..stringer

3-31-09....

....this smooth looking shot came in at 10:42 today. Jason titled thje email, "fun, felt like summer"...sometimes Cold water plays no factor when the winds are light and the sun is out...

TOP Deck/ skateboard

....quick update to the super positive and supportive skater Mom I spoke to "very briefly" at the post office today. (just in case you can read my handwriting, and are able to find this blog).... I do have a deck available for your son...send us an email...decembersnowskates@gmail.com

3-29-09 LSS

truck holes...if you haven't seen any posts before... Their is a young and truly dedicated snowskater up in new hampshire who wants to continue riding his double kick snowskate size deck (real snowskate top decks are very large, commonly over 40") on the streets during the late spring and summer months...this way he doesn't miss a beat when the first snow falls next winter.
What a great idea... He told me he can not find a top deck this big "so easily", so he decided to take a chance with a custom from us (which we are so stoked about)....this order came in a couple of weeks ago...Due to a knot issue I have been waiting on more wood.....these last bunch of pictures have been a demo board I made from copying his custom requests, to be used also as a skateboard in the summer and a top deck in the winter. Since this board will be sealed in the next day or two, I'm gonna send it to him to test pilot...We will value his feedback ...We are still waiting on longer veneers to complete his 42" request...lastly I really dig this size deck...if it demos well, this board will be a model we will offer next season...

a few more that didn't make the last post

one dude out, one dude watching

Wednesday....no one out

(had to remove the real photo and replaced it with an airbrushed clock, because a good friend questioned my discretion...the clock's got our spot beat....) he did say don't worry no one's looking at the blog anyhow...haha...what a guy

Some production shots

december "tree" logo.... will be sanded down to about 1/32 of an inch thick (right now its 1/16 thick)

this is actually gonna be a skateboard too. the "sister" board to Lakeside's custom deck (using all of lakeside's concaves, double kicks, and dimensions, accept the length is alittle smaller 39.5")

double kicks

...anyone who lives in this area just recieved some amazing surf, I hope snow conditions have been good for the giant snowskating event going on over in olympic mountains range (hurricane ridge)...wish I was there too. (next year)

3-27-09

predicted swell was excellent this week...more pics of snowskates coming

a few images of this past week

super early saturday

early friday morning

concaves

Couple shots from the past two weeks

double kick (lakeside inspired sister board) demo boards

if you walk up this snow bank and go twenty more yards you will see a pretty decent beachbreak sandbar..

the powderhounds guts....the outer edges are the highest points on the bottom giving it some bite

winterstick inspired swallowtail

Voyager t-shirt

...I'm all set with local st.pats 'parades for the year. Snapped this pic of my brother wearing his voyager t-shirt.(at another parade) He's a huge mini-simmons surfboard fan (aka casper), so I was able to track this t-shirt down for him. Casper is the small surfboard on the right. There is a lot to discuss about the design of that board, but I'll save it for another post. ....the unique t-shirt came from a great on-line shop called Foam and Function...Kirk the man behind Foam and function and " a day at the beach" blog (which is linked) mailed my order immediately. He wrote the book on customer service...If your a simmons fan or have interest check out his surf site...

snowskate production photos coming soon....bi-decks

after a week or two of weird but fun background swell, we're predicted to get a serious dose of swell later this week...things are good..... I hope everyone else is benefitting from conditions caused by the changing of seasons....

cheers from the pub (still praying for snow)

ALAIA : ancient and finless....the orginal hawaiian snurfer

...finally sealed this board up (made from a scrap of 3/4 " plywood laying around the shop)...
this is the orginal "bindingless" board

....it takes wave knowledge, desire, edge work, and commitment to surf these things....we have a perfect groundswell coming for it this weekend, now I have to find knowledge and edge work.....

poached the tail from Dimitrije Milovich's Winterstick, love to blend snow skating and surfing....someday I would like to make snow surfboards for deep powder...take off where hodaddy left off....

*surf update* ..one of the founding fathers of december reported catching an all time spot with just three other guys out, on an all time day this week...after living and surfing half moon bay (18 sec period groundswells) for over a decade, he doesn't throw the "epics" or "all-times" around that much so i knew i missed it...

St.Patricks Day Parade 2007 New York City

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY...

CHEERS...

Lakeside's Custom Deck

...Lakeside's board still in the press, should be sealed and shipped by the end of the week....42"x9.25" with decent concave and double kick in the tail....more pics to follow

decemberpowderfishhound

concave in the nose
single barrel concave running thru the bottom (bottom is raised by 1/8")

Production news:
...working on a deck for a snowskater in new hampshire...The deck is a custom size, and will be used for skating. It's going to be 42" by 9.25" to mimic his top deck he is currently snowskating on this winter...He will being using it in the warm months to stay in shape for snowskating....a classic diehard... more to come....

Chairlift Skeptics... A Snowskate Flick

...a excellent video of showing the great potential of snowskating... These guys did superb job...

Two Old Soliders

us patent number

handpainted logo

....pass by these two old boards coming up from my basement on a daily basis. The old burton has a asym tail, which makes me smile every time I pass it. Asymetrical is such a cool concept, and this tail is so retro and futuristic at the same time...These concepts aren't going anywhere, and they will always resurface.. matter of fact I have seen a couple of bueatiful ones on surfboard's lately (the coolest part is the different fin set-ups on either side) shaped by christenson, pendo, and the true originator carl exstrom (for Richard Kenvin) from San diego..matter of fact all three shapers live in san diego, what a mecca for creative designers, and thinkers....

Funny, San Deigo is where I picked up my first Sector nine (pictured). I bought this board Back In '94 at the coolest little skate shop called Soul Grind, matter of fact it was the shop owners' personal sector nine. I was blown away with the possibilites of that board, I couldn't afford a new one so I made an offer for his and he accepted. Loved that shop, loved that board, and I have know idea what happen to the front truck...

Quick Burton story:

A friend of mine went to mainland Mex for a surf vacation a few years back, he had only been surfing for a few years, and was surfing by himself on this trip. He met a dude in the line-up, joked with him, shared waves, began regularly surfing with him on the trip, and he said after three days this dude turn out to be a totally generous guy,. He was always giving waves, helping my him pick quality waves, looking after him, that kind of stuff. But he had to leave and they said goodbye. As he paddle away another surfer paddle up to my buddy and said, "do you know who that was?", my friend replied," not really", "just met him in the line up." The new dude yells, that was Jake Burton... My friend laughed, he had no idea. When he told me the story he said Burton was so down to earth, never dropped names, and was just a real sweet guy.... right on Burton...

a very short clip (does the powderhound glide?)

...it's warm out,....the snow is melting at a rapid pace... Our local backwood terrain, have major bare spots and I have no video for our newest single deck... so i got up early and soloed it to our favorite spot this morning. I felt like frosty searching for snow. Found a north facing slope with snow that had a nice ledge drop off. ...the downside ...it was covered with brush, but luckily its sporadic enough... and the decemberfish can float over it... Since the conditions were suspect I needed some drama. My big idea was to set-up up my digital camera on a small tripod at the bottom of the ledge.., aim the camera up, film the descent and launch straight over the camera, and let the camera pick up the fish bottom as i soar over it..... (like those old totally board videos)....well as I approached the ledge i could see the camera...I'm thinking shoot, I don't got this..I'm gonna land on my camera...I chicken out.....changed the angle of attack and just bled off the side of the hit like an old man....either way it was a blast out there today , and my dog was stoked.....I hope it shows the decemberfish concept in good light....

testing the Decemberfish (powderhound)

a single deck made for powder was the inspiration for this board. The other inspiration was aboard that could get technical, and ride mixed conditions when called upon....lofty goals....did the powderhound reach them? A little background on the board. It is a 7 ply maple deck board about 36" long and 9 3/4" wide, with a eggy nose and a swallowtail...in addition its has a raised single deck shaped like a fish (sort of) ......won't go into exact details ....We pressed this board to have tons of different concaves and rockers on the deck, nose, and tail...(Rich Pavel explain's the importance of rockers and how to change rocker better then anyone else, in my opinion) ... truly a blast to make...Back to the ride, well it wasn't a bi-deck, but it put a smile on my face from ear to ear, its definitely different then a traditional single deck, (think wide open turns) so it will meet the needs of the free thinking adventurer willing to skate outside the "box". It was so fun to hike with two boards under my arm like a mini surfboard quiver... more details, picture and video to come....We will custom make a few if there's interest...
okay cheers...
eleven days until St. Pat's

crafting the Decemberfish

one half of december skates in the back forty

what we woke up to

today.....oops

....with the entire december snowskate staff egging him on, the cowboy looked pretty confident setting-up this tool box to chaise lounge (the frozen webbing was at about 10lbs test, a nerf ball would have broken it) Cowboy is a real stand up guy, played starting quarterback for a big Ohio high school (friday night lights style), survived a building groundswell session that was growing well past double overhead only after a year of surfing, sleeps in his pick-up at the break the night before a swell.... but today he really got it done. He put his ass kicker right thru the webbing and like a true athlete avoided catching his chin on the frame....it was cool, he's a rad dude...

we have solid waves and snowfall predicted for rest of this week, starting tonight. Snowskating and surfing....It will never be as good as it is right now, it doesn't have to be. Just being given the chance of epic conditions is the best, just want a chance, something optimistic on the horizon... We hope everyone is getting lucky with proper weather conditions this winter, and if not the odds are in your favor....

Our latest "single" model "powderhound" is almost complete . I hope to have it sealed and gripped by mid-week, and provide some footage of it's maiden voyage over the weekend...