Ronnie Goddard is flat out finishing a couple of boards to bring

I just got these two shots of some nice fish getting the finishing touches and a polish to be ready for Sunday. I know of a few people burning the midnight oil to finish a few projects. Thanks guys.
This one is stringerless with cedar and paulownia rails.
I also spoke to longtime Gold Coast shaper ,Tony Dempsey and he has a couple of early boards he has dug out to bring along. So a bit of history and a few stories to share. I also spoke to Bert Burger , shaper of the year 2007 today. He is in town and will be along on Sunday as well. Some older shapers , young shapers and all with ideas and stories to tell. Be there to share in it all.

And after a low tide wave at the Alley today , I can tell you we are in for some fun waves. Wind is up to 30 knots and swell to get up 3.5 metres over the weekend. But we only need the hint of west in the wind like today and the valley acts like a giant funnel and we have offshore at the point and rivermouth. Yet on the other side of the rock it is howling southerly.

Who is coming ?

People always want to know who is coming to the fish Fry. The truth is , I don't really know until the day rolls on. Some people tell me they are coming , but the balance is unknown.

Well we can only hope the weather finally clears up , the rain and floods stop and the surf cleans up to give us the day we are after.We have been lucky the last 3 years.

There seems to be plenty of interest in the Fish Fry this year with new people and guys who have been before expressing their keeness to be there next Sunday. We have Robbie Kegal and his Gato Heroi brand coming out from California for the first time. A young creative artist and innovative surfer of the new generation shall we say. Jed Done and his Bush Rat brand from way South in Merimbula will be a first time fry guy. And Mick Mackie is back again with his innovative ideas , flex tails and side cut fishes. Young Lennox Head local Daniel Thomson , will be with us again fresh from being named " Best Of Show " at the Sacred Craft show in California last year. He has some fresh ideas and different outlines and fins. Also we have Roger Hall from Surfline Surfboards in New Zealand coming again with a selection of beautifully crafted wooden fishes and a multi stringered flex tail fish. Bobby Crisp from Wellington will be here with some of his very detailed wooden fishes under his Deluxe Industries brand.

It is always hard to know who will turn up with what and that is one of the great things about the day. You never know what you will go away with in terms of new ideas and inspirations.

So come on down to The Alley and bring your board old or new and a picnic lunch. Meet some new people , go for a surf swap boards and ideas. Just remember it is a non commercial and non competitive get together and I am sure you will have fun at The Alley Fish Fry , Sunday 14th March - NEXT SUNDAY.

Some people are going to a lot of trouble to bring something special to the Fish Fry

A five stringer flextail fish nearing completion.Roger Hall will be taking her out for a few test drives prior to cutting the swallow tail into the rear.
Roger working away in a 5ft 11" x 21 3/4" x 2 7/8" Speed Dialer.The mix of timbers are : Centre Beam - Agarve , Central Lattice Beams - Paulownia/Redwood/Pine , Outer Lattice Beams - Agarve and Cabbage Tree , All other beams are either Redwood, Balsa or Paulowina.
All fully chambered and foiled , now the rails and then hours of hand sanding , very carefully as you have so many different timbers and densities to contend with.
You won't see Roger doing things by halves...
The board in the background is a Speed Dialer - 5'11" x 21" x 2 7/8" with timbers : Centre Beam - Redwood/Paulowina. Outer Lattice Beams - Agarve and Cabbage Tree. Rail Beams - Redwood;/Pine/Purple Heart/Oregon/Mahagany. All other beams are either Paulowina or Redwood or Balsa.

He is also working on a Keel Fin Fish - 5'10" x 22" x 2 7/8" - Central Lattice - is Coconut Balsa with Pine and Redwood Stringers. Rails are Redwood and Coconut.

Be sure to check out the detail and craftsmanship of this guy. They certainly don't come much better than this. To my mind Roger is the best wooden board builder I have seen. Maybe a big call ? Then send me your pics and I will post them as well.

Check out his sites : www.surfline.co.nz
and www.fishnlog.blogspot.com

It is always great to see new ideas evolve

They may not all be what some would call fish exactly , but they certainly are a close cousin .It is always great to see people thinking outside the box and experimenting and blending ideas and design elements to come up with something different.Sage Joske from Valla Surfboards near Coffs Harbour has created the Vector above. Sage is an avid Alaia and fish shaper and rider and from this the Vector was hatched.
This is the Anderson Stealth 6' 4" and is an obvious marriage of the two, like a fish on top of an Alaia , then add fins.This is in California.
Fins for bite when you need them and out when you don't.The foam will certainly help the paddle into a wave.
The fish and the Alaia marriage is an interesting one, but not unlikely.I would say the Simmons is pretty well involved in there as well.This is the sort of thing that will be seen at the Fish Fry in 2 weeks time.

The Fish Fry - a gathering of afishionados

The Fish Fry will be a gathering of all parties interested in "The Fish" and all things of a fishy variety. There are always interesting new boards and ideas. A chance to meet shapers and check out what they are doing. Swap ideas , try a new board or be inspired to head home and have a go at making one in the shed yourself. There is sure to be something to catch your eye and plenty of interesting people to met and talk to . A very simple day in the park. Bring your lunch and chill for the day with your board.

Great illustration by Ben Waters from TCSS.

Matt's Christmas holiday project

Greg Wheeldon is an Architect from Brisbane who did the board building class with Paul Jensen last August. His son Matt was keen to build a board , so with his dads guidance he was kept busy over the Christmas break.
" Matt wanted something different, so we cut the deck and hull boards at 450, inset a woven bamboo panel into the deck nose and tailpiece, and hull nose. On the hull we turned the boards back to parallel, to give the tail and fins more interest."


" We even managed to form a 5mm concave to the hull nose, and a 3mm double concave to the tail under the parallel board section."





" He is keen to show it at the Fish Fry so we will see you there ." Would love to see the board at the Fish Fry Matt, this is exactly what it is all about. A great life experience for anyone to build their own board .


Proud dad with his board he built with Paul Jensen at The Eco Village last year.

Marco Mazzini from Italy to be at the Fish Fry

Marrco is coming out to check out the Alley Fish Fry as he gears up for the European Fish Fry to be held on the 25th of September at Versilia Italy later this year. It will be great to host him and show him around.It seems as though the word has spread far and wide and the day has come of age. There were over 35 shapers last year as well as plenty of guys who are building there own boards , which is great to see. I am looking forward to another great rollup. Hope to see you there.

How wide is wide ?

Now this board look fairly well proportioned , until I tell you it is 6ft 3" x 29" wide. I know you thought it was a Mini Simmons , well it is actually a belly board. Now that is some planing area. Pics were sent to me by Paul Jensen of his mate Jeff Chamberlain's new board.Should be a flyer.

The " Vicous Kanid" by More Surfboards

Mark Pridmoe from Yamba has been on the Bat Tail trail for a couple of years now and the Vicous Kanid is his latest creation. This is a 5'9" x 20 1/2" x 2 5/8" , glassed in 2oz Innegra cloth and a quad setup.
If you would like to see what else he is up to , go to : www.moresurfboards.com

Tim Stafford and his "Freak Fish "

Tim Stafford is from Cornwall in the UK and a designer of many things , from houses to websites . But he designs and shapes boards with a passion. His first love is the Bonzer and from this original 3 fin bonzer has spawned the " Freak Fish" , concaves and channels. Then there are the fins. He seeks inspiration from many sources and has created a blend that works.

I hope he keeps working and evolving his ideas as he plans to come to next years Fish Fry. Be great to see him here with a few boards. Thanks Tim.

www.justbonzers.blogspot.com

Robin Kegel and the Gato Heroi crew on tour to drop into The Fish Fry

Robbie has been working on a new model "The Cat Fish" and he will be bringing it with him to the Fish Fry. He has been working on refining it for the tour. Andy Finlay from Sydney is his Australian distributor will be here with a few mates as well by the look of things.
The boys have quite a tour planned out and it is nice to be part of it. Last year we had Tyler Warren , John Smart and Morgan Maassen here while in Oz filming the Tyler Warren Experiment. Joel Tudor dropped down one year as well. You never know who is in town.

www.gatoheroi.com

Crawly picks up the new Simmons

Dan Mac Donald just finished this 5'5" x 22" x 2 1/8" Mini Simmons for Crawly from Quiksilver. Nice resin job by Dan once again, and plywood fins.

Don't you just love summer

Just love this shot from Sprout Daily , who shot and post shots of surfing in Sydney daily.Thanks Murray for the great fish shot.

www.sproutdaily.com

Daniel Thomson, one of the new wave of innovative fish shapers.

Daniel , born and bred in the waves of Lennox Heads, NSW. Young man with some fresh ideas and a mission. A great surfer and innovative bugger to boot.



5 foot 10" x 19" x 2 3/8" rocket ship ready for action.

Sure there will be those of you that will say nothing is new. And that may well be true? But there are guys out there that will combine a little from many sources and inspirations and come up with something that is new.The Fish Fry is a great place to see what others are doing and a place to be inspired by their shapes and take on things.Talk to other shapers. Meet new ones and see what they are up to.Take a board for a ride and feel the difference , good or bad.The fish has become a great platform for fun and innovation in a commercialised thruster driven environment. I don't mean to be political , but it is hard not to agree. The fish has gone from being an alternate board to having an influence on many shapers and what they are doing today.
If you have some new ideas that you are trying and would like to share. Send some pics and a few words and turn up on the day if you can. Inspire others.

Thanks Tomo
http://dantomo.blogspot.com