A fishy fish from Moonlight Glassing

What a cool looking board from the guys at Moonlight Glassing in California.

The big fish...

A selection of 10ft and 11ft fishes from Rich Pavel , twin , quad and thrusters. I like a big fish myself and there are a number of us who love the glide with a fish tail. Sam Yoon here on the Gold Coast shapes many larger fish and he is only a small built guy.If you are after something different be sure to check them out at this years Fry. Rich is keen to shape some while he is here. Sam builds a beautiful board as well.

Mick Mackie and " Lost in the Ether "

Mick Mackie is a very innovative individual and loves to do his own thing. It has been a pleasure to have him at past Fish Fry. And Andrew Kidman has brought us some very special movies in the past. So am looking forward to this one.

Mick at work on a stringerless Simmons in styrene.

Side cut , big butt crack , flex tail , all things Mick likes to explore.

Jordan Nobel and Rake

Jordan Nobel the shaper of the great looking Rake mini simmons and fishes will be a speaker at the Fish Fry night as well.

Jordan is the owner of Note Surfboards on the Victorian coast. He was the 2009 Victorian Old Mal champ and is an avid surfer of all craft. He, like many other young shapers spent time at Classic Malibu at Noosa learning the ropes with Peter White, he later moved back to Torquay and started his own brand. He shapes a wide variety of boards but has a passion for the Mini Simmons and Fish that he builds under the Rake Label. He builds boards that are beautifully crafted with great glassing and finish. I am sure you will see why he is one of the new generation of Aussies leading the way out there doing what they love.

Great to have Ryan Lovelace @ the Fry

Ryan is a great example of the new young guns out there hand shaping and experimenting .He hails from Santa Barbara and is the owner of Point Concept Surfboards.

“He shaped his first board in Santa Barbara on his 19th birthday because he didn’t have enough coin to buy a Fish off the rack. What started as a one-man operation along with the help of best friends, namely Connor Lyon, Ryan has managed to turn his art, skill and energy into a dynamic business that creates between 5 and 20 boards a month for surfers who drool over his creative shapes and attention to detail”. He is self taught and willing to experiment with shapes, designs and materials which has led him to explore many aspects of board design and building. A shaper of the future with a keen following of young guns that inspire him to push the boundries.
It will be great to have Ryan , Connor and a number of mates come down for the Fry this year.Ben at Six Ounce in Sydney is stocking some of his boards and Ryan is keen to shape a few while here so get hold of Ben to line one up.Ryan is also one of our guest speakers the night before the fry at the Gold Coast Surf Museum. Be sure to book a space and get to hear from Ryan about his take on things fishy.

There is a chance Robin Kegel may make it to the fry

Robin Kegel form Gato Heroi built these boards for Japan and he emailed to say he hopes to make it out this year. Be great to have him as part of the mix.

Fish Fry night @ the Gold Coast Surf Museum

Once again the Gold Coast Surf Museum around the corner from the Alley is hosting a night for the Fish Fry. It is on Saturday night the 5th ( the night before the Fish Fry )If you click on the image you will be able to read it or email me and I can send it to you.A great night to be had for sure.

Rich Pavel

Rich Pavel has been a supporter of the Alley Fish Fry from the very beginning and each year he has traveled out here from San Diego. An interesting guy with a passion for shaping and passing on his knowledge to others. He is very supportive of young shapers and has mentored many of the young guns that are leading the way today.So it is great that he will be with us once again this year.He is keen to shape some boards while here , so if anyone is interested in one of his hand shapes let me know or contact him direct. Rich will also be a speaker on the Saturday night at the Surf World Museum. So this will be an opportunity to meet him along with many other shapers and to hear his background and take on the fish. He was one of the original San Diego fish shapers. An intriguing and generous man , that has an interesting story to be told.So come on the Saturday night before the Fish Fry the next day in the park to hear his story or ask him about the fish.

Finless fun machine

I found these shots on a site the other day and it looks like Daniel Thomson getting into a little finless action.I would like to see what he comes up with as he is a very talented surfer and shaper.

Derek Hynd at J Bay a true finless freak

At the Fish Fry we have seen the emergence if the finless board, starting with Tom Wegener and his Alaias. And then last year Bob McTavish turned up with his "Twin Hot Curl" which was his first finless experiment of recent times I understand. The innovative shapers that have advanced the twin keel fish to what we have today are the ones that are going finless as well. Pushing the boundries of bottom contours and rail shapes that allow this style of surfing. There is no denying that you also have to be a great surfer to start with to get the most out of a finless experience. But the ultimate might have to be the " Yard Possums ". These guys take the cake , as they surf on unglassed pieces of foam with little or no shaping at all.

You can check them out in " The Surfers Journal" Vol 19 number 5 where Tony Alva said " They're the future primitive of surfing. Little , hairless cavemen riding spaceships". I am sure you will see some finless boards at the Fish Fry . Tom Wegener is to be there with a range of his Sea Glass boards to demo.

A New Year and another Fish Fry coming up soon...

This is the original Fish Fry that Jackie and I went to at Oceanside Beach 2006 that set the ball rolling for us to start one here on the Gold Coast the following year

This years Fish Fry is shaping as an interesting one, in that there is a renewed interest from a number of younger shapers. Hand shapers , that you might say are the next wave to bring creativity and innovation to surfing.There is no denying that there is an under current of young guys that are into surfing, art and music that want to express themselves individually in what they do. They are visiting surfing's roots and re evaluating things from the past and putting their own spin on it.The Mini Simmons is a classic example of this. Inspired by Bob Simmons from the late 40's early 50's to create a modern day rocket ship that is more like skate boarding on water. A planning hull that just flies. It's all about having fun and mixing it up. There are no rules to fun. The Fish I believe was a catalyst for this way of thinking that inspired the creative and innovative shapers out there to experiment freely and soon found a following that didn't want just a 3 fin white board for everything.The Fish Fry is a venue for those that want to showcase their experiments and experience what others are doing. A place where shapers have a chance to shine . A chance for you to meet these guys one on one and talk to them .These are the guys that have the experience and skills and are now able to share their ideas. A chance to take a new shape for a ride , feel it out , what is new and then talk to the shaper and share the experience .
Yes there are still plenty of new things happening and it will be an interesting day for sure.

Happy New Year to you all

Happy New Year to everyone and thank you for your continued support. I hope we all have a better year ahead of us than we have just had.Here in Queensland we have thousands of people with their houses underwater and the biggest floods ever.Some rivers are yet to peak so the worst of it is yet to hit.When we have tough times this year , lets just be tankful that we are not one of these poor buggers waiting for the water to drop and see whats left to start again.

Happy New Year to you all from Grant, Jackie and Natalie here on the Gold Coast.

Merry Christmas

Christmas morning here on the Gold Coast 5.30am. Wet ,Wet, Wet and rain all night, Santa will have a soggy slay for sure. All we want is sun and waves for Christmas as usual , but they have both been in short supply.I hope where ever you are that you have a safe and happy Christmas and some waves in the New Year.Looking forward to a great 5th Fish Fry in March with some interesting guys coming out from the States and new faces keen to be part of the day. Also have some young guns lined up as speakers at the Surf Museum the night before.

Merry Christmas from Grant , Jackie and Nat.

The Mini Simmons test

MIKEY D's MINI SIMMONS from ALEK PARKER on Vimeo.

The Mini Simmons is becoming more and more popular this year as guys seek out something new to get their heads around. Most look at them and find them a little puzzling and not sure how to figure them out. But come back beaming and surprised at what they have discovered. Short but wide means glide , like they have never felt before on a board of this length.We will see more of these sweet little wonders this summer.

Italian , mini simmons

Here is a sweet little Simmons from Michele of OLA SURFBOARDS, 5ft 2" winged mini quad-simmons , with titanium cloth step-deck and rose swirl resin tint bottom - full-throttle down the line

Some interesting Spanish boards

Fernando de la uz , looks like a pretty innovative and experimental shaper for sure and builds some sweet boards.

He foils his own fins ...

Now this is where it gets interesting or what ?

The Thumb with fins on the nose ?

The Meyerhoffer meets Thumb , meets whale tubercles , its all happening ?

An interesting couple of board that would be good to know more about. There is no more info on his web site , but here it is : www.delauzsurfboards.com

The Big Bob " Simmons"

Just picked up the 10ft Simmons today.Can't wait to get it wet.

S Deck and square tail

Long concave blending into the hull / rolled nose. I shaped a chine in the second half of the board which lessens the rail thickness.

Beast of a board ...

I wanted to keep the twin fin original Simmons fin template , but thought I would experiment with having the last 1/3 cut away to lessen the base lenght and maybe free things up a little. Also moved the fins up 6 1/2" inches from the tail and sat them on top of the chine.I have to thank John Cherry for his inspiration and feedback. As well as Roger Hall and Dick Van Straalen for bouncing ideas off. But a big thanks goes to Bob Simmons for just thinking outside the square all those years ago.Imagine if he were still here now , where would surfing have gone ?

Jensen Fish gets a test run at Bells

Andrew Roberts built this fish in one of Paul Jensens classes here in Australia and these are some shots he sent to Paul ...
" Well, happy to report a bloody fantastic day, with the pick-up of one fine surfboard and test run in fun 3 foot waves at Bells. Board came up stunning with high gloss finish, waxed up and headed out, just a few other guys in a peaky slightly choppy swell, good for a fish. "

" Got some nice clean waves, Bells is a great down the line the wave, especially in the Bowl section which is surfed at low tide 3 foot up. Easy to paddle and catch waves, had some nice drops, carving bottom turns then maintaining a nice fast line. Sweet! Here's a few pics for the album. Plenty of interest in Torquay in these boards and reckon you would not have too much trouble lining up a workshop down here if keen."
Catch ya soon.
Robbo

Paul Jensens site : hollowsurfboards.com

Grain wooden fish kits in Australia

Bob Mitsven and his quad Mini Simmons.