willy's bobby d diamond tail, a little uh oh!!! from rob royal! and some help for timmy!!!

bobby sent me this via surfapig@live.com:Hey Mike, Here's some photos of the first board I shaped after my amputation. It took me a while to get back into the shaping room and I hope I can make one of these for myself here soon. I shaped this for my bro Willy from NJ. He was extremely patient while waiting for this. I just took my pig template that John Cherry had made up for my first board and changed a few lines on the aft end to give it a nice rounded diamond tail. Willy said he's never ridden a board that was so easy to maneuver and that stays in the pocket like this. I'm really stoked on his ride report. It had been about a year since I had shaped and was hoping he would be satisfied. Double 8 Deck and 8 Bottom with a flawless job and tint by Michael Miller. And beautiful Brazilian Jatoba D fin by John Cherry.I have to give Bird and Bird's Surf Shed many thanks for letting me shape this out of his room in the shed. It was a real honor to have shaped this in a place surrounded by so much history and great people. Cheers Brother,Bobby



bobby's stoke is genuine! that board speaks for itself. INSANE!!! my buddy rob royal emailed me the pics below. he's working at the glass shop over there. NICE!!!!

mister griffster sent me the information below:

Recently, I found out that one of the UK's most talented surfboard builders, Tim Mason and wife Kate, lost their 7 year old son, Timmy, to terminal cancer. Timmy was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare solid tumor, in June 2008 After 3 years of intensive treatment Timmy sadly passed away on the 11th October 2011. Anyone who has met Tim will know that he's one of the most honest and nicest people in surf culture. As a testament to this the Mason family have started a trust in Timmy's name to help other children and their families when they most need support.

Not only do i think that's an amazingly benevolent act but Timmy is an inspiration in himself. Tim was quoted in a BBC article as saying;

"He never cried. His spirit was very much to help others," Tim said.

This little boy is twice the man I am.

Tim continues "When Timmy died our battle against cancer did not stop. We wanted to continue fighting cancer. That way we did not feel the battle had been lost."

"We hope to help as many as we can, as best we can, and know this is exactly what Timmy would have wanted."
When you hear news like that having stuff stuck on a shelf for sentimental reasons just seems such a waste. So this is an auction for these collectables where all money received will go to The Timmy Mason Trust so that Timmy's legacy may live on, helping other children when they need it most. This is the vital bit. In order to become a fully fledged charity in the UK Timmy's Trust needs £5000 in the bank through donations to achieve official charity status. So any money raised through this auction will be a great help in establishing the Trust and most importantly getting the money to this children and families who are suffering.

It would be great if this could be achieved as soon as possible, and Tim and Kate know children who a suffering a great deal and have but months to live, so the sooner these donations can be released the greater chance their remaining time can be spent as positively as possible.

check the following links:

ebay auction for timmy

timmy's trust

surfboard auction for timmy's trust

rob's current favorite and a glorious serving of chocolate milk!!!

rob sent this to me via surfapig@live.com: "Fwiw, here's my current favourite board... just can't seem to stay off it really. 9'6"x22"xeyeballed PMP all funked up with some wacky resin as usual! I'll bring it with me in January, along with a spin off model I've been working on.."my old beach break. seeing this picture brought me back. days like this are the stuff permanent memories are made from. i have old photos of days like this somewhere. the sky, the water, the shells/sand..the debris on the sand. the oil rig...
the underside of rob's pmp. rob is a resin mad man!!!!!!!

pigs in the UK!!!

mister griffster sent this to me via surfapig@live.com:"Hey Mike, I've been following your blog for several years now, and been meaning to post these pigs to you for a while, I have no excuse apart from being a lazy ass... Here's 2 from the quiver, one that Rob Lion (Royal) shaped for me back last year - It's a Post Modern Pig 9'6" x 23 x 16 7/8 x 16 / 1/2. Nicely pinched rails, concave to belly roll with tail lift, with scooped tail and very slight S-deck about 22-25lb. Rocker is probably a little flatter up front than normal and absolutely flies when pressing the accelerator. Rob's now working over at Santa Cruz Board Builders so check him out if you're in the area. The other is your standard Michel Junod Pignar - 9 8 1/2 x 22 3/4 x 16 1/2 fore and aft with the standard step concave through to roll and traditional piggy rocker at about 25lb. Weighted beautifully to generate it's own trim speed and noserides better than some out and out noseriders I've ridden. Both boards leave you grinning from ear to ear! Keep up the good work Sir and long live the pig!"

it's post like this that validate this effort. i get so stoked to see what else is out there.