Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Thanksgiving: A Paddlesurfer's Special Thanks


Thanksgiving is a great time to stop and realize how good you've got it. We should all focus on appreciating what's most important in life; family, friends and the good health that we've been blessed with this year. There may be, for us paddlesurfers, a couple of additional things we're thankful for- here's my list:

This Paddlesurfer gives thanks for:
1. Surf shops with extensive fin inventories, and the employees who tolerate me fondling them (the fins, not the employees).
2. Carbon fiber paddles- light, strong, ugly- the workhorses of our sport.
3. My first stand up board, the venerable Sean Ordonez shaped Big Red. The double vacuum bagged, hammer blow resistant, armor plated, twelve foot battleship that absorbed my first clumsy paddle strikes with nary a whine, whimper or ding- the board that sent me on my way.
4. Five minute epoxy. Stick the handle on your paddle, seal a ding or encapsulate a dead scorpion- this stuff does it all.
5. Breakfast Burritos (preferably from Los Panchos but any Alberto's or its many derivatives will do)- especially with pickled carrots, bacon, eggs and potatos- for $2.65? What's not to be thankful for?
6. Custom welded, free standing, SUB racks- clean, efficient storage, loved by me and my boards.
7. The breakaway fin screw- without it, that submerged Baja land mine would've eaten my finbox alive.
8. Sunset Cliffs: Clean rights and lefts all protected by a high tide line that cannot be broached... a paddlesurfer's dream.
9. XM ClearGrip: Going waxless never felt or worked so good.
10. The Maui Crew, the Oahu Crew or those Peruvian fishermen who paddle the reed bundles- whoever the originators of this sport are- a huge thank you!
11. The hand shaped custom stand up board- and the craftsmen with the skills to shape them. Most, in the words of T. Stamps, "Make boards not money". Support these guys.
12. My hot water outdoor shower- no sand in the drain, no tar on the floor, no squee-geeing the glass enclosure and nobody telling me that I can't brush my teeth in it... a marriage saver.
13. Lilly, my dog, who never tells me that I have too many stand up boards.
14. Stardust Donuts. Location: Palm and 7th. Hours: Whenever they damn well feel like it. Calories: Millions. Satisfaction: Complete
15. My all aluminum, single speed, beach cruiser with custom order, extra large, front basket and MULE stand up board trailer. Fours sets of tires, two new chains, two new seats and one set of fenders- still going strong after five years of daily use. Gas $25/gallon? What, me worry?
16. Hard angle south swells, the sand bars they create and the lefts that rifle down 'em!
17. Daily light savings time: but only when we "Spring Forward"!
18. Spidey: Wisdom, experience and a cool digital camera- always happy to see that guy on the beach.
19. The PSJose Crew possessors of loyalty, humility, sense of humor and extra large, pliable, hyper-functional Livers, well maybe any three out of those four qualities.
20. The friends and surfers who tolerated me "playing through" on my giant board- thanks for the patience, smiles and kind words. When you're ready to cross over to the dark side, let me know!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Oh yeah,
21. Being Born Goofy Foot

12 comments:

srfnff said...

You are too GOOD! Keep on keeping on...

John Ashley said...

I KNOW you've got it good up there! What's your list look like?

Anonymous said...

Laughed out loud about 19 out of 21 times. Good Shit!!! Also reminded me that I need a damn mule. Lets get on that group order!! I really might need it this weekend since my window got broken out at school yesterday, no parking at the beach for me.

Chad

John Ashley said...

Like I said, there's A LOT to give thanks for! Glad you enjoyed it!

Andy Gere said...

Add a garage full of borrowed tools to the list for me.

Happy Thanksgiving!

John Ashley said...

Hey Andy- how's the build coming along? The graciousness of friends is definitely something to be thankful for!

Unknown said...

Awesome list!
I also am going to down a bottle of beer for this!

I wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Mark
aka 'Surfways'

Anonymous said...

Awesome list. I will down two bottles of beer for this!

I wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Mark
aka Surfways

John Ashley said...

Hey Mark!

You win for sentence of the year. Everytime I read it, I just start cracking up. It's just so... PURE. Keep it up, I'm a fan.

srfnff said...

A Thanksgiving swell (NW 7' @ 19 seconds and trending up)...yet another thing to be thankful for. Did I say "Life is Good!"?

John Ashley said...

Yes life is good. Surf tomorrow, maybe offshore winds too- it's all good!

Andy Gere said...

A thanksgiving trip up to Marin slowed progress on the Waveyarder build a bit, but I got some garage time in tonight after sampling the front end of a new and tasty swell this afternoon. This morning was all about the kids and going to see Santa surf in to the beach at Capitola.

I've also been working on a fin for the new board, so stay tuned for some info on that.