Tag Archives: surfboards

Getting Screwed By Catalyst, Lost, FCS 2, and Corporate America

Well, shit. You assholes just don’t know how to make something that works. Why is it that you claim these fin plugs will work with FCS I or FCS II fins? When I went to put these FCS I fins in my board I couldn’t. Can you guess why? The fin plugs for FCS II fins don’t come with the little screws you need to put FCS I one fins in. Some “local” came into the shop and said, trust this guy. What you should probably do is, don’t trust those guys. He steered me in the direction of some big fins that nobody probably wants to buy. So I’m switching out my fins. I guess I need to go see if I can buy some screws from the hardware store because these companies have decided to decieve me and screw me out of 10 little stainless steel screws that should come with my surfboard.

Apparently they’re called socket screws, and your local hardware store will probably have a thruster set of stainless stell screws for about 5 bucks.

The Quiver

The surfboards you ride make an unbelievable difference in what your surfing looks like. The set your looking at here are the boards I use to surf the gulf. On the far left I’ve got a Viking longboard. It’s 9’3 and coyld easily be my most used board. Considering that fact that the surf on the gulf is probably among the worst and least consistent surf in the world, this is a go to for the small, almost non-existent sloppy chop we see regularly. Next is my Martin high performance shortboard. This is the one I ride when I want to move some water and get verticle. For a high performance board it works pretty good despite being somewhat unbalanced (more elongated concave on one side). I honestly don’t expect a hand shaped board from a guy who couldn’t have made more than 50 lifetime boards to be perfectly cut out of a machine. It does what I need it to do when I need to do it, and since the bigger surf this board is ideal for comes so infrequently, it should last many years. Next is the Lost. It needs no explanation. The puddle jumper is a fun little board for quick cutbacks in the pocket and can be layed back on the rail for a snap like maneuver on the right waves. Don’t expect it to put out much water when the surf is big. I bought this about 5 sizes too big. I probably should be surfing this in a 5’8. It was planned as a substitute for the 9’3, however is nothing more than a big clunky, slightly more buoyant, shortboard. It’s probably going to be my number one all around board. The Torq is the next board. This one is about the same amount of foam as the Lost with a different, more old-school shape. It’s a pop out from China probably (the Lost is made in Thailand). The Torq is noticeably lower quality. It fell over and split down the side, a low quality build. Yhe design is really flat. It doesn’t flow down the wave like any normal board should. With the pin tail you might think it could get up in the pocket, but it doesn’t really seem to. It’s still a brand new board, and may be worth a surfing in the small stuff on occasion. Last is the Martin tesin tint. Dylan Martin made this custom for the gulf (like the other one). I asked for a board that would be a high performance good wave board, and got this. It’s a mushburger wave board with a convex bottom (opposite of normal boards which are concave). It can’t do bottom turns. If I stay on top of it it rockets out of the whitewater. It also feels really good and loose off the lip. It’s super fun in small surf.

This set of boards are the boards I’ve been able to and wanted to get my hands on over the years. They have treated me well. I’d be stokes to see what set of boards you’ve got laying around your garage or in your storage room. Send in a picture of your quiver. You could even write a blurb about how they work. Inquiring minds want to know. Send pictures and info to editor@surfingthegulf.com.

My New Surfboard

Thank you to Jordy and Suncoast Surf Shop for making it possible for me to get a good surfboard on the west coast of Florida. He spent a lot of time with me today talking surfboards and the industry. He helped me make my selection. I’m very pleased with my new board. I’m looking forward to the winter wave machine turning on around the end of October so I can get this thing in the water and put it on rail!