that day. And they had been exactly the company that I had hoped for.
Open your eyes when you are out there. You are so lucky - you have the pleasure of playing around in the last great wilderness. One of the last places of actual wildness. Enjoy.
Life is short. You are good. Ride a board that makes you proud.
Surf like you mean it!
Be careful. This is for keeps.
Life is short. You are good. Ride a board that makes you proud.
Smokin' hot shaping.
It was so hot this last summer. I would spend the day shaping in front of a fan with both doors open to the shaping room. I am so happy that it is winter. And I am so happy to be working with wood. Nice clean wood....
Life is short. You are good. Ride a board that makes you proud.
Be your art!
Be stylish. You are your art.Life is short. You are good. Ride a board that makes you proud.
Bodysurf!
Body surf! I know it's a weird thing for someone who builds surfboards to say, but I am serious. The beautiful thing with surfing is our complete lack of facilities. I mean, we do what we do without a field, without a ski lift, without a referee. It is just you and I and the waves. There is a set of ethics that we hold ourselves to and it works. Now take a way your board and bodysurfing is the ultimate version of this beautiful physical art. Our boards here at 42 Surfboards may be the ultimate sustainable version of a surfboard, but bodysurfing is the ultimate sustainable version of surfing.
Life is short. You are good. Ride a board that makes you proud.
Come off the bottom with power!
Come off the bottom with speed and power.This is important in life and surfing. If all you do is enjoy the drop and then have the wave catch you, it is going to roll you. In surfing and life. However, if you realize that every wave has a top, a bottom, and is moving, you will also realize the importance of coming off the bottom with power and speed.
You only get one shot at it per wave and it will make all the difference in your ride. So take the opportunities that come your way.
Enjoy the drop, by all means. But then set your rail, pick your spot somewhere further down the wave, bend your knees, and take off for that spot at full speed. Point your arms where you want to go and don’t let your eyes drift from your goal. On the wave or in life.
Life is short. You are good. Ride a board that makes you proud.
Concentrate on what is in front of you
Cover your head when you go over the falls!
Cover your head when you go over the falls. You know what I am talking about here. If you are making the drop ass-first, without your board, you have issues. And while it would be cool to just relax and enjoy it, you'll have to do that in hind-sight. Like tonight, when you wake up with that falling/going over-the-falls sensation and wake your bed-mate up by rolling up in all the covers and falling onto the floor. Cover your head, for Thor's sake. Then at least you'll have a pillow over it when she starts throwing other pillows at you!
Life is short. You are good. Ride a board that makes you proud.
The best job in the world.
I am pretty sure that I have the best job in the world. I get to build surfboards for a living to start with. But on top of that, I get to build the best boards I know how. Boards designed to fly along for the next half century! I don't have to work in a pile of itchy scratchy foam dust or around a bunch of crazy chemicals. My chambered blanks are all organic and built from sustainably harvested wood. Even the glue I use for gluing up the blanks is food grade! My wife called me the other day and asked if I could come help her with something at the house. I told her that I was almost relieved that she had asked - I was having so much fun at work that I was feeling guilty! I definitely have the best job in the world.
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