alaia cam

finally finished editing the alaia cam from day 1, been a bit busy this last 3/4 weeks but here it is anyways, the surf wasn't worth writing home about on this day but the water clarity was great, and the whole ocean looked green on this day. enjoy

displacement an RCVA arthouse flick by Alex Kopps

check out machado doin his thang

glassing room

dug up this photo recently of one of my favourite old boards taking shape.

thats me doing the tail and the talented Mr Bowery doing the resin spot

thats one side down one to go

new alaia for myself

well ive finally moved house!! and what a mission it was.. to celebrate i felt a new board was in order.

i made an alai, full standup model 7'x18 3/4"x3/4

to go with my other 4'2" bellyboard

here im burning in my logos with a wood burner.. this almost takes longer than the actual shaping

here you can see that beautiful curve in the planshape

the pidgeon was here.. gotta leave a mark...if only for posterity

everyone always wants to know about the alaia, are they hard to ride.. well the answer is yes.

i did get up second time on this one.. but even after 15 years of surfing i feel like a begginner when i get on this board, i tell you what though when you get that trim line going and your flying down the line the fun level is through the roof... great small day fun. stay tuned for some action shots soon.

special thanks to my good friend dick harvey for the blank, and for letting me steal this template, if you want alaia blanks

or you are are keen to have a go at making one even if you've never done it before

 go see richard harvey at

harvey surf on west burleigh road burleigh heads

or email him at info@harveysurf.com

or call him on mob: 0414 557624

also there is a link to him in my links at the side here ------>>

Tyler Warren on the Mini Simmons 4'10 1/2"

TYLER WARREN ON 4'10.5" from TYLER WARREN on Vimeo.

courtesy of grant newby @ thealleyfishfry

Terry Martin Showing How Its Done

terry has been around a long time, shaped with the best and for the best, if you've ever wondered what goes into your log, then check this out.

black apache surfboards teaser

black apache surfboards trailer (stills) from jesse watson black apache surfbo on Vimeo.

shapers night at the surfing history museum at currumbin

bob mctavish talkin about his quad fin theories, he reasons that the rear fins should be placed a proportionate distance to the size of the surfers foot....  thus enabling the heel and toes to engage each fin more, giving a more connected ride, also the rear fins are only single foiled same as your standard front pair....  he definitely got my attention.... all the test pilots that i spoke tool had stupid ear to ear grins and said they were converted....  after spending some time in discussion with him i will be trying this theory out for sure on my next quad....

listening to bob was definitely the nights highlight, a charismatic but humble guy who has seen it all come and go, when i asked him about his best session ever he said "this morning!... i got 45 min in before the wind kicked up", and later when asked about his favourite era of surfing he said "right now, pointing to the quad" the man is definitiley current...as fresh as ever... and is in line with my own philosophy of performance, outside the mainstream arena.... good on ya bob.

a younger mctavish

" ...i found noosa in about 59' but no one believed me till 63'..."

i miss the central coast..

Chad Waldron's Momentary Film Regarding a Wooden Board from Waldron Bros Production on Vimeo.


this makes me homesick to see the boys getting so many good waves, so many familiar breaks, so many memories and good times, countless sessions....

my quiver 9/9/09 - 6'4" alaia, 5'10" fish, 6'4" pintail quad, 5'8" mini simmons, 5'10 rocket twin fin

alaia action

these boys know how to ride the alaia.. check it out.

huey dont like spongers..

now we dont condone bodyboard abuse...  ride whatever you want... but this is hilarious

its bellyboard season

no waves this week, and the boredom has driven me to shape a new alaia bellyboard for myself

its 4'2" and it should absolutely fly

its all about the concave and the chine with these badboys

its deep and it runs nearly the full length of the board

time to burn on the logo.. i love doin this. its very time consuming, but surfboards are usually so neat, where as these logos are burned on freehand.. it really captures the whole piont of timber surfboards, stripping it back to the bare essentials, no frills, no colours, no fibreglass, no resin, no chemicals, no deckgrips, no wax, no legrope, no fins, no rocker, just wood and oil and waves..

halfway.... my arm is getting tired..

finished...now for the measurements

not much to it really... just a plank of wood

nothin left to do but oil it up..

just need some shorebreak to test it on now..

somethin like this oughta do it...

slater and merrick talking about modern performance and its direction. leading the way...in a new direction
finally pro surfing is getting away from being so stale and generic. boooyaah!

a picture's worth a thousand words

mid morning barrel, central coast NSW...

makes you want to go surfing no?

photo courtesy of Kerry Down

alaia groove- the journey of the alaia

This is my mate Kerry Down (and friends) again... showing the birth of their alaia, with shots captured on the GoPro Hero Cam, i just picked up one of these myself and they're awsome, ive also fashioned mine into a helmet cam so stay tuned. Till then check out kerry's awesome handiwork.. keep it comin kez.

serious barrel action

this is my good friend Kerry Down using the GoPro Hero Cam for some serious barrell actions ... go son!

early twin?

14 year old lucas dirske on a 9'0" balsa dual fin

as retro as you can get.

(Malibu 2009)

twins fly, there's just no disputing it.

(Malibu 2009)

My Quiver Right Now

...its all about getting up for the early...

Wooden Surfboard Course

i recently had the opportunity to attend a Hollow Wooden Surfboard Building class with Paul Jensen from the U.S.A. it was a great week and a great introduction into the art of building timber boards something i had never found the time to do previously... stay tuned you may see a black apache or two recreated in the timber guise soon. watch this space.

the veneer is epoxied and laminated on one side, this shows how vibrant the finished coulours will be

next the frame is mocked up ready to have the skins attached top and bottom

here the deck skin is glued into place

"if you can read this your board is ruined"

a cheeky message i left to make me laugh should the unthinkable ever happen

cinder blocks and clamps... tools that you would not normally associate with surfboard building

nose section

ready for glassing

my newest summer board. bring on summer!

theres a lot of talk about the simmons lately, they seem to be popping up everywhere and thats great they are one of my favourite boards. heres our take though, we moved the fins up, added performance keels, and put a tucked under hard edge in the tail. this board was sooo good i kept it for myself.

the fastest board i have ever ridden.

period. 

covering the bases

got it all covered... 6'4" pintail for the bigger days, 5'11" fish for the fun days,

and the 6'4" alaia for the small days... who's ready to hit the road then??

pink is the new black