E's Surf Report

e-You couldn't have said that any better.

In other news....

The maker of surfboard blanks blames environmental regulations.
By NANCY LUNA
The Orange County Register LAGUNA NIGUEL — Clark Foam, a worldwide leader in providing foam blanks to the makers of some of the world's most sought-after surfboards, is shutting down its Laguna Niguel plant after more than 40 years of doing business in Orange County.
News of the closure spread quickly in the surfing industry.
In a letter that Clark Foam sent to customers Monday, owner Gordon "Grubby" Clark blamed a crackdown from local, state and federal authorities over his use of toxic chemicals to manufacter his custom foam blanks. Clark blends the chemical with a proprietery mix.
"Effective immedietely Clark Foam is ceasing production and sales of surfboard blanks," Clark wrote.
Capt. Stephen Miller, a spokesman for the Orange County Fire Authority, said today that Clark has been in compliance with all the agency’s fire codes, including how it stores and uses TDI. He said he had no idea why Clark chose to shut down.
"This sounds like this is a business decision," Miller said.
According to the California Employment Development Department, Clark sent the agency a letter stating that the plant would close permanently by Feb. 3. The company has 120 employees.

Hmmm.....land maybe worth more than the business. I have a feeling this story is not over just yet.

You can say that again. Can't wait till tomorrow!

how do you guys do it??? i live in an old non-insulated house in the outer sunset and it SOOOO damn cold right now, i cant even bare too get out of bed let alone climb into a cold freezing wetsuit at 6:45am... I usually need to wait until lunch before i am thawed out and brave enough to put the ice-jacket on...AKA a WETsuit.

dsx - the worst part is getting undressed and putting on the wetsuit. These mornings are so cold that the water is almost a welcome relief.

sleep in your wetsuit. duh.

SWEEEEET pics mexi. Look at E about ot bust a 360 double backflip body variel fuckin gnarly air! Korewin about to pigdog into a 3 minute sucking, spitting cave! Kdalle off the top to set himself up for a cutback, throwing so many buckets they can feel the mist at the jetty!

Fuck ya! dreaming is fun. lets go surf.

My BIG toes have just thawed out now.

Tranny Kook---Bend ZEE KNEES for more snap off the top!

Damn cold out there today, Brrrrrr! Still cold.

Great pics Mexi, nice surfing guys!

i'm still shivering. but somewhere at some time some activity produced some level of enjoyment for someone.

Tranny Kook---zee needs to do a bottom turn priorz to hitting da lip.

Hey artifact thanks for the shoutout, I got it last night but woke up early and spaaaced it and paddled out elsewhere! Another time!

I was dreading the freezing cold again, so being a huge dork I put on a second, separate hood over the first attached-to-rashguard hood. Damn if it isn't 99% warmer w/two hoods on. Perfect temperature, almost toasty. Felt rather moronic, but hey, so comorfortable. You heard it here first : two hats.

Happy surfing,

shit, november is as awesome as those shots mexi! bummed i missed the party

"comfortable", not "comorfortable. Good god. Typing hands froze instead.

this is supposedly the wave that malik died on

"comfortable", not "comorfortable". Good god. Typing hands froze instead.

Everyones a critic..

3rd down in Benji.

Is that Kdalle??

I wasn't too happy with the pics, a little dark, a little small... enjoy

As an environmental regulator, I thought Mr. Clark's comments stank of big brother against the little guy. Come on, this is what happens when we have monopolies. Remember the Jungle?

Trade Secret witholding makes air quality permitting impossible. Had he worked with the agencies, he would have most likely improved both the conditions in his factory, but probably improved his bottom line. In the majority of cases, controlling emissions from industrial sources actually improves productivity, and retention of assets.

Sorry for the lecture.

Flame on.

If that don't get ya, here is a vague report of this morning.

I killed the peak when I paddled out. One five wave set, then Kdalle and I floated around for a half hour watching waves break a block in either direction from the rip we were sitting on. I went North and he South.

A couple memorable rides, but a lot of waiting.

Doof got more, he paddled out before light and moved off the rip faster than I did.

Very nice Mexi! You've got a great eye. Very dramatic and moody for such meager conditions. Plus, it proves that I actually can stand on a short board!

As for the cold, I actually put on my suit at home before I drove to the ocean. Solves two problems... it's warm when I put it on and pretty much guarantees I'm going in the water.

i saw two broken boards this morning; nice timing!

isn't that board about 3 feet shorter than the ones kdalle claims to ride?

For what it's worth the EPA Ninth District tells me that Clark Foam is in compliance. After an inspection in Sept '03 it served Clark a notice of violation on April 2004. He complied. No fines. No feds. The cost to stay in compliance may be the issue for Clark but the EPA didnt take any action to shut it down.

e, get your front foot more perpendicular to the stringer. not pointing so forward. bend the knees more. i know, it's easier said than done.

Ha! looks like your left hand is on your waist, like you are waiting for your dosee-doe partner to come around the corner. i have a great imagination...

Orange County = The Lorax?
Gordon "Grubby" Clark = The Onceler?

thanks for the tips. I know i look like a friggin kook in that pic.. and there's a good reason for that.. I AM A KOOK!! Ha!

"Riverdance!"

no worries, you suck about 1/4 as much as me.

i was just told that thing about the front foot before, about my surfing. kinda like "face the wave" instead of facing forward. makes sense, i just cant seem to do it....

those chicks put up their own site already, to flaunt their pictures. i guess they achieved their goals, supposedly she is gonna be in playboy soon...

www.fsucowgirl.com

You guys read the article on Stretch in the new Surfing? That guy is incredible. I own an 8'0" epoxy gun by Stretch, but I had no idea how advanced he was on all things epoxy until I read that article. That guy knows how to build everything from boats to windsurfers to kiteboards to tow boards to surfboards.

With the closing of Clark Foam this week, this could really catapult us into the future in terms of surfboard materials. Think about it. Board manufacturers have two major reasons for sticking with Polyurethane foam blanks and Polyester resin. First, the boards don't last so they sell more boards. Second, it's what surfers order because it's been the standard for so long.

I think Clark closing it's doors is actually a really good thing. Polyester resin is horrible for the environment and the workers. Epoxy is totally environmentally safe. Absolutely zero environmental impact.

You guys read the article on Stretch in the new Surfing? That guy is incredible. I own an 8'0" epoxy gun by Stretch, but I had no idea how advanced he was on all things epoxy until I read that article. That guy knows how to build everything from boats to windsurfers to kiteboards to tow boards to surfboards.

With the closing of Clark Foam this week, this could really catapult us into the future in terms of surfboard materials. Think about it. Board manufacturers have two major reasons for sticking with Polyurethane foam blanks and Polyester resin. First, the boards don't last so they sell more boards. Second, it's what surfers order because it's been the standard for so long.

I think Clark closing it's doors is actually a really good thing. Polyester resin is horrible for the environment and the workers. Epoxy is totally environmentally safe. Absolutely zero environmental impact.

Bagel! boy, you need to get on it. if you opted out THIS morning, there may be no hope for you.
I wish I could surf all day. It wasn't that cold, but I hate booties.
Also, people, you need to look back down the line before you go, especially if you suck at surfing. some bad drop-ins on the north end this morning, and it wasn't that they were burning folks just clueless idiots. this one guy paddled around me in order to drop-in on this kid and then proceeded to wipe right in front of him in the flats. his second blown wave in a row. we shouldn't even have to call each other off waves. look back and if someone's in position, don't go. easy.

I believe there is no greater shame than driving around in your wetsuit. It projects to the world, "I'm a cold wuss with a car that smells like low tide." Plus, my girlfriend won't let me wear a wetsuit in her car.

In other news, I've got 25 days left in Alameda, and I still can't kite to save my life. 6 months in the 'burbs was not the vacation I thought it'd be. I was thinking about surf-friendly neighborhoods. I am going to make the bold statement that the outer sunset is not the most surf friendly neighborhood for downtown workers. The time burned getting to and from work everyday is time that could otherwise be spent in the water. I dare say more time in the water if you live in Western Addition and drive to the beach. Though I must admit changing in the house, walking to surf, and hosing off at the house before hopping in the shower is perhaps the most comfortable way for a surfer to live.

greetings nicenesses
I'm going under the drill with Dr Roberson at the Palo Alto Ear Institute in January...soooo nervous! 98% closure in the left ear, 80% in the right....we're going to do the left and wait on the right. Tough decision but it's been getting so bad what with chronic vertigo, infections etc. Has anybody worked with Roberson? Is it as bad as it seems? Positive words would be awesome, and a negative review? Well, that would mean alot to me. Thanks for considering and hats off to the crew and E (I read the board all the time....also a musician (studied the Tabla at Ali Ahkbar for 10 years), painter, OB solo peak seeker....)

steamwand, dude, i totally shrapled it this morning at vfw's. i was talking about missing that party where mexi was taking all the pictures...i dint surf that day cause i cant wake up that early..

oh good, i was getting worried about you. and i don't even know you.

E- Given my surfing abilities I'm highly qualified to identify the unevolved surfing species (that would be Lameoturnus Kooknposealot). No way do you fall in that group. I do, however, miss the Sampson hair flying in the wind.

well thanks steamwand i worry about you too *hug*

Here's a few pics:

oops. sorry bout the sizing.

cool pics. please take out the naming next time.

Nice pics, Dennis.

Looks real fun and clean out there today. I saw some nice fun barrels just peeling. Looks overhead too. But dsx is right, I don't see how you guys do it: it's so farking cold in my apt. nowadays, I have to run the blow dryer to help the heater warm up the room faster.

I don't know about you guys, but I tried epoxy boards and I think they suck. That's probably why everyone has stuck to fiberglass and foam for so long. It just seems faster and has better flexing characteristics.

whoa---a layback heel-hook barrel!

nice shots, dennis.

AinA - I agree - outer sunset is not kind to those who work downtown. 1 hour door-to-door for me. Sad reality is most of us surf a lot more frequently than we work. I'm moving inland.

I can't wait until carbon-fibre boards are cheaper. They are so light, have no foam to damage and are bullet-proof. Sure- they're stiff as hell but that is something you just have to get used to. And composite technology is progressing such that I don't doubt a more flexible fibre/matrix in the near future with similar strength properties (that's affordable). It just sucks that they're black.

Ocean Beach? Is that a surf spot? Who would have thought?

andrew-I've had both ears done. Went exactly as described...anesthesia...a little pain on waking up (mmmm....Vicodin!)...6 weeks later...SURF! The most uncomfortable part was the first days with all that gauze packed in my ear. Good luck!

Dennis...awright!

Cold? Hey, bring on the 20 knot offshores and rain with 40° temps. Just as long as there's a long period swell.

that's Lewis with the OP board in Dennis' pics.

Nice Dennis, I was out that day and time, the guy with the hood was killing it, and there were a few others getting deep tubes, I was kooking hard...

E surfs fine and on that wave he is going for a little floater, it was my skills that missed the real action...

Ha that photog got f'in owned! Those roos can be tough.

Nice madien voyage Dennis.

that stretch article is sweet. i love stories of people overcoming adversity and figuring out new ways to do stuff when they become disabled. (btw, you should check out that movie murderball about quad rugby.) his technology is not the same as those epoxy pop-outs. i've owned one of those too and got rid of as quickly as possible, although it should be noted that it wasn't one of the better known shaper/brands (surftech etc.)

E- can you please delete the dog vs man sex pose. thats more appropriate for fuckedup.com

http://surfingthemag.com/surfing-magazine-features/surfing-currentissue/january-2006-stretch/

pic of the month, namerman.

finally....some good ol'fashioned beastiality!

A US Air Marshall just shot and killed a guy at the Miami Airport. I guess the guy was yelling that he had a bomb in his carry-on.

I hope he wasnt just bragging about getting one of those new Rip Curl "The Bomb" wetsuits.

Yeah, i'd hate to encourage that guy, but that last pic had me laughing.

hahaha! @ anon

Can namer guy explain what is happening in that pic? Is the kangaroo raping that guy? Why are they eating cake? I find it fascinating. How do you get a kanagaroo to rape someone?

This is probably not the best place to get an accurate answer to that kind of question

Great pix Mexi et al....

one step too far. can his isp be blocked?

Hey Andrew with the ears:
I don't know Dr. Roberson professionally, just socially: our kids were on the same soccer teams in elementary school.
Personally, I think he's a great guy. I wouldn't have doubts or concerns about his character or competence.
And, while I don't believe the he surfs, I have subsequently seen his son in the water at unnamed kelpy reef/points.

No worries. Take care, and good luck!
(First names and exact locations removed because kangaroos make me nervous)

thanks 2 degrees & Kdalle
I'm nervous as heck about it!
I asked about the chisel method which is supposedly a faster heal time (the only guy who does it is in SantaCruz) but the Doc said it is more iffy because the surgeon depends on a helper/intern to hold the chisel thereby taking control away from the surgeon...ack, so I'm going for the under the ear/incision through the flap of the ear method. Thanks for the words....

thanks 2 degrees & Kdalle
I'm nervous as heck about it!
I asked about the chisel method which is supposedly a faster heal time (the only guy who does it is in SantaCruz) but the Doc said it is more iffy because the surgeon depends on a helper/intern to hold the chisel thereby taking control away from the surgeon...ack, so I'm going for the under the ear/incision through the flap of the ear method. Thanks for the words....

Thanks ya'll. I definately have to work on my photo skills but it was fun seeing my first resluts.

Funny kdalle. I caught that...

Wow, those pics look like fun. I am so moving to SF. Who knew that it was so clean and well-shaped at OB!

omg. us too! We already have a list of all the spot names which I am emailing to all my friends right now.

andrew - good luck with the ears!! I'd love to jam with you someday. Ali akbar(sp?) school. I've heard that mentioned many times. I think that Steve Kimock lived and studied there for a while. I actually play with a tabla player and a mrginthum(sp?) player quite a bit.

let me know if you're ever looking to jam.

e@niceness.org

dennis cool pics but the labels are maybe unessessary? vague is vogue man.

not that i should talk..

once the socal crew sees this, they will head back to headhigh lameness:

are you kidding? we accept your challenge and implied open invitation! thanks man, you're swell!

okay everybody, group hug!!!
now let's go back out to the beaches and take pictures of fine conditions and post them on this website with big nametags of the name of the beach! and remember you outsiders,
NO PICS OF KANGAROOS RAPING PEOPLE!

CAUTION! If anyone else moans about naming and owning and crap like that - I am going to personally go on a one man crusade to name as many photos as possible. GROW UP PEOPLE!

Did you ever try a google image search for "Ocean beach +san Francisco" ?? GOOGLE NEEDS TO BE OWNED.

Seriously tho...please enough crying! just enjoy.

you so-cal guys are hella stupid. you know we will remove the labels on those pics and then you wont know where the beach is. nobody knows where the surf is good in norcal, unless somebody names it on this blog.

kelly's cove, unite and take over!!!

Bet nobody would complain if I were to name this spot? Now why on earth is that?!

Ok sorry I'll stop now...just had to get it out of my system.

you're probably right. "A NAMER!"

I just feel partially responsible for OB exploitation via this site.

maybe i take BVB too seriously?

but.. i think vague is vogue really should be the way of the surfer on the interweb. Just so people that fear crowds don't cringe and feel anxiety when they read the comments on niceness.

MAVERICKS!

everyone knows that MCC's turf anyway. you'd be crazy to surf there.

HELLA VAGUE IS HELLA VOGUE, NORCAL!!!

Andrew,
I had one ear done three years ago by Dr. Robberson at the CIF. He was recomended by my friend who also had one ear done by him.
I have zero complications.
The after surgery pain wasn't so bad. I finished off a whole bottle (large) of extra strength tylenol in the first month. After the first month no pain. I will use him again if I ever have to do the other ear. I am very glad that I found him and you should feel confident that he will do a good job. Best of luck.
I was in the water on week 8 with earplugs.

funny. i thought the kids up here were all crazy when i heard them saying that word.they also say "cut" class instead of "ditch" class. i thought that was wierd too.

e - don't believe that crap that a few repeat posters give you about this blog being responsible crowding. It truly saddens me that a few twats can bring a great community down. I've surfed Nor Cal pretty darned hard for the past couple of years and in all honesty I have never met anyone whom mentioned the site - and I talk to quite a few folks. (sure I shared a wave with a few other posters at one time or another tho).

With so many sites, cams, surf reports etc and more in this age of digital on demand, your site probably does less (if anything) than most for crowding. When I head out to surf I personally never check this site for a report, never. I always check the usual suspects and form my own opinion based on my experience of those.

In my opinion your site is a forum for discussion the stoke after a session, and that in itself doesn't result in overcrowding.

I agree its sensible not to go mad on naming, but the reality is (and it's been said before a million times) if we are talking about OB we are not talking about some un spoilt break in the back of beyond, we are talking about a massive, highly populated, city beach, with a crap load of surf reports, cams, blogs and god know what else.

Anyone that tells you that you blog is the result of crowding at OB is frankly, and effing idiot (and they need to get with the real world).

Also of course the reality is that once it gets OH all the moaners clear out of the water because of the paddle, and the place is deserted anyhow!

Keep up the good work and don't listen to the out of touch cry babies.

ankors

thanks ankors.

Crowded? Not this afternoon. Got out of the water at around 3, just as it started to rain. There was no-one out at Slizzat 'cept me, one guy a peak south of me (catching barrels) and maybe 4-5 heads at the second lot. Good waves, too.

Spooky tho' -- the beach was clear but just beyond the outside peaks there was some fog that made the sets come into view really late ....

thanks surfing sam
that's golden and I really appreciate it!

E...thanks for the invite. I'd be psyched to jam (that's mridungam btw)....I've shifted my Tabla influence into these songs that I write on guitar (studied classical for a few, sang in a band for 6, played fretless bass for 7)....what I'm most inspired with now are these 7 songs that I've been writing for the last 2 years with guitar Tabla and vocals; they're a blend of Indian timings, Mazzy Starish atmospheres, and straight-up Sinatra-esque vocals (at least in my mind anyway).
I've been frustrated musically since I moved up here 4 years ago. Karma or something? I'm not sure...just haven't found the right project!
I'll reach out ASAP and feel free to do the same
andrewmclester@sbcglobal.net
best regards
Andrew

Nice exposure E. You and your clan will never be accepted here. Your boys have now been identified by wetsuits and boards and a hazing is in the offing. Do you pay cash or give weed or both to your followers?
This guy above 'a namer' sounds like your typical mispelling 24 year old Oxnard tranny; all puffed up and full of himself after " two years of surfing OB pretty hard."
Typical fodder on another day of niceness choke.

I agree about the names. I actually forgot I had them on there. Future posts will no be labled. Gomen nasai.

mispelling ha good one.

ohhhh....it's local 415 on his daily blog patrol coming to incite fear with his scary crew of cyber-hating cyber-nerds!!

"e, bend your knees"
undounbtedly by some 5' 2" guy who surfs a 4' 11" board. Its so easy for them lil' guys to look elegant and compact pulling into a 2' barrell. sorry - the rest of us might look a little clumsy but we're not al Pat O'Connel.

i bet e is over 6' - maybe like 6'2".

I can't bend my knees either but 3' waves aren't overhead for me!

Small swell hit today down here. Was very fun but very crowded at 10am. I waited for the DP crowd to leave, i thought, shit NO one works daytime hours in the South Bay. Was slightly junky, seemed short period even though the bouys said 20sec. Hmm. Tomorrow should be goooood.

And it is hilarious that Dennis named the date/place after all he has read on here. Not that it matters, but still weird. One suggestion, street names please next time!

And why is Korewin the only one in color!?

am i the misspelling 24 year old oxnard tranny? or the pat on the butt guy?

I've redeemed myself. Changed my evil ways. Righted my wrong. Corrected my mistake.

HB the street was ******** **** *** :^)

No wait..I thought I was the misspelling 24 year old oxnard tranny (what ever the hell that means)!?

415...claiming you are a local eh? So you one of those morons whom arrives at Sloat on an overhead day with 3 boards on your roof and then spends 45 mins ‘rapping’ with your bro’s about the waves…never paddling out…but smoking and drinking knats piss out of a brown bag. Then claiming some type of ‘ownership’ since you were born in some shitty duplex in Daly city. I’ve seen you many a day.

Since you only paddle out when it’s under 4ft – no wonder you are fighting for waves.

I’m not claiming any ownership of waves or property – I’ve personally never had any bad vibe what so ever at OB, I’ve always given and received respect – my guess is you are one of the typical pussies who is all talk in the lot with you ‘bros’.

All you are capable of is trolling this blog spewing hate like some impotent teenager. And a quick google of your past posts indeed confirms you as a sad case.

Either grow up or head over to myspace.com and play with your kinsmen.

its kinda weird seeing friends of mine calling out other friends of mine they don't know...I used to walk my baby daughter past local 415 every day a few years back....he's seeing better times now, but always a class act...e has some fallout from the success of niceness...really...one of the most successful blogs on the planet...unreal...e is bigtime beyond what most people realize...local 415 is an old-timer here, fully deserving of all the respect that any cool old-timer at OB deserves...e is also deserving of respect for the bows he has given to etiquette befitting a surfer and a gentleman...and for his obvious achievements in the blogosphere.

can't we all just get along

I checked out the two surf shops in HMB today and they have not yet raised prices on their boards. Does anybody know whether or not Aqua and Wise have raised their board prices yet? I just sold my 6'6" before Thanksgiving and I need a replacement. Since I have to buy off the rack, does anybody have a preference of Merrick vs. Rusty vs. ...lost?

Big Brother against the little guy... monopoly ala the jungle... f/u! get some perspective, dude.

Surfers were kids who had time and access to the ocean, at least in California. Lets leave Hawaii out of this discussion. The key part was these kids/guys were outsiders. How many people were standing around the ocean waiting to paddle out and ride a wave? Not many at all... Some of the surfers I knew and know are guys who climbed on lockers, chemically altered, and "performed impromptu street theater" as a spider monkey in 1971, pee'd on the border at TJ, which resulted in secondaries, after talking their way out of arrest with the federales for u/no in san miguel, blah blah blah. He/we was/were and is/are still a great/adequate surfer/s. Spider Monkey is not however a contributing part of society curently and has not been for most of his life. This was only a few years after the guys at Cowells who slathered up their wool sweater's with vasoline, paddled out on their knees with no leash to a maybe not a raging but certainly cold ocean and try to "ride a wave?" It was the year Pat O'neill jumped of the point at 4 mile with a piece of surgical tubing tied around his wrist and attached to the nose of his board... We though he could f/in steer the board!

I read this blog to get the pulse of the current surf world, vastly different from mine, but it is what it is. I would like to encourage you guys to approach surfing with soul. It's about soul. If you dis Buzzy for his views, or Clark for his "mindless desire to give people cancer" you are missing a key point of the entire culture...

Oh, The Nazi is right, if you would bend your knees and keep your back straight you would not be a kook. Ride a long board with your knees bent for a day...

Go for it, Local 415. There's enough beef among these bloggers to get your attention. More relevant, many of these guys are rich and important, although they would never make that claim. You might enjoy punching a couple in the nose and losing everything you own, including your job at MacDonald’s.

A little more in-depth read reveals that this blog (I read it on and off) has been through the same motions a number of times before with Mr 415 and one or two others. Same old tired redundant argument recycled time and time again for sport I guess.

Times are a changing, and that brings good and bad – but it is also inevitable, I’ve been in the Bay Area less than a decade, and seen it change hugely – some good, some bad – but yes as the cliché goes the only constant is change. There is no use or relief in moaning about it – this is a premier city in one of the most developed countries in the world, not some backwater on a remote island in Micronesia – what are we to expect?

“you and your clan will never be accepted here…” – get with reality…this is a place for transplants (the whole damn country as well) – that IS the culture of this country – Hispanic births now outnumber white in CA. In an area like this the ‘locals’ are no longer the status quo.

One day you will wake up and realize that YOU are the outcast, and unless you change and embrace that, you are the one that will never be accepted here.

I don’t mean to be harsh but that is the reality of this city and modern times.

Oh ... Ah ... Nevermind ...

I think that if ob had waves more than a couple of months a yr people wouldnt be damn grumpy about it when it gets good. Get out there and take what is yours!!

she looks happy...

i think i wouldn't be so angry if when the days are short and the waves are good i wasn't working

Check out the competition. Another surfer blog.

http://surfandthefury.blogspot.com/

nice post and perspective anon.

anybody ever travel up to Sonoma County and gaze upon Seal Rock when its breaking? Well its gonna be the next Mav's except hella people are gonna die if people surf there.

Ahem

yay amateur surf porn

will somebody surf there with me? I haven't got the balls to do it alone.

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