another day surfing with friends!

clean day out there. so stoked to be out there on my board with friends!

saw this flower today.
lagoon.

"matt the magician", and the one board quiver.

this is the best surfboard i have ever seen or touched or surfed. period. strangers and non surfers are telling me that my surfing is "beautiful" when riding this board. i have had beach walkers say that to me on two separate occasions. random shortboarders are going out of their way to chat with me about the board, and my surfing on it. i am in shock that a board can function like this. i am generally enthusiastic about new surfboards...and every surfboard has a feeling that is worth being enthusiastic about...but this here bing feral pig...it IS the best functioning surfboard i have ever had under my feet. so stoked to own this board. and to surf it in these waves this morning! it is a great feeling to bring boards to a skilled craftsman and tell him how those boards rode in the conditions i rode them in, and then...have him keep that in mind while we discuss numbers...and then have this board be birthed. i was stoked just looking at it, then when i felt it in my hand, i was shocked...now experiencing the effortless turns, the speed, the stability, the nose rides... this is THE pig.

my buddy is selling his anderson slide and glide!

this is the exact board our beloved chad marshall is shredding in the following link!

$425 email : dgeary4@me.com

...feral pig!

looking forward to tomorrow!

why i love pig boards.

this shot sums it up. i see this dudes face , and all i can think is "acupulco gold, or maui wow-ee" or what ever they were chuffin back in the day. i'm not sure if he even knows he is holding a pig instead of the pocket rocket he had been riding at the santa monica pier just the last swell. maybe i am totally off. maybe he IS smiling like he just ate peyote because he is holding a pig. i would be. that board is classic. electrical tape...not duct tape. electrical tape. the thing about a pig...a proper pig, it's gong to maintain it's essence even if you have electrical tape on the nose. that board under this dude's arm still trimmed, still cutback, and probably still gave him a bit of a nose ride by the break wall.

thanks jason for the link!

east side sliders!

Eric Dranginis sent me this via surfapig@live.com: A couple days ago, the day after overhead bombs. Our east side version of sliders point!

NICE!!

the bing feral pig is AMAZING!

i love sliders point. i love this BING FERAL PIG. today was a fun day down there. i am amazed at this board's function. feels super fast...frictionless, it holds trim , yet transitions out into bottom turns effortlessly. the turns feel like i am on a magic carpet. the waves were kind of steep today, some of them were about chest high. the action on the nose surprised me. i was able to keep my speed and control my line through a steep inside section. this board is the whole package! i'm tripping out! where has this board been all my life?!

yeah jason! i'm lovin the shirt!!
obligatory bird shot!

maiden voyage on the bing feral pig!!!!!

i slipped out after work this avo and slid a quick 10 (miniature) waves on my bing feral pig. slid is the right word in this case. this board seems frictionless. i am so stoked on how this board feels so free in the water, yet is stable to walk on. it feels as if my other boards have been dragging kelp. i always thought if a board was stable to walk toward the nose on, it wasn't easily maneuvered. well, that doesn't seem to be the case. matt has such a great understanding of fin to tail width ratio. this board feels AMAZING in the water.

sure... it was only a quick session in thigh high pier dumpers...but i felt this thing! to say i am excited about pushing it through all conditions is like saying there is water in the ocean. i want to sleep with this board...in the ocean.
my wife shot these quick little waves on her phone while she was holding our one year old daughter. it was the first time my daughter saw me surf. she didn't really know what she was looking at! after the sesh, we had a nice meal on the pier. that is how its DONE!

the bing feral pig!!!!!!

oh my!!! the shape of the rail... the shape of the bottom... the subtle consistent rocker, balanced with the weight. i have never picked up a board and had it sing to me like this one does. 10' , 3 5/16" thick (i'm 205 lbs), wide point 6" back, 16 1/4" nose, 16 3/4" tail. it has been such and honor and pleasure to bring boards to a talented craftsman and explain my experiences on the previous boards. i am not one to say this particular design element contributes to this functionality. i feel many elements contribute to a boards functionality. some design elements contribute to one function attribute more than any other design element that much is certain...but once you think of how each design element inner acts with each other...entropy! at least in my mind. so to design this board, i brought many of my boards to matt calvani at BING SURFBOARDS and told each boards story (how it functioned in what conditions). he felt the boards. we talked numbers...and the BING FERAL PIG was born. it is shocking to feel this board under my arm. it feels like what i might have come up with if i could magically create what my mind is looking for.

this is the hog wallow.

today is the day!

well... it sounds like today is that day. i am very excited about today!

in honor of talk like a pirate day.

sliders with a buddy!

i caught a few fun ones with my buddy jason today at sliders!

just what the doctor ordered!

humility and honor...part 2

this post pretty much validates this blog. this is what this blog is all about. so stoked to see this project of dave's come together!!!

dt: Mike, I've been following your blog for a while now and been greatly inspired. Your art is awesome and detailed information is priceless. I recently purchased a balsa wood blank and plan on carving out a pig. In no way am I a professional shaper, just someone who lives in Central Oregon and vintage surfboards are hard to come across. I was hoping to bother you for a couple minutes to trace an outline of your Balsa Velzy and fin. With this tracing I'll be able to make a template and be off and running. When I can get out to the ocean I ride a custom Cooperfish Hornet and prior to me breaking the board a vintage D fin Yater. I have both boards to provide a working "idea" of other aspects of shape/form.

mb: dave i'll do it. send me your address and be patient. i have some butcher paper. i'll trace the outline and send it to you. take pictures of the process, i'll post it up! thanks for the support!! cheers!!

dt: Awesome!!!

Dave Town

xxx xx xxxxxxxx Ave

Bend, Oregon 97701

Thanks a bunch

mb: Dave , I got your template drawn. I should probably get it in the mail this week!

dt: Awesome!!!! Thank you so much is an understatement.

mb: i'll shoot you an email when i mail it!!!

dt: Forgot to say that I can send you some money for any expenses. Let me know how much and I will get it in the mail.

mb: david, don't worry about it! if anything send me something i can't buy.

dt: Got home from a walk with the family to find a big white tube. Thanks again. Couple pics of my practice fin. Koa wood makes any hack look talented. I have to finish putting a hot coat on a different D fin and then it will end up in the mail heading your direction. No pics of that fin. Dave

mb: Stoked you received it. You are off to a great start. I'll keep a file with all the pics you send me. I'll post it up once you finish it. Thanks for the updates! I'm stoked to see things develop. Keep me posted!!

dt: One in the rafters and a second one all cut up so I can chamber farther down the road.

dt: Hey Mike, Progress has been slow, but I have the blank tack glued back together for rough shaping. I am still getting the rocker to a good point before I cut the outline. I still haven't forgotten to send you that skeg I made. I need to polish it first then it will hit the mail. I sure am bumbed I am going to miss your pig roast. That is going to be one awesome event. Hopefully next year. Later, Dave

mb: david made the fin below for me as a gift for hooking up the tracing!
dt: Glad you like it. Looks like you are getting some good waves this summer. Pretty jelous. Take care Dave

dt: More pics. Outline cut, rocker almost finished and rail bands are coming together.

dt: Mike, Headed down to Santa Barbara to visit the folks this Saturday and thinking that I might be in your neck of the woods Tuesday morning/afternoon for a little surf session. Tentative plans are to surf San-o Tues morning with another buddy. If you are gonna be in the water here or somewhere nearby this day it would be cool to meet up and catch some waves. I'll be more than happy to bring some iced brews from the great northwest to share the post session stoke. Hope all is well. Dave

mb: i kooked it here. i wasn't able to meet up with dave!!!

dt: Well, I finally got tired of sanding and sanding. Not as perfect as I wanted, but it was time to move on. These pics are the board with two cheater coats to seal the wood. It could be a week or so before I get to glassing cause my mancation is over and its time to get back to work.

dt: Finally Finished. Glassing went pretty well especially since it has been over 10 years since I last glassed a board. Finished dims are 9' 16.5"n 22.5"w -9'' behind center 17.5''t 2 7/8'' thick 3.5"rocker nose 2" rocker tail weighing in at 21lbs non-chambered.

Thanks again for your help in getting me the outline and all the awesome info on surfapig.

Talk to you soon,

Dave

thank you david! this is awesome!!!!!!

WOW!!!!!

what the F_CK?!!!!!! matt keeps sending me these quick shots of the board in progress!! thank you matt!!!!!

what can I say?! I have never been this stoked for any board!!!! should be ready VERY SOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!
in designing this board, matt and I focused on tradition. we put function as the highest priority, and aesthetic second. as far as function, we're designing this board to feel stable, while simultaneously going where you want it to when you want it to. when considering aesthetic, i thought giving the board the feeling we pulled it out of some hidden BING vault would honor the traditional design we were looking for. fortunately for me, matt's eyes, and mind understand these ideas better than mine ever could.

pre pinlines!!!!!!!!!!

the eyes of the bing feral pig!!!

before the pinlines....