Pelican Parts Forums - My Own Surfing Thread!

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Quote:

Originally Posted by trader220 (Post 9379470)

China anyone?

https://www.facebook.com/WSL/videos/10154184361897058/

I love the follow-up post...

"They just outlawed surfing in China and the guy is in jail for 8 years"

Thats not exactly true.

Inside line up @ Sunset Beach on TV tonight

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1480743635.JPG

My old tow-in partner @ a place we pioneered near Sprecklesville, Maui. We just called it "Big Left" ..

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1480743829.jpg

Nice conditions there for your pardner at big lefts, Geary.
Used to do great coast runs windsurfing on medium to big days, launching at Mamas fish house and sailing down the coast to sprecks. Picking off good waves along the uncrowded way. Nice outer breaks lining that coast.

Cheers Richard

We'll get some riding in this winter, Richard ..

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1480792446.jpg

That's so beautiful, Geary....wow...thanks for sharing!

If anyone is interested in what ever happened to Gordon Clark after Clark Foam shut down.....

https://bendmagazine.com/wp-content/...0-1024x683.jpg

Foam on the Range
The second life of a SoCal surf pioneer

Quote:

In 1961, Gordon “Grubby” Clark struck out on his own, building a factory in Laguna Niguel, California. He refined techniques for molding and reinforcing foam and his reputation grew as being the best in the business. By the start of the twenty-first century, industry experts estimated that Clark Foam supplied as much as 90 percent of the American market for blanks, and they said Clark may have supplied a majority of the global market. In 2002, Surfer Magazine placed him at No. 2 in its list of the “25 Most Powerful People in Surfing.”

In December 2005, he closed the factory without warning. Clark Foam’s market share plummeted to zero. In a seven-page fax to suppliers, he wrote that regulatory challenges—environmental, workplace and fire-related—gave him little choice in the matter. One line in the letter spoke to a reality affecting many American industries: “… You could build many blank making facilities outside the United States just for the cost of permits in California.”

Thanks for that information Baz. I drove by Clarks shop almost everyday in high school on my way to Salt Creek. The length of his parking lot had racks with large blanks stacked 15' high. I remember the sudden closing. It sounds like he's fulfilling a dream. I hope he brought some of his long-time employees with him. From the looks of it, he did....And by the size of his ranch, he did well financially as well.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1483975437.jpg

Baz, thanks for the post. I am sure anyone who paddled out in the 80's, 90's and into the 2000's owes a hardy thanks to Mr. Clark. Since I wrecked my bike in Aug of 2015 I have not had the shoulder strength to paddle out. Each month I am closer and closer to the point where I can. Each trip out to my garage to work on a car or bike I see the stash of nearly 20 boards dating back to the 80's. There are plenty of others I have passed onto others to enjoy. I would bet every one was made from a Clark blank. So thank you Mr. Clark enjoy your retirement, er I mean your current endeavor. Thank you for building the foundation of the sport we all love.

It was 3 to 4 foot and clean as a whistle here yesterday. The only problem was the 22 degree air temp and the freezing ocean temp. As a younger man, heck yaa, at 52 with a busted wing, I will wait for my time which will come again.

Hey guys...you're welcome - happy to have a place to share info with fellow travelers!

Speaking of travel...here's a few pics from a trip I made along with a core gruppe of buddies back in 2000 - to attend a mutual friend's wedding.

These pics are from a shop we stopped at - but for the life of me I can't remember which one. They had a truck load of blanks from Clark in back so I took a few pics...

Like you guys stated....Clark was an institution....and a man we all worshiped in our own way for everything he did for our passion.

(l to r) CC, BK, and Mayfield
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1483979047.JPG

Shop employee
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1483979047.JPG

CC and Ono (the groom)
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1483979047.JPG

It looks like that could be McConnell's Fullerton shop before the move to HB, or possibly Stewart's in San Clemente.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craig T (Post 9425885)

It looks like that could be McConnell's Fullerton shop before the move to HB, or possibly Stewart's in San Clemente.

Neither of those ring a bell, Craig. I'll try to find out and get back.

Florida's Last Beach Bum Lived in a Van Until He Died Surfing

http://images1.miaminewtimes.com/ima...b970e012d0.jpg
Dana Brown surfed every day except Saturday, based on his strict interpretation of the Bible.
Photo courtesy of Bob Brown

VERY long piece and worth reading.

Quote:

Dana cared for his dad every day, carrying him when he couldn't walk. Even after George was diagnosed with advanced heart failure, Dana remained convinced his father would not die. But he slipped away early one March morning in 2016, with Dana beside his hospital bed. Shocked, Dana traded watches with him. He believed he'd see his father again in the afterlife, and they would trade back.

Soon after, dozens of local surfers headed to 16th Street for a "paddle out" — a surfing ritual in which surfers form a circle in the water to remember one of their own.

The Browns held a small, informal funeral beneath a pavilion, where Dana stood and spoke, at times tearfully, about George's last months. "They were all telling me that he was going to die, but I didn't believe them," he said. "I didn't believe them until the very end."

In a wooded cemetery, the Brown sons dug a hole in the ground and buried their dad themselves. Dana planted a garden on top of the grave and visited every day. Sometimes he'd ask the cemetery owner if he could spend the night. On his Facebook page, he wrote that he missed his dad "something awful."

"Dana without his father — it was hard to imagine how this was going to work out," surfer Tom Goffinet says.

He tried to get a job as a lifeguard. He started a campaign to run for president and took to YouTube to lay out his platform: protecting the rights of the unborn, rooting out corruption in the Federal Reserve, cleaning up Wall Street, and bringing the Bible into the classroom. He added more plants to the garden blossoming on his dad's grave. He found work as an adventure guide in Cocoa Beach. Finally, in September, he packed up and headed west. His destination: Huntington Beach.

"Everybody has a dream beach," Morelle says, "and that was his."