Carolina Coast Surf Club Archives

"The Glide" newsletter archive

Spring 2009

“The Glide” – from Tom Proctor

Happy New Year, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter and all other holidays I missed. I apologize to all for not authoring “The Glide” for over 6 months.
To catch up on some business I’d like to thank Susan Radley and Sally Price for their hard work in organizing the float decorating and preparation for the Christmas Parade. Thanks to Andy Benke for making the trip to the beach everyday to post the surf report and Bill Coleman and Hal Coste for making sure the annual Oyster Roast was a success. Susan also a big thanks to you for continuing to arrange & coordinate our monthly Socializin' Surfers events. I understand that we have 2 finalists as candidates for the 1st CCSC College Scholarship and the winner will be awarded on May 15th - thank you Tim Askins, Keith Farley and Bill Zorn for your efforts.
Thanks to our CCSC Web Cam sponsors; Charleston Water Sports, Seels on Sullivan’s, Sottile and Hopkins & Island Reality and welcome Kia Dilling’s Sol Surfers Surf Camp to the page.
This winter was the coldest in a number of years and the small surf was really a downer. It’s bad enough to be forced to put up with cold water and rubber but to have so few good days for almost _ a year drains your enthusiasm. I admire your commitment to stay stoked!
Ten club members and two guests made the annual Costa Rican Safari. The surf was good size as you can tell from Andy’s picture when you login to CCSC. Delta Airlines is the “anti-surfer” airline. For those of you who don’t know they are charging $600 round trip per board. This meant that most everyone on the trip made @ least two attempts to rent boards they could “get wired”. It ate up almost a full day of water time searching the 4 surf shops for rental boards. - I personally have chosen to boycott them and urge everyone to do so when possible. You have to endure connections no matter your choice of airlines out of CHS. You will find most connection cities are less congested than Atlanta!
Finally it’s great to hear our good friend form the old days, Kenny Kirchner, is recovering and is expected to be back in the line-up this summer with his new heart valve.
My forecast is for better than usual summer surf because of the lack of winter swell. I look forward to seeing y’all in the line-up, your help with our summer surf and community service events and of course at the monthly Socializin' Surfers get togethers. You will receive information on the annual meeting and dinner in the next few months.

Keep surfing,
Tom

Sept. 2008

Once again the Annual Meeting & Reunion signals another summer is history. I figured what better time to thank everyone in the club for a GREAT YEAR while I’m hunkered down in Houston awaiting “IKE’s” visit.

It was a pleasure letting all the club members & their guest know how much we had accomplished & the highlights thus far of 2008. For those of you that couldn’t attend the meeting I am going to update you here:

It started in late 2007 with our 1st entry in the East Cooper Christmas Parade. We all owe a debt of gratitude to Sally Price & Susan Radley for co-chairing the committee and for everyone’s hard work. All had a great time & the club got a lot of exposure! I hear they are looking for volunteers to help w/ this year’s float. Please contact Sally Price if you are interested.

We all congratulated & applauded Will & Karen Lucas and Dickey & Beth Hopkins on their 2008 marriages. I was very proud to recognized Dire Askins, our Eastern Surfing Association representative, for taking 1st Place in the 2007/2008 Menehumne Longboard Division.

All on hand expressed thanks to Susan Radley for organizing the Socializing Surfer Monthly Get-togethers that have been very well attended. She is working on October’s venue – it will be posted on the Website soon. I hear the ladies’ “Grunt & Groan” exercise class and “ladies only” morning surf-abouts have attracted a good following. Please feel comfortable contacting Susan if you are interested in participating in these events.

Hal Coste thanked Will Lucas for including several of the founding club members in his latest East Coast Surf Documentary “Board Shorts”. All club members are urged to contact Will or Hal if you are interested in purchasing a copy of Board Shorts or Will’s other productions. (The club has several copies in-stock) Hal also had the honor of presenting awards to Nicholas Sottile, Stephen Sottile, Nancy Price, Sally Price, Keith Farley, Dire Askins, Amiee Jette, Jim Radley & Susan Radley for continuing to improve their surfing skills & pushing to be the best!

Nick Sottile used his humorous side to present his Treasurer’s Report. Our membership continues to grow (over 80 members in good standing) plus The IOP Surf Cam allows us to contribute to & support many surfing oriented community events. We are indebted to the The Sea Cabins for allowing us to erect the CAM & to our sponsors; Seel’s on Sullivan’s, Charleston Watersport, Sottile & Hopkins, LLC & Island Reality! There are still several spots available if you know anyone interested in placing an Ad.

The Surfer Healing event was well represented & financially supported by CCSC as well as members of CCSC alike. This is a national program that allows Autistic children to experience to fun of surfing & a day @ the beach. A special thanks to Tim Askins for getting us involved w/ the event and to Sparky, Sally, Nancy & Susan for their participation @ the beach.

For the 2nd year in a row CCSC was honored to be an Ariel Sponsor for the SC Governor’s Cup of Surfing held on Folly Beach. Thanks to Keith, Mike, Hal, Sparky, Dire & Tim for representing the club on the beach & in the water.

Everyone is excited about the CCSC Scholarship that will be awarded to a senior from BE, Wando or high school attended by club members. Tim Askins volunteered to chair the committee - immediately Keith Farley & Billy Zorn offered to serve. Please contact Tim Askins if you are so inclined to serve on this all-important committee.

Nick Sottile’s & Gill Guerry’s terms on The Board of Directors expires this year. I’d like to express my thanks & that of the club for your service, guidance & hard work. I am proud to announce that Bill Coleman volunteered to take Nick’s position as Treasurer & Bob Dodson volunteered to take Gill’s position as Secretary. Thanks guys!

IKE’s winds are starting to pick up so I must end. Once again thanks to everyone in the club for your help, support & for attending our functions. We are making a difference in the community, having a good time & passing a great tradition on to the next generation of surfers. What could be better!

Keep Surfing,
Tom

June 2008

It's almost mid-year 2008 and this means that things will really start picking up. The water is in the low 70s so your rubber is a thing of the past. The summer season is finally here! Everyone knows that summer on the East Coast is not going to be a wave magnet, but we all have a little more time to be at the beach. A knee-high Saturday in June tends to be a lot more crowded than knee-high Saturday in January.

Twelve of us kicked off the season with a February trip to Nosara, Costa Rica. The surf was chest to double overhead for 8 days. The food was great, and the time spent together was a real treat. I understand, in addition to Costa Rica, we will be looking at surfing adventures in El Salvador, Panama, Peru, or Portugal for our 2008 adventure. I encourage all members and friends to consider going with us!

Special thanks go to Jim and Susan Radley for starting our very successful Socializin' Surfers Happy Hour. (see above)

I look forward to seeing you in the water and hope you will be joining us for all the planned events this summer. Don't forget our Annual Reunion and Club Meeting scheduled over Labor Day Weekend.

Keep surfing,
Tom

January 2008

Happy New Year to all & my wish is 2008 will be your best & most prosperous year yet. 2007 was a fantastic year for Carolina Coast Surf Club. It presented our club with a number of 1st; a lot of comradery as well as some very influential members of the surfing community joining CCSC.

On behalf of your board of directors I’d like to thank everyone that attended the 1st annual Oyster Roast held in February. It was a great success & we hope to see you all on March 8th 2008 for the 2nd annual “shucking”.

Our gratitude goes out to all who participated in both the Adopt -a- Hiway clean up program & spring Surf Get-togethers. Our thanks especially goes out to Hal for his innovative way of preparing our Continental Breakfast @ the events - on an ironing board. Not any ironing board but the very ironing board he claims he uses on overhead days because it is so FAST off the bottom. (he even showed it off in the Christmas Parade – see the photos)

Robert August, “Wingnut” Weaver & Sam August were in town promoting RA’s latest film release as part of a benefit put on @ The Windjammer by our Web Cam Sponsor Charleston Water Sports. Hal, Nick & I met the trio the following day and they accepted our invitation to join CCSC. You can see their membership forms & a picture of us welcoming them to the club below.

As part of our effort to support & promote surfing - CCSC for the 1st time was one of the elite sponsors the South Carolina Governors Cup of Surfing. The Eastern Surfing Association contest was held in August on Folly Beach. I am proud of our club members that competed & placed in the event. It was great exposure for our club!

The jewel of the year was the Annual Meeting & Reunion. Club members, family & friends joined us for the best surf ever in what turned into a 3-day event. Will Lucas, Director / Producer of three East Coast Documentaries & member of CCSC was kind enough to present a pre-release showing of “Board Shorts” @ the annual dinner. The documentary features interviews w/ charter members of CCSC: Lucy Price, Hal Coste, Mike Spence & me.

The year ended w/ the club’s biggest 1st of 2007 & hopefully what will continue to be an annual event - The Mt. Pleasant Christmas Parade. Sally Price & Susan Radley co-chair'd the production & did a super job in planning & coordinating the event THANKS LADIES!!! Everyone was really impressed w/ Nick’s “parade float hot-dogging” however I understand several of his clients are a little concerned that he might show up for their next court appearance in his wetsuit.

We look forward to your participation & attendance @ the events planned for 2008.

Keep surfing,
Tom

May 2007
Late winter and spring 2007 has produced some pretty good days here; however, the surf continues to be unpredictable at best in the Northern Hemisphere. Believe me, the IOP surf conditions are not unique in this respect. I was welcomed by lousy surf at Huntington Beach and San Diego, CA for 5 days in January (knee to waist mush). Costa Rica, of course, held predictable with shoulder to slightly overhead waves for 6 days in February. The Texas Gulf Coast blew me away with atypically consistent waist to chest sets for 3 straight weekends in March. April, normally known for fair to good waves was a bust, but May is starting off with a lot of promise. The Nor’easter on May 7-8 kicked up chest to head high peaks at the pier. I hope this is the signal for a good summer.

I’m stoked because now I can get up at daybreak and see what the surf is doing without having to drive to the pier and check it out. I just login to our SurfCam and voila! The CCSC Surf Cam is LIVE and well thanks to Gill Guerry’s hard work. I urge you to thank Gill personally as well as your Board members and our sponsors. We also ask that you patronize our sponsors.

There is still work to do on the CCSC site. Soon links to buoy, weather and marine forecasts will be available. Links will be established with other Surfcams and surfing-related sites. We urgently need several volunteers to help with posting the daily Surf Report on the site. Please contact Andy Benke if you would like to help.

This newsletter provides Information about a number of activities planned for this summer and fall. The club needs YOUR help in planning and organizing events and trips. Your Board is running out of ideas. Please contact any Board member with ideas. Of greatest importance is your participation at club activities and functions! Make an effort to attend at least 2 functions this summer.

I look forward to seeing you in the water this summer and catching a few waves together.
Keep surfing,
Tom

From Tom Proctor - January 07
Another Christmas has come and gone - I hope it was the best ever for you and yours! The New Year is upon us and here’s wishing you the best that 2007 will offer. I am excited about this new year especially since the CCSC Surf Cam is going online! Your board members worked with the management of the Sea Cabins. They graciously agreed to allow our club to place a Surf Cam facing the southwest side of the IOP Pier.
Additionally, we are working on establishing Links to other cams and surf-related sites on the web. The Web presence and exposure will be great for our club!
As you can see from this edition of our newsletter, your Board is planning and has arranged a number of activities for 2007 which we think will be fun for all members - the January Oyster Roast, another trip to Costa Rica, continuing our Adopt A Highway clean-up community service activity, our Annual Meeting/Dinner, and entering a float for the 2007 Mount Pleasant Christmas Parade! We also want to take some Surf Safaris to nearby beaches in Florida and North Carolina, You are urged to attend and support these functions. Don’t be surprised if you receive a call from a board or committee member asking for your participation. Most of all, don’t be shy - contact any board member by e-mail at carolinacoastsurfclub.org or call us if you would like to help or have suggestions for our club.
Happy New Year! I look forward to surfing with y’all this year!

New Surfboard - What should I buy?
Thoughts by Andy Benke
Almost one year ago the surfboard manufacturing industry was stunned by the unexpected closure of Clark Foam. Gordon “Grubby” Clark had manufactured foam blanks since the early sixties. At the time of closure, the company sold 400,000 blanks annually to shapers worldwide. Supply and demand caused prices to rise. This closure highlighted other construction materials and techniques to be reevaluated. The most noteworthy alternative has been the combination of epoxy resin with polystyrene foam blanks. Epoxy resin is more environmentally friendly and less toxic. In traditional fiberglass technology polyurethane is used. A traditional fiberglass board is hand shaped or CNC (computer controlled) machine shaped out of foam core. These machine shaped boards are referred to as PU Pees (poo pees).
Hand shaped epoxy boards are very similar to traditional polyurethane boards. The only significant difference is the foam core and resin bases.
There are advantages and disadvantages to both polyurethane/polyester and polystyrene/epoxy constructions. With regard to traditional boards, a buyer should be cautious of the foam origin. New entrants in the business do not have Grubby’s experience, product quality control, or the choice of products he offered. Likewise, a PuPe does not equate to a hand shaped surfboard. Rich Barbour, Bill Stewart, or Donald Takayama do not hand shape every board with their name on it. Much of the work is done by a computer controlled machine. On the other hand, buyers will find that an EPS molded board with better strength fares well when transferred at airports or in and out of the garage. Also, a buyer can count on having the same identical shape with each subsequent purchase if desired. Finally, a hand shaped polystyrene/epoxy board is less destructive to the environment and easier on the body of your shaper/laminator.
Did you know? ...
... that director Bruce Brown was only 25 years old during the filming of The Endless Summer. Originally, the crew only planned on traveling to South Africa, but Brown found it was less expensive to continue to travel in one direction around the world. The only way to get to South Africa on a one-way ticket was to travel to countries like Senegal and Ghana. At the time of the filming, the sport was only known to exist in four countries.




"The Glide" newsletter archive Spring 2009 “The Glide” – from Tom Proctor Happy New Year, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter and all other holidays I missed. I apologize to all for not authoring “The Glide” for over 6 months. To catch up on some business I’d like to thank Susan Radley and Sally Price for their hard work in organizing the float decorating and preparation for the Christmas Parade. Thanks to Andy Benke for making the trip to the beach everyday to post the surf report and Bill Coleman and Hal Coste for making sure the annual Oyster Roast was a success. Susan also a big thanks to you for continuing to arrange & coordinate our monthly Socializin' Surfers events. I understand that we have 2 finalists as candidates for the 1st CCSC College Scholarship and the winner will be awarded on May 15th - thank you Tim Askins, Keith Farley and Bill Zorn for your efforts. Thanks to our CCSC Web Cam sponsors; Charleston Water Sports, Seels on Sullivan’s, Sottile and Hopkins & Island Reality and welcome Kia Dilling’s Sol Surfers Surf Camp to the page. This winter was the coldest in a number of years and the small surf was really a downer. It’s bad enough to be forced to put up with cold water and rubber but to have so few good days for almost _ a year drains your enthusiasm. I admire your commitment to stay stoked! Ten club members and two guests made the annual Costa Rican Safari. The surf was good size as you can tell from Andy’s picture when you login to CCSC. Delta Airlines is the “anti-surfer” airline. For those of you who don’t know they are charging $600 round trip per board. This meant that most everyone on the trip made @ least two attempts to rent boards they could “get wired”. It ate up almost a full day of water time searching the 4 surf shops for rental boards. - I personally have chosen to boycott them and urge everyone to do so when possible. You have to endure connections no matter your choice of airlines out of CHS. You will find most connection cities are less congested than Atlanta! Finally it’s great to hear our good friend form the old days, Kenny Kirchner, is recovering and is expected to be back in the line-up this summer with his new heart valve. My forecast is for better than usual summer surf because of the lack of winter swell. I look forward to seeing y’all in the line-up, your help with our summer surf and community service events and of course at the monthly Socializin' Surfers get togethers. You will receive information on the annual meeting and dinner in the next few months. Keep surfing, Tom Sept. 2008 Once again the Annual Meeting & Reunion signals another summer is history. I figured what better time to thank everyone in the club for a GREAT YEAR while I’m hunkered down in Houston awaiting “IKE’s” visit. It was a pleasure letting all the club members & their guest know how much we had accomplished & the highlights thus far of 2008. For those of you that couldn’t attend the meeting I am going to update you here: It started in late 2007 with our 1st entry in the East Cooper Christmas Parade. We all owe a debt of gratitude to Sally Price & Susan Radley for co-chairing the committee and for everyone’s hard work. All had a great time & the club got a lot of exposure! I hear they are looking for volunteers to help w/ this year’s float. Please contact Sally Price if you are interested. We all congratulated & applauded Will & Karen Lucas and Dickey & Beth Hopkins on their 2008 marriages. I was very proud to recognized Dire Askins, our Eastern Surfing Association representative, for taking 1st Place in the 2007/2008 Menehumne Longboard Division. All on hand expressed thanks to Susan Radley for organizing the Socializing Surfer Monthly Get-togethers that have been very well attended. She is working on October’s venue – it will be posted on the Website soon. I hear the ladies’ “Grunt & Groan” exercise class and “ladies only” morning surf-abouts have attracted a good following. Please feel comfortable contacting Susan if you are interested in participating in these events. Hal Coste thanked Will Lucas for including several of the founding club members in his latest East Coast Surf Documentary “Board Shorts”. All club members are urged to contact Will or Hal if you are interested in purchasing a copy of Board Shorts or Will’s other productions. (The club has several copies in-stock) Hal also had the honor of presenting awards to Nicholas Sottile, Stephen Sottile, Nancy Price, Sally Price, Keith Farley, Dire Askins, Amiee Jette, Jim Radley & Susan Radley for continuing to improve their surfing skills & pushing to be the best! Nick Sottile used his humorous side to present his Treasurer’s Report. Our membership continues to grow (over 80 members in good standing) plus The IOP Surf Cam allows us to contribute to & support many surfing oriented community events. We are indebted to the The Sea Cabins for allowing us to erect the CAM & to our sponsors; Seel’s on Sullivan’s, Charleston Watersport, Sottile & Hopkins, LLC & Island Reality! There are still several spots available if you know anyone interested in placing an Ad. The Surfer Healing event was well represented & financially supported by CCSC as well as members of CCSC alike. This is a national program that allows Autistic children to experience to fun of surfing & a day @ the beach. A special thanks to Tim Askins for getting us involved w/ the event and to Sparky, Sally, Nancy & Susan for their participation @ the beach. For the 2nd year in a row CCSC was honored to be an Ariel Sponsor for the SC Governor’s Cup of Surfing held on Folly Beach. Thanks to Keith, Mike, Hal, Sparky, Dire & Tim for representing the club on the beach & in the water. Everyone is excited about the CCSC Scholarship that will be awarded to a senior from BE, Wando or high school attended by club members. Tim Askins volunteered to chair the committee - immediately Keith Farley & Billy Zorn offered to serve. Please contact Tim Askins if you are so inclined to serve on this all-important committee. Nick Sottile’s & Gill Guerry’s terms on The Board of Directors expires this year. I’d like to express my thanks & that of the club for your service, guidance & hard work. I am proud to announce that Bill Coleman volunteered to take Nick’s position as Treasurer & Bob Dodson volunteered to take Gill’s position as Secretary. Thanks guys! IKE’s winds are starting to pick up so I must end. Once again thanks to everyone in the club for your help, support & for attending our functions. We are making a difference in the community, having a good time & passing a great tradition on to the next generation of surfers. What could be better! Keep Surfing, Tom June 2008 It's almost mid-year 2008 and this means that things will really start picking up. The water is in the low 70s so your rubber is a thing of the past. The summer season is finally here! Everyone knows that summer on the East Coast is not going to be a wave magnet, but we all have a little more time to be at the beach. A knee-high Saturday in June tends to be a lot more crowded than knee-high Saturday in January. Twelve of us kicked off the season with a February trip to Nosara, Costa Rica. The surf was chest to double overhead for 8 days. The food was great, and the time spent together was a real treat. I understand, in addition to Costa Rica, we will be looking at surfing adventures in El Salvador, Panama, Peru, or Portugal for our 2008 adventure. I encourage all members and friends to consider going with us! Special thanks go to Jim and Susan Radley for starting our very successful Socializin' Surfers Happy Hour. (see above) I look forward to seeing you in the water and hope you will be joining us for all the planned events this summer. Don't forget our Annual Reunion and Club Meeting scheduled over Labor Day Weekend. Keep surfing, Tom January 2008 Happy New Year to all & my wish is 2008 will be your best & most prosperous year yet. 2007 was a fantastic year for Carolina Coast Surf Club. It presented our club with a number of 1st; a lot of comradery as well as some very influential members of the surfing community joining CCSC. On behalf of your board of directors I’d like to thank everyone that attended the 1st annual Oyster Roast held in February. It was a great success & we hope to see you all on March 8th 2008 for the 2nd annual “shucking”. Our gratitude goes out to all who participated in both the Adopt -a- Hiway clean up program & spring Surf Get-togethers. Our thanks especially goes out to Hal for his innovative way of preparing our Continental Breakfast @ the events - on an ironing board. Not any ironing board but the very ironing board he claims he uses on overhead days because it is so FAST off the bottom. (he even showed it off in the Christmas Parade – see the photos) Robert August, “Wingnut” Weaver & Sam August were in town promoting RA’s latest film release as part of a benefit put on @ The Windjammer by our Web Cam Sponsor Charleston Water Sports. Hal, Nick & I met the trio the following day and they accepted our invitation to join CCSC. You can see their membership forms & a picture of us welcoming them to the club below. As part of our effort to support & promote surfing - CCSC for the 1st time was one of the elite sponsors the South Carolina Governors Cup of Surfing. The Eastern Surfing Association contest was held in August on Folly Beach. I am proud of our club members that competed & placed in the event. It was great exposure for our club! The jewel of the year was the Annual Meeting & Reunion. Club members, family & friends joined us for the best surf ever in what turned into a 3-day event. Will Lucas, Director / Producer of three East Coast Documentaries & member of CCSC was kind enough to present a pre-release showing of “Board Shorts” @ the annual dinner. The documentary features interviews w/ charter members of CCSC: Lucy Price, Hal Coste, Mike Spence & me. The year ended w/ the club’s biggest 1st of 2007 & hopefully what will continue to be an annual event - The Mt. Pleasant Christmas Parade. Sally Price & Susan Radley co-chair'd the production & did a super job in planning & coordinating the event THANKS LADIES!!! Everyone was really impressed w/ Nick’s “parade float hot-dogging” however I understand several of his clients are a little concerned that he might show up for their next court appearance in his wetsuit. We look forward to your participation & attendance @ the events planned for 2008. Keep surfing, Tom May 2007 Late winter and spring 2007 has produced some pretty good days here; however, the surf continues to be unpredictable at best in the Northern Hemisphere. Believe me, the IOP surf conditions are not unique in this respect. I was welcomed by lousy surf at Huntington Beach and San Diego, CA for 5 days in January (knee to waist mush). Costa Rica, of course, held predictable with shoulder to slightly overhead waves for 6 days in February. The Texas Gulf Coast blew me away with atypically consistent waist to chest sets for 3 straight weekends in March. April, normally known for fair to good waves was a bust, but May is starting off with a lot of promise. The Nor’easter on May 7-8 kicked up chest to head high peaks at the pier. I hope this is the signal for a good summer. I’m stoked because now I can get up at daybreak and see what the surf is doing without having to drive to the pier and check it out. I just login to our SurfCam and voila! The CCSC Surf Cam is LIVE and well thanks to Gill Guerry’s hard work. I urge you to thank Gill personally as well as your Board members and our sponsors. We also ask that you patronize our sponsors. There is still work to do on the CCSC site. Soon links to buoy, weather and marine forecasts will be available. Links will be established with other Surfcams and surfing-related sites. We urgently need several volunteers to help with posting the daily Surf Report on the site. Please contact Andy Benke if you would like to help. This newsletter provides Information about a number of activities planned for this summer and fall. The club needs YOUR help in planning and organizing events and trips. Your Board is running out of ideas. Please contact any Board member with ideas. Of greatest importance is your participation at club activities and functions! Make an effort to attend at least 2 functions this summer. I look forward to seeing you in the water this summer and catching a few waves together. Keep surfing, Tom From Tom Proctor - January 07 Another Christmas has come and gone - I hope it was the best ever for you and yours! The New Year is upon us and here’s wishing you the best that 2007 will offer. I am excited about this new year especially since the CCSC Surf Cam is going online! Your board members worked with the management of the Sea Cabins. They graciously agreed to allow our club to place a Surf Cam facing the southwest side of the IOP Pier. Additionally, we are working on establishing Links to other cams and surf-related sites on the web. The Web presence and exposure will be great for our club! As you can see from this edition of our newsletter, your Board is planning and has arranged a number of activities for 2007 which we think will be fun for all members - the January Oyster Roast, another trip to Costa Rica, continuing our Adopt A Highway clean-up community service activity, our Annual Meeting/Dinner, and entering a float for the 2007 Mount Pleasant Christmas Parade! We also want to take some Surf Safaris to nearby beaches in Florida and North Carolina, You are urged to attend and support these functions. Don’t be surprised if you receive a call from a board or committee member asking for your participation. Most of all, don’t be shy - contact any board member by e-mail at carolinacoastsurfclub.org or call us if you would like to help or have suggestions for our club. Happy New Year! I look forward to surfing with y’all this year! New Surfboard - What should I buy? Thoughts by Andy Benke Almost one year ago the surfboard manufacturing industry was stunned by the unexpected closure of Clark Foam. Gordon “Grubby” Clark had manufactured foam blanks since the early sixties. At the time of closure, the company sold 400,000 blanks annually to shapers worldwide. Supply and demand caused prices to rise. This closure highlighted other construction materials and techniques to be reevaluated. The most noteworthy alternative has been the combination of epoxy resin with polystyrene foam blanks. Epoxy resin is more environmentally friendly and less toxic. In traditional fiberglass technology polyurethane is used. A traditional fiberglass board is hand shaped or CNC (computer controlled) machine shaped out of foam core. These machine shaped boards are referred to as PU Pees (poo pees). Hand shaped epoxy boards are very similar to traditional polyurethane boards. The only significant difference is the foam core and resin bases. There are advantages and disadvantages to both polyurethane/polyester and polystyrene/epoxy constructions. With regard to traditional boards, a buyer should be cautious of the foam origin. New entrants in the business do not have Grubby’s experience, product quality control, or the choice of products he offered. Likewise, a PuPe does not equate to a hand shaped surfboard. Rich Barbour, Bill Stewart, or Donald Takayama do not hand shape every board with their name on it. Much of the work is done by a computer controlled machine. On the other hand, buyers will find that an EPS molded board with better strength fares well when transferred at airports or in and out of the garage. Also, a buyer can count on having the same identical shape with each subsequent purchase if desired. Finally, a hand shaped polystyrene/epoxy board is less destructive to the environment and easier on the body of your shaper/laminator. Did you know? ... ... that director Bruce Brown was only 25 years old during the filming of The Endless Summer. Originally, the crew only planned on traveling to South Africa, but Brown found it was less expensive to continue to travel in one direction around the world. The only way to get to South Africa on a one-way ticket was to travel to countries like Senegal and Ghana. At the time of the filming, the sport was only known to exist in four countries.