Doing things in Mexico is always an adventure.  Making wooden surfboards down here is always an adventure. Finding wood, going somewhere to get it surfaced and milled (I am standing in a pile of wood shavings up to my knees in the picture).  The people you meet are always  interesting.  Starting a 6’8″ fishy thing for Terry and finishing a 7’6″ mini mal for Allison.  Just finished a 6’5″ swallow tail quad for Allison.  I have been surfing it and loving the four fins.  Fast and loose but still really responsive.  The 6’5″ and the 7’11″  have been a great combo for the waves in Sayulita this winter.

Fall coming into winter has been busy at Lambrecht Surfboards.  These two boards are reserved for me and my wife.  Spent a week in Tofino,  we had good sized surf  and the Egg was magic.  Easy to duck dive, super loose and fast!!!!!  It was nice to be able to try a bunch of different fin setups.  2+1 seemed to work the best in all conditions. The Egg was built out of a  cedar bench saved from a dumpster.  Built out rails and still have to glass the 11′ SUP.  Just got an order for a 9′ long board and a 6’10″ classic  single fin pintail.  Really excited to have a go at the pintail.  Oh yeah we just got 30cm and have been skiing for a couple weeks.  Tough life.   .

This last weekend we had Slow Food Cycle

in Pemberton.  Slow Food Cycle is an event everyone should experience at least once.  Through the course of 25 km up the Pemberton valley (via bike) you are able to visit  different farms, sample local food and learn the history of the valley.  All of this is achieved while being outdoors, riding your bike and interacting with your neighbors and friends new and old.  Through the help of the Pemberton Arts Council, I had the opportunity to display some of my boards at Rootdown Organics in the Pemberton Meadows. Sarah, Gavin and Simone have a farm that provides local organic produce to restaurants and farmers markets. I couldn’t have asked for a better venue or hosts.  I had a 5’11″ egg, a 6’6″ round pin, a 8′ log and a 6’4″ swallow tail frame  to hang on their barn. It all looked and went great I was super stoked!

Now that I had a place to shape Peter’s board (Dingbatz), my next step was to find a place to mill the wood strips for the deck and bottom of  Peter’s board.  The first wood shop I went to had one guy watching the place and he said everyone was on siesta for two months.  The next was owned by Ibis Pena my spanish was just a little bit better than his english. I guess carpenters all speak the same kind of language. Wood is different in all parts of the world, but the machines and tools used to cut and shape it are pretty universal.  I showed Ibis one of my finished boards and explained what I needed done and he said no problem.   When he put a 10″ sawblade on his shaper and started to clamp down a fence I asked “Esta es bien no?” he said ”No problem”.   I doubted  him at first but after we ran the first piece of wood through I was already thinking of how I could make a setup like this in my shop.  So far building this board in Mexico without my shop and tools has taught me to improvise with what I have and find a liberating confidence  in my skills as a board builder.

My friend Johnny “Foon” Chilton has started to make wooden skis.  Johnny is

a very accomplished mountain athlete.  He has many first descents on local  mountains in the coast range.  Johnny has also worked as a cabinetmaker.  His knowledge of wood and skiing seemed like a good fit.  Three pairs made and all of the reviews are glowing.  Look for his skis on the mountains in the Whistler/ Pemberton area. Any questions or comments about “Foon Skis” can be directed to.  j.foon@telus.net

My friend Norm Hann is halfway through an epic 300km SUP journey in the Great Bear Rainforest.  He is paddling to bring awareness and protect this area from a proposed pipeline that would bring supertankers into this pristine environment on a daily basis.  Norm has deep ties and overwhelming support from the local native community.  This pipeline has the potential to wreak major havoc on many different levels.  Norm is a great guy and definitely practices what he preaches. Check out his site and progress on his journey.  http://www.mountainsurfadventures.blogspot.com/

Allison surfing her 8′ log  in Mex.

Recently I definitely feel like I have been living  the dream (LTD).  Surfingeveryday,  spending  time with my family and building a surfboard.

  The water is always warm even if the beers aren’t always cold.  I have made a really good connection with a local shaper Rogelio Ramos.  He agreed to let me rent space in his shop to build Peter’s board.  His shop “Dingbatz”  basically  handles all of the ding repair in Sayulita.  Rogelio also shapes and glasses boards under his own label Ramos Shapes.   This means Rogelio along with his two employees Julio and Salvatore are extremely busy.  They are very good at what they do and have the best repair/shaping/glassing  shop in central Mexico.  I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work next to Rogelio.  I learned a ton of  new information covering all aspects of surfboard design, shaping, building and finishing.  As well as being  a pro level longboarder he tirelessly gives to the local junior surfing program. He is also a great guy to sit down and drink a beer with.  Any time you need a new board or a board repaired in Sayulita go see Rogelio and the boys at Dingbatz.

Life in paradise is still life, things happen and you must deal with them.  My

power steering pump broke on a trip with the family to surf in Punta de Mita.  After some inquiries I was directed to Los Hermanos used auto parts store in Peutro Vallarta( Anyone needing quality auto parts in PV should definitely check it out).  The owner Peter Gonzalez helped me get exactly the parts I needed.  I fixed my pump in his parking lot and proceeded to ask him about the pile of used lumber that was for sale in his parking lot.  He told me that he had bought forty “Cash for Clunker” cars in San Diego and built a specialized  double decker trailer to bring them down to Mexico.  (He then takes these cars apart and sells almost 100% of the usable parts off the cars).  The lumber was what was left of the trailer.  He then asked me why I was interested in the lumber.  I told him that I had a small company making custom hollow wooden surfboards from reclaimed wood and that I was planning on making a surfboard during my stay in Mexico.  Peter then told me he was a surfer and proceeded to show me a classic Frye 9’6″ longboard that he had at his store.  One thing led to another and by the time I left he had commissioned me to make him an 8’0″ fish from the reclaimed wood he had used to transport recycled cars to resell in Mexico.  When you think about it takes the reuse philosophy of Lambrecht Surfboards one step further.  Life is very funny how it reveals different opportunities in different ways.  I feel very fortunate and excited to be working on this project.

We are going to Mexico.  Things have worked out for me and my family to

take three months and live in Sayulita, on the mainland pacific coast.  The drive down was amazing and the winter NW swells have been filling in nicely.  Surf trunks in Feb has been a treat.  I am working on a board down here made with locally sourced reclaimed wood.