Fountain of Youth surfboards

I'll drop a line to Bruce and see if he is interested in posting over here.  The man does go on but always entertaining and informative. 

More to come.

More visual.

For 2015:

Reintroducing my "Back to the Future" Model (as appeared in "BTF2" movie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdEorlgVe-c

New release pending of "Big Fish" demo to be available at select dealers.

New 'private label' offerings coming from East & West inquiries.

Never a dull moment.

New Year's Resolution:  one picture is worth 1,000 words.

Digging it!

V8 VEE BOTTOM:  Inspired & Refined from the 60's spinout queens.

This 8'6" has a cut lapped Volan cloth using Vinylester Resin. Vinylester wss originally developed and used in boat building. The net result is a very strong classic looking glass job.  A 15" long Fins Unlimited fin box is installed on all V8's 8 ft. and longer to allow for variable fin positioning using a wide based, high aspect, hand foiled Volan Greenough Stage IVA fiberglass fin.

Absolutely bitchen!

"Back to the revolution".

A time when, well, we were innocent and knew no better.

I rode my backyard V to it’s death.

A giant leap, that needs to be remembered and ah, surfed!

Great stuff DS!

The original Vee Bottom designs remained unrealized and sometimes bad rapped if not chastised during their short span sandwiched between the refined & proven longboards of yesteryear and the modern glass slippers of today.

 Many of the early vee bottoms were known as "spinout queens".  The problem was so prevalent a lot of older surfers still remember them as the boards that didn't work.

The lopped off wide back tails carved from traditional longboard blanks (that's all there was at the time) presented new design challenges for skilled shapers worldwide. Some guys worked it out well, while others produced disasterous results.  The proliferation of very wide based, ultra deep (10" to 13") fins were an almost immediate solution for what was (really) a board design deficiency.

Revisiting what I  now call "The Possibilities of the In Between"  the rewards of combining what we have learned since, and what we were strviving for then, the soul searching is starting  to pay off and the rewards become more apparent day by day.  Greenough's Crowned Tail for "turns from hell" is faithfully incorporated into my design and the feedback has been really great.

As always, one man's magic is another man's poison, and this 'ride' is open to individual interpretation.

Still, it's refreshing to make something a bit off the grid that people can embrace and tell me how much fun they are having on these boards.

V8's are currently available from 6'6" to 8'6". Thicknesses vary from 2-1/2" up to 3-1/4" depending on length and personal preference.  Matt Wessen has a 7'6", I threw a  6'6" to Chad Marshall  and they traded off one day awhile back at Zuma.... Chad's feedback:  "the 6'6" went f'n mental".

Can you say ......... fin driver?

Worth consideration.

The arc of the tail moves the corners of the tailblock forward resulting in shortened rail length increasing maneuverability.

Good Stuff!

Visuals:

"Time Capsules" are part of my offering which pulls from years of shaping different types of surfboards. Pictured here is Jim Huerbsch aka Jimbo, a friend hamming it up on his 5'7" twin fin at Santa Catalina, Panama.  Jimbo passed away a few years ago from a brain tumor. Long may you ride hermano.

Cabo Chritmas getaway.

Cesar is adding a "Big Fish" to his current BF quiver...... that makes #7 for the quiv.  ;)

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The Fountain of Youth is a spring that supposedly restores the youth of anyone who drinks or bathes in its waters. Tales of such a fountain have been recounted across the world for thousands of years, appearing in writings by Herodotus (5th century BCE), the Alexander romance (3rd century CE), and the stories of Prester John (early Crusades, 11th/12th centuries CE). Stories of similar waters were also evidently prominent among the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean during the Age of Exploration (early 16th century), who spoke of the restorative powers of the water in the mythical land of Bimini.

The legend became particularly prominent in the 16th century, when it became attached to the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León, first Governor of Puerto Rico. According to an apocryphal combination of New World and Eurasian elements, Ponce de León was searching for the Fountain of Youth when he traveled to what is now Florida in 1513.

Some days are for shaping while others feel good just to paint.

Rasta Mon!

Cool stuff! 

Spyin' your shop...

Stinks of HF, HA!

Compressor (1 yr. warrantee) mine just STB 19 bucks for new warrantee and new one.

The sander/polishers are the GD bomb! Don't blew em out, they seem to last longer?

Oh 1 year warrantee as they seem to last about 4 months.

I'' shut up and go away now.

 Ah, 1 last Rasta 4 I go....

Here's some more eye candy.  Includes a new V8  pre-pinlines and gloss.... and a stock MiniMAX wich seems to remain popular with those wanting a short high volume stubby with five fin boxes.  The MiniMAX's go good as tri or quad and even quad with a mini keel in the center box..... which tends to smooth the quad rail to rail transitions.

Once the V8 gets polish the colors will really pop.

If you wanna fly, get some wings!

Wings are a keen way to provide specific pivot points in a board's outline versus opting for a curvier planshape.  It also serves to reduce overall tail area that might (otherwise) be inherently wider in "non-interupted" outlines. 

For those of you who followed the V Machine thread, you might recall I made a 5'10" EPS Epoxy 3-4-5 fin option V-Machine for ex pat Professor Kevin Fisher.  Some years ago Kevin found gainful employment (not an easy feat in NZ) at Octago University and settled in for great waves and the NZ lifestyle. 

Here he is enjoying summer weather and less rubber for looser surfing.  Looks like he's having a lot of fun. Oddly enuff, his loose style looks VERY MUCH like my screwfoot moves back in my 20's & 30's albeit at Sands Beach or small Jalama..... now only a faded memory for me at 63 big ones. 

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Just askin'........ where did all my points vaporize to? Sh-t Huck created a Fountain of Youth thread to woo me back, and I've responded generously..... but them there point thingies..... I mean... really?  

I think "Joey Spread Eagle" that joined three months ago has more points than me... Oy!

Maybe I should make like Jack Bauer and 'go dark' again!

Romaine had a 6'2" sent to Bordeaux Airport (France)...... wrote it up:  AS IS CONDITION - NO GUARANTEE  $250.

I think Duty went for it and we saved him a tidy sum to spend on gas to his favorite break. Here's his initial report:

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Hi Bruce 

I took the board at the airport last week and I have already tried it 2 times in small waves.

Bruce Moncrief has been buying my boards and taking them down to Ecuador.  He's got some stoked folks learning down there and with my guidance they are using one of my boards to build some balsa versions. 

Stoke is where you find it!  ;)

Timo is a Berliner who ordered a  Primer Gray "Plain Jane" recently. He was flying to California today and had me ship his board to the Desiree Klein Store in Los Angeles.  He had specific instructions that it had to be delivered on the 20th between store hours of 12 to 5 P.M.......

I got her packed up then slipped her into a new 6'6" Balin Fish Bag that he wanted for traveling home to Germany. Last night I missed the last Fed Ex pick up in Lompoc by 5 minutes..... ended up having to drive down to Hope Avenue in Santa Barbara to make the last pick up time of 6 P.M......... checking some pretty lined up swell below Gaviota and all along what some of us regard as 'the best kept secret coast'.

Got the box on the truck as the guy was loading up when I arrived....... just got Fed Ex verification that the package has been delivered........ ah success!

Finished Rasta board with buddies, Squeegee wash tail, color revolution = private label sample - roll out Summer 2015.

Hey,

Flashback, man!

Cool stuff Bruce!

Air brush?

5'1", 5'3", 5'5"....

Have you had your "V8" today?

These "lean machines" are available from 6'6" to 8'6" and come with the limited edition handfoiled Volan Greenough Stage IV fins. 

Clear std. glass, sprays, resin tints, pinlines, S Glass, Epoxy, Poly, Vinylester Resin, sanded, polished,  plain vanilla or whatever the hell you want........ custom!

I never take good feedback for granted. Comments like this are always the best tip I can get:

Here's another great testimonial from a customer that owns 6 or 7 of my boards.  It's very gratifying to have customers like this!

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I don’t care anything about labels on the board.  All I know is a board either works for me or it does not and a sticker has nothing to do with it; I have never had a shaper make me so many boards that work.  Whatever is going on with you on the business and marketing side of things, at the end of the day you can flat out shape a surfboard and I will continue to order boards from you.

I appreciate your professionalism and honesty.  When you say you will have a board finished by a certain date you always do so.  For what it’s worth, when I talk about boards with people who ask me about them the discussion is about you as a shaper and not the model name on the board.

Here's a new Fountain of Youth Convertible" for Ted Cotter from Ventura. He requested a Deadshaper logo. This board can be ridden as a tri, quad, quad keel, twin fin or twin keel.......Ted is really excited as he is getting ready to go on a long awaited surf trip to Fiji.

The board is 6'10"x22"x3". This is a smaller higher performance board from what he has been riding.

Everyone is different, that's why I make models.  In truth, models only serve to identify a board and what the promise is that it will ride a certain way should you want one. Like the car pictured here should turn better than an International Harvester or Dodge Power Wagon.

Hi Bruce,

              was just wondering what the thick (synthetic I presume) material is you're using in the middle of the stringers in your V8 Vee Bottom pics above? I've spotted red and black versions of it so far -> is it different densities of D-cell perhaps?

Cheers!

More customer feedback.  This is on a 7'6" that I was calling "Big Fish" but it's really just a big split tail that I tweaked from other stuff. This guy texted saying:

"well I haven't had a board with a tail this wide so I'm not sure how it's supposed to handle. That thin hard rail holds great and I'd say she's right in between my 6'8' squash and my 7'8" round pin/ I swapped for a Simon Anderson performance core quad set and the board became alive and electric!

.....Yeah, the rears are too upright for my other boards esp. my pintail. They worked magic in the big fish, and I have no problem transitioning rail to rail. It's exactly what I was looking for!"

Customer weighs 235 and ordered a 7'2"x23.75"x3.25" Mega MiniMAX. These are the new longer M/MAX's I have recently started offering. Even more volume for foam lovers.   He texted me this morning while on surfari in paradise. Seems to be happy with the result. The deeper vee and bottom configs along with subtle rail changes have enabled these big boards to continue to succeed in holding rail with maintaining impressive trim speed.

The myth is that all surfboards have to be paper thin glass slippers to work well..... that's a disservice to a vast majority of surfers out there that aren't ultrafit pro surfers riding perfect waves.  My longtime conviction after extensively designing sailboards throughout the 80's is that the foil is more (the) key to a successful design than thickness alone.

Over the years I've done numerous Private Labels for companies or surf shops; Z Line, Rocky Point Surfboards, Oregon, Viking, North Shore, Sunset Surf Shack, Stoker V Machine.... I've ghost shaped for others, and even been given credit with signed shaped models for 'friendly competitiors' like David Puu's "Morning Star Surfboards" back in the day. 

This is a first sample for a new customer.  My name won't be on these beautiful sticks, but it's a joy to have the work and develop 5 or 6 different models for them.

Here are some cool looks for my V8 Vee Bottoms.

Here's the reality of getting a shortboard from the factory in Go Go Goleta, California to the airport in Bordeaux France.  Max box size 80"x24"x6" and hoping to squeeze 2 shortboards into the box.

Week end eye candy. Danny D. livin' da life. from trunkin' it to full 5 mil.

Here's a snap shot of Sam Shainberg's Pavones quiver.  8'0" SVM, 6'6" Animal Style, 7'2" FOY...... he was early on with the newest trend of dropping deck logos off the boards like my "Plain Janes".   

Here's Sam and Matt Wessen catching some nice ones down the road a bit.

Sh-t, spring has already hit and were headed toward summer!

Where did winter go?

These little fish will tuck into beach break barrels and tightly grouped windswell really well. 

Normally we install fin boxes "pre-glass" but I was torn for awhile deciding on going glassed on, Futures or FCS  Fusion.  Trying to box a bunch of these with glass ons promised to be a bummer & liability for shipping, so I decided to offer the glass on's only for factory pick up, unless someone insists and pays the extra to ship one in a deeper box to protect the fins.

Actually, I'm glad I went boxes because this design really isn't limited to riding it with only keel fins.... a deeper more vertically upright twin fin template would also work quite well and offer a different ride (shorter radius turns) than the keel version. 

I ended up going with Fusion because I don't like the angled cut that Futures has on their keel's trailing edge necessary for fitting into their boxes.  FCS Fusion drops right in, they are light & strong and there's no gap between the fin base and board.

The boards pictured here have ds deck logos & are little guys like fish frequently are: 5'1", 5'3" & 5'5", but I' will offer some bigger ones too.

Don Burton's new piece of candy. 6'2" with 3-4-5 fin option. Yellow resin tint with full mirrored polish.