Our balsa pig project continues to build momentum, and the first 2 boards will be finished off next week. The inspiration for building the 12 replica boards came from a two different places. The first source was an original Balsa pig that my dad has had hanging in his garage for years - its a Gordon Woods, solid balsa, and is a beautiful board to ride and to admire. The second source of inspiration was a couple of photos that showed up during Bob's research for his forthcoming second book. The photos come courtesy of another old mate of Bob's, Doug Andrew. The first shot is of Doug with his new balsa pig (taken around 1958), and the second is of a full line-up of pigs at Dee Why beachfront, around the same year. There are some great examples in the line-up shot, all with the piggy template, wide hips, narrow nose. I'll post some photos of the finished boards next week. Enjoy.

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A young Doug Andrew with his new balsa pig circa 1958

Manly pig line-up, also circa '58 - note the mini-pig in the middle, it must be about 7'6" - 8'0"!

It’s that time of year again - the big south swells are just appearing now, spinning off those Tasman lows. They do it every Autumn, and up here in paradise the water is still 22 degrees (Take that, Bells Beach!) Hey! That’s the reason I moved here back in the late sixties: Warm water and big clean south swells. No place like it on Australia’s Eastern seaboard!

The accompanying photo was popped at Boulders a couple of years ago, but I hassled Ben Wallace our blog-meister to dig it out, as It’s never been published. See the wafting mist swirling around behind me? That’s the spit of a big barrelling section that just exploded. I have been working on doing off-the-top cutties instead of just shoulder gliding after a big meaty section. Inspired by surfing these solid swells with surfers of the calibre of Beau Young. Should see him shred these big days, amazing!

The board is my beloved G2 number one. Got a big crease in it now, so the wax is off and it’s going on the wall in our showroom.

Bob

Off the top at Boulder

This month i've had the love/hate experience of getting a new computer. Love because its fresh (and fancy, and powerful!!), hate because you've got to somehow move 83000 emails, 42000 documents, 12000 photos and 7500 songs from your old machine onto the newey. 

But, as i began to cull through the photos i came across these gems - given to us many years ago by an old mate of Bob's, Billy Dawson. I'd never had the chance to go through all the shots (there was over 200), and many remain unpublished. All were taken on a trip to California in January of 1968 - a pivotal time in surfboard development as Bob has just shaped the first Tracker model - a revolution at the time. We hope you like the shots

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Crouching for the barrel at Rincon

Bob hating life on a balsa board known as 'Baby' - he recalls it as being horrible to ride!

On the Tracker again

A chiselled young Bob - just 23

Well if you're living on the East Coast of Australia this week you'll no doubt be aware its been coooold! Freezing by our standards anyway... The onset of winter weather isn't all bad though. For Byron Bay it means winter swells and beautiful clear mornings, and the water temp is still up so its a good time to get some quality waves without the summer crowds. 

For the surfboard industry winter used to mean quiet time, when we'd all take a break and cruise through a few months waiting for the summer boom. But the world is a smaller place these days, and so many customers travel to surf during the winter months, or custom order boards, taking advantage of faster turn-around times, so we seem to be busy all year round. Gone are the days of dragging the couch out into the sun in the carpark and putting the radio on, waiting for the phone to ring.......

Anyway, here's a few <very> amateur shots of this mornings sunrise from Belongil beach - not a lot happening swell wise, but Coastalwatch says look out for a little pulse on Sunday. Fingers crossed. 

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Not much swell today, but nice yellow hue over the lighthouse

Sunrise - Julian rocks off to the left

The only rule i know about taking photos - never into the sun they say.....

A couple of times a year we have a run-out on stock boards, mostly they have just been sitting around for a bit too long and its time to make some rack space for fresh models (sometimes they just have....ahem...questionable colour-work....). 

Anyway, click here to check out the boards on clearance. There are a few good ones still left, and the prices are ridiculous. There's a clearance clothing section also, to clear some older t-shirt prints so check it out here. Postage is free on all the T's so get into it!

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It only happens a few times a year so take advantage of clearance prices - they don't last long

A few weeks back I shaped myself this experimental 7’6" x 22 1/2" x 3 1/4" quad semi-fish, then scooped away half an inch of deck foam. The result is a very thick-railed and hence fast paddling board, but with the feel of a much thinner board. The scoop deck lowers your centre-of gravity, getting your feet closer to the water. Also, the concave deck “loads-up” your back foot, pre- stressing it into a faster reacting position.

The board paddles and catches waves like a longboard, but as soon as you lasso the wave and jump up, the shorter length allows far better control on the drop, making take-offs that were a pain on a 9’1". Next -the speed. It’s the great quad set-up, the powerful rocker, the clean edges. This is definitely one of the fastest surfboards I’ve ever ridden!  But I’ve still got work to do on the tail.. .sometimes it’s just too strong for me. I fell off the first 4 waves in a row, because I couldn’t keep up with it!

I’ll keep you posted on development of the board. 

Bob

Its official, Aussie made stock and custom McTavish boards are now in stock at Down-the-line surf shop in Hayle, Cornwall! Trev and Mark have ordered in some beautiful stock Bobsleds, UFO's, Fireballs, Redlines, Eightballs and Eggs. You can view the boards online here www.downthelinesurf.co.uk and they can also ship all over Europe. They also have some McTavish T-shirts, copies of Bobs DVD 'Going Vertical' and signed copies of Bobs book 'Stoked'. Get down there and take a look at the goods!

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Down-the-line Surf Store UK - call them 01736 757025

Here's a few shots from this weeks shoot with Peter Crumpton. Crumpy has an artistic eye and his shots from this week turned out amazing. Here's a sneak preview.....

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Custom board being taped up in the spray room. Photo: Peter Crumpton

Beautiful conditions on Wednesday. Photo: Peter Crumpton

Dave English - slotted. Photo: Peter Crumpton

The full SLX quiver. Photo: Peter Crumpton

Laminating room, full of colour. Photo: Peter Crumpton

Dave English again, nice cutback on the new 7'6" SLX Carver. Photo: Peter Crumpton

This weekend is the 31st annual Byron Bay Malibu Classic, being held at Wategos beach. The event is one of the only remaining single-fin competitions, and draws competitors from all over OZ. The classic raises money for local charities every year, and is run entirely by volunteers from the Byron Bay Malibu Club. It'll run over 3 days, Fri-Sun, and there's sure to be some action in Sundays finals, so get down there for a look if you're in town. We've donated a beautiful 9'1" Fireball Evolution model as a raffle prize, so be sure to grab some tickets for a good cause! 

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We've got a visitor this week at McTavish HQ, photographer and graphic designer Peter Crumpton. Crump is responsible for the design of our new website, and is also working with GSI on a few graphic projects at the moment. He is here this week to shoot some updated video clips for our GSI range, including the SLX Bobsled, Fireball, Original and Carver, as well as the updated SUP range. We had some fun little waves at Belongil today for part of the shoot, so the videos should be great once they're finished - we hope to have them posted in early July.   

You can see some more of Crumpy's work at www.petercrumpton.com.au

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Crump with all the gear, and that trademark beard