Howdy Pardner

Ever since I rode my first hull waaaaay back in the oh-seven, I've been intrigued by those voluptuous, organically-shaped little (liddle) vixens. The brahman who lent me his personal 7' Liddle then — the inimitable Festus Porkmeyer — laid a compliment on me when he saw me riding his in Crescent City. He said I was "made for" one of those boards. I think he was referring to the fact that I'm hopeless when it comes to riding a surfboard off the tail, but anyway... My interest was further piqued when Manny Caro said my next board should be an Andreini after I ordered my last custom from him.

Then, last summer, I met a American fireman in El Salvador who was sliding his blue 8'0 Andreini across some pretty challenging point waves and we started to talk about his quiver as we waited between sets. When he mentioned that he had one in particular that was too small for him — I pounced. Three months later and here it is: My new 7'0 Vaquero de las Olas. Made from EPS with an opaque cream resin tint, it's super light weight and in amazing condition. Dig the old OWL logo in the first pic!

I only wish I had it for the two amazing days I got earlier this month. At least now I know exactly where to take it when the conditions come together again.

Special thanks to Hank for the bro-bro-bro deal and Jeremy and Giles for bringing it home to papa.

The Myth of Sissyfish

This brings me back to my first blog post ever.
Available at Nationale in Portland, Orygun.

TERRIFIC TUESDAY

Today was terrific. Big sets, glassy water, sunshine, and — oh yeah — a boozy-smelling old dood in the parking lot insisted on giving me a cannabis bud. Who says the locals aren't friendly?

The dood in the second picture looks like he's calling his bro for directions: "Hey Steve, where'd you say that right was again?"

Dear Diary...

This is the first entry in my sketchbook/journal from El Salvador. I was scribbling down notes for a forthcoming Wend Magazine piece. Stay tuned.

HAPPY MONDAYS

I'm so sore today.

Conversation with a Drifter

Joe Conway, North American editor of Drift Magazine, drifted into Portland from Portland, Maine a couple days ago and we had the chance to drink some porters talk about surfing, writing and art, then actually go surfing Wednesday. As has been my fate lately, the surf at PC started out pretty junky and improved just as we had to hightail it home.

Joe wasn't too disappointed. Having lived in Portland (Oregon) from 1998-2006, he knew the drill. The valley curse is to surf when we get the window — not necessarily when the conditions are most favorable. We ended up switching off on the White Pony though and I think I made some breakthroughs...

The drive out and back in my stereo-less car gave us ample time to chat. It was pretty damn inspiring to talk to somebody who's pouring his energy into a passion, especially this salty one we're all so obsessed with. The guys at Drift are making it happen on little more than stoke and elbow grease. Here are a few of the subjects our conversation drifted to on the trip:

Stumptown Coffee (7:30 am)
Ken's Artisan Bakery (7:32 am)
Grain Surfboards (7:40 am)
Corduroy Art Gallery (8:14 am)
Korduroy TV (8:20 am)
Nat Russell (8:31 am)
Kyle Field (8:35 am)
Alberto Cuadros (8:40 am)
Mollusk (8:43 am)
Josh Hall (8:45 am)
Dear & Yonder (8:50 am)
Yasmina Dedijer-Small (9:02 am)
Mandala (9:04 am)
Santos Surf Art (9:08 am)
Mattson 2 (9:11 am)
Eric Mast (9:15 am)
Audio Dregs (9:15 am)

SURF BREAK!

Barry McGee (1:03 pm)
Margaret Kilgallen (1:10 pm)
Agnes B (1:17 pm)
Mission Burritos (1:21 pm)
Ty Williams (1:25 pm)
Ryan Tatar (1:27 pm)
Vice (1:35 pm)
The New Yorker (1:36 pm)
Salon (1:37 pm)
New York Surf Film Festival (1:39 pm)
Ed Fladung (1:44 pm)
Geoff McFetridge (1:50 pm)
Michael Leon (1:57 pm)
Fecal Face (1:59 pm)
Nike (2:07 pm)
Target (2:21 pm)
Red Bull (2:23 pm)
Hurricane Bill (2:24 pm)
Nau (2:30 pm)
Skinny Jeans (2:35 pm)
Black Diamond (2:37 pm)
Patagonia (2:46 pm)
Malloy Brothers (2:52 pm)
Malloy/G. Love Coke Commercial (2:57 pm)
180º South (3:01 pm)
Jeff Canham (3:02 pm)
University of Oregon Art School (3:04 pm)
Argyle Pinot Noir (3:10 pm)

Portland to Portland, sea to sea, artist to athlete, writer to designer, baker to shaper to clothesmaker. We're all pretty interrelated, when you look a little deeper at things. Catch my drift?

Subscribe to the free Drift newsletter HERE.

Big Wave Rider

There is some hot action within. Download this track by Olympia's Rainbow Bridge here.

Surprisingly Funtastic

The waves just never really cleaned up over the weekend, but yesterday we caught an hour-long window where the wind shifted offshore and the bumps transformed into hollow, waist high peelers when they hit the inside bars. The air temp was freezing, but the quantity of little wedges we paddled into kept us nice and warm in the water. For a couple hours anyway...

SWIFT MOVEMENT...

...of a different kind. Mural for Swift Collective completed yesterday based on the amazing Vaux Swifts of Chapman Elementarty School here in Portland, Oregon.

My iPhone didn't do the greatest job picking up these little guys as they swooped into the chimney, but I liked the way Horse Feathers' music sounded with it. You can see a better video of the phenomenon here.