We wanted to take a few minutes to thank everyone involved, from our invited guests to every one of the four hundred or so that attended for an absolutely amazing Surf Re-Evolution. We heard from more then one person that it was an inspiring, eye opening event that clearly touched hearts and minds as we hoped it would.

We had a packed house in the Grain shop with glassing demonstration by Rey from Entropy Resin with their 50% bio based resins. Our good friend Tyler from Corduroy Gallery transformed an old dairy barn into a stunning art gallery and theater. Cyrus Sutton’s film “Under the Sun” was played in the barn to a crowd of 120+ people. From there our panel discussion took place with guests including Thomas Meyerhoffer, Jon Wegener, Ed Lewis, Rey Banatao, and Randy Budd. Outside, we were dazzled by the sounds of Speed of Sand, our appetites were satisfied by mouth watering treats like Flat Bread Pizza, cotton candy and popcorn. And as the sun went down, everyone gathered under the nearly full moon for the east coast premiere of “Manufacturing Stoke”. What party would be complete without a giant bonfire to light up the night.

We also need to thank Eco-Movement for helping to make this a zero waste event, Surfrider’s New Hampshire chapter for helping to educate people on water quality issues, Eastern Surf Magazine for spreading the word, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery for the libations and of course Korduroy.tv for their support both before the event and the night of.

When a group like this gets together, there is a powerful message being sent… that it’s time for a change in the surf industry and time to begin thinking about where your products are coming from. It’s time to begin supporting people who are venturing outside of the norm, whether it be new shapes, better construction, greener materials, or a DIY ethic. Together we can make a re-evolutionary change.

We’ve already begun thinking about how we can make next year’s event bigger and better. So thanks to everyone who attended for making this a really special day.

The shop’s been humming the last few days primping for what we hope will be a great time on Saturday. Besides all the interesting invited guests we’ve been blogging about, we’re going to make sure there’s plenty of fun to be had once we abandon the beach and head back to the farm. Here’s the full schedule.

We lined up three separate friends with good hearts and the whimsical foresight to own carnival carts that serve up popcorn, cotton candy and shave ice. Eat ’til you’re sick.

The surfers that run Flatbread Pizza will be here with their mobile pizza rig to serve really, really good pies that are a shop favorite. Salivation is in order.

Amazing Dogfish Head brews will be served to those so inclined and of legal age until there’s only foam to be found.

Tyler Briggs, the engine behind Corduroy Gallery has curated a cool art show in the hay barn featuring favorite artists that share with all of us a deep love and connection to the sea and the waves.

The soundtrack for the day will be provided by Speed of Sand, which sounds like the 60′s, but feels like now.

Plus bring along some old gear that needs a little extra something, and you can get an embroidered Grain Patch (same as on our truckers) sewn on by our pal Jenny who’s coming with a sewing machine, some thread and a bright smile. Bring hats, clothes, courier bags, back packs, board bags, canvas beach/shopping bags – any old thing you got that could use a facelift.

AND we’ll be showing not one, but two great films – “Under the Sun” shot by the inspiring Cyrus Sutton with ancient 16mm cameras, and the East Coast premier of the “documentary with surfing” called “Manufacturing Stoke” by Pierce Kavanagh. Both of those guys will be here to introduce their films and chat with aspiring filmmakers.

If you can find a way to take full advantage of all that fun, AND still have time to talk with guys like Ed Lewis and Mark Marchesi – hand plane makers from opposite sides of the country, you deserve an award. See you there!

PineKnot Surfboards is the work of one man in his basement in New Jersey. Entering Randy Budd’s workshop one gets the sense of a mad scientist in his laboratory. Always experimenting with new shapes he’s crafted everything from alaia’s to handplanes to planning hulls, using mostly reclaimed wood. One of the most generous people we have met, Randy offered roadside help to me (while on the East Coast Ramble) if I was anywhere within 100 miles of Randy’s home. As it turned out, the Pug broke down on the NJ turnpike. Randy got there before the tow truck and brought me home for lunch!

We’ve bumped into Kevin Cunningham, the mind behind Spirare Surfboards, over years of attending events like Sacred Craft and shows at Corduroy Gallery in Portland Maine. Kevin is a mix of designer, surfer, artist that may not be that uncommon in the world of surfboards, but for his creative and unusual application of his skills and passions.

The first thing that impressed us about his work was the wood honey-comb interiors surrounded by parabolic wood rails that formed the basis of surfboards we saw him showing. Though he also has a full line of standard polyurethane foam/polyester resin boards, he’s expanded his interest in sustainable surfboard construction into an exploration of boards made entirely of beach trash. We haven’t seen any of these fascinating “trash boards” yet, but we’ll hear all about them when Kevin joins the panel discussion we’re having at Surf Re-Evolution starting at 6:30 pm on September 10.

Here’s a little vid from his recent Kickstarter campaign:

We met Thomas Meyerhoffer for the first time just about two months ago while he was passing through town on a demo tour and we hit it off right from the start. Thomas’s designs represent some serious out-of-the-box thinking adhering to few of the constraints that many surfboard shapers take as gospel. And when you combine his out-of-this-world shapes with our passion for pushing the boundaries of what can be done with wood, well, the gears just start turning.

Thomas’s shapes are like three boards in one, which really makes sense as there is often never more then a few feet of board in the water at a given time. Longboards that catch waves easily, but then handle more like a shortboard… who doesn’t love that. Come by the beach from 10am-2pm and get a board under your feet, then come back to the shop for some tech talk with him and with all of the other shapers and thinkers who will be here.

Look forward to seeing you.

meyerhoffer 2 from meyerhoffer surf.

Sustainable surfboards… we often wonder if there will ever be one. Obviously, using non-renewable, non-recycled or even non-recyclable materials gets you nowhere near it – even our choice to use sustainably harvested local woods doesn’t get us there. But one step further forward is based on the work of Rey Banatao, a committed surfer/chemist/enviro-warrior – if you can believe a combo like that can live inside one guy. Rey and his team at Entropy Resins have busted their butts to figure out the first really practical and high quality resin based on organic material that they siphon off the waste streams of other industrial activities.

Entropy Resins is a company that we feel a great affinity with – they are rootsy, committed, and much smarter than we ever could hope to be. Rey’s been tireless in analyzing the performance of his resin, reacting to feedback, and continually making a better product. Because up to half of their resin content consists of organic waste, and because we’ve been working with this magic stuff for over a year, we are totally excited that Rey will be out here for Surf Re-Evolution to talk about their work, what motivates them, and of the challenges and victories of forging a new path in sustainable materials. Check the Surf Re-Evolution schedule for a 4:30 pm glassing demo that Rey will do for those attending the event on September 10… he’ll talk us through the best practices for glassing using Entropy resin, and show us all a thing or two about thinking out of the box.

A beauty glass-job with Entropy Resins by Eco-Boardworks.

You simply cannot love wooden surfboards without having heard about the nearly heroic efforts of the Wegener brothers to bring the ancient Hawaii’n Alaia back into the modern day spotlight. Since discovering these ancient sliding devices at the Bishop Museum, Jon and his brother Tom have all but dedicated their lives to convincing surfers today that our surfing predecessors had more skill, both in shaping and surfing, then we may have given them credit for.

Jon is coming all the way from California to show us New England surfers what he’s known for years, that fins are overrated. We even convinced Jon to come out early, so he’ll be teaching a class for the few days leading up to the event, and each student will take home their own hand-shaped Alaia. It’s not too late to sign up. Otherwise, we’ll see you on the 10th for Surf Re-Evolution.

In the weeks leading up to Surf Re-Evolution, we’re going to do a series of short blogs introducing some of the invited guests coming to the event. We hope you enjoy learning about some of these dedicated shapers, product engineers and creative talents, and we really hope it will inspire you to come out and be part of what we know will be an amazing day.

Ed Lewis was inspired when he and his friend Kipp Denslow started Enjoy Handplanes. Made completely from broken foam surfboards, offcuts from manufacturing processes, and old wetsuits, Enjoy Handplanes are as green as they are fun. Their mission is to keep broken boards and manufacturing waste from the landfills while creating products that are fun to use and environmentally responsible.

We’re honored to have Enjoy coming all the way out from Southern California to attend Surf Re-Evolution and we’re looking forward to showing them a good time and hopefully some good fall swell. Come on down and meet Ed and try out his planes. You’ll be buying a set of Churchills before you know it.

Enjoy The Ride from Ed Lewis.

Buy your tickets online now and save a few bucks. $12 online, $15 day of the event.