Comes with original green board sock (value less than $5).

Dick Sweeney brought my attention to this recent eBay listing that made me laugh and think about why I love eBay. I love that there are still excellent examples of the pinnacle of the innovation period of surfboard design floating around out there, occasionally coming into view and disappearing again like shooting stars.

I love that the guy got $4050 for his old board. Ebay is nothing but pure market forces at work, there is no bullshit, hot air and or lies, its where the truth of the value of an object is clearly determined by what someone will bid for it. I love how he didn't even take the wax off this example of one of the most collectible boards of the modern era.

Description from eBay listing:
McCoy Lazor Zap, 5'7'' long, 19.75'' wide, 17.5'' tail, 12'' nose. Shaped November 1983. The third and by far the best board Geoff personally hand shaped for me. When you hold it, you know its a piece of history. Board is in better condition than its owner, so time to part with it. Hasn't been ridden for many years. Very Good condition for 28 years old; a few small dents and small repaired (in McCoy factory) dings or shatters. Original long white Lazor Zap fin PLUS Ben Lexcen designed winged keel Starfin (adds a lot of drive and speed through turns). Model that was used in Cheyne Horan's 1984 Bells victory. Can be picked up near Bexley after 6pm or Sydney CBD during business hours. Includes original 'Ahimsa' green stretchy cover seen in photo

Q: hi would you accept any other payment apart from paypal cod bank deposit bank cheque money order
A: I'm not really sure how the whole thing works with ebay, as its only the second thing i have sold. Last week i sold a fish, paypall kept $9, but the guy turned up promptly the next day to pick it up. Worked outr well. I suppose cash on delivery would be the other option. Then i guess if you didn't like it you could opt not to pay for it and i could relist it.

I get excited when a surfboard listing says "Includes original stretchy cover" or "comes with original legrope" because it means the owner thinks this in some way bears some connection to the value of the board. ie. if it comes with a board sock that was $22 in 1987 then the board is worth about $50.

The other thing that I love to see on an ebay listing is "I'm not really sure how the whole thing works with ebay".........











I guess I better start looking after these 2 babies a little better.





Whoops, maybe I should'nt have let this one go either.

The sanctuary.

I'm not much of an artist, I don't get a lot of time to get the paints out.
But when I do get out my wood cutting tools, inks and rollers and make a little print all on my own its pretty heart breaking for me when Gap Inc. a leading global specialty retailer with a fiscal 2010 revenues of $14.66 billion rips me off without a please or a thank you.
At first I didn't want to believe it. Then I looked hard at the 'Surf Meet with the no' above the 2' and the yellow speech bubble and I was sad. Whats even sadder is this blog is the only place that piece of art has been shown. So it means the thief has been right here in my own sanctuary.

Surfboard Palooza

When Kris from the The Vintage Surfboard wrote to me to tell me about his Surfboard Palooza event I was excited. We got in early and were privileged to get a sneak peek at the offer and a tour of his personal stash.








The board collectors


Kris's personal stash is a sight to behold. All 'innovation period' gold. He had bolts...


Schroffs...


Stingers...


More Schroffs...


Flouro Schroffs...


Airbrush Schroffs...




Ok lets go...

Occy 85

Occy's stlye from the mid 80's, his surfing, his Rusty's, his taste in music, are all instantly recognizable.








When Doug saw it, he couldnt go past it, hey.....what can you do?

Ken Guns

I went to the surf shop today to buy some wax and while I was there I scanned the board racks and counted the boards. Including the fishes and logs 20% of the boards in the racks were big wave boards. I'm pretty confident in saying that most surfers don't need a 7ft + gun for every fifth surf they have. Thinking about it I realized that even I have 2 contemporary, high performance big wave boards and only only 2 contemporary, high performance short boards.
Why is half my modern quiver made for waves over 6ft (AU), double overhead (US)?
I've come up with a couple of reasons.
1) Big wave boards are built tough.
Therefore they last a long time.
2) They don't get used that much.
I can count the number of times I've ridden my big boards in the last few years on one hand. Thunders -Mentawis, Lurline Bay - Sydney, Ben Buckler - Sydney, Maroubra - Sydney, Outside corner, Uluwatu - Bali.



3) The are nice things to own.
They are nice to touch and hold under your arm. They are elegant pieces of applied art and engineering with a no bullshit sense of purpose built into them.

Which brings me to today's board in question, my Ken Bradshaw 7'2 single fly, 3 fin pin tail gun that I suspect was one Ken's personal big wave boards, because the depressions in the deck belong to a natural footer, Ken was sponsored by Sundeck from 79 to 86 and it has his name on it.
Its a beautiful thing to touch, holding it feels like revving a well tuned V8 or loading a double barrel shot gun.
Now I'm waiting for La Jolla cove and Swarmi's to do their thing so I can get her wet.










Ken is an amazing character in his own right, as revealed here in this Vanity Fair article from February 2011 by William Langewiesche and in his biography on Surfline.



I have achieved my aim of acquiring 2 matching Ken guns. One Bolt, one KB.
Now all I need is a beard and an Aloha shirt.