Rob Machado had a crisis in 2009 that spawned, the Drifter, a a film about his wanderings in Indonesia, and it wasn’t until 11 years later in January of this year that he revealed publicly for the first time what that crisis was that inspired The Drifter, and he did it within the printed pages of The Surfer's Journal volume 29 number 1 - newly released at surf shops for you to read, right now.
Today we're joined by Nathan Meyers who did not just write this brand new piece for The Journal, he also acted as screenplay writer for The Drifter, suffering through more than thirteen different screenplay edits along with the rest of the crew, who were all dealing with separate nightmares in the jungles of Indonesia.
People got sick, went insane, got in fights, ruined relationships and ten years later, all approved this new article for release, airing everyone’s dirty laundry and much more.
Find more at www.firewiresurfboards.com/the-wire
Daniel Thomson's El Tomo Fish is here. This episode breaks down the design story of this Jet Fighter Tailed Fish, and also delves into fun territory with discussions of Tool (Daniel's favorite band), mandalas, mathematical principles and more.
‘My quiver is a 5’2 and a 7’0, and there’s nothing in-between…’
Rob watches himself surfing the Seaside and Beyond, his new LFT shape (on video in the show notes for this episode), and recognizes he occupies a strange space on the surfboard design spectrum.
Around 5’6 and shorter, and 7’0 and longer… nothing inbeetween. And barely anything between 5’2 and 5’6. Mostly just a 5’2 (Helium Seaside and a 7’0 (LFT Seaside and Beyond).
He pontificates further in this new episode of The Wire Podcast, discussing his new board and his new film and his new music festival.
Taylor Jensen went to Texas with Surf Ride's Josh Bernard and pulled an aerial we don't see too often, especially on longboards.
Kevin Whilden is a permafrost geologist who as a child collected rocks everywhere he went whether playground or Yellowstone Hot Springs or Catalina Island and even Antarctica in 1995 when he was a Graduate Student student studying Periglacial Geomophology (WTF?).
“Look, I like rocks” he says “because they tell a story that’s interesting. Geologists are essentially crime scene investigators.. rocks and fossils tell a story of the past in a way that helps us envision the future.”
His curious obsession with rocks is something he suspects his son might be inheriting, saying “Today my son steals rocks from the neighbors yard here in South Bay.“
It’s here in South Bay just up the road from El Porto and Manhattan Beach, the Southern Californian Beach Breaks where he surfs daily, that he helms Sustainable Surf with his partner Michael Stewart.
Much more in the Show Notes for this episode at:
http://www.firewiresurfboards.com/the-wire
Chuy Reyna is the Man in the Demo Van - he runs the demo program in California but also does much more, often pushing 'the button'; Firewire speak that translates to: 'Chuy says the board is perfect and we need to release it to surf shops everywhere.'
Much more in this episode.
Ben Skinner grew up with Jeremy Flores under the tutleage of Tom Carrol and Gary Elkerton.
He was first sponsored by Quiksilver at eleven years old and was immediately put in to a grind by the “Sandhill Warrior” Rob Roland Smith, the legendary personal trainer employed by Quiksilver to train the brand’s most promising young athletes in the 90’s and early 00’s, nicknamed for his interest in making groms run up and down sand dunes until until they fell over.
Ben at the time was surfing shortboards and he was ripping.
He was traveling to Morocco and winning contests.
And then he switched.
“I just got so frustrated on small days in England in weak waves, I wanted to surf every single day, and longboards let me do that.“
Born in England and raised inside pubs and breweries by parents in the hospitality industry, Ben is a 11X European Longboard Champion who, as a child, seems to have downplayed the wave quality in England.
Today he rides incredible waves, some off them with barrels big enough to stand in, and all on surfboards 9 foot plus. You'll see video footage of these waves in the show notes of this episode.
Timmy Reyes took a well deserved break this summer, staying away from his usual fare of thirty, forty, even fifty foot waves or bigger.
On this episode of The Wire Podcast Timmy talks about the injuries he needed to rehab, and the sessions that make up Love Letter - Timmy's new feature film chronicling his sessions on the Hydroshort 'somewhere down south'.
Always coy about the locations he scores, Timmy shares stories in this episode that will make you want to surf somewhere isolated. And cold.
Tristan Sullaway has been tubed at Cloudbreak, and once surfed G - Land for eight hours straight. He has stickers on his board but also graduated college. He's a lifeguard who is 6 foot 3 and maybe still growing. He rides Dan Mann's boards (and Tomo's) and actually borrowed Dan Mann's paddle board once to paddle 32 miles from Catalina Island to Manhattan Beach. He's with us today at Cafe Moto, Dan Mann's favorite Coffee shop in San Diego.
Taylor Jensen is on The Wire to recap the unexpected way he surprised his competition, his audience and even his wife at the Relik Malibu Classic. We cover much more in this quick and fun episode.
If you haven't yet heard the story about the person who approached Rob Machado one day at the airport, moments after Rob got off a plane from Mexico, then you haven't yet heard one of the most memorable tales of hilarity that a pro surfer has ever told.
It shocked us. It shocked SWITCHFOOT too.
You'll hear the story at the beginning of this episode featuring Rob and his longtime friends from SWITCHFOOT Jon Foreman, Tim Foreman, and Chad Butler.
SWITCHFOOT is from Encinitas, California and they go back a long way with Rob. This episode reveals many funny and surprising elements from their shared past and we think you'll love it.
Love SWITCHFOOT? Their new album Native Tounge was just released on January 18th, and you'll find them on tour starting February 14th. For more, visit SWITCHFOOT.com
Hendo is a huge human who rips. He rides a Seaside. A Cymatic too. When it’s really small, a Baked Potato. He is also one third of Pro-Lite, a company that makes what many of us at Firewire think are the best surfboard bags on the planet, for example, The Smuggler, a collaboration with Firewire team rider Timmy Reyes, designed to hide a third board during airplane travel in a board bag that looks like its only holding two surfboards.
Pro-lite has a sustainability initiative centered in part on recycled materials (for example Session Day Bag) and centered entirely on making things that last long and stay out of landfills.
It's common for Hendo to hear about Pro-lite bags that have endured endless travel over more than 25 years of use.
Todd Glaser is a professional photographer, former professional bodyboarder, and friend and collaborator to Kelly Slater, Rob Machado and many others. In this episode he shares thoughts on the Seaside shape, the Seaside surf spot, and his new special edition of Proximity Book. There are many nuggets in this episode you're sure to enjoy.
This episode is borrowed Kassia and Maureen of the Good and Social podcast who interviewed Firewire CEO Mark Price on many topics.
The Good and Social podcast is a series of conversations with social and environmental innovators from across industries featuring risk takers, activists, business owners and non-profit leaders who are turning ideas inside out and industries upside down.
You can follow them on Instagram at @goodandsocial.
What you know is that Rob Machado is a Pipe Master. You know that he competed on the world tour for ten years. And that he won twelve events before retiring in 2001.
You also know about his second career. The seventeen years since he left the tour, surfing everywhere; inspiring, exciting and influencing people who surf all over the planet.
But there are things you don't know.
You don't know the secret story (until now) about how Rob broke his hand; the injury that led to his 2001 retirement. Or about the way he built his circle of friends as a six-year-old and maintained that crew his entire life.
Most importantly, you don't know the way Rob became responsible for bringing psychological support to the World Surf League.
This episode is an intersection of these three subjects and much more, culminating in a conversation about events that excited everyone who saw them in September as Rob surfed in the trials for the Surf Ranch Pro and nearly beat a collection of today's most promising up and coming surf talent.
This episode was recorded at the home of Rob's Brother, right across the alley from his own home in Cardiff - by - the - Sea, California.
Both yards have trophies lining their edges. Some hidden, some in plain sight. Each one containing a story of Rob's competitive career, and providing clues about the life Rob has led since.
Enjoy.
Energy = Mass x Speed of Light Squared. This was Einstein’s big idea. And while you might not be the type stay up at night researching this type of thing, Tomo is very much that type of person.
This episode covers Tomo’s interests in physics, the universe, esoteric ideas, and obscure scientists. But you’ll also hear provocative thoughts on surfboard design that counter a lot of traditional wisdom. Because that’s what Tomo does - counter the norm with elevated surfboard performance and heightened sensations while surfing waves.
Enjoy.
Shaping since 1996, Dan Mann made his first board for Kelly Slater in 2015. Then it sat in a San Clemente shed. For 24 months. Until....
Mark Price is the CEO of Firewire Surfboards. Kamea Chayne is the host of Green Dreamer - a podcast for creatives, visionaries and entrepreneurs dreaming of a sustainable future.
This episode covers much with Mark, such as:
- What first got Mark into sustainability.
- The process of manufacturing conventional surfboards versus ECOBOARDs.
- Mark’s greatest personal challenge in growing Firewire from a startup.
- What Mark believes allowed people to break through their initial resistance to riding eco-boards.
- What Mark believes has been key to Firewire going from startup to becoming a global brand.
- The most common struggles facing Eco-Entrepreneurs and how to overcome them.
- How sustainably-driven startups and small companies can compete against large corporations that already dominate.
For more on this episode, visit GreenDreamer.com. And to see Mark surfing the Slater Designs Cymatic, visit firewiresurfboards.com/the-wire.
"I love conditions" Says Timmy Reyes; "Whether it's a one-foot glassy beautiful day with a little peeler... that gives me as much joy as a twenty-foot day... glassy and peeling.... its the same to me."
On a one foot day Timmy prefers the Go Fish. On a twenty foot day, he likes the Hydronaut.
Timmy also likes freezing water, scary waves, the Northwest and Wrestling with Mother Nature; the phrase he uses to describe his experiences in larger waves like Jaws and Puerto Escondido. Above all he likes Chuy Reyna, the Man in the Van from the last episode, so Chuy joins us in this episode.
If you grew up in California in the 80's or 90's you saw Chuy Reyna on TV. In magazines. In surf videos like Blazing Boards alongside Mark Occhilupo.
If you're growing up today in California you've seen him beachside with more surfboards than you've ever seen fit inside a Mercedes Sprinter.
He's the man in the van and to put it bluntly in pidgeon - 'Chu surf mo' bettaa dan u' today and yesterday and probably for a lot of tomorrow's to come. He's 50 and his turns look as fun today as they looked in 88'.
In addition to managing Firewire's Demo program in the United States, Chuy also stays on the front lines of product development alongside Rob Machado, Daniel Thomson, and Kelly Slater.
He's talented at fine-tuning shapes and surfboard building technologies because he hasn't just surfed every surfboard shape and surfboard building technology in Firewire's history, he also surfs at the most important level of talent when it comes to deciding what surfboards will land at surf shop racks and which ones won't - he shreds hard enough to hang in a lineup with professionals, but he's not a freak, he's normal. He bridges the gap between everyday surfers and sponsored surfers, and his opinions matter to everyday folks. That's why he's the man in the (demo) van.
It’s not physically possible to fit each of you who read this inside the Surf Ranch gates at the same time, but we still wish you had been with us on April 10th in Lemoore.
By now you’ve most likely seen the result of our time there with Kelly and the Surf Ranch crew. The video we made just reached 100,000 views on YouTube and it shows Kelly riding both he LFT Gamma and Helium Gamma.
To celebrate the recent 100k benchmark, we thought it would be fun to share some stories and stoke with you from such a fun day of watching Kelly surf and also surfing the wave ourselves.
We share our thoughts on the best boards for surf ranch, subtleties of the wave that first-time surfers there will find useful, our garden pavers that were installed while we were there, Jordy Smith on an Omni and a Cymatic, and more.
To invent something is to take nothing and turn it into something.
To innovate is to take that something and significantly improve it.
The surfboard leash was invented by Jack O’neill’s son Pat, a Californian. And it’s most recent innovation has been crafted by Jan Pearson, a Swede - he is from, and currently lives in, Sweden, where he surfs often, in a part of the world bordered by Finland and Norway, often dodging blocks of ice like crowds of surfers. It is fucking cold in his corder of the world. But there are waves. Fun ones.
In Jan's travels to surf destinations that don’t involve dodging mini glaciers that can destroy boards and bodies, he noticed that while other parts of the planet didn’t have ice cubes in the lineup they did contain other things that float. These things could not kill you, but they could kill animals and Jan imagined, could eventually threaten humanity.
It was plastic that he saw. Trash. Other waste. And it inspired him to found Revolwe.
Jan used his new company as a laboratory for innovation. He started with surfboard bags, water bottles and other accessories.
He saw each product as an opportunity to innovate through reduced environmental impact, and what impressed us was his leg rope.
Press play to join us.
John Van Hamersveld designed The Endless Summer poster - very likely the most iconic graphic design ever produced in surfing - an enormous cultural achievement that was only the first rung of many on a ladder that has since led him to become one of the most recognizable graphic artists ever.
John has designed album artwork for The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, and Eric Clapton. He has also worked with artists of the day like Asher Roth. His art is seen throughout surfing, for example on posters promoting the Pipe Masters by Billabong.
Today he crafts murals for cities. He designs sunglasses for Electric Eyewear. He lives in a gorgeous home in Palos Verdes overlooking a stretch of ocean so storied that it has stayed locked tight under local reign for decades.
In this episode of The Wire podcast, we get inside John's head as he uses words to describe what's on his mind, a rare break from so elegantly conveying his thoughts through art, which you'll find examples of in the show notes for this episode.
Deep Shaper talk. Thoughts on Craftsmanship. And freezing in Poland followed by getting stranded in Dublin. Dan Mann has had a wild week, and we dig deep into it in this episode.
Kevin Whilden is a scientist with a Masters Degree in Geology and a lifelong interest in how the world works. Today he is partnered with Michael Stewart at Sustainable Surf, overseeing a host of programs like Deep Blue Events, an initiative directed at helping surfing's largest brands lower their carbon footprint at surfings most respected events, and The ECOBOARD project, a collaborative effort with over 150 surfboard brands dedicated to lowering the environmental impacts of surfboard production. This episode covers much about climate change and its impact on surfing, but it also covers much more, for example, your opportunity to win a Slater Designs surfboard of your choosing by filling out The Deep Blue Survey in this episode's show notes. Our favorite part is about four minutes in when Keven details the time he spent in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica. Enjoy!