Happy Christmas !

 Wherever you are in the world, have a fun day !

Bob Head Friendly Bear longboard

 Some of you may have a new or even an old board to unwrap tomorrow - if youre lucky and if your loved ones are supportive of your board collecting habits !
Im pretty sure there won't be one under the tree for me, but if I could wish for one this Friendly Bear would be near the top of my list .
One owner since new, bought straight from Bob Head at Mawgan Porth in the early 60s . It looks a great board , a bit more refined than the Friendly Bear put on the blog last month , and with resin tint designs making it an artful board too. The logo is a classic Californian beach boy - actually nicked by Bob from a Katin advert , with words from his own logo cut up and spread around. Looks cool though. Im hoping for a few more photos and history of the board soon. Will keep you updated.

 The board being dusted off after being brought down from the garage rafters

Katin shorts sew on patch, mid 60s

Bob shaping at the Mawgan Porth factory / shed

A Tris for Christmas ? If youre lucky ! photo by Traditional Surfing co.

Surf wagons

Graham has been looking at his old slides from the late 60s and picked out these classic surf wagon shots. It seemed like back then anything you could tie a board on was a surf wagon, although the favourites had to be the Morris traveller and good old VW camper. Words by Graham -

First is my mates' Morris Traveller in which we had many surfing adventures, but is seen here on its way from Oxford to Newquay in 1968. This was quite a long journey back then, going through every town and village on the way, and largely dependant on what you got stuck behind...no dual carriageways.

Next one of the most bizarre vehicles I've seen with a board on top ! Parked at the roundabout in front of Boscombe pier. 

3rd is the camper my mate who owned the Traveller bought next. The ideal woodie for surfers ! Pictured here nearing Kimmeridge, Dorset in 1969.

Lastly, and I'm sorry about the colour but that's how slides go sometimes, is my left-hand drive VW Microbus, parked down the bottom of Great Western slope. Next to it is an Austin A30 belonging to Robin Hendy. This is in 1969. A year previously, I'd driven my V-dub into France, then right across Spain and into Morocco, getting down as far as Marrakesh. Magic bus!
Unfortunately it was written off in 1970 on the old A30 near the Iron bridge because of an over ambitious ( putting it politely) driver in an MG. 

Thanks to Graham for the words and photos . And funnily enough those little bubble cars are still sometimes used as surf wagons ! And below a Porsche 356 . One way of getting to the surf in style.

Wavekraft charity auction board - Chapter 2

 This Wavekraft is now back on ebay, raising a further amount of money for the Philippines fund !
This is because of the generosity of Rob from Hayle , the winner of the first auction. Immediately after paying, he said he wanted to donate the board back to the fund so it would raise more money - this is without even seeing the board in the flesh. What a cool gesture - and hopefully one that will bring in some more generous bids.
The auction is up on sunday night - so please help the charity and have a bid - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121227134981?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649 every few pounds helps. And if you win the board I won't force you to donate it back !!

The final donation amount for the two boards was £227.22 .Thanks to everyone who had a bid.

Boardcollector Damion's surf swap

Here's a peek at Damion's surf meet / museum show. Looks very very good , shame its so far away !
http://www.boardcollector.com/2013/12/green-cathedral-surf-swap-december-14th.html

The long and the short

 This Carwyn Williams is a result of a recent swap for my Tig semi gun. The Tig was hard to let go of but I have always wanted one of these Carwyn boards because when I started surfing he was the main man, getting cover shots on the surf mags and even on the world tour !
This board is a few years before that though , made in 1984 by Craig Hughes, with Carwyn's personal decal and also his sponser Alder . It also has the t&c style decal for Underground Tube Line  Exeter. Alder back in the 80s were main sponsers of some of the best British surfers (most of which went round in very tight Alder shorts)  . Below are Alder team riders Richard Carter, Mike Raven, and Carwyn Williams lurking in the background. My new board is stood up next to Carwyn.

1984 from Surf Scene magazine
Were these three boards all part of Carwyn's quiver or were they a Carwyn model available to the public ?
They are based on Carwyn's title winning board from 1983 see below. The board is 5'7 x 21 inches, small but with loads of width to perform well on your average contest conditions.

Below - Carwyn talks about his earlier surfing days

Soul Minds - Carwyn Williams from Cosmic Children on Vimeo.
and in  the next vid below he shows us round his pad in France, where you can see his old trophies and boards , and a few other classic things ! Watch from 22 mins 40 .

 
EpicTV Weekly 11 - Next Level Surf Porn, EpicTV Cribs: Carwyn Williams, A Surfboard You'll Never Own, Surf Editor Dave Mailman from EpicTVAdventure on Vimeo.

Neil Wernham Tris

 The grin says it all. North Devon board magnet (or should I say magnate) Skelly has laid his hands on another Tris with artwork by Neil Wernham . Neil's Tris boards have an appeal to us Brit collectors on a similar level to Martyn Worthington's Hot Buttereds for the Aussies. He was a great artist and worked for one of our best loved labels . The only problem is - theres hardly any of the things out there. Skelly has had three, which doesnt sound much , but thats half of the ones I know about ! One he got was covered in brown spray paint. If anyone else has a mid 70s Tris with good artwork on send in some photos.
Neil came over from NZ and worked over here in the mid 70s, and sprayed some Tris boards in between sanding jobs. He now lives in Raglan and still paints a lot. Like this spray, much of his artwork is inspired by space travel and the Cosmos - and trippy things in general ! This board shape with its narrow rounded nose is typical of what Tris was making in '74/ '75. The quality of finish and attention to detail on these boards is beautiful.

 A few more of the surviving Tris by Neil.

Skelly (not on a Tris) on a nice Devon spot last winter

Neal Purchase junior , contest surfer turned soul surfer new school/old school style - whatever you call it style is something he definitely has  , hanging out in t and shorts on some beautiful waves, drawing out some beautiful lines.

 Thanks to everyone who bidded on the charity auction boards, and especially the winning bidders Rob and Gerard who have raised £176.00  for the Philippines Typhoon appeal ! Cheers guys.
Its a drop in the ocean compared to the massive £50 million the UK government and population have given so far but Im sure it will do its little bit of good.

And still on the subject of ebay auctions - did you see this original UK cinema poster for endless summer come up last week ?
Given that Endless Summer is probably the world's most well known surf movie , this British version with completely different artwork must be incredibly scarce and a collectors dream. And this was shown when a bidding frenzy took it to an eye watering £435 by the end of the auction !

Litmus in Ireland

Ireland segment, from "Litmus" from ENCYCLOPEDIA of SURFING videos on Vimeo.
Joel Fitzgerald (Terry's son) on the Emerald Isle from Litmus, 2003 .
Love the section from 1 min 35 , classic Irish lefthander, the music -  I can almost taste the Guinness !

Atlantic and Phil Jays

Colin who now lives in Australia has kindly sent some history on a couple of boards on the blog - which he used to own ! They are the Phil Jay swallowtail (above right) owned by the Gul collection and the raspberry ripple Atlantic (below right) owned by Alex. Happy to say Colin still surfs every day over in Oz , and has  fond memories of surfing back here and hanging round Phil Jay's surf shop in London.-
''Hi Al , I follow you website keenly and was surprised to see a couple of my boards on there.
 Being born in 1958, I grew up in Leytonstone, London and our family went to the IOW at least three times a year, literally every Christmas, Easter and summer holidays every year until I was 20. It was always the IOW! We always stayed at Taylors caravan site eveytime, now Sandhills at Whitecliff Bay.
 I learnt to surf there in the very early 60's on several LILO surfmats, purchased in Sandown and we made regular trips to Compton Bay. I spent all day every day, rain or shine in the sea.

The only surf shop in London during the early 70's was Phil Jay in Wandsworth and so I used to get the tube over there from the East End every holiday and stock up on surf mags and gloat over all the boards. I managed to save up, I think it was £40 and headed to the shop. It was always touch and go if he was going to be there or open!
As you entered the shop, he had the counter on the left inside the door and board racks along the left hand side and on the back wall. There on the back wall was the Atlantic. I took to the shape and colour and bought it. It must have been in 1970/74? I surfed the board in Cornwall, Devon and the Isle of Wight. It even had a trip to Kimmeridge Bay..it went so well.
 In 1976, I went to UNCW, Bangor North Wales to study Marine Science..the Atlantic went with me. For a period of 1976/79, I surfed the Atlantic at Rhosneiger, Hells Mouth, Abberfraw, the Gower peninsula; every weekend the board was in the ocean.
From the summer of 1976; each and every holiday period after that all year round I worked as a temp lifeguard in Tower Hamlets pools. I saved some money to buy a car and a new board. I had kept up my holiday train journeys to Phil Jay's shop and wanted a "swallow tail". I was torn as I saw a new roundtail Atlantic yet decided on the brand new Phil Jay...6'6" swallow tail. £ 80.00 Armed with a new car, 2 boards and loads of lavender Waxmate and a few bars of the Orange Stuff...surfing became an easy task in Wales and it strengthened my passion.
 The Atlantic got a tiny hole in the hull at Kimmeridge Bay and thats the small clear bump that's there.I filled it with resin from Strand Glass in Ilford. The fin box got damaged at some rocks in Rhosneiger, when a mate ran it aground. I never got the time to repair it as I was studying for finals.
 The Phil Jay was a good board but not a versatile as the Atlantic. The rubber patch on the Phil jay has some history too. I noticed it was mentioned on your blog. My sister ordered and bought me a "Powercord" from the USA. This must have been in 1977/78. We saw the advert in an American Surfer magazine for Control systems in Santa Monica and it took 8 weeks to come over. It was a heavy black cord with a velcro ankle band in red white and blue stripes. The cord was attched by the rubber pad I stuck on the board with Bostik!
 I went to the Middle East forex broking and then down here to Sydney. I saw an advert for GUL, stating that they were looking for 60/70's boards to start a museum. As my parents had retired to the Isle of Wight and taken the boards with them, I thought it a good idea to donate them so that they would survive.   I contacted GUL and they went to my parents home in Bembridge and collected the boards and put them in the museum. GUL thanked me by giving me a couple of GUL mugs...which I still have and use today!
 I still surf every day! Kind regards Colin.

Colin's old Atlantic of St Ives , right , bought from Phil Jay's surf shop, Wandsworth ,see pic below.

And on the Phil Jay tip , heres another of Phil's labels 'Pure Juice' , shaped by Australian Kevin Cross ( Creamed Honey ) who shaped a bit for Phil here and there. This one looks mid 70s and is very colourful ! and in great condition too. Thanks to Jake for sending in the photo.

And still continuing on the Jay tip - although a bit more obscure - this is a classic set of mags which Darren has picked up recently - a  set of Ripples, brought out by Lowestoft Surf Club in the 70s and edited by Neil Watson. Along with them comes British Surfer 5 & 6 , Surfing in GB by Carl Thompson - and a really rare little book about surfboard construction written by St Ives' Charles Williams (Atlantic surfboards ) and Colin Prior . Would like to have a look at this sometime ; apparently it doesnt have photos in but does have hand drawn pictures. Must date from around 1970 . And it was sold from Phil Jay's London shop, as we can see by the stamp.
That Phil Jay gets around.

Thanks to Colin and Darren.

Charity auction boards- please bid

 These two vintage boards are being auctioned on ebay with full proceeds going to the Philippines Typhoon appeal to help get food , water, medicines and shelter to the victims of the disaster. Please help by having a bid or two. The Wavekraft above was featured on the blog back in March 2011 - http://vintagesurfboardcollectoruk.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/80s-wavekraft-by-nigel-woodcock.html and is a classic board of its time.

And Crest bellyboards are always sought after - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121217488177?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649 for the Crest .
And http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage1980s-Wavekraft-surfboard-6ft-channel-bottom-thruster-/121217480931?pt=UK_Surfing&hash=item1c391ff8e3 for the Wavekraft.
Hope you can help.

Bob Warry

 Guernsey surfing legend  Bob Warry has sadly passed away . Bob was a Guernsey champion in 1966, '68 and '71 and maker of  the rare and very interesting Blade surfboards in the early 70s. There is more about Bob's surfing history here - http://vintagesurfboardcollectoruk.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/blade-surfboards-of-guernsey.html .

Paddle out for Bob held at Vazon bay. Blade surfboards from sheds and garages all around were dusted off and paddled out in his honour.

There is more about Bob on his son Phil's blog -  www.funautical.blogspot.com 

London Surf film auction posters

Take a look at these movie posters re-interpreted by some of today's talented graphic designers and artists . They are one off pieces which will be auctioned off with proceeds going to Water Aid , for more posters and details goto - http://www.londonsurffilmfestival.com/surf-cinema-revision/

 Barefoot adventure by Nick Radford (Frootful) - the designer of the Vintage Surf meet posters !

Big Wednesday by David Beckitt

Have Board will Travel by Richard Braham

 Litmus by Droog 79

The Heart and the Sea by Seamouse

A beautiful Tris

Jean -Pierre in France has recently found this lovely Tris, which has spent its whole life over there. It was originally bought in Biarritz in 1974 at the famous Jo Moraiz surf shop. Its a classic board of the era, probably made around '73 ,with the width high up the board and a long thin tail going into a diamond tail. This was a pretty common design until the swallow tail came into fashion soon after, which was a far more versatile tail design.

This Tris still has the original rubber leash fitting which is rare and nice to see. And on the underside it has a great acid wash with dripped and dragged coloured resin , a look back to the flower power and drug induced late 60s surfboard designs especially in the US. Having said this I'm sure there were still a few 'characters' hanging round the Tris factory in the early 70s. Say no more..

Thanks to Jean Pierre for the photos - its a beaut.

Acid wash John Conway from similar era, from Darrens collection. Another beauty.

Jo Moraiz surf school on the beach at Biarritz, mid 60s