Jonathan Stowers Makes Great Music (w/ Update)

 My buddy, Jonathan Stowers, just released his first album called Kicking Up Leaves. I have been listening to it quite a bit lately and am so stoked on it I wanted to spread the word. Stowers and I have similar stories in the fact that we are both originally from West Michigan (me from Holland, and Stow from Coloma, near Benton Harbor) and both adopted Santa Cruz, CA as our current residences. He's one of those friends that I rarely get to see, but always enjoy his company when we're together. I hope you enjoy his music as much as I have! You can find his music on his website, iTunes, or Spotify.

UPDATE: Stowers contacted me and let me know if you go to his website and use the discount code: migration, you can get 35% off his new album. This is awesome!

The Crane Noseriding Sequence

Here's a sequence of Ryan Gerard of Third Coast Surf Shop gracefully putting our Crane model (bit of a modern pig) through the paces on a nice little peeler at Rincon a couple weeks ago. The Crane loves to be ridden on the nose. Photo sequence by Mark Lucas Fiolka. Photos courtesy of Great Lakes Surfer Magazine. Thanks fellas!

A True Migrating Plover

                                                     6'4" Plover on the beach at Rincon

                                   Same board seeking waves in South Haven, MI (photo: E. Holt)

The Piping Plover is currently headed north through the Mississippi flyway on their way to their breeding grounds on the Northern  Lake Michigan shoreline. Much like the board's namesake, this 6'4" Plover has recently made it's way to Western Michigan to bask on the waves of Lake Michigan. What makes this one special is that the customer picked it up at the Rincon Invitational last weekend and took it back to my hometown of Holland, MI where he lives.

Meet the Grebe

We are pleased to present you with the newest Migration Surfboards model, the Grebe (pronounced "greeb"). The one pictured is 9'4" x 23" x 3 1/8".

The Grebe is designed to be a dynamic all around noserider for a variety of conditions.  Featuring a slightly narrower outline than the Albatross with a more pulled in tail for added maneuverability, the Grebe carves well off the bottom setting up for great noserides.  Refined noseriding features including soft rails, blended concave, and moderate tail kick make this a great daily driver longboard. Custom order with a square tail, diamondtail, or rounded pintail.  Singlefin all the way.

Big Boy Plover

Ready to take flight. 6'2" x 23" x 3" My friend, T-Moe, told me to change the name to the "Fish Barge"

Tom Wegener on Nose Riding

I don't know when this was written, but this is an epic read for anyone who appreciates and the art of nose riding. Here's the link: http://noseriding.com/pages/TomWegenertalksWalkingonWater.htm

"Having hips towards the tail is the key to the ultimate noserider. The hips make the board ride more parallel to the wave. When you are on the nose where the boards is, say, 18 inches wide, while it is 23 inches in the hips, the attitude of the board will be more parallel with the wave thus making you travel faster across the wave. The flatter or straighter the board, the more parallel it can ride. With more width and foam in the back half of the board, there is more flotation and volume. This mass creates more tension with the fin and makes the board go faster. Also, it counters the suction created by the soft rails and lift in the tail." - Tom Wegener

Hmmmmm... Sounds an awful lot like the description of the Crane model, no? And yes, the Crane is an insane nose rider.

Another Plover

Here's another Plover.  This time for Blake.  He's going to kill it on this board.  Come get your board, Blake!  More Plovers coming in the next couple months.