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

operation amped.

yeah.

bobby d and john cherry

its entries like this that get me psyched. john mentioned this board when i dropped my velzy off. then he mentioned it again when i picked my board up. i am all the way pumped to know that this blog is worth its weight in salt. here is what bobby d had to say:

Hey Mike, John Cherry and I shaped this 9'7" PIG. The fin is by John Cherry made with Balsa, Agave and Foam. Glassing: 8 oz Volan sanded gloss finish by Micheal Miller. The Pigs Dims: 9'7"x17"x23"x17 3/8"x3". I saw your Velzy Jacobs at his place and brought my template back up there to compare. Without ever seeing that Velzy Jacobs of yours our template ended up being almost identical. The only difference was the wide point, which is 23" and I believe the Velzy was 22.75". Our line has just a lil more curve. Nose and tail measurements were very similar as well. On this board because of the blank I ordered I had to bring the tail in from the template I had been itching to shape a board for years, after seeing the Blackboard model up in Ventura I decided that a Pig would be a great classic board to take a crack at. This is board #1 for me. I'm stoked on how it came out. Hopefully I'll be able to take it out tomorrow! Your blog is gnarly keep it up. Keep the stoke man, Bobby D

Mike, I finally took my pig out on yesterday morning at 15th street in Del Mar. There were some nice waist high peelers coming through. The tide was coming in and the wave was reforming and walling up on the inside. If I had to sum up my first experience on a pig i could do it in two words: Fucken Sick! That board turned like butter and when in trim flew stayed in the critical spot of the wave. Extremely stable. I was surprised with how wide the tail is that I could still do a huge cutback burying the rail and not eat shit. Then I could turn back into the face of the wave and it would get right back in the sweet spot. On my second wave when I got inside it walled up and where normally i would walk up to the nose I just stood there staring for a moment in amazement that this board was keeping right in trim. I'm hooked! Now to talk the wife into letting me get a flexpig from Gene. Take care, Bobby