Falling into place....

Hola Amigos, the fall season is undoubtedly coming to a close as we all wait anxiously for the evident decision to be made as to whether we will be heavily weathered or not from the El Nino.

We got the roof fixed at the shop in anticipation for months of soggy splendor. Tuned up the garden real nice with some solid rations and stocked the cabinet full of coffee. As I said last post all of our new winter neoprene and geoprene has arrived and though we may see warmer than normal mid winter temps you will undeniably be in a wetsuit, why not be in a lightweight freshy that makes these possible epic winter sessions that much more enjoyable. New 101 fins are here, if you haven't seen, held, or surfed these things let me tell you what. Eliminating fin weight on any board is progressive, especially on a quad, adding flex to a fin can change your idea of a turn entirely. On the flip side keeping stiffness can be a crucial demand for quad and thruster sets in which bamboo has proven viable. These new longboard fins are built to last and are much more environmentally sound than others. 101 bamboo fins are surely to be a staple in the surfriding world from here on out. Flexy, strong, Stiff, Lightweight and Nice Looking. Find the characteristics you need for your steed. Blab atcha soon, Kenny B

2nd Annual Zombie surf session at George's Beach Friday Oct. 31st!!! Keep your eyes out for slow crossing pedestrians on the coast hwy. There should be some creepy trim figures gliding through the water and a whole lotta coffin rides for certain. This is sure to be a hell of a time! Don't kill yourself! Go grab some old cryptic rags throw em over your wetsuit, maybe dash yourself with corn syrup and white zinc and go shred dead! All dead and undead invited, zombie garb be delighted.

Oceanside doing it's magical fall dance here, one of the best places to be on the coast in the fall if you can just so happen to fall into place here at the right time. Often one of the most tubular of breaks around during it's showing times and with enough punch to give you a nice pummeling, which can be really refreshing after a summer of riding north county slup banks.

The garden was fully exasperated by the end of September with only a few haggard tomaters hanging on. Our amazing build something outta nothing, plant a forest outta dirt green thumb all pro shop guy Billy has replanted a splendiferous assortment for the winter. Broccoli, Red onion, Carrot, Garlic, and Romaine Lechuga will hopefully give us shop kids some wholesome natural nourishment to keep our carcasses scrambling for those hefty winter bombs.
Got some bamboo skegs sprouting in the succulents, looking pristine and healthy. This here an integral part to any bonzer surf shape. 6.5" 101 Bamboo Bonzer template $99
8.5" Longboard Wide Template nicely developed for those slightly shorter logs with 2+1 setups for big guys looking for hold or lighter pilots looking for an all around single. $109
9" Flex could be quintessential for one's adored hull or singlefin. Virtually no fin weight in the tail and a snaptastic flexibility range will make your old fin feel tired. $109 ( note: below is 9" flex and above is 9" Narrow. sorry bout that.)
9" Longboard Narrow. Ample flex and uber light. Less tip volume and rake make this a really maneuverable diverse choice those surfing mostly tail to center in 2-5' longboard surf. $109
9" Longboard has a fuller body throughout, a wider tip and more sweep. Great all around fin for surfsters who surf off the tail and get to the front to dangle piggies. Will work great in steeper and faster surf as well. $109

Bloggins back to work.....

New 09 Matuse Fullsuits have arrived and have been renovated with some new design work and re-enforcement areas to make a great suit even better. These suits don't hold water like their predecessors ensuring your catlike reflexes will not be bogged down, these are closed cell limestone based rubber armor suits that are proven toasty warm, ultra flexy and bad to the bone. Available 3/2, 4/3 at the shop and 5/4 hooded upon request. This 5/4 Tuma is proven efficient in Alaska, Canada, and other really cold places.

New boots for them shiverin little flanges that need some quality coverage, after all dem little buddies are your control units that help execute those hot moves.
Brian Hilbers brought down some really neat Finelines for us on his way to Sacred Craft. All of which are full bellied thin rail hulls that ensure incredible lift and states of trim that can be so foreign and euphoric and so enjoyably unpredictable that they may cause quiver abandonment. Here is a 6'4" MP purple tint square tail and a 6'1 GB. Both come equipped with custom foiled and designed side bites to give you a little extra control and hold for those roundy rails.
The MP will surf better off the tail as far as agility and quicker maneuvering adjustments where the GB will offer a larger planing area throughout provoking more drawn straighter lines.

5'11 p-38 Hull fish, I mean what can you say that hull fish doesn't. Turns like a Suzuki Samurai off the tail glides like a Towncar in trim. This is the swallow tail model known as the Dirty Sanchez.

5'9" P-38. Glass on 101 Bamboo Fins. Custard nasal region with burnt orange back end.
All of the Finelines have really fine price points, all these boards are in the six hundred range which as you know is less than most these days. The price tags say nothing about the quality, craftsmanship and design integrity of these sticks. Do yourself a favor.

Whoa.........It's been awhile since my last posting, sorry about that there eh. Well you know those things in life that you hear about and think "how could that have happened to them," or "that would never happen to me," the bizarre mind glitching stories about crazy and rotten things happening to the least expecting of people. Well, I've had the inconceivable awakening to be one of those people and it's opened some mental doors that could and probably would have stayed locked for a very long time if not otherwise been put in this situation. The reality that real life twists can wake a person up really f@#!in fast from the daily innocent ignorance of the good life has come into full wide screen view in the past couple weeks. Unfortunately I have had to move my Bloggins headquarters out of state and I now officially have my own oncologist. Let's just leave it at that, explaining the three week delay on an update for you folks. My surf life at this point feels like a little kid peering into a snow globe dreaming of the magical winter wonderland, only my globe is a computer screen with surf report photos and swell charts. This ramble is not unlike the other hundred million stories written with the message of taking life day by day and living every moment to the fullest and it feels a bit self righteous and awkward as I plunk on these keys but when your in a situation like this, as so many others have been in, it feels like it's your duty to remind people to open up and take a hard look at the things we take for granted every day, especially getting to enter the ocean as a playground. What we surfers get to do is so unique and utterly organic it really epitomizes the theme of be here now, on the other hand it's so easily lost in ego trips, paddle battles and lineup crowding that sometimes the whole thing feels like driving in traffic. Well, the waves in my life don't involve any water these days and it hasn't been calm and glassy here for quite awhile, so the next time you feel like you're sitting in traffic wherever you are, remember there's a lot of people out there just like me who would give anything to be sitting right there with you. Thanks for listening, Kenny B

New news.......

New Christenson Logo should be appearing on a log near you!
9'6' Mickey Detemple double ender.

9'3" Detemple Green and Brown and a 9'3" CC Slider. Compliments to the chef......
7' yellow C bucket, 7' Bluegrey C Bucket, 7'6" Black Dagger Ninja Bucket (comes w/ 2 cases of wax)
Sunny Sea Bucket
El Nino commander.
Classic Christenson color magic.
nice tail ends.
Yellow 5'9" and blue 6'1" Creek Fish
The new breed.
5'11" Green Creek fish
Lime w/purple pin lines.

Howdy cyber lurkers, been on an unintended hiatus for a bit here on the blogness but I got some interesting stuff to talk about today. We got a 30% off deal going on all of our Jerry Springers and jackets, the water out there is still hovering in the high sixties to the seventy degree mark so if you need some thin rubber come save some pennies. Also the Pavel/Rainbow/Greenroom minds have been working on a new design template for awhile now and we got three of em in a couple days ago. The "Creekfish" is a full waisted, wider tailed, slightly flatter step child of the tried and true Pavel Quad Quan Speed Dialer. This should be a better planing small wave mush killer than it's counter part with a wider tail to give you squirt on those ever common flat spots of the wave. Also a little more skatey off the tail and able to be ridden several inches smaller than the the Quans. We were also visited by the Christenson surf company last week and again today, We got some beauty C-Buckets in the seven foot range, two two tone Mickey Detemple models and a forest green CC Slider. If your curious about riding a retro single fin pulled pin tail with a more forward wide point these C buckets could fill your cup. Narrow up that stance and prepare trim right into minute 312 of the Morning of the Earth. We're starting to get our new full suits in if you're in the market for a new steamer, winter 2010 Body Glove, Matuse, and Xcel should all be hanging in the shop within the the next three weeks. Rumors of El Nino have been scurrying around everywhere I go. Heaps of rain, pumping northwesters and a hopeful busier than normal surf schedule might make one or even two nice new wetties that much more essential for this winter. Thanks for checking in, -Kenny Bloggins-

Ya don't know whatcha got til it's gone.....

Gifts o' plenty peel off for not that many.

I was going through some stuff and found this little rant I wrote my brother while I was living on the opposite end of the country and thought it may hold some relevance to any of those who enjoy surfing like I certainly do. There is no qualm that surfing is a greedy sport. The drive to get more waves, to get more of that magic feeling, to travel to far off places for waves with no intent or regard to help or better those destinations, to wake up at the crack o dawn to get out before the rest of the guys do to get more waves and more of that undeniable ,unexplainable soul settling stoke is in all of us. We can't help it, it's an addiction no doubt about it, it's a feeling that can make your day from just a sheer ten second ride of weightlessness and total detachment from everything in life that is for certain.

Well for a while there I got the privilege of having empty, heart pounding, hooting to yourself sessions in some pretty surreal places with just a couple other rubber clad troopers here and there. Often times I came to feel that deserted island effect, no one there to share the stoke, no friends to compare notes and baffle in astonishment with. Nobody to watch on the paddle back out that you know exactly how they're feeling and how their surf life is changing at that moment. I think there is selflessness to this whole thing for certain, watching your pals ride waves and seeing that focused eagle eye look as they blast past is undeniably exciting. After all I can't remember 90% of my rides but sure have a good memory log of my friend's killer ones. Maybe the other half of our addiction is having someone to share it with, give praise to, compare perceptions with and watch when they're high as a kite. Thanks for listening, - Kenny B-

I Pulled down the coast after I talked to you, all lurked out on a solo mission, half blown from an early morning poke of the smoke. Driving into the thickening fog on a winding road to the edge of the world it felt, enticed by each new corner and the discovery of the next craggy beach with promise of some sneaky peak with no one out that might make my day. Checking spots that are more mysto than Carmen San Diego, eager to make the trek through the reeds down the gravel roads past the no trespassing signs to get some. I knew I'd score, the buoys were twelve at fifteen and Micheal Glassoff was definitely still dwelling in the straight. I couldn't help but keep heading west, totally intrigued and curious with definitive clues to crack the case wide open. The random action vehicle seeming as it wanted more of that winding wet road, psyched to be a part of the mission and get the man where he needed to be. Two hours from home out west on the last sliver of the mainland I felt like an explorer, a fearless ambassador with big balls and an innate sense for danger and discovery...until a westy full of dudes and surfboards rolled by. Alas I pull over the last cliff and peer down over the tree tops onto the most gut dropping set up I've ever seen, A frame explosions washing up on the shore and three faint specks bobbing at the base of a fifty foot rock wall, holding position in the foamy backwash current waiting for their pick of the litter. I jolted, sped the car back down the road a bit and stuffed it into a tight squeeze along the highway. Frantically pulling five mil rubber on all my parts, I had cracked the case wide open! What happened after I trekked a half mile through shin deep mud down the enchanted napali-like trail that spilled onto that hidden cove was the most special moment I've ever had in the ocean and on my surf stick. It took until about yesterday to digest all my thoughts and the meaning of that session, when It happened and even now it was missing depth, like the best t ball game you ever played except your parents weren't there to see it. I know now that an experience is a bit void if you got no one to share it with, as I sat out there alone I thought a lot about you and what if you were there, you even made me miss waves damn it! I feel like there's blank pages in the story of that day, you weren't there to write em, I guess you can't be an author without any characters. Words don't do it. Miss you man, love you!

North County surf shop Exposed!

I woke up yesterday morning and was buzzing about my little abode pulling my usual not enough time for breakfast scramble for surf gear, work clothes, coffee, fruit and toast when I realized it was Monday! This enlightenment would allow me about eight extra minutes to get my arse together, the motorcycle shop next door is closed on mondays so we can park in front of their shop which is uniform with our parking lot. This means no parking in the nieghborhood out back and unloading boards and carrying all my mess of morningness from car to shop ( bout 8 minutes). The shop opens at 10:15 to make it real easy for us to be on time if we slide in the morning. Get outa the water at ten and you should be able to make it to work on time right? Mmmmmmm.... the shop usually opens between 10:18 and 10:23 a.m. heheheh... The boss doesn't seem to be too chapped though as she usually rips into the parking lot about the same time. Lucky for us we get to work for the sweetest lady I can think of. Morning usually unravels pretty quickly as there's a grip of used boards to put out on the racks and about fifteen padlocks and doors to open with a king ring full of unlabeled keys bigger than your high school janitor's. Around eleven or so we get the trickle of the regular blank picker upper guys (shapers) rollin in. Blanks be our bidness I guess, Ernie the US Blanks guy shows up twice a week to drop off heaps of assorted foam, more often then not just about the time we get lunch in front of our face. Mind you the lunch indecision and confusion paralizes progress toward any hope of a unified phone order for about an hour. This usually makes for grumpy, hungry poeple by the time it's actual feeding time, this does not make Ernie's call to say he's out back with a truckload of blanks to unload a good call at all. Post lunch food coma usually cripples us for a good hour, meager groans and sighs can be heard as aimless zombie wanderers parooze the shop trying to work. Most days our UPS man will drop off some boxes o stuff in the afternoon for us to dismantle and go through. On the best days one of our shapers will drop off new boards, these times are fun, I like when we get new sticks. As the day rolls on sometimes we'll sell a board or two or maybe some wetsuits, if we're lucky we'll get a crazy rude, arrogant on a rampage customer who yells at us and storms out as though we've ruined thier life. This is a good time for us as we get to laugh try to guess what thier real problems are. Alright this day in life is taking up your whole life. At day end we put all the used boards away, water the garden, yell at our shaping machine guy that it's time to go home, hit the lights and contemplate where to go surf.
Creamsickle Kookbox twinpin floaty boat mush killer and a Jeff McKallum Greenough kneeboard replica.
THis here is one of the sickest colorbursting tiger stripes i've seen in a decade of shopness.
9'4 Bing Silver spoon, ride the rainbow man....yeah.....
9'2" Bing NR-2 two tone color dip will help you rip!
9'4" NR-2 Coffee w/ Cream
uhhhhh??? Like, what that says eh.......
We have a huge blank account here, come make a withdraw.
R2D2 spent the past decade hangin with surfsters, now he lives here and programs surf shapes.
Jim Swarthow's mad science workshop of robotic computerized foam mowing intelligence.
Jim Tell's R2 to tell this thing to do stuff and this thing has to do it!
Damn Jim you got mind control over these machines.
Our trusty, crusty, quiver of lunch getters.....
It's safe to say skateboarding and surfing go hand in hand...one in the left, one in the right. Surf to the beach, surf, surf home, surf to the store, shoot surf in yer living room. Roll your bones. We have a fine selection of sidewalk surfers.
We hatched our little vegetable growery at the beginning of summer and have been able to harvest nice rewards from this little plot of dirt. Everytime I walk by it i think crack a little smile, who get's to have an organic garden at their surfshop? Green thumbs abound!
The bosses car and the shop, our shop got smoked out a couple years ago from a fire the motorcycle shop next door had one night. We lost most of our clothing and accessory inventory to smoke damage and were forced to do an entire remodel inside which ultimately ended up being a good thing but the times were definitely rough there for a little while.
These neat people have been doing this thing for a long time now. There is quite a bit of San Diego heritage behind these walls, lots of great minds and faces stroll in and out of here everyday.