Clean. Classic. Crane.

In a break from my normal resin craziness, this board deserved something much more classic. Clear volan cutlap w/ a resin panel in the step deck. That is all. I think it highlights the wedge stringer and redwood tailblock nicely. The ride reports are coming in VERY positive on this one. Thanks to the quality folks at the Santa Cruz Board Builders Guild for finishing this one out for me.

Custom Step Deck Crane

Hello fellow migrators! Trying out a few new things lately. For this board, we took the Crane in a slightly different direction. Instead of rocking a deep nose concave on the bottom, we reversed it and added a step deck and kept the bottom flat. Came out looking really nice! If you don't know too much about this design, scooping out the nose allows the nose to flex more as you step out onto it and flattens the rocker to generate more speed and trim while noseriding. To amplify this flexing characteristic, we ordered a custom cedar "wedge" stringer, which means the stringer is narrow (1/8") at the nose and gradually widens out to 3/4" in the tail, which allows the nose more flex than a stringer that is the same width all the way through. We rounded this board out w/ a beautiful redwood tail block. It looks really classic! Contrary to most of my boards lately, we're going real simple with a clear glass job and a turquoise/blue resin panel inside the step deck to really highlight the beauty of the stringer and tail block. I sent this one off to the Santa Cruz Board Builder's Guild right before I left for MI and am anxiously awaiting to see the finished product. Thanks for checking in!

In Stock at Sleeping Bear Surf and Kayak (Well, kinda)

Hello fellow Migrators! I've just returned from a family vacation to the pinky region of the Mitten. I've literally been going there since I was born and that place still holds a spell over me that I've never been able to fully express. We have AMAZING friends up there that own a quaint little surf shop at the end of M72 in the small village of Empire called Sleeping Bear Surf and Kayak. If you head up there, you've got to visit them. They are such great people! Anyway, they asked me if I would build a couple boards for their shop a couple months ago and I happily obliged. I built a 9'6" x 23" x 3 5/16" Grebe noserider for them that I stocked in the shop last week Saturday. I'd love to tell all of you to race up there and get it, but their surf instructor decided to snag it on Wednesday before anyone else, so it's already been sold! Not to fear, we are going to stock them with a quad fish very soon and hopefully going to replace the longboard not too long after that! So in the mean time, enjoy the pics and keep Migrating!

Back In Stock at TCSS

We have 4 brand new surfboards back in stock at Third Coast Surf Shop as of this afternoon. Swing by and check them out! I'm really stoked on how they came out and I think you will be too. Get Migrating!

The Xyloband Inspired Board

5'3" x 21 3/4" x 2 7/8". Quad. The idea was to take the Plover in a slightly different direction to handle some more critical waves. The grey is a sanded gloss, while the other colors are buffed out! Looks sweet! Color work inspired by Xylobands. If you know what they are, you'll understand!

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!