500 on the 31st

Well this wasn't planned at all...my 500th blog post falling on the final day of 2009...shit, this better be prolific.

'09 has been the biggest year of my life; board building transformed from me chasing people and building what i thought everyone wanted, to me letting it go and allowing my creativity to be what brings new opportunities and new shapes.  That alone has freed me more than I could ever explain, because at the very core of building boards and all of this stuff, its just plain what I love to do.

There are lots of good things happening already for the first month of 2010, there'll be a couple articles coming out shortly that I am extremely flattered by, I set up a newsletter to send out info on deals and sales and stock boards for sale, and lots of new models coming down the pipe for you guys to scope out and ride...not to mention some pretty cool shirts too (new designs) that'll be cheap, 'cause expensive shirts idn't quite where my head is at :)

A few other big things are goin' down this year, but i'll wait to explain those ones 'till later...until then, thankyou guys for allowing me to do the work that I do, and giving me the feedback that I need to keep pushing it forward!

-Ryan Lovelace

  

6'3 Gulls and 7' Hulls

Miles and Herbie, kickin' it as Morgan works out the camera with my boards...

5'5ing

5'5 Fishy...finding some mini tubes with Mr.Brandon Smith.

Raph's New One

Got kinda funky with Raph's new board (7' x 21" x 2 3/4")...It's been a while since I've done any pinline work so this one took me back!!  Did a birght kind of Olive tint over the Paulownia wood for kicks, it came out at 8 lbs.

495

Herbie Marie Lovelace...keeping watch.

Gulling

A cool shot by Alex Swanson, this is Trevor J. and his brand spankin' new Gull on their first trip to Rincon!  

woot!

From Afar

Merry Christmas, everyone!

I hope you're all with family and friends, making the most of the time you have together and the relationships that we all share.  I write from the Pac. Northwest, my homeland, cedar and alder trees all around, I'll be back by the ocean soon but its always good to be reminded what we all have in our lives...

Love your family, care for your friends, and wholly enjoy the moment that you are in!

ps........what did you get for christmas??!?!?!?

A Very Happy Holidays from Herbie

Its short, but way sweet....click here to watch it.

Nick Cook Finding Some Hull Heaven

Not much to say here other than they scored...HARD!

photos by Brandon

Nicky's Hullibut is a little bit modified and seems to be gettin' the job done :)

also, take a second to sign up for the mailing list i just started the other day, I'll be putting up the monthly board offer (discounts on custom boards!) there, rather than the blog, as well as updates on the newest experiments and info on soon-to-come models!  no spam, nothing too awkward, just an email every few weeks with the latest happenings!

Uuuuuuugh

nugs...courtessy of H&H travels...

Fly By

Flying out of the SB airport is always a treat...especially when theres some swell running!

Spooning is For Lovers

I'm constantly amazed by these as the shapes and curves unfold, each facet of the design looks and feels different after each step, the weight, the flex, the rail line.  Its all so pliable...I have found myself on more than one occasion this week hurriedly moving this creature around my shop and stopping the second I pick it up to just stare at it lose myself in it's form.

Other Blog Related Things

Hey kiddies, happy thursday!  

I've been checkin' in on this blog for a little while now and was just contacted by the chap who puts it together, Chris, and I thought i'd throw up a link for you guys to see what him and his buddies are up to in the UK:

http://adventuresintrim.blogspot.com

and just for fun, heres something fun from the shaping room..Yahagi's 9'1 hull w/a concave deck in the arse end:

Blog Post

This is a blog post.

And this is Travers Adler riding pinky:

photo: BDiP's

Batchy

5 hulls down on a foam-filled monday.

First New Model for 2010

This board really has nothing to do with there being a new year, and everything to do with experimentation and inspiration from old movies.

Trevor and I have been keen to shape something new and funky for a couple months since we finished his pintail, and after a 5'2 gull got ordered and shipped off to Japan, we found our starting point!  

We ended up with a 5'4" x 19 3/4" x 2 3/4" super nug, thats being dubbed the Gullet; it began with a Gull template, using the same arc-tail i've been using for 3 years, then we cut a foot out of it and narrowed her down, boxed up the rails, curved out the rocker a little, kept the s-deck and put a trusty and flowing tri-plane bottom on it to keep the hull flow and vibe going, while adding a whole lot of versatility in short and punchy waves. 

Still wearing our glassing duds, covered in dust and wreaking of resin, we packed the finished board into the van and drove about 200 yards as the crow flies from my shop to a top secret wave...The result is contained is here in T's first wave on it last week:

(video courtessy of Morg)

...Fast off the bottom, flowy, and more funk than September.

Trevor got his art-on with the art and we did a pretty intense thrift-store dress-shirt fabric inlay on the bottom...

pic from Brandon^

and a shot of the deck just 'cause I'm in the mood...

(watershot and above photo also from Morg)

I am floored about this board, the response from Trevor so far is really great and we had a great week of waves to test it in, lots of varrying conditions; I'm sold on it and will highly recommend it to anyone emailing me and asking for something hullish and uber fun but not a full-dedicated point wave board.

..This board is all about grooving and finding a fun and clean line...and I'm glad to introduce it as the first new model for next year!

More to come

Trevor's new 5'4 triplane, more to come about it on monday after I gather a few things for a more in depth post...very happy about this one!

photo:MoMaassen

Buckets

Two more photos of the Dreadnought from Mr.K. Novosel, corresponding from down under...he and his crew have been displacing a little bit of water lately.  

The trough on the shot below is what i enjoy most about the bladed designs, no rail drag and very, very, very clean movement through the water:  

Use your rail, much?

Keith Novosel shot me some pics of his 6'9 dreadnought being ridden in Oz, many more cool shots to come, this one particularly caught my eye!

:)

a teeny tiny clip of albers and trevor, with a short appearance by gilda's foot.

Funsies

We surfed Rincon back in october, it was fun.

Fish Hulls on the Move

Not much these boards can't handle, except being skunked.

Big Weeks

A couple really busy weeks coming up before the holidays, so as i finish up a pair of new boards, heres a look back at some old ones...All are at least two years old, all variations from 6'2 - 6'8 on the same template.  This template is also the one that spawned the Gull and the OG, as well as Pinky, more recently...Check the oldschool logo :)

Photoz: Nick Cook

Good friend and hull-addict Nick Cook shot analog (as always) from his tank-sized water housing a few weeks ago and snagged a couple cool shots from a really funky session at a really fun northern point, check 'em: 

...maybe I am conrholio?

 

Spoooooning

Flex Spooning again...this time a 5'2:

please don't be alarmed, they come out nicely:

photo: Maassennnnnn