surfsnow

A few more from Mick Mackie who has the antipodean winter set up nicely organized. Here's his Gentemstik snow quiver, the winter singlefins for the surf quiver and a righteous looking quad stinger. It's for sale too, $800 in Australia, $900 in the US for whoever is quickest. info @ foamandfunction.com for inquiries.

A Note: That quad is 5'7" x 19.5" x 2.5"- someone's going to get a screamer of a board for summer waves in that thing

Sekiu

This unusual beach is located just north around the corner from Sekiu. The beach gives way to a rocky platform in both directions, but there's something here that allows the beach to persist. This may be part of one of the many big landslides that dot this coastline - something about this Tertiary sedimentary rock that can't stand up well on its own. But is this sand all derived from the local sandstone, or is it glacial or other Pleistocene debris?

Hoko River

The Hoko emerges just west of rocky Kydaka Point into a coastal compartment that also includes the mouth of the Sekiu River a little farther up the coast to the west. It looks like the sediment probably all ends up down here, to be periodically reworked by the shifting river mouth.

There were some huge logs washed up on the beach. There were some fascinating overwash terraces (for lack of knowing the appropriate term) on the spit where it hooked into the river mouth. And there was a very impressive riprap fortress protecting the dozen or so houses built along Vista Lane.

Bullman Beach

I hadn't been this far out the Strait for years, and then two trips in about a month. This particular morning I caught the 5:30 Edmonds ferry and made it to Bullman's by 9AM.

The shoreline out here is rocky, with beaches located only where some combination of shoreline configuration and local sediment sources conspire. Bullman's is a half a mile of pocket beach fed largely, as far as I can tell, by the stream that emerges in the middle. A rocky promontory at the eastern end keeps the waves coming in the Strait from spilling sand out that end. As with any pocket beach, it's orientation probably tells us as much about the angle of wave action on this beach as any sophisticated model would.

Kelp was washed up in berms at the west end, pushed against sandstone boulders that looked almost like highway department riprap (but for the most part, were not).

The backshore grades landward to meet the filled areas around the homes. This end of the Olympic Peninsula is being pushed up faster than sea level is rising (at least during the past century, but maybe not the next), so I'm guessing the shoreline is gradually marching seaward. But I wonder what the story with those huge stumps in the back beach near the west end - did they wash in (how?), or are they in growth position -- which might really complicate the story.

Simmons Celebration

It was a good night.....

Update: March 2011

Weather patterns have been favourable recently with no low pressure events occurring during high tides. The minor depletion of sand previously noted at the beach end of the St Clair seawall has recovered completely. The regular beach access points are structurally sound. However, warning signs relating to the contamination of the dune area around the old landfill site at Kettle Park remain in place and with the area fenced off. Further testing is being carried out to determine the extent of contamination.

The Project Team has been working with specialist risk advisors to complete a risk assessment of Ocean Beach, and will continue to work with them to develop and evaluate options to mitigate the risks identified. Once this evaluation is completed, a report will be prepared by the Project Team outlining recommended future treatment options for Ocean Beach for the Council's consideration.

snowsurf

I really wasn't kidding about having a swag of great board pictures, and not all of them are for the ocean. This is one that came courtesy of our good friend Kevin Brennan at December Snowskates, part of the whole family of lunatics making sliding devices basically. It's a bindingless powderboard, 48" long with a total skateboard feel to it- nose and tail kick and a deck concave. The grip is EVA (same as the Mackie flextails) and it feels very nice under the foot, at least in my front room. The bottom is waxable P-Tex and has a couple of serious channels which you can almost see in the bottom pic. Yeah, I'm a sucker for any sort of cool board and this stuff would make me want to go where there's snow. This board is for sale- $239, and we will definitely be making a few more of Kevin's design's available in the near future. I'm stoked, we are now officially surf/skate/snow!

panoply of artistic wonder

What a life, in the space of 1 week I will have hung with NorCal genius in the form of Mr. Joe Curren, the central cal genius which is Steiny and on Saturday the mighty RT. This is why we are involved in surfing: the companionship of like minded and more talented folks (it's certainly not the money). Speaking of not the money, I will be there in full flight at the merch table. T-shirts, books etc. Feel free to stop by, check out the fantastic array of Simmons related ephemera and maybe go home with an acquisition or two. Your spending is not going to supporting a casual lifestyle (there's many day jobs involved here) but is put back into what ever project is next. (Not that I'd object to becoming some sort of surf culture oligarch- I'd expect nothing too obscene like multi million dollar yachts or football teams- a nice central coast spread with a wave or two out front would be fine, a shed full of exceptional surf boards and maybe a few russian ballerinas and/or up and coming bollywood actresses to keep things interesting, I'd invite you all over I swear...)

Oh, a footnote. Someone from Iceland looked at this blog. I think that's really cool, and if you're that person and you look again, drop an email- I'd love to know what your deal is.

Harmless Neighbourhood Eccentrics

Santa Cruz. It's a really great town. I like the people, especially Steiny and Trefz. I like the surf, and I liked the surfboard show. Lots of nice people came by and looked at boards, and we had some really good ones. The last two in this post are a pair of 5'2" Twinzers from Larmo, and they are looking for a good home after their appearance in Sacred Craft. Info @ foamandfunction if you're interested in one. More once I'm a bit rested.

Channeled Quad MiniSim and other art

...or why a custom surfboard is your best option. East Coast Stan, a gent of obvious taste and amazing patience wanted a mini Sim, bounced a few ideas around and then left the assemblage to Hank Warner. (Stan already has a solid grounding in Hank's quality rides) This is what happened, and it's good- it even excited Mackie. The boards for Sacred Craft are haphazardly piled in the front room and are annoying the dog, so I'm ready to go. Come on by if you're in the neighbourhood and we'll be at the demo session at Cowell's on Sunday AM (possibly in somewhat shakey form depending on how fired up Trefz is) If you're down here in the LA region, go by Track 16 Gallery at the Bergamot Station on Saturday night. Jeff Ho has a pretty cool little part in the new show there, 'Stoked & Broke' will be screening and it'll be a good time. More Jeff stuff coming up soon too- there's a lot on the boil which is nice in times as troubled as these.

Flex Path pt4-Mackie Space Stik

The second generation model. Mick says a bit more foam and it goes like the proverbial rocket, he can barely hang on. In the last day I have collected such a wealth of photos of incredible boards that it's going to be all on here for a while. Stay tuned.....

Some waves, elsewhere

other coast (Thanks Jamie)


Far


Near

Readers rides. There's hope for some of these where I'm at this week too....

Santa Cruz Sacred Craft Next Week

A trip north, a weekend of surfboards in Santa Cruz, a collection of good folks (including Trefz and Joe Curren who will be exhibiting in the Artists Lounge)- why wouldn't we go? If you're in the area come on by, it'll be fun and we will have some high style surfboards. An assortment of Mackies naturally, a surprise or two from the December Snowskates guys, the Ninelights compsand I'm not rushing to give back to Jeff and a few of the latest from Ekstrom and the Swift boys, including some of these very cool Hydroflex boards. Cutting edge tech and mad design- it gets no better.

Olympic View

By all rights, there should be no beach here at all. This was once mud flats on the delta of the Puyallup River, but progress filled the marshes and the flats, bringing dry land as close to deep water as earth-moving economics would allow. This shoreline was marked by wharves and industry - and much of it still is. But the shoreline faces into the major fetch, raising the possibility of stable beaches, and as old piles and rubble have been removed, and as sand and gravel has been brought in to cap contaminated sediment, beaches are appearing.

This site is complicated - most sites are. A small pocket lagoon has been created in order to restore marsh and intertidal habitat, something rare in Commencement Bay. But the tide must come and go through an opening that the newly formed beach wants to bridge with a berm. Storms drive the gravel up the profile, building the small spit higher and pushing it into the mouth of the inlet, where it might potentially raise the sill elevation of the lagoon. One could engineer a "stable" configuration, but maybe it's better to let the tides and the waves sort this out themselves.

Flex Path pt3- Winterstik inspired

For reasons known only to himself, Mick Mackie decided to send this board up. It's one of the original Winterstik inspired experiments that have heavily influenced his shaping trajectory (as featured beautifully in Kidman's new film), and it's around 10 years old which makes it even more mad and amazing. A decade ago most people were still getting their heads around traditional fish and Mick was already this far out there? Brilliant. Despite being a little battered and used as a notepad for Mick's observations and instructions, the idea is to get it set up again, this time with a set of Simmons keels out on the pins, and under the feet of some of the kids. Ekstrom has volunteered to refin it (if there's a man who knows about board experiments it's Carl Ekstrom) and hopefully we'll get Ryan Burch on it amongst others. The board will undoubtedly be coming on any surf related mission I make too, so pictures will follow I hope. Thanks for sharing it Mick.