Bali Trip is a life changer! Notes from a Foam E-Z Customer.

Here's a cool email we recieved from one of our happy customers. Sit back and relax!


Hey guys. Just wanted to thank you for all the info and supplies that you've made available. I'm mostly landlocked here in DC except for the few times a month that I make the two hour junket to the coast. Its a stark contrast with Bali, Indo where I'd been living 2008-2009. I went there with extremely limited funds and made my peregrinations at extremely low cost. Even still, by the time it was time to come home, I didn't even have the hundred some dollars necessary to ship my boards. As such, I sold two (both badly abused in epic surf), and left one with a friend. Not having a board when I arrived back in the states, I bummed around, borrowing boards here and there while I tried to scrape some money together to buy my own. A friend gave me an old 6'8 Clark Foam blank he had had sitting around for the past half a decade, in the hopes that it would help push me along to self-sufficiency. I felt apprehensive, as I had no experiencing shaping or glassing. In the mean time, I took a trip down to Avon, NC when a swell of superb caliber rolled through and promptly broke my buddies board in half. So now not only did I not have one for myself, I owed one to my buddy. I resolved to fix the one myself (with his permission), and shape the blank I had. I called around while in NC looking for some resin, but it seemed as if most distributors were bone dry, and most shops didn't sell by the gallon. In one last ditch effort I stopped at the store front of famed East Coast shaper, Tim Nolte, who put me off to a good start supplying me with a gallon of resin, 9 yards of glass, fins and fin boxes, catalyst, and styrene monomer, all at distributor prices. The man nearly singlehandedly restored my faith in the goodwill and common decency of American businessmen (but not quite corporations as a whole).

Returning home, I managed to piece the one board back together within about two weeks, but found my talent at glassing to by wanting. Nevertheless, I commenced to shape and glass the blank. Aside from nearly fatal errors, a waste of at least half a gallon of resin and about 4 yards of glass, a few ruined sets of cloths (and brain cells), I managed to shape something rideable. Ironically, the day that I applied the hot coat, my buddy from Bali called me up to inform me that my board had arrived in NYC, and that I should come up promptly. And so packed up my grip, hopped on the bus, and went for a surf out at Rockaway on my board that just made a 12,000 mile journey on an overseas shipping crate amongst a load of cheap plastic jewelry imports. I don't live a boring life, that's for sure. I couldn't have done it without all the beta and necessary supplementals you supply. You even supplied the Rasta keel fins I've got in that fishy while I was in Indo (its cheaper to have something shipped there from here than to deal with imported stuff there).

Thanks so much.
Jake

Photos: (In order from first to last) 1)Ed in Indo: epic, pumping, deserted waves right in front of malaria ridden camp sight. Only took 3 days on mopeds to get to. 2) Jake shaping Clark blank. 3) Ed pre-glassing. Should have followed the directions and put fins in after laminate coat. 4) Jake: Hot Coat. 5) Twin Fin Fish on left shipped from Indo, arrived same day board on right was finished. Board on right: 6'5" quad 20" wide. Who knows how thick.... Road map of Java in between.

PRO-SHAPER PROFILE- Jason Hoffman by Grizzly

Here I am with this month’s Pro Shaper Profile and I’m proud to say we have a video interview with Jason Hoffman. We are highlighting the artisan board builder which Jason and business partner Casey McCrystal truly define. Like many other shapers over the past five years, Jason has been building his boards from start to finish in house. He used to shape out of a room he rented at Foam E-Z and just crank them out and then drop them off at a glass shop. Since times are tough he made the move and bought the glass shop next door to the old Foam E-Z location and has been building his business even during this crazy time. As I mentioned before he has teamed up with Casey McCrystal to form a company called Ricochet. They are hands on and build each board from start to finish, that’s right, they take your order, shape it, glass it, and even hand it off to you when it’s done.

It’s been great knowing and working with Jason over the years so take a second to check out the conversation I had with him on this video. Check out their websites for more information.

BOARDROOM: LEGENDS OF SURFBOARD SHAPING

BOARDROOM: LEGENDS OF SURFBOARD SHAPING
Features the greatest legends of modern board shaping. We hear first hand on how they got started, who gave them a break and how they changed surfing history forever. We hear about the transition from balsa to foam , from long board to short board, from California to Hawaii. Get ready for a trip back in time to the beginning of modern day shaping.

Looks like it's gonna be a cool flick. Can't wait for it to come out!

Check out www.boardroomthemovie.com for more info.

Mike Marshall Long Time Harbour Shaper, RIP

We lost a a great member of the Harbour Surfboards extended family this past Saturday Feb 6th. I was lucky enough to meet Mike Marshall back in the early Eighties while I was starting my stint as an employee at the Harbour Shop. Mike would often stop in and heckle us guys in the back. He was one of Rich's original production shapers back in the sixties. One of my fondest memories of Mike was from the Harbour Surfboards 25th Anniversary party back in 1987. He was just the life of the party amongst the many surf characters from the Sixties and Seventies eras. It was always a pleasure to run into Mike and Sharon at various events and talk shop, I think he especially enjoyed talking education with my wife (she's a high school teacher) since he was a long time teacher himself.

It sounds like Mike's last days were as pleasant as can be expected. Here's what Rich Harbour emailed me:

As many already know Mike Marshall, my dear friend of more than four and half decades, had a stroke early Monday morning. After arriving at
emergency, they found he had a very aggressive form of leukemia.
Brain surgery was performed to relieve pressure and he remained in an unconscious state thereafter.
Later in the week the family was informed that he was not going to survive, so they decided to remove him from all life support and take him home to live his final days where he was most comfortable.
He was transported by ambulance Thursday, and on the way to his home they convinced the ambulance driver to take a lap around the parking lot at Blackies. With that done, they delivered him to his house where he rested in the "Museum Room" on a hospital bed, now in a Blackie's T-shirt in place of a hospital gown - much more appropriate. I visited Friday and Saturday. There were family and friends near him, all in a very positive mood, prepared for the final moments of his life that ended shortly after I left yesterday.
I wish his wife Sharon and family well. These are going to be tough times and my heart and thoughts are with them.
May he rest in peace.

I'm gonna miss bumping into Marshall at the various surf events.

Best wishes to Sharon and his family from the Harbour Surfboards extended family.

PRO SHAPER INTERVIEW with Mike Minchinton by Grant Ramey

Recently I had the privilege to sit down with long time Huntington Beach shaper Mike Minchinton. Mike is a pretty legendary dude who has worked with some notable guys like the late Chris Hawk, Carl Hayward, and Robert August just to name a few. I remember being eleven years old and going into the old Roberts August shop on the corner of 5th st. in Huntington Beach and seeing the Minchinton Model board. At that time I had a beat up old mini long board that paled in comparison to a gloss polished, air brushed beauty. I had a little ritual that lasted about a year that went like this, surf, go to Robert August Surf Shop, stare at boards, eat, surf, and then go back to R.A. to look at the Minchinton Model. That's my little bit of history in regards to Mike. I'm sure it's a familiar story, just insert your name and the shaper's name and you have your own experience.

Listen to the interview:

A Special Appearance this Saturday November 7th!!!

Foam E-Z super employee Mark Bouvier will be hanging out at the shop tomorrow, Saturday November 7th. Just in case you don’t know the history Mark has worked for us at Foam E-Z for about three years. He became our "Saturday" Guy and nurtured his own and new clientele making them laugh with his dry sense of humor. He is a shaper and an artist, the Evolution Tee Shirt that debuted at the Foam E-Z Fifteen Year Party is his creation. If you haven't seen him lately it's because he got into a terrible car accident on Thursday July 9th, 2009 http://www.ocregister.com/articles/police-beach-huntington-2488973-head-taken. Basically he got rear ended and the car came down on top of him, crushing one side of his head! After removing a portion of his skull to drain some fluid Mark had it replaced on September 25th and has since been sent home from the hospital to rehab. He's had to relearn to speak and is rehabbing the rest of his body at this time. It's absolutely amazing how far he has come in such a short time (although to him I'm sure it seems like it's been forever). In the car with him at the time of the accident was his girlfriend Sarah who was pregnant with their first child. Thank god she walked away with barely a scratch. They have since had healthy-happy baby Jack on October 7th.

We hope many of you can come down and say hello to Mark. He would be stoked to see his Foam E-Z friends both old and new to talk shop. If he's not in the front of the shop when you arrive he will be in the "Shaping Box" coaching his Friend Dan as he shapes a new board.

We're working on plans for a benefit party for Mark in the upcoming weeks so stay tuned. In the meantime you can check out Mark's MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/cheaterfives or email him board building questions or good wishes at surfddout@yahoo.com.

Hope to see you all-

Brad

Foam E-Z does Sacred Craft 2009!

If you missed Sacred Craft this year then you missed out. This years tribute was to legendary shaper Dick Brewer who also released his shaping DVD and the buzz was huge. His DVD covers template making, wood board shaping as well as standard blank shaping and yeah, we got ‘em!! He even gives Foam E-Z a shout out in the video. Back to Sacred Craft, it was only 5 bucks to get in and check out the latest shapes and designs from the big guys like Rusty and Merrick to the gurus like Karl Ekstrom and some throwback shapes from the hipsters at Gato Heroi. There were boards made out of all kinds of materials from epoxy to poly, Alaias, carbon fiber, you name it and it was there.

Not only are there cutting edge shapes and designs but at the show the shapers themselves are there to talk shop with the consumers and sign autographs. Check out some of the pics and you’ll see that everyone was in good spirits and really feeding off of the energy of the show.

We also participated in an epoxy glassing demo with Dave Daum from Kings stand up paddle and raffled off some shirts, hats, and even a single board epoxy kit and 10 yards of cloth! I was honored to be involved with such a great guy as Dave who has 30 + years of experience in the industry. We laminated the deck and bottom of an EPS blank to a packed room and it was a great lesson from a seasoned pro.

After that we cruised around to schmooze with some other dudes like Jeff Clark, the dudes at Marko, and even Dick Brewer. Brewer made several appearances in the two shape rooms while other shapers such as Gary Linden, Pat Rawson, and Dennis Murphy exhibited their shaping wizardry to large crowds packed around the clear shaping booths.

It was awesome to see the way a master craftsman like these guys move around the board and turn a blank into magic in only one hour.

Two days of talking shop and soaking up knowledge from an elite crew of legendary shapers, and looking at thousands of new shapes is enough to get anyone amped on shaping and frothing to get back in a shape room. Happy shaping.

Grizzley

Dane Reynolds and Dan Malloy ride some interesting boards!!!

TSJ | POV - "Dan Malloy & Dane Reynolds Board Swap" from The Surfers Journal on Vimeo.

Ride shotgun with Dan Malloy and Dane Reynolds as they cruise from their Ventura homes to Emma Wood State Beach for a quiver swap. This insider look at their modes of surfing comes to a head as they trade—and ride—everything from homemade hunks to foiled Fryes.

Sacred Craft Shaping Demo at the Hurley US Open

There is nothing better than hanging out with 125,000 of your closest friends at the U.S. Open presented by Hurley. Major props goes out to Hurley for putting this whole thing together and bringing back all-stars like Slater, Fanning, Machado, and Irons. This event dwarfed past years in action, size, half-naked girls, entertainment value, skate/bike/shaping demos, and….half naked girls. Everyone was rallying behind local boy Brett Simpson in the final vs. Mick Fanning. The energy was positive and people were hooting and cheering at every wave whether it was Fanning or Simpo. When it was all over Simpson prevailed in his hometown to the tune of $100K in prize money.

That wasn’t the only action though. There were the usual raffles, and giveaways as well as retail buildings they erected with full on air conditioning. The stand out this year was the Sacred Craft Shaping Demo. Scott Bass and the boys set up a shaping booth inside an air conditioned tent for the shapers to do shaping demos on the sand right in the middle of all the craziness. Along with the help of U.S. Blanks and us (Foam E-Z) they were able to work through and explain the shaping process to onlookers. I was able to catch John Carper doing his thing and it was really to cool to not only see what he was doing but to also hear him explain his movements. It was very special since the inside of a shaper’s bay is a very private place. This is where secrets are kept and ideas are formed, therefore to be able to see a real pro going at it was a great treat for everyone. Carper really wowed the crowd when he broke out a chainsaw to cut out the outline. Other legendary shapers on hand for the demo were; Bill Stewart, Maurice Cole, Doc Lausch, Darren Handley, Pat Rawson, and local HB legend surfer/shaper Robert August. So as you can see this was quite a display of history, skill, and craftsmanship.

Not sure if I mentioned it but there were Half Naked Girls everywhere!! By the end of the event people were ready for more. The pros and spectators agreed that they can’t wait to see what will happen next year.

Reported by Grant Ramey
Pics by Jeff Holtby

Legendary Hobie Shaper, Terry Martin Shapes it up on video!

TSJ | POV - "Terry Martin and the perfect 40-minute board" from The Surfer's Journal on Vimeo.

This is a great viewing of legendary Hobie shaper Terry Martin shaping up a traditional longboard. He starts with a US Blanks 9-3Y as his canvas and works his Skil 100 planer over the blank. Those old planers just eat up the foam like no other.

Having started shaping wood as a lad in '50s San Diego, on through to shaping sleek Phil Edwards Models, to the now - where he finds himself an in-demand builder of boards of all denominations for Hobie- Terry Martin is the consummate craftsman. In this short video, Terry shapes a perfect traditional noserider, talking us through his philosophy and technique as he works.

Enjoy the video, we hope it provides some insight to your shaping experience.

Brad

International Surfing Day!

Ever needed a legitimate excuse to go surfing? Well, on June 20, 2009 you finally have it, International Surfing Day. Created by Surfing Magazine five years ago, this unofficial, official surfers' holiday gives us a chance to promote and celebrate the sport while bringing awareness to the state of our oceans and beaches. The goal is simple, take the day off or at least part of the day to go out and catch a wave or three and... while you're at it...help cleanup your favorite beach. In conjunction with the Surfrider Foundation, Surfing Magazine will be organizing a a handful of official beach cleanups. If there isn't an official beach cleanup in your neighborhood don't let it stop you from beautifying your own stretch of sand!

What are you doing tomorrow for International Surfing Day Saturday 2009? We'll be down in Huntington State Beach (North Side of River Jetties) from 8am to 1pm, along with a number of other surfing enthusiasts! Come down and join us there will be plenty of swag given away, refreshments, surf music, sun, and fun.

Some of the participants setting up tomorrow are: Foam E-Z, Future Fins, Harbour Surfboards, Van's Shoes, Katin Surf Shop, Greek Surfboards, Surfline, Monster Energy Drinks, Surfing Magazine, The Sierra Club, and many more. So as you can see it will be a great day to kick off the summer.

Hope to see you there!

Brad

A Guided Tour Through Foam E-Z's Shop!

We put this video together to try to give everyone a better idea of what our shop looks and feels like. In addition, we wanted to put some faces with the voices and emails for the Guys at the shop (Grant and RadRob). Foam E-Z is housed in a 1200sq foot retail shop/warehouse here in North Orange County, Southern California.

Aloha Glassing is a large professional glass shop just adjacent to our shop that can meet all your glassing needs, if that's what you desire. There are a number of professional shapers (Minchinton, Bettis, Stamps, and more) making surfboards in our business complex and they are always more than courteous to give advice or answer some shaping questions. Ding Repair is another service available at our location.

So as you can see we are full service providing all the tools, materials, knowledge, and a professional shaping room to build your own board (B.Y.O.B.) all under one roof. For more information on the EZ Shaping Box view the video in the blog. If you decide that you only want to shape your own board (S.Y.O.B.) and want it professionally glassed we can provide that service for you right next door.

If you haven't been to our shop and are in the area please stop by and check us out. For all of you that haven't visited Foam E-Z, we hope the video tour gives you a good picture of our committment to providing the best in board building supplies that are available.

Look forward to seeing you soon-

Brad