Looks like a great winters day at the Alley tomorrow

This was later this afternoon , slight northerly on it , but has been offshore each morning

Early this morning Saturday 6.30am

Grain in Maine doing it again

Grain Surfboards has locked down the dates for their biggest event  of the year- The 2nd Annual Surf Re-Evoultion.  Stretched into a two-day festival this year, September 8th and 9th, Grain will be opening up their headquarters and local beach to a many new exhibitors and special guests.

"After last year's success, we couldn't have stopped there," states Tyler Briggs, event manager and curator for Grain. "We have added in some new elements, stretched the celebrations and hands-on fun throughout the whole weekend, and stayed true to the center of what this is all about-  the re-evolution of the surfing industry. We are really trying to create a new and creative platform for this"
 
Saturday, September 8th, located at Grain's headquarters in York, Maine will be filled with film, local food, a gallery show in the barn with over 20 artists who each have created an original piece of work on an off-cut from Grain's shop floor, live music, and a very unique panel of guests sharing their thoughts and knowledge on innovation, sustainability and the craft of surfboard design.  Staying true to last year, Grain will close Saturday night with a bonfire in the fields of the farm.

Following Saturday's festivities, on Sunday Sepetmeber 9th, the celebration will move to Long Sands Beach for an all day beach demo allowing everyone to experience the re-evolution first hand-  in the water.   Sunday will be closed out by a concert to say thank you to everyone at the Inn on the Blues.
2012 Confirmed Attendees:
Entropy Bio-Epoxy
Greenlines Recycled Board Shorts
Sustainable Surf
Merchants Row
Jon Wegener
Randy Budd
Jimbos Wax
Crooked Blanks
Ceto Surf

Grain will be realeasing the full line-up as well as tickets in the next week.

Grain is also offering a way to "super-size" attendees re-evolutionary experience by offering a two-day paipo class with Jon Wegener. The class, taught by legendary finless pioneer Jon Wegener and the crew from Grain Surfboards, allows students to build their own paipo using local natural materials. Paipos have been around for thousands of years and provide huge fun in a small package. The two-day class is scheduled for the two days leading up to the event, September 6th and 7th, giving attendees the ability to shape and finish their own paipo and have it to enjoy the weekends' festivities.  For more information and to secure a spot in the class, please visit the class page.

For more information on the event, please visit: www.grainsurfboards.com

Great weekend of Paipo action

Check out the last weekends gathering : www.thepaiposociety.com

Balsa for the weekend

 Australian made Balsa boards from Mark Riley will be on show on the weekend. Mark's glasser Micky will be on hand to tell you all about them.

 This 9’1” Comp long board with the red stained rails weighs 5.5kgs

 Two of the boards are made from Australian grown Balsa , which is pretty rare as far as I know.

 So come along and check them out , along with all the other boards on show on the day.

www.balsasurfboardsriley.com.au

It's coming together

 Tony Crimmins who will be a speaker at the Gold Coast Surf Museum on Saturday night for the Wooden Board night has his latest board coming together under the masterful skills of one of our other speakers Peter "Mo" Moschogianis. Mo is glassing Tony's board for the weekend.

 Tony makes a beautiful boards and Mo is bringing it to life.

There are a few of us out there finishing boards for the weekend.

Keeping it simple

If you have been busting you balls to get a board finished for the wooden board day this weekend like I have then maybe it was just overkill. This guy looks like he is having a ton of fun riding the pantry door.

Balsa Simmons

 Ben from Wallbridge Surfboards in South Australia has shaped a sold balsa mini simmons and has a few pre shaped balsa blanks which he will bring on Sunday to the wooden board day

 Check out what Ben is up to at : wallbridge.com.au

The Alley on a toothpick 1949

Those early uncrowded days you might say.

Honey comb and wood

Honey comb routed into Cedar and Paulownia blank by Mike Grobelny from New Zealand. He will be dropping it off to me on Wednesday to bring along to the wooden board day next weekend.

mikegrobelny.tumblr.com

Yellowfoot boards from the Black Forest Germany

" YELLOWFOOT came to the art of shaping and crafting balsa surfboards during a three year stay in ecuador, the land of the balsa trees. Today, YELLOWFOOT balsa surfboards and paulownia alaias are handmade in the Black Forest, inspired by its natural surroundings and the background of traditional craftsmanship. With the passion and fascination for surfing and crafting balsa surfboards, YELLOWFOOT has grown into a big family of teamriders, photographers, soulsurfers, artists and friends. Experiencing nature’s playgrounds and sharing the pure joy of surfing are at the company’s heart."

At the end of September/ beginnning of October 2012 Yellowfoot will offer another Shaping-Workshop in Les Aulnettes (Longeville sûr Mer, France/ Vendée). Next to the balsaboard workshop, we're proud to offer the Alaia workshop for the Shapecamp. If you want to enjoy ten days of surfing wooden surfboards without shaping - come with us on wooden surfari and explore the beautiful spots of the region!

 Further information: www.yellowfoot.de

 During the Contest of the German Universities Surf Contest two fourth place finishes (Anne Rösberg/ Open Women and Jeroen Jansen/ Open Men) and one top ten placement (Jeroen Jansen/ Longboard Men) were achieved by the Surfers on YELLOWFOOT- Boards. NICE ONE!

http://yellowfoot.blogspot.de

Ventana Surf Santa Cruz

 Tyler Frome and Martijn Stiphout

makes some great boards in Santa Cruz at their Vetana Surf Co. 

 Born from a passion for surfing, the ocean and the environment, Martijn and Tyler started building their own boards to marry these elements together. They made a conscious choice to avoid toxic foam and polyester and started working with wood, experimenting with traditional and modern board shapes, fine-tuning construction methods and honing their wood-working and shaping techniques.

 Martijn and Tyler build hand-made custom boards, wooden hand-planes, and other wood products. Each product is unique and is built to last.

 Whilst the boards are still coated in Epoxy resin, the wooden construction method produces very little waste: almost every piece of scrap wood finds life elsewhere, the saw dust is collected and recycled and Martijn and Tyler are actively researching and testing less harmful cloths and resins. Recycled wood boards are in the works for the future and fortunately there are promising developments with bio-based resins so that an entirely environmentally safe production will be possible in the future.

 Check out what they are up to at : ventanasurfco.com

Unique M C Escher surfboard goes into the British surf museum art show

" David Forsyth of Driftwood Surfboards in Cornwall has kindly loaned a stunning hand-crafted longboard inspired by the work of renowned artist M.C. Escher.
It took David around three months to create this beauty, which is now the centrepiece of our 2012 exhibition ‘The Art of Surf‘, displaying 200 years of art in surfing.
The Escher board is hollow construction following the tradition of the late surf innovator Tom Blake, brought bang up-to-date using computer aided design (CAD) technology.
The deck features 2,000 individual reptiles cut out and pieced together like a jigsaw – each has 24 carat gold inlaid eyes! Paua and mother of pearl are used for the logos, with gold leaf pin lines. The surfboard is shaped from driftwood, giving this reclaimed timber a new life and the fins are hand foiled from lacewood.
David had to gain permission from the M.C. Escher Foundation to use the famous lizard design, and it is a truly unique and beautiful piece of art – as well as being a fully functional modern longboard. We really stoked to have it on display over the summer at the award-winning Museum of British Surfing in Braunton, North Devon."