Curious yellow

Since everyone is posting their hard boards



My son won it at a raffle of some kind and gave it to me.

Hull-ish on the bottom with chines on the rails

I keep looking at it thinking it might be fun to ride

but then I grab my mat!

Happy New Year to all!

4GF Update

4GF update in the Comments sections ... thanks!

Ziffy Board

Way back when, us beach rats used to love these hollow molded bellyboards with a squirt gun plug on the tip of the nose. We would stand on them on the sand to squeeze air out, then insert the stopper, which made for a concave bottom plus more spoon in the deck.

As I remember, Ziffys had five or so 3/4" ribs down the bottom, so they would hold some traction on a wave face. The handles caused tremendous drag and created a fountain effect. We never did figure out the purpose of the raised aft pontoons.

From Jonathan J ... Who Never Ceases To Amaze and Impress!

Hey Paul,

I thought I'd send you these pics of an infamous surfcraft of yesteryear. I'm sure you've seen one in your travels. (I'll bet most prone-riders haven't!) I'm talking 'bout the lowly Captain Swim-Surfer!

Is it a surf mat? Not quite...

Is it inflatable? Kind of...

Is it totally indestructible? Just about...

Was it developed by mad chemists, with a keen sense of advanced hydrodynamics? Perhaps...

Long discarded in surfing history's pile of flotsam, I say this funky relic deserves another serious look!

3/4 view, showing concave deck, and "chine" transition rails.

Logo shot - still intact!

Rear view, showing drain plug and -- WOOOPS!!!! -- UNION CARBIDE???

I bet they wish they would've stuck to making these, rather than offshoring their pesticide refineries. (Remember Bhopal?)

Bottom view rear - dig the subtle keel fin!

Bottom view front - It appears that all the rocker is in the hulled bottom profile, while the S deck remains quite flat - up onto the rolled hips....hmmm.... And what of those concave nose pockets? It's almost as if Simmons had a hand in the design of this thing!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve at 6pm. The wind had just swung around to offshore. I was waiting for my lift to a party, shaved and dressed, taking artsy photos to keep myself from completely bailing on social obligations to ride the best waves in months. Christmas day was blown out three foot mush. I reckon I deserve the medal of valor for staying ashore.

Photos by MAT MAX

So Beached!

Check it out! Some Aussies made this vid mocking Kiwi youth dialect. NZ loves it!

The Last "Stripes Down" Hodgeman ???

This is my last "Stripes Down" Converse-Hodgman experience...

It was the late 70's, and I was driving down Mission Blvd in San Diego. Being the 4th of July weekend, there were a million people milling around the beach, the boardwalk, and the intersections.

By this point in mat surfing history, the 60's era "Stripes Down" Converse-Hodgman model (which was shorter and narrower than the 50's era Hodgman version) had been in the grave maybe 8 years. The wider, slower, 70's era Stripes Across Converse-Hodgmans were also history. We were into the lean, flimsy Merrins by that time...but the old Stripes Down Converse-Hodgman still occupied a soft spot in my heart. Once they were broken in, they could be pretty damn potent if there was a bit of power in the wave. (The mat surfing in Crystal Voyager was on the Stripes Down model. )

So anyway, I'm driving down Misson Blvd, and in front of me jay-walks a middle age guy and his family ... all sunburned and "beached-out."

And...

One of his kids was carrying a Stripes Down Converse-Hodgman! It looked like it was in mint condition, based on how deep the striped colors were on the deck. (Maybe it was just still wet?)

The traffic was solid going in the opposite direction, so I couldn't make an instantaneous u-turn. I drove on, and at the first opportunity, hung a u-ee and burned rubber back to where I saw the family. Of course, there was no parking anywhere. I ended up stopping maybe a 1/4 mile up the road, and ran back. (And by "ran," I mean a 47 second 440 in flip flops. )

They were no where to be found. I schlepped around the neighborhood on the inland side of the boulevard for maybe a half hour, checking out all the seasonal rental units, but no luck.

The whole time I was looking, I was trying to figure out what to say if I found them. Of course, money would be offered, but how weird would it be for some breathless guy with 3 day's beard growth to pull out a roll of 20s and throw it at them from their old surf raft? Plus, I had to figure out what to say to my girlfriend if I came home broke and with a mat. (A whole Jack In the Beanstalk scenario came to mind.) Later, when I sheepishly told her about my adventure, she said we should go back and look for them again the next day at the beach. That's when I decided to propose to her. (It took 10 years, but she finally gave in.)

The next day we trolled the beach. Nada.

The wisdom of old age finally kicked in, and I gave up my search. But every time I run across an old shot of a Stripes Down Converse-Hodgman, I remember that family crossing the street with a piece of mat riding history in tow!

From Kenny H.

Heading out at Ikumi Beach, Shikoku, Japan. October, 2008

Photo: Denise

Good Morning Paul!

Boy, did THAT thing ever attract some attention in that gadget-crazy country! Even though this shot looks pretty dramatic, we were there at the tail-end of the surf season and I got pretty skunked. Surfing wasn't the sole purpose of our journey, but I had brought the mat and fins along just in case I got lucky with a late-season typhoon…

Hey, why not? The gear doesn't weigh much!

Happy Holidays to you!

Kenny

Fix That Leaky Hodgman Flote The Easy Way ...

From Jonathan J.

Epic find ... a "pre-Converse" Hodgman mat!!!

The price was $23.95! Not exactly sure of the date, but by any reasonable estimate, a lot of money at the time...

Hello Paul!

I just took those pics out on my front steps the other day, before the rain set in. Yep.....as you guessed, there's a totally stock red/white/blue striped Hodgman "Float" that came with that box!

It's one of the "crown jewels" of my mat collection. At the same time I received both this mat, and a smaller kid-sized mat, in their factory boxes....a rare score indeed! If you're curious about what it looks like, it's identical to the Hodgman postcard pic I sent.

The date is mid to late 50's on this long-striped Hodgman!

JJ

Spring Has Sprung

It's almost summer in Aotearoa, land of the long white cloud. Even though we are as far south as Northern California is north, the sea gets fairly warm for three or four months. Here's me on my Fatty just yesterday, having flashbacks of Zuma Beach in August.

Photos by MAX DAD

Some Photos From NZ

My Father, Max Dad, took these pictures with an old Pentax that he used to shoot when he edited SURFING ILLUSTRATED, and went on bitchen assignments like for LIFE MAGAZINE to cover The Duke Contest with Don James, and pioneering El Salvador, and exploring Baja in a PBY amphibian aircraft... Max Dad quite often took Max Mom and us Max Menehunes with him. (I got to shake hands with Duke Kahanamoku. Wow!) Were we lucky beach rats or what?

These pictures are actual film shots. You remember film, those strips of plastic with holes down the sides that if you touch them with your finger the image is ruined forever. Sort of like those big black music discs from before CDs. (Kids these days have been known freak on the revelation that LPs actually have a B-side!) Right, so feast your eyes on some chilly average NZ beachbreak:

Photos by MAX DAD

Max Mom and Max Dad. Photo by MAT MAX

Best Go Out Ever ???

Tim and Jim B.

Photo: Christopher B.

Sacre' Bleu!!!

4GF Update

See comments section ... thanks!

Mat Master Manuel -- The Fragrance !!!

The man voted "The Sexiest Mat Rider In The World" 47 years running offers his new cologne for the 2008 Holiday Season ... Cologne Del Agua Salada De Manuel !!!

Manuel got his start as a great lover on the beaches of Havana, Cuba at an early age...

The women flocked to him the moment he arrived at the shoreline with his little air mat...

As soon as he was of age, they could show no resistance to his magnetic charms!

The burgeoning Cuban men's fashion industry soon begged him to bottle what made him so irresistible to the ladies...

His earliest fragrance was a hit! It turned the most gruesome old funk dog on the beach into a chick magnet!

California's June gloom couldn't stop feminine admirers from finding men wearing his scent!

Even during screenings of Rubber Duck Riders, mat riding fanatics like Catherine Deneuve succumbed to Manuel's romantic aroma!

One dab of Manuel's cologne was all it took!

Hollywood's A-List loverboys are some of his most ardent admirers...

So whether you're spending a romantic weekend with your sweetie...

Or heading out on the highway for some kinky adventures...

Female mat riders of the world, beware!!!








This is your only defense against 2008's
Cologne Del Agua Salada De Manuel !!!