getting close...

this weekend has been great! the summer is kicking off!! i'm so incredibly stoked!!! it's been a great year. a healthy family, and great times ahead!!!  i had a great time at matt's birthday yesterday. i had a great sesh at sliders this morning, despite the chunk ( gotta love my feral pig!) as the luau grows nearer i am humbled by this year's roll call. so much so, i thought i'd type up a quick little tid bit concerning how this year seems to be shaking out. at the campsites, there are not many places to sit. so, it's worth bringing a camp chair or something. also...the particular sites we are at do not have a tremendous amount of shade. i am not planning on getting some tacky "quick pop up" shade thingy. our campsites have a bit of a cliff wall right behind them with some bushes. i plan on having boards scattered about in a pig pen / pig stye of sorts under the bushes along this bit of cliff wall. i have a stand for a board to be put on and checked out, but we certainly don't have the hut to lean them up against. friday should be fairly low key. getting there, getting settled. i suspect saturday will be "THE" day. we'll be taking the pig off ready to eat around noon saturday. we'll be surfing all through out the weekend. i'll have at least half a dozen INSANE pigs there. i am happy to go out and have a surf with some one and let them ride one of my pigs while i am out.



i've got the shirts for this year. my beautiful wife modeling "palm" pictured below, we also have a light tan color. i asked my boy jason a to make me this "ho dad" design. he nailed it. my boy sean printed them. stoked to know the people i do! anyone that was at last years event knows i gave all the shirts away i had. i was stoked to be able to do that. this year i haven't had the luxury of the "abundant" shirts we had last year. be that as it may, i'm stoked to have what we have.



i am not selling anything at this year's gathering. i'm guessing some people might sell a board or something at the gathering, but that is not my agenda. i spend money at this gathering, not make money.  that being said, if you'd like to throw us a bone for the pig or a shirt...it would be appreciated! if you can't afford to, but really want a taco , and a shirt...talk to me! we'll handle it! ...kam approves!!!!


the long story short is... this gathering isn't an "industry event"... it's more of a "hod dad hang out".

cheers!

that's the stuff danny boy!!! (and a wee pit of hodge podge)

my buddy dan. either on his andreini poor boy, or his carson. standing tall on a pig.


i'm really getting pumped as we near the luau. this year's is going to be unreal!!!! i received this email from andy (the anchored) the other day: Hey Mike, sitting on me arse last night when it hits me! I should make a pig in time for the fest! Picked up the supplies today on my lunch break and plan on cranking on it tonight.  Going to make it a littler more chippish just because I want to take elements of that Terry Martin Chip I have and apply it into this one.  Plan on it being a little more "modern" I guess since the blank has a generic 1/4'' stringer and I'll be using a fin box, but it'll be wrapped up in heavy 8oz volan. I might steal a logo from the flyer and throw it on there. It'll be the "community" board if anyone needs a ride for the day. 
See you in a couple weeks man! So stoked! 
Andy


my buddy sean at forward screen printing just sent me the photos below!!!!

Danno's stamps pig!

danno sent me this via surfapig@live.com:
dear prof black, here is my new 10.1 tim stamps pig and i am looking forward to surfing  soon. right now i'm still recovering from knee surgery. wish i was back on the west coast because the luau. sounds like a good time. regards, danno



  

john cherry!!!!!!

john cherry sent me this in regard to a client of his that shares my name via surfapig@live.com:

Hi Mike,

I walked into the shaping bay this morning and got a fresh look at “Marine”.

When you first asked for a traditional, early-60’s pig template……with a concave nose, a step deck and a little extra tail rocker…I honestly first thought, “Mike in Singapore is asking me to mix apples and oranges here.”

Using the original Gordie template for the main template plan and blending the wider Velzey tail into the last 18”(+-) produced a superb modern pig shape.

I LOVE THE WAY THIS BOARD CAME OUT!!!!

When I picked up the board to move it outside for a couple photos, I instinctively grabbed it in the center.  It was then that it became apparent to me how effectively we moved the balance point aft of center 5 or so inches (wide point is actually 3” aft of center), how light the nose feels with the big wood and the tailblock in the back......and how this minor weight shift is going to counter-balance your slight weight when you are on the nose.  Combined with the subtle concave, the 50/50 rails and the extra tail rocker (just enough, not too much) you are going to have to pack a lunch to bring with you just for one nose ride!

When you are enjoying your 30 second nose rides at your secret spot in Bali, gliding on glassy waves, watching the reef pass underneath, dragging your hand in the crystal lip beside you……think of me.  It will give me much joy and I know I will feel it, even way over here in Southern California.

I may not see this board again after it goes tom Moonlight.  PLEASE send me some photos of you and “Marine when you have her.  Some surf shots would be even better.

“Marine” is wood-burned into the cedar stringer.

Thank you for thinking of me to make your vision for this cool board design become a reality.  It brightened my spirit.

Much Aloha Bro,

JC

for which mike replied:

 Hi John, I am so stoked that "Marine" came out exactly what I had envisioned her to be!! I am very thankful for yr patience & detailed explanations on how each design element of this board should be shape in order to complement 1 another. Yr attention to details are second to none so far I have experienced!! Even thou I am 16hrs time zone ahead of u, I felt that I was there at yr shaping bay when u take me thru each of the shaping process w/ yr emails & photos... That what make ordering a custom surfboard so special!! :) Now that "Marine" is in the expert glassing hands of the moonlight crew & with yr approval of her glassing setup, she gonna be a looker as much as a worker. Pics will definitely be shared when she is done glassing, trim-glide & slide in the warm crystal clear water in the East Indies archipelago.. Yr spirits will always be in this board. Once again, THANK U for materializing my vision. Mike

green andreini!

luke sent me this via surfapig@live.com: Hi there...I thought I'd send a few pics of a wonderful board Marc made me a few months back....he's the nicest fellow on the planet, basically, and this board is absolutely fantastic! I'm so charged to have one of his!  Hoping to see you at the Luau.... Luke

thanks luke, that board is super clean!

tiki's number 2!!

tiki sent me these via surfapig@live.com:
Dear Mr. Black, Gday from Australia, and I say again a wonderful site.... Have just finished No. 2 pig for Clarke Mclintock , the first one which, was mine,was a pintail that was a reverse template off an original Velzy jacobs 1957 board. This one is a squaretail with a pointier nose which Clarke wanted and the only other longboard that he rides are 2 Glenn Ritchie SCOTT DILLONS from 1965 and 1966 with both of these being very heavy as they were both restored. He is generally a shortboarder and a big wave charger here but has a classic style with wonderful footwork mixed with powerful turns when riding longboards, he is only of a small physique and this board is 9' 8" x 23 1/4" x 3" , the fin is my own fully foiled and a 1" Powlonia stringer and red and white western red cedar noseblock and the rails ,as per Pig 60/40. She has been glassed with 3 layers of 6 ounce on the deck and 2 on the bottom with fin patch , it has weight but not dead heavy...so there you go another PIG and I know there will be many more aloha to you all and SOIF TILL YA DROP                                                                                                                                                                       Cheers TIKI 

stoked!!

Mino moon tail and a beautiful BING!

ct sent me these via surfapig@live.com:
Hello Mike, My name is CT, long time reader, first time emailer, I'm originally from Northern California where I first began surfing. We were plagued with ubiquitous and perennial frigid waters. Good breaks for longboarding were few and far; the crowds were agro locals and it was difficult to surf anything bigger than a retro fish. When I moved down to San Diego to attend uni, one of the first thing I did was pick up a single fin scoop nose, a 9'2 I believe and have been on logs ever since. I've been fortunate enough to experience breaks like Cardiff Reef, Swamis, San O, and Blackies and Malibu. Though I'm not adverse to any shapes, I do have a preference for Pigs, the plaining just feels smoother than your average Cal Classic longboard. I've been through so many pigs I can't count, but now the quiver is down to 2. Attached pictures are of my moon-tail girls. First is a 9'8 Mino Suzuki (a pretty underground shaper of Newport). It has small double-cross stringers, a flat bottom and upward rail, her general outline is more narrow than your average velzy, making her pretty streamline down the line. She usually has a fat old skeg fin along side her heavy volan glassing. My other board is my daily beach breaker, a 9'4" bing, looks to be shaped in the Calvani era. She has a scoop nose and a moontail as well, beach breaks are a bit dumpier so she has a thinner medium rake flex fin. Thanks for sharing your time and experience, the blog is loads of fun and I read it avidly. 

Maybe I'll catch you at the luau this year.
Cheers

ct, thank you for the pics! those are beautiful! i hope to see you at the luau! it's great to see these variations! below is the BING!