Fish Times

Chris dropped by the factory a little while ago to pick up his new 6'8" Verve quad (see montage below). For the previous 12 months he's been having a ball on his 6'10" twin keel Vibe (pictured above - the blue fish) but had decided he'd like to try something a little more high performance.

When Chris dropped by the factory we were both keen for a surf so we chased down some fun beachies up the coast. Happy Days.

Boxing Day fun.

Sage, Yoshi and Kade pre surf car park chats.

All aboard

Yesterday Sage,Yoshi and I packed up the car and headed up the coast to find some fun little logging waves. We surfed this epic little river mouth tucked away behind a northern corner. We surfed all day swapping boards, laughing and just enjoying the Summer sun.

Single Fin Replica

Rob turned up at the Factory a while back with his battered old Skipp single fin and explained how much he still enjoys riding it. So he left it with me for reference so I could replicate it.

The first step was templating the outline. Then the board had to be measured - thicknesses, widths, rocker, bottom contours and rails. It took me 2 days to shape... which I was a little nervous about. We did the same spray as the original and I re-used the original fin after I cleaned it up a bit.

The above shots show the original and the replica. I was really happy with the result.

Happiness Is A New Surfboard

Mr Jim Mitchell, with his new custom log shaped by Sage Joske, looking pretty pleased with himself for good reason.

Getting fruity in Merickville.

Last week when Sage and I were in west Sydney it seemed impossible to find some fresh healthy places to eat. I found it funny that every cafe or fruit shop that we ate at seemed to have either a porn shop or some sort of adult shop right next to it...

Valla Tee's

Last weekend Sage and I packed up 10 boxes of blank tee's and headed off to old Sydney town to get the Valla tee's printed for summer 2010. It took two automatic printers to break down, a lot of sweat and tears and two very long days finishing well in two the pm but we got it done. The Valla range is now on display at the factory show room so get down there and check it out.

On the press.

630 items all by hand.

Team Valla still hard at it at 9pm

A bit of fun at the TCSS head quarters with some boccie.

Some Random Pics of the Factory and Showroom

A few pics I snapped towards the end of November of the factory and boards in various stage of production during that time.

Joe with some Sweet Rides

Joe sent these pics through of him riding his 9'2" x 23" x 2 7/8" Longboard. How blue does that water look in the fish eye sequence... Makes me feel like going surfing.

All pics: http://www.jasonmichaelsmith.com

Mini Hawaii

The past few weeks in Hawaii have been pretty average. A couple of days of mysto spots pumping but overall pretty slow. I have been training for next year's WQS by practicing some of the more progressive and innovative maneuveres like the hang 5. Cheers to Morgan Maassen for the shots.

Paul and Heath in Hawaii

Paul just got home from hawaii a day ago where he was mostly filming Heath to get more footage for the Waves - Black Knight competition. Mum (Jenny was also over with them). Here are a couple of shots from a small day. Looks fun

Heath having fun on a small day at Pupukea on an Akila Aipa Twin.

Paul in the same surf testing his new longboard he made for the the trip.

All pics: Brian Monro from www.sport-in-digital.com.au

These Boots are for Working

If you've been in the habit of stopping by this blog for a while now, you may have noticed I haven't been blogging as much as usual over the last few months. Firstly it seems to get busy in the board building game leading up to Christmas and secondly I've been finding it hard to jump in the front of the computer after long days at work and have creative energy left to say something interesting or valid . Blogging can feel like another job. But I've decided I'm going to be a little more consistent again.

The above collage illustrates the mess I make of the factory and my clothing. On most days there's foam dust, resin, glass fibres, tints, pigments and paints being flung around. Resin drips build up on my pants. This winter my glassing jeans got so much resin on them, the resin would crack and break around my knees when I sat down to eat my lunch. As you can see from the pics above your shoes get hammered as well. These shoes are in their last stages of life - the laces are resined in so I slip them on like slippers, every couple of days I have to pull off the resin and dust build up on the soles, it feels like you're walking over stones. Picking off the resin continually weakens the sole of the shoes which have begun to pull away from the body so now I have been taping them on with masking tape.

In all the choas of dust, foam and mess it's amazing that surfboards emerge at all.

Alaia Trim

This is Dan Walters on his 6'0" Traditional style alaia getting a smoker on a clean day at Bells Beach. I really like the enlarged shot - the simplicity and speed of the alaia trim. Understated beauty.

PJ on Holidays

Dad turned 6o last month and we headed up to the Gold Coast for the weekend. Dad's above standing next to his new 9'0" longboard with split stringers that he'd just made himself. The other two boards are Vice logs and belong to my brother in law Matt and myself. It was nice to head up the coast and get a few fun peelers.

Currently dad's in Hawaii filming my brother Heath (see last 2 posts). Dad took his green longboard above and also made himself a 9'0" single fin gun which I'll post some photos of when I he gets home. I bet they're having a ball.

Heath.

Heathy boy getting his shred on in Hawaii this season.

Black Knight Talk

i am currently in the process of filming for waves magazines annual black knight awards.

this a recent interview discussing the past few joyful weeks filming and travelling around europe, and north america. check the interview out here.

http://wavesmag.com.au/wordpress/2010/11/rock-roll/

Doug in Indo

This is Doug Walters getting a sweet ride on a recent trip to Indo. He's riding a 7'10 x 20 1/4 x 2 3/4 Thruster that dad made him 7 years ago.

Doug first met my dad 38 years ago in 1972 when he was 18. A lot can change in that time so I think it's pretty cool they're both still friends and still surfing.

Canaries/Santa Cruz Sliders

here's a few more waves harry captured and edited while filming for the 2011 Black Knight awards.

Heath Joske B Clips from Santa Cruz and the Canary Islands from Harry Triglone on Vimeo.

Summer fishing.

 Sage and I caught up this morning in sunny Coffs Harbour for a little bit of fishing on this junky but fun little right and left peak. The tackle of choice this morning was the styro Volta for me and the twin keel Vibe for Sage. check out more great pics like this at STsurfimages.

Visit to the Factory

So I made a quick stop into the factory.
To paint my little brothers new board
and to start work on a new model with sage.

Valla Boards in Japan

Just sent a couple of Twin Keel fishes over to my friend Shimpei who's opened a surfshop in Shizuoka, Japan. The other two boards in the pic (Vector and Volta) I left with Shimpei when I was in Japan earlier this year.

Oli Seelenmeyer ripping on his Volta in Indo earlier this year.

Colourful Times

This is Dad back in the early 80's sporting a colourful board and wetsuit.

I re-dsicovered this single fin a few years ago in a back room and have really enjoyed riding it. It has a deep single concave and chunky, hard down rails. It was also light. The green stripes either side of the stringer are coloured foam.

Caller and his HP this morning

Brett Caller took out his HP Valla longboard for burn this morning in the new east swell... its a nice day on the coffs coast today!

pics// www.stsurfimages.com

Twelve Feet

Here's me, starting to put my twelve footer on rail. Paul Joske shaped me this sleek blue beauty a couple of years ago & it is a joy to ride. Every surfer needs a twelve footer in their quiver. Photo by my mate Ben Conquest.

New beginnings.

So this is my new log.

Sage and I blended a few old templates that his father had piled up around the factory.

It's got a lage belly in the tail, a long concave through the nose and a beautiful red wood stringer.

I haven't had any good waves on it as yet so its a little hard to tell how it goes but what I can say is that it trims amazing and rolls like an old mal, lots of fun. Check out more pics like this one at STsurfimages.

Cruising at Santa Cruz

Harry Triglone whipped this little edit up after a few days freezing my titties off up the northern Californian coast! Northern California is full of huge trees, huge seaweed, huge bears, free thinking individuals and when the winter swells roll on some icy cold huge waves. A breath of fresh air compared to its southern brothers, Los Angeles and Orange County!

Heath Joske B Roll 2 from Harry Triglone on Vimeo.

Handmade

Sage Joske's hands, hard at work for your wave sliding pleasure.

My buddy Sam in Mexcio

My friend Sam went on a surf trip to Mexico recently and scored some great waves. He sent me through a couple of pics where he's having fun on a little red 5'11" shortboard I made him. The board's a bit wider and thicker than a regular shortboard so it just paddles that little bit easier.

Thanks for the pics bro.