surfer magazine review

So, I resubscribed to Surfer magazine after like 20 years. Overall, this first issue in a long time is a decent one [October 2010]. The highlights are several. First, there is a review of the film Cancer to Capricorn--free download, so go get it! Second, you will find an article about a very likable professional surfer, a story about Bede Durbidge and the path to his dream of becoming a professional surfer. Third, you can learn "how to do everything." A chunk of the issue is devoted to being practical. It is hard to take this seriously, which made me laugh aloud as I read "...pretend like you made the barrel you just blew" or "...compliment a friend who sucks." If you are in an airport you will want to read that section! And lastly, there is an article about shaping--6 points. I am always looking for tips about shaping and if there were a magazine about shaping and shapers I would totally subscribe. 

I thought I would totally dig the article. But I didn't. And it wasn't because it was too short or anything. It was its bottom line and cover description: "It's not as easy as it sounds..." Alright, shaping is not easy. But the notion that it isn't as easy as it sounds, who ever said it was easy? And if ease is the measure of whether a person or a surfer should attempt to try something then surfing itself would be out of the question.

Admittedly, my shaping skills are not even comparable to board builders advertised in Surfer. However, I am surfing boards that I never would have dreamed I'd be surfing thanks to shaping my own boards. If I stuck to riding custom boards by the shaper I dig I would not own the Red Stripe or Half-Pint. And my quiver would be a lot smaller because a lack of imagination. The boards I make are attempts at connecting a style of surfing I want to explore along with the types of waves I may encounter in the immediate future (I hope!). So the thrill I get when I see my vision go into some poly urethane, to fiberglass and epoxy resin, and then into an actual wave and work is one of the greatest surfing experiences I have had as of late.   

Ok, I am stoked to surf. I am stoked to shape and build surfboards. I am stoked to get a Surfer magazine in Michigan. And I had to write about it. Cheers.