For Japan: Three four fives and a five two

It’s always a great compliment when people travel from afar to take a class at our shop. And about a year ago, a guy named Mori came all the way from Japan just to build a board here in Maine. It seemed that Mori, recently laid off from his job, was casting about a bit trying to figure out what was next for him. Somehow it occurred to him that hanging around in Maine for a week would be a good idea. We had a great time with Mori – he was so fun to talk to, and so completely stoked on the boards and the surf we got that week that it was a perfect.

While building his own 6′5″ Seed, he got to know our friend Ty Williams who then ended up flying over to Japan for a visit. The two palled around for a while, heading off to Bali for some surf and generally enjoying life. Back in Japan, but tired of the rat race, Mori decided it was time to make a change. So he joined forces with Akio, a good friend of his, and helped along by Ty’s creative input, they created a new surf shop in Kanagawa, Japan called “Buoys”.

While Mori was here, he had a chance to try several of our designs (and Ty’s had a wood board for years) but it wasn’t ’til Buoys was coming together that they started talking about our boards for the new shop. After talking it over, Akio placed an order for four Paipos including an experimental 5′2″ that we’re really excited about. I guess you never know how one thing will lead to another: Mori coming here out of pure love of the idea of surfing wood, leading to a web of friendships that ended in our sharing our boards with Japan.

We feel so lucky to have grown these friendships, and to have had the opportunity to build boards for this special shop. We also know how excited the guys at Buoys are to have these cool Paipos to share with their customers, so if you live near Kanagawa, be sure to stop by.