Sunday, October 09, 2005

Tree to Sea


The ocean is alive, we are alive, and so are our boards. When we consider how ephemeral are the moments spent in actual trim, it’s a wonder why we don’t try harder to extend those precious fleeting seconds. Not the actual ride time per se, but that feeling of stoke that keeps you coming back. This is really the essence of the Tree to Sea experience - to enhance and expand the best parts of surfing.

Try this little thought experiment. Imagine the entirety of events that lead to a great day of surfing. The strapping of the board to the rack, the suiting up, the paddling, the duck-diving, the waiting in the lineup, and then the “best part” the drop-in, the carving, the slotting, and the spit out. And then the paddling again, and the duck-diving…etc…etc… you know the routine.

Now imagine extending the “best-part” to include more of the board. When you are strapping it to the roof, you can’t help but notice and admire the hand-feel of the rails and the well-crafted balance. When you’re duck-diving, you go deeper, with less effort, pop up higher and lighter. You find yourself looking forward to the long wait between sets. It gives you a chance to sit and stare, in awe how the wood grain becomes iridescent in the sunlight. The joy of surfing, is extended beyond it’s normal course. No longer confined to the brief flash of the ride.

If I’ve already lost you, then wooden surfboards are not for you, and that’s ok. But this is really how it is for us. And it doesn’t even begin to describe how a well-crafted board enhances the actual ride, how it feels underfoot, and responds like a living organism.

To experience all of this, you will need to make a commitment.
Technorati blog directory Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.