We spent two years putting together the Nike girls film “Leave a Message” (watch it here https://vimeo.com/24900605) and went on some really fun and memorable trips. This shot of Coco is from a boat trip to the Mentawai Islands. I’ve been doing trips with Coco since she was just a little grom, and she is always fun to have along. I’ve always liked this shot and recently it was used as the cover of Freesurf Magazine in Hawaii.
I first saw handplanes a few years back, well before it was common place to see a handful of head bobbing in the lineup, and I was intrigued by them. I love riding waves, and I love riding waves on various crafts: shortboards, fishes, mini simmons, SUP’s, they’re all good, and all fun, so needless to say I wanted to check these things out. As my quest to figure out what these little planks were all about (all I needed as a grom was a McDonalds trey), I was told that I had to get in touch with Gary Murphy of Brownfish handplanes. Supposedly Gary was some sort of Handplane Guru, the man to talk to. Finally one morning I had a bit of time and so I dragged my assistant Kevin along with me and we headed down to Seaside Reef to meet this Brownfish guy and see what it was all about. The waves were average at best, but Gary had kindly brought a few samples along and got us out in the water. One wave later I was hooked, and I mean hooting like a grom that got his first tube hooked. The thing is, handplanes make anything fun, period, end of story. Too small, too fast, too crowded? Doesn’t matter. As Gary says, “Its always overhead when you’re lying down”.
We traded off waves for well over an hour that day, and I can honestly say it was one of the more enjoyable sessions that I can remember. We got to talking with Gary on the beach afterwards where he explained that he had been shaping a few surfboards just as a hobby when he found a crewd fencepost turned handplaned washed up on the beach. With his shaping skills already in place Gary figured he’d try his hand at making one of these mini wave riders, and that was all it took. A few months later Gary invited me down to check out his operation, so once again Kevin and I hit the road to see what he was all about, and spent the afternoon shooting him shaping. From his shaping bay the guy is constantly tweaking shapes, sizes, bottom contours, and various other design aspects in order to make what many, including myself, consider the very best handplanes out there. He truly is the Handplane guru, and his wide range of planes will keep you in the water and keep you stoked.
If you want to get your hands on one of these masterpieces check out http://www.brownfishhandplanes.com tell him I sent you and he’ll probably charge you double
brownfish from Kevin Voegtlin on Vimeo.
You may be noticing an increased number of alternate surf crafts in the water these days: especially the mini simmons. These retro hulls make any wave fun, to be honest they have become my go to board. From Creek to Mex to Indo, the mini is comin. Don’t think the resurrection of these boards is anything new though, while digging through the archives I came across this three year old shot of Dane and his mini-inspired Channel Islands on the Gold Coast. It really comes as no surprise that some one like Dane would be keen early on to how good these little guys are.
This image was taken on a recent trip to Indonesia. The waves got small for a few days and we had to find some ways to get creative, the crystal clear water and shallow reefs make for some unique photos of the world below. We were fortunate enough to have a beautiful custom wood board, shaped by our friend Kevin Cunningham, on board: really setting this photo apart. For more on Kevin’s board check out his company at www.SpirareSurfboards.com
Indonesia is an amazing place, but being that it is on the entire opposite side of the world, it makes for quite the trek getting there. This trip we had a day to kill in Hong Kong while waiting for our connecting flight. Wandering the city was an eye opening experience to say the least, look for some pretty neat video and imagery from our wanderings coming shortly.
