And it's finished....

Board came out great. Just too bad that there aren't any barrels (or waves in general) but we'll see what we can come up with in the next few days, months, etc ;)

Here's some pics:







As always, click on the picture for a full view.

I'll be getting more pictures uploaded, and maybe a clip or two of Ryan Lovelace putting this thing together and talking about the inspirations behind the design.

The board itself is unbelievable. Literally beyond words when you hold it in your hands. Ryan showed me some things involving the flex of the board, and the tail has a "twangy" flex from what he showed me. I can't wait to get this thing wet.

So the first step is finally complete, and now the next step is to get people (myself included) riding it.

The journey begins...

Glass love.

Board is almost complete. Just the hot coat, some finishing touches, and fin boxes left.

Here's some pictures:








In the last one Morgan looks to be stoked beyod belief on how awesome the board is...

....or it's just the food from Taqueria Rincon Alteno kicking in.

Finished?

And for a splash of color.



This board will be getting wet any day now! :)

Sexy Beast

Barrels are not far off now....Just in time for Christmas....







Thanks to Morgan for the shots. Click the pics to view them in full. And thanks to that hot stud for modeling the boards. LOL

Anyway, Hawaii and El Salvador are confirmed at this point. Looks like the board is going to be ridden VERY VERY VERY soon.

Obviously, I'm stoked as one can be, and can't wait to see how this board performs. Not only under my feet, but other riders as well.

Yet another teaser shot.....

Estimated time of arrival is 2 weeks.....

You Figure out what's going on in this picture ;)

Got Wood?

So the wood is milled and the work was FINALLY begun.

Only a matter of time now...



I'll be scheduling the first round of California trips, so interested parties should contact me if you haven't already.

Still under construction...in the meantime...

So the board is still under construction. Wood is in the process of being milled for it. The fact that there is a "wood milling process" should say something for how cool of a board this going to turn out to be.

I'm about excited as ever for this, and can't wait to bring it along with me wherever I go.

In the meantime, I present you some of the photos of one of Ryan's previous boards, which has a similar construction to the way my (our) board is going to turn out.













I'm looking forward to getting more pics of the board being built, and I will get those up here the moment they're ready. It should be done in time for winter, and will be available soon. Keep checking up.

The beginning of the hunt.

So the first preview pics of the board are in. Gotta say, I'm excited at what I see.

Tentatively, the board is scheduled at 6'5", an Al Merrick Black Beauty type template with the widepoint pushed forward. Fin set up is scheduled to be a 2+1 "widowmaker" (ala Dave Parmenter) type setup. Probably with LokBox sidebites (due to the versitility and ability to use LokBox to adjust the fins for varying conditions).

We'll see more when it comes out, but here is some pics in the interim:







The ball has already begun to roll.

This is looking like an amazing board. Kudos to Ryan Lovelace.

Aloha,

Bryan

Welcome.

Ahoy there. Welcome to my blog for the "Barrel Hunting Project." This is a joint effort between myself and Ryan Lovelace to detail and chronicle the life of a board which is currently in design and being worked on.

The idea behind this project is to expose a group of unrelated surfers, up and down the California coast and beyond, to a new board with a new train of though behind it.

The board is being built with a bunch of different thoughts in mind, be they (in somewhat of some order) :

- Environmental: The board is being built as environmentally friendly as you can reasonably build a board like this in the time period we're looking to have it up by. Ice9 sugar foam, paulownia, cork - who knows? We'll see with the progress of the board as it goes along. However, there is a definite "green" theme behind the board.

- Educational: Ideally, we'll get many people who wouldn't be riding a board of this size, shape, or design. Hopefully, we'll get to expose people to a new (to them) board and design and be able to get feedback.

- Social: As cheesy as this will come off and sound, an underlying idea of this project is to bring together a group of surfers who probably don't know many of the other people exist, let alone have a way to relate to them.

Hopefully, we'll be able to accomplish some other things along the way as well.

The project will, when beat down to the basic proteins of the idea, be Ryan or myself traveling with the board and documenting (be it by video, photography, blogging, or word of mouth) the adventures this board takes during its life. Anyone is welcome to contribute or participate (and you will be credited on this blog for doing such) whether they help video, take photos, give testimonials after riding the board, whatever.

This isn't an ad campaign for Ryan Lovelace or his boards, although I realize full well that it serves that purpose too. This also isn't a demo. The purpose of having multiple riders ride this board is to get feedback, either negative or positive, and share their experience with the board. No experience will be left off of this and we fully realize that this board won't perform in all conditions.

The board's tentative design is intended to be a barrel hunter - a board that will work in bigger, hollow surf. However, this board will see all conditions from small clean point surf in Malibu to big barreling surf in points unknown Mexico.

I have three trips planned for this board already and am not against adding more.

If you're interested in participating in this project, feel free to email me or post on this blog and I'll be happy to figure out a way to include you in the plans.


Aloha,

Bryan