On it!

not having internet access at home has its ups and downs, 90% ups, but a large part of the 10% down is the lack of blogging ability.  I do have to say it's fantastic to be more removed than ever from cyberspace, though I'm sure I'm missing some funny pictures and whatnot...

But either way, the shop hasn't changed too much aside from the piles of boards going in and out of the doors; orders are sky high in the slowest time of the year for me, so winter is looking promising, what a blessing to pay my bills and spend my days making water toys!

If you've got any interest and wanna come out and see whats going on at the shop these days, my doors are open as ever, come collect some dust to take home, I'm more than happy to share.

Current news is as such:

Trevor is headed to Russia right now with a host of amazing surfers, Chadd is helping build a school and surfing his brains out in central america, v.Bowls are taking over the world according to my order book, and I'm at the shop 6 days a week and I'm looking for a good chiropractor.

Bingo Bango, you're up to date :)

Piiiiiiiiiiiggypiggy

Two of mr.Chadd Konig on one of the Piggyback variations we've been working on for him; this one a 5'8", being ripped to shreds in Panama while he was down there with Chris Del Moro and Pat Millin doing some activism work for Surfers 4 Cetaceans.  A bit more about it and more photos at http://www.surfermag.com/photos/del-caribe/ .

Summatime and Leon Russel

The summertime lows in Santa Barbara are always a difficult endeavor.

If you're not keen on driving expanses for each surf, your options are limited and quite often times infuriating if your hopes were high at all.  This normally marks a shift in my business and who I build boards for; summer is a time for people who are traveling through and want to pick up a board from me, or the wave-rich down south or north (or anywhere but here).  Normally summer is slow for that reason, Santa Barbara sleeps...This time though, not so much.  My shop is absolutely slammed with boards right now and its only getting better, there are SO many boards going through my hands at the moment I'm going nuts.  Its beyond comprehension; v.Bowls', v.Bottoms, Rabbits Feet, Piggybacks (below), one-off custom shapes, you name it, its going on right now.  I'll do my best to take photos of the madness as it progresses, but its been so much that my blogging has slowed.  Plus I do not have internet at home (what a blessing, you should try it!) so please excuse the lack of share, I'll work on it...    

A Bit About

‘Twas no classic anti-hipster slap-down. Nary a hull hoax nor alaia redux, and this had nothing to do with designer handplanes. In May 2011, Santa Barbara’s Ryan Lovelace grappled with a real-life coup d’état.

Call it the v.Bowls Victory.

Michael Kew writes on the v.Bowls uprising.

'Nuther For Sale

Whoa.  hows that, two fishes for sale in one week?

5'4 Ice Cream fish (classic twin), owned and ripped by mr.Michael Kew, if you're interested send me a note at ryankentlovelace@gmail.com, asking $250 obo.  Color is spray paint and can be removed; for $50 I'll even do it myself if you want; fins are lokbox:

Roundpins and Groundwins

When I left australia this summer I had to ditch my trustiest surfboard, Siddartha (my original yellow v.Bowls), due to a $350 board bag fee that I juuuust couldn't swallow.  I knew i'd have to replace it as I can't be without a v.Bowls, its just wrong; Yesterday I cashed in my chips and finished up the new 8'er i've been waiting for.  I went for the roundpin this time, though.  After shaping so many of them in NJ and France last month I couldn't resist; it's unquestionably the best tail template for Santa Barbara and the curves just look oh so right meshed with the widepoint-backness of the v.B.

I've been getting pelted with emails with orders for v.Bowls for the past few months and the reviews keep pouring in; I've heard many times now that people struggled the first handful of sessions until they stopped trying to ride it like a hull, and stepped back on the board; THATS the key to most of my shapes. Work them from the wide-point; I foil all of my boards in a very specific balance that puts all of the speed and control around the widepoint. 

So if you've got a v.Bowls and you're figuring it out, take a step back and hang on...

"...Then, about a month ago, while enjoying a family day at the beach, I

took a break from building sand castles and paddled out.  For whatever

reason, I found myself standing a little bit further back than I had

previously, and the thing just took off.  It set itself in effortless

trim and glided through and arround sections just like I'd wanted from

the beginning.  Turns and cutbacks are dreamlike.   I have since

ridden it almost exclusively (except one day when my arms were just

too tired from a previous V.bowls session, and I could only paddle the

11'er).  It works in so many different conditions-- I don't miss my

hull anymore."

-S.W.

Original Fush For Sale

Me and mr.Gordon are selling off his original Fush, the very same board that landed both the cover of Tracks and also more recently, Surf Portugal magazines...radical.

Epic board, 5'6 or so, EPS/Epoxy with some bumps and bruises from travel/shred.  asking $300 obo.  email me at ryankentlovelace@gmail.com....

Story Time

About 650-ish boards ago something happened, I fucked up.


I kicked off a bucket of resin too hot while in a hurry and left the cup on the board.  That board was the first She Hull and would in the next few weeks make a total shift in the rhyme and reason behind my work and it's execution.
The cup delaminated a 4" circle on the bottom of the board, where the resin had heated up and melted the cup to the board.  I panicked and called Kyle Lightner, I was fuming and a bit concerned for the board we were to share.  He told me to let it happen as it was happening and trust myself in the process;
 I removed the delaminated circle of glass leaving a white hole just above and to the side of the fin-box on the deep navy blue blade that was nearly complete.   I signed my name and wrote the date inside the white circle, glassed over it quickly with UV resin and was on my way in a host of different directions, on a singular path.


I don't claim to be any kind of force in the surf industry; hell I don't even want to be a part of it, but I guess a lot of people are paying attention lately.  I didn't invent the circle.  I didn't create abstract theory.  I didn't revolutionize the logo.  But it's hard to not notice the glut of resin circles being used as logos now; to a certain extent I don't mind.  I can't claim the circle as a logo, but I will claim it as my inspiration and my constant reminder of what and why I'm doing what I'm doing; and it's become my brand.  If you can find an example of a resin dot on a board pre-2009, let me know, but I sure as shit haven't ever seen one so when it's blatantly copied I really only ask one thing; Know what you're copying.  If you believe that your boards are momentary and products of a spark of curiosity and drive, then go for it, put what I consider my logo on your board and put your name on top of it.

I've seen piles of copies, from people near and removed from my work.  I've even seen EXACT copies, signed in there and everything, the same placement, the same size.  I've seen them all over the industry and locally now, too.  Its getting under my skin a bit now so I wanted to put it out there, the full story of the resin dot and why it's there on every board that I build.  If you feel so compelled, the story is here to read in rather excruciating detail...Take it in and then apply it if you're going to continue using something so close to my heart.  Put that circle on the bottom of your board, just above the fin, and remember every time you look at it why its there and how it happened.  Its a good feeling, just make it for the right reason, its more than a compositional dot to the people involved in it's origins.

The Resin Dot.

The original She Hull and the dot that changed my life. 

  

d.Malloy Rabbit's-Footery

Dan riding the first version of the Rabbit's Foot, via Alex Kopps.
Yew to say the least!

Govinda

Writing is good, thinking is better. Being smart is good, being patient is better.

8'10" x 23 3/4" x 3"

Foiled to the moon, flat deck with a heavy rolled vee bottom;  She's inspired 100% by a particular McTavish Keyo that Matty Chojnacki had in our apartment in Noosa a few months ago.  The board had all of the curves that I've been obsessed with for the past few years, but exploded and exaggerated; a truly refined vee bottom longboard that was one of the last of its kind, before the shortboard revolution took hold likely a few months after it was shaped.  

I've been shaping a handful of these through my travels this summer in australia and europe, and when I got home a few days ago I decided it was high time people hack here in Santa Barbara see what's been getting me so fired up lately.  

This one in particular is glassed with a double 6oz bottom and double 6oz deck, plus a 10oz volan patch.  I used Reichold ISO Marine resin for the lamination, I haven't felt a more balanced board in  along time; the 10.5" flex fin is a complete deal-sealer for me; riding it feels connected and smooth...The relationship between the bottom curves and the fin feel seamless to me and I can't wait to get it back in the water after our first go-out yesterday!