Amazing 1935 Surf Mat Short ...

Paul,

Attached 1935 video is in the public domain.

Samuel S

From Tomas ...

Omni table cloth...

 

 

Paul,

Happy New Year!

Loved the Omni on the latest Puerto Rico holiday.  Marti and I had a rare treat with no tree, no gifts, no family/in-laws, no kids this Christmas.

Packed 2 4thGearFlyer Mats in the space of 2 Pringles cans and took off. We are a short 4 hour flight to San Juan, PR, so we took advantage. Spent 4 days in San Juan -Viejo and got around by foot/ bike and had a blast on Winter surf and snorkle outings. Later we drove up to NW Coast and tried to sample as many beaches as possible over the next week....tons of options without people. Surf was romping!..... Ran into a crew of prone riders in Isabela and enjoyed their home break, Hustle, And their Aloha! Thanks to Govanni and crew for a great couple of days.

Made a point to spend several days in old San Juan after missing it last trip. Whole area is 7 blocks x 5 blocks cobblestone streets made of ship ballast stones. 1500's Historical Architecture wonderland.

It was uncrowded in most beach areas, very peaceful and family oriented. Everyone was gracious and made us feel at home. Aside from Rincon area being crowded over Christmas, as usual, everywhere else was empty. We either snorkled, surfed or swam at Steps, Domes, Crashboat, Gas Chambers, Aguadilla/Ramey, Shacks, Jobos and a dozen other beaches over to Arecibo and Hallows. Try to make it back there if you can!

OK...pics of matting...well, we didn't do so good on that order. Nobody but the two of us most times in water. Here is the best I got!

Tom S

From Jeff ...

Hi Paul;

Hope all is well. Trying to figure out this Go Pro thing. Got one wave on film before the battery died.

Underwhelming but a stumble in the right direction.

Love my new Vespa.  Best mat period.

  Jeff

2016 Retrospective From Adam And The Scumm Crew ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Paul

Happy New Year!

All the best to you and your Family!

Not a lot happening down here on the NSW South Coast.  Summer wind dribble combined with thousands of keen holiday makers, so those fantastic 4 months of winter bliss are just a distant memory for us now. Please, can someone hit the fast forward button to May and hopefully let the fun begin again???

This is from 6 months ago, with Neal and I riding our Omni and Tracker RT on a small and slightly windy, but uncrowded ( just us till one other paddled out).  So much fun and such a perfect wave for crossovers and speed runs , Gilligans Island = maximum FUN!

We also rescued a distressed seal, which was all tangled up in a old fish net, the poor little fella must have been washed up into the scrub , way back in the shoreline, this was just after that massive East Coast Low we experienced back then , so he could have been trapped for over a week. Lucky for him some visiting tourist heard him and asked us for some help, so Neal with a pair of gloves and knife was able to cut him free.

Regards

Adam

From Marc ...

Hi Paul,

Hope all is well.

Yesterday was the last swell of 2016 in my hometown Scheveningen in The Netherlands. Cold (37F degrees) but clean and fun. It will be flat till 2 January.

On the background they are building the bonfire for new year's eve (35 meters high! )

All the best for 2017 for you and Gloria!

Marc

From Rob ...

Paul,

I’ve been having a blast on the Polara. I connect sections I couldn’t make on my other mats, and its handling these soft small waves like a champ! This is my best ride of the day from Christmas Eve, on a 2.5’ super soft wave. I really have to lay out when the waves are under 3’ but if I get into them, I’m gone! The Polara Super Sport has become my favorite mat of the winter.

I’m going to keep riding the Polara Regular, I have to get more time on it and the Polara SS to get a better feel for the differences before I can speak intelligently on them.

Merry Christmas to you and your family, your surf craft have brought so much joy to me and mine!

Keep spreading the Stoke!

Rob Pollard

Happy 76th Frank ...

Today (12/21/16) would have been Frank Zappa's 76th birthday. Sadly, he passed at the age of 52 in 1993. (His wife Gail died in October of 2015 at 70.)

This Dutch documentary may not hold up by conventional critical standards, but it's an interesting snapshot of a very candid Zappa, and the era of the early 70's.

What amazes me about Frank Zappa's music is how well it holds up, without the rose colored filter of nostalgia. (At least, that's my view.) So does much of his social commentary. I recall just before he died, he was a critic of the populist downside of the internet...which is interesting, since the internet barely existed in the 1993. Pretty perceptive.

Anyhow, here's to you, FZ...

Frank and Gail in 1972

2016: Another Passing

My father grew up in rural Hawaii during the 20's and 30's. He basically lived on sugar cane as a kid, gnawing on raw stalks on his way back and forth to school each day. His teeth and general health suffered in the long term, to say the least.

Maybe, on balance, it will be a good change for Hawaii. But...the ideal of the sugar industry leaving The Islands seems like the last kick in the gut 2016 has for us.

Full story on NPR here...

From Rob ...

Paul,

I’m loving the new Polara, it’s FAST!

Chris and I had a great time yesterday, we surfed 5 plus hours. It was glassy and 3’ all day, we had so much fun! I felt very blessed to be able to take the time off and mat all day. My face is sore from smiling!

Thanks for these awesome surf craft! Super Stoked!

Clip by Chris Falzone.

Rob

Tips From The Pros: Fin/Foot Interface ...

OK, considering it's from moi, maybe this doesn't qualify as a "tip from a pro." So bear with me...

I've found that a pair of fins, even if they each were cast out of the same mold at the same time, can vary slightly in temper. The hand laid charges of rubber that are placed in the mold prior to heating aren't perfect, so each fin can have a different feel. And since our feet are not identical to one another, every now and then, one fin will fit one foot better than the other.

What I do, when I get a new pair of fins, is swap them back and forth between feet to see if there's a closer match of one fin to one foot. If so, I mark the fins accordingly.

Of course, this only applies to a brand of fins that aren't molded specifically for a right and left foot.

If there's no discernible difference between two new fins, then I arbitrarily mark the fins 'right' and 'left.' The theory is that, over time, each fin will conform slightly to each foot.

RIP Greg Lake

 

Funnest Beach Cam Ever ...

The Piedras Blancas elephant seal rookery, located about 5 miles north of Hearst Castle in San Simeon, now has its own beach cam.

The angle and focal length of the camera changes every couple of days, so it's worth checking in now and then for some varied pinniped fun!

From ????

I have no idea what in the hell this is.  (Or who's behind it, but I have my suspicions...)

From Surf Sister ...

Surf Sister denies stalking photog Dave Weldon in hopes of making it to Surfline's Local Photo El Porto section ... but Weldon and South Bay law enforcement are not amused!

From Jeremy ...

Hello Paul,

I wanna glide on the Lotus above and to the right of surfer. Position '2pm' high line!


Jeremy

From Geoffrey ...

Hey Paul!

FINALLY BEEN RIDING THE ️MAT!

holy shit! It go real fast!! Like speeds I've never felt before laying down.

I took it out on a 3ft day.. It was ok..
But when i took it out 4-6ft that when I felt 3rd flyer!

still learning and reading the pdf file you gave me.. My first instinct is too lift the nose up abit but after a few waves I really found momentum when my head was right down.
The lower the better.

it's also hard to find a line, I was doing the angle line down an drawing out the bottom turns.

Still I've never had so much fun going straight on 6ft sets.

Here's a Picture, ill send more when my friend emails me them!

Cheers

Geoffrey.

From Chris ...

 

Hi Paul,

I've been having alot of fun with the Fatty over the last few months; I usually bring a variety of boards depending on the day, but I always bring the mat out. Regardless of the conditions, the mat is a blast! My wave count has certainly increased, and I'm getting a full body work out since using my legs quite a bit more.

I also have a whole new appreciation for mat surfers - there is no where to hide with a bag of air when waves are closing out on top of you!

Attached a few pics of Rob P on some dawn patrol slop...

Regards,

Chris

More From the Jacksonville Flash ...

Paul,

I'm loving these winter waves, my face hurts from smiling! Keep spreading the Stoke!

Shot by Chris Falzone.

Rob

Two Fistfuls Of Fabric: Part Deux ...

The mat riding footage in Crystal Voyager -- which was pinched from Greenough's 16mm inflatable opus, Rubber Duck Riders -- features some great riding not only by George, but from Mike Cundith as well.

Above is a classic image shot in 1970 at Rincon. Mike's body is loading up the inside rail, and he has a firm grip on the front rails...pulling the nose up to help initiate a quick, squirting bottom turn. The result of his technique is an incredibly small amount of wetted surface area...just a few square inches touching the water.

The fun starts at 7:10 ...

From Rob ...

Paul,

I can’t tell you how much joy these mats have brought me, its hard to put into words. Since the storm season started I have been blessed with some clean 2-4ft waves and both mats have been amazing! I now skip beer at parties because Dawn Patrol waits for no man. These mats have changed me for the better and I can’t help but want to share that with other people. Chris and I have been catching some really fun party waves and I hope to get you some video soon. Keep spreading the Stoke Paul, your work has changed my life!

On another note, I was wondering if you ever organize any mat meets. I would love to meet more mat surfers, and I would definitely travel if I had enough time to plan the trip. I am thinking about starting a meet up group in Jax FL to expose people to mat surfing. I feel like there are people out there that have never experience the joy of wave riding, and mats are a way to bring this to them without the intimidation of a hard surf craft tethered to their body. I wouldn’t charge anything for it, the joy that I would get filling those people with Stoke would be more than enough. There are thousands of Veterans out there who deal with some of the same issues I was dealing with, and I if I can help just one of them the way your mats have helped me, it will be worth it. The idea is still in its infancy but you will be the first to know when I need some more mats ;-)!

Super Stoked,
Rob P