My Murray Fish: On the Wall
Jamie's Blog Here

I really love my Jamie Murray fish. Been riding it for over a year now and had it out in everything from the neck cracking close-out barrels of Doran Beach, to the chunky windblown Salmon days, to soft and shapely Costa Rica, also some trips to Southern Cal and point surf of Santa Cruz. Of course I’ve had it out in some of those north coast days where it all came together with perfect bars, tides, size, friends. I’ve had a few of those too, well maybe a couple.

My approach to these spots, their waves and all those sessions has evolved across these 14-months and I believe I owe it to this board that Jamie shaped for me. The shift was really about the mindset that my fish (or me on my fish) really wants to stay 'on the wall'. Wall speed, wall angles, wall shapes, …glide, snap, stall, whatever as long as it’s “on the wall.” I have a lot to learn about this, because in the past I’ve been caught up just trying to get to the bottom and the top of the wave.

The board:
This board is NOT a hybrid this or retro that. It is a fish  5’8” with that characteristic deep swallow tail. It’s nice and thick in the middle with a good expanse of low curvature for speed. The only modern additions are 1. It’s a quad, and 2. it has a single winger cut about 10” from the bottom.





Wall Love
We were told (next to the barbecue by Drew R. a couple summers ago) about a unique idea and design element of the first fish boards (with the classic combo of ‘broad keel’ twin fins and deep swallow tail). This idea was --> that when you set up and trim on a solid and steep wave, the cue is edged in with one half of that swallow and its corresponding fin (keel). You setup on a wall in this manner and, voila! You are riding a single fin pintail replete with all it’s speed, tracking, glide and drawn out lines. This is just something that I heard and I found it interesting, but I can tell you I DO NOT surf this way. I probably should, but I don’t.

Where I find ‘wall love’, and my favorite sessions, is when I break out of my tendency to want to go straight to the bottom (bottom turn) then back straight up to the top turn. I’ve found my best fish sessions happen when I get into turns well before the bottom of the wave and really strive to do all pumping, cutbacking, trim, gouge, etc. all on the wall. The Murray fish really “fits” into this world and is really crying out for that critically hot energy.

Rasta is seen right here, staying --> "On the Wall"



Check out Jamie's Blog Here. There is some excellent prose and pics of boards, surf and random scruff

New Board Report to Dave Vernor from Jack Murphy

Dave – Here’s my report on the new board you just made for me. Since I’m posting it on the blog where others will see it I’ll list here that my board is:

Length - 6’8”
Tail - Round Pin
With Suspension
Material - Poly (not EPS)
Fin Setup – Quad
Thickness - 2 7/16"


First I want say that I just had (on Saturday Jan. 10th) one of the best surf sessions I've ever had ...ever!!! Before I talk about my turns, drops and cutbacks, I should mention the conditions were also some of my favorite: 5-8 foot waves on a wide open west-facing beach break working on the outer bars. Generally glassy with light puffs of offshores and the peak we were working was fairly broad, although serving up plenty of workable shoulders and also long walls along the beginning section (peak) that you could race along with a good chance of making it. Not really breaking top-to-bottom, but more rampy. So you get the picture. It was my second session on the board and we surfed for about 2.5 hours. Just for the record I was with Jon Day and his friend Heather from Carpenteria.

Top Turns
My turns at (or near) the lip were pretty frequent and what I remember about them was how controlled they felt. By controlled I mean that I really felt locked in during my turns and it really seemed that once committing to my turn it actually unfolded along this broad radius. This is SOOOO different than what I've been experiencing on my 5'8" quad fish, which is more like skating to the coping in a pool by rising to the top then snapping around and coming straight back down. Don't know if this really captures the experience but the short statement is I was really able to carve turns. Which brings me to the next point...

Cutbacks
Every time I got in the middle of my turns (and that controlled radius) I just felt so psyched to just gouge in deep and complete the circle with a gratifying cutback. Now mind you, I'm not trying to say that I am good enough to do this amazing 540 degree Tom Curran cutback, but I am saying they felt GOOD, ...really good. And I came out of them with speed and was able to do it all over again on the same wave. That's bordering on unprecedented for me and I was just so fired up after some of my rides. So happy. So fun.

Down the line speed
I really felt the speed of this board, and mostly in cases where I had to pump around a falling section. Also immediately after bottom turns. There was one particularly steep drop going backside where (with my limited skill) it was all I could do to make the drop, then hold steady on my rail to make the racing wall. It was fast, it was stable and extremely fun. And the fact the wave was a few feet overhead, it was also a pretty decent testament to the fact that this was also meant to be my stepup board.

Drops
I caught so many waves and made some pretty steep drops. So I'm happy I went with Poly instead of EPS.

Well that's it. I hope you appreciate the write-up because I REALLY appreciate what you've made. Amazing quality and it really hit the mark for me.

Feel free to cut and paste this for your site if you'd like or better yet you can link to this post which would be really cool too to see some connections over from your website. Take care and "Keep surfing. No matter what."

Jack

Surfrider Foundation Mtg. in Valley Ford Jan. 29th!

Sonoma Coast Chapter
The Surfrider Foundation

Is having a REORGANIZATION meeting
PLUS
Bonus 1Hr Local Video from Sun 11/30/08!

Thursday January 29th
at 7:30pm
Rocker Oysterfellers @
VALLEY FORD INN
14415 Hwy 1, Valley Ford Ca
http://www.rockeroysterfellers.com


This meeting is to identify people that would
be interested in volunteering to help run our
local chapter. Its time for some new blood to
step forward and start putting some of your
good energy into operating the
Sonoma Coast Chapter

The Surfrider Foundation is a non-profit environmental organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the World’s waves, oceans and beaches, for all people, through conservation, activism, research and education.