Doug's Got The Fever

Doug and Dennis

Doug and Joe Roper (Joe helped him finish off the board)

Doug got a new board and he is a happy man. Doug met JP Marengo, one of the Murphy Shapes team riders, this past winter while surfing the reefs off LJ. They spoke and JP gave Doug some ideas and feedback on longboard design and then Doug ordered up a new 9'-0" Southwind model. Here it is in Doug's own words:
"J.P. was right. I love it. The board really likes the steep drops and handles them well. And the drive off the bottom turn is just a primo sensation right up through the feet and legs and into the chest. That carving line is sweet! And then it holds mid turn in the pocket when I turn it back downward. What a great ride! Thanks so much."

Chapped Lipz

Nice smackage of one La Jolla lip under the August sun. That's a lot of board poppin out the back of the wave while the fins are just holding in. I like what's going on in this photo. Jean-Paul punching the clock for the afternoon shift.
photo: Goulding

Final Chapter

Part two in a series of only two. Here's how JP's floater ended. I'm not sure if the barnz pony tail got in the way or if he was just it utter shock before blue impact. I will have to check with JP to see if there is an epilogue.

Floatersam and Jetsam

Here's a recent July sequence of Jean Paul in his backyard in La Jolla. Nice bottom turn into a floater/off-the-top. But wait........ who is this barney with the ponytail?!! Check back tomorrow for the final chapter and epilogue.



photos: John Slavin

Mayhem Meets Roadkill

Check out the new long board of Dave Sams. Besides being a former team rider for Murphy and Iron Cross, this long time resident of Santa Cruz is also the Art Director for I Tunes. He ordered 2 boards with his signature art work and laminates.
"Mayhem Meets Roadkill". Here is his Everyman's Squash nine-footer for performing in waves 6' and over.

Perscription

Dennis' friend Doctor Ross evidently was feeling a little under the weather and wrote a prescription for himself. He came into the Surf Pharmacy (sRx) and had Dennis fill his order.
Dose: Take it everyday for about 3 months.
Prognosis: He should be feeling much better very soon.

3 for 3

3 shots of 3 waves for a 3 day weekend.


Have a good weekend.

Back Lit in the Backyard

Photo: Goulding
Rider: J.P. Marengo

Tint n Swirls

A couple of shots of Jeff Werbelow's nine-oh. Jeff, a So Cal native, currently lives in Park City, Utah - after a nice, long stint in Haleiwa. His quiver is quite impressive - so we hope to get a photo and index soon.

Put It on Axis.....

is a favorite saying of a friend of ours when he is out in the water and hitting all his bottom turns and setting it on rail. Here's JP with his interpretation of putting it on axis.
photo: Goulding

Happy Customers

Ben from Oceanside just picked up his custom 9'-0" this past week. Once again, nice color work and pin lines from the boys at Diamond.

Eight Seven.Five

New board for Murphy rider Chris Miller a.k.a Special Agent.
He could't quite decide on a 8'-6" or 8'-9", so I made him a 8'-7.5"! 2 11/16" thick. Performance longboard which incorporates the diamond tail - similar to the one I use on the Regulator model. Should fly like a banshee. dm

High School Buddy

"I shaped this board for a old high school buddy of mine named Gary Austin. It's a 9'-2" RPTNR. Tom Curtis' pinwork rocks this design! The board is about 3" thick and 22.5" wide. Is it San Diego State colors or La Jolla High?! This one turned out bitchin." dm

What Are Friends For?!

If anyone wants to borrow your board, make sure that you are there with them at all times. This little blurb is the lead-in to a funny read..

Awhile back, a great customer/friend called to request my services to help him and a buddy out of a tight jam. When Mick told me that they borrowed a board and "kind-of destroyed it" I said "Sure we can handle that". He was lookin for a replication of a competitors piece of equipment. Normally I would offer to do the job and upgrade the board, but Mick and Co. were a bit nervous regarding the potential outcome. What they didn't say was that the board was virtually BRAND-NEW! That is if you consider a new board to have more dings and rips than an old log lost at high tide Dolphin Tanks with a ten foot Norther raging six foot white water on the boulders. The foam color was perfect though. I don't know how they managed to tear up this gorgeous stick, but indeed they pulled it off. The new replacement is very close to the original sans the nice blue tint [which is hard to color-match on repair] I was told that the owner doesn't surf much and probably wouldn't care too much about the color change. Right then it hit me; these guys might try to borrow the new one for a test-ride and if for any dings, they could probably fix it and the poor owner would never know! Wow, I'd have thought that they would have learned their lesson, but surfers love the challenge. My message on the stringer is to the new owner simply put "RIDE ME".... that doesn't mean everybody! Dennis out for now.

Where Was I Monday?

I was in the water in Leucadia - but evidently we should have been in LJ!
JP in his backyard. Scoring yet again......

Rocas y Pajaros y Juan Pablo

I always liked this shot the best of this particular day - but, I was over ruled by the local, pseudo, photo journalists lurking near the Murph studio. Well now, I say it's time for my favorite to get exposed.

Emmo

Team Murphy: Cardiff Reef 02/2010 Photo: Lance Smith
Check out Lance's work at www.thundershotz.com

New 9'-6"

Custom Rounded Pintail Noserider

Mariaelena's Murphy

Here's a custom 9'-0" Dennis shaped for his friend Mariaelena Thibodeaux.
Maria says: "I LOVE It!! Thanks D!"

Los Angeles Log

Here's a note from Eric up in L.A. Thanks for the input Eric!

Here are a couple pics of my Murphy 10'5". This was not a board
I ordered but was acquired through a trade. I couldn't be more
stoked to have this board. I like big, heavy boards and this one
certainly fits the bill. It has a 1" center stringer (almost certainly
red cedar) with two outboard 1/4" stringers and parallel pinlines.

The glassing feels like double 8oz top and a single 8oz bottom
and it has an expertly draped fin patch. The blank has to have
been a classic weight because, as they'd say in Hawaii, "dis
suckah is heavy." Nice shallow and relatively small concave
in the nose, belly through the mid and some V in the tail, so it
turns well. And it noseriders beautifully, especially in bigger
surf. I got it because I wanted a pintail specifically for larger
waves and because the weight cuts through the wind when its
howling offshore. The weight also provides a stable platform
for tipriding.

Dims are 18 1/2" x 23 1/2" x 15 3/4" x 3 1/2"+ thick. I don't
own calipers, so it's a guesstimate comparing other boards I
have, a couple of which are 4" thick.

Thanks for you blog and I'm really stoked on my Murph.

Eric Burns
Los Angeles


Turns out this board was custom shaped for Terry Rogers, reporter and writer for the San Diego Union-Tribune. He used to write outdoors and surfing columns for our local rag.

Coronado Cruisin

Feeling the love in Coronado! Thanks for the props Joe.

Just wanted to tell you how pleased I am with my DM noserider. Like I told you when I cold called you earlier this year, I've surfed Takayama, Rusty, Hobie and Dewey Webber boards but no one seems to get it just right. It's always what they think I should be riding.

Probably because I'm such a kook, but I just wanted a nice longboard that was nose friendly yet could be steered from the tail in tough spots where speed is the deed. You actually listened when I talked about what works and what doesn't work for me.

You came through like a champ. I love my board! And that custom cutaway you made me works like a charm.

Deja Vu

JP doin his thing. This has been a pretty decent month here in SD.

Kine Tankah

Leona's New Log

Board # 15,179

Yes - that number is right. Fifteen thousand, one-hundred and seventy nine hand shaped boards. New 9'-6" Round-pin Noserider for Chris Henry. 18 1/4" x 22 3/4" x 14": 2 7/8" thick.

Candy Cane

New Board

Just got this 9'-0" RB-type squash in from Diamond Glassing yesterday and it was quickly picked up today by Adam from Santa Cruz.

To Protect and Surf

Ray contacted me while on leave from the war-zone in Afghanistan.. He's an incredible man who shall we say, has seen it all as a USN nurse. I hope that I'm not trespassing on any military secrets .. Not my intention! His plan was to order the new stick, go back over there, then return home in October briefly to see the family and surf. Thankfully we realized his dreams.

I need to emphasize that the boys at Diamond Glassing made us at Murphy look GREAT! Ray wanted an e-mail picture of his personalized artwork, but as time did not permit,that could not happen. Jeffrey Meyers blew our minds in the 11th hour. Take a peek for yourselves and I'm sure you'll agree we hit the mark.

Thanks Ray for the order and for the opportunity to serve one who has given so much to his country and the people of Afghanistan.

Oh yeah, the board measures 9'-3" by 22.75" by 2-7/8". dm

Lobster Lounge

Murphy Wood Go

Found this shot of a board that was made earlier this year. Wood tail block, wood D-fin and fat wood stringer. Like this photo a lot...... This board was a beauty in person.

Board For Sale

Skip Frye and Dennis Murphy

That's over 80 years of surfboard shaping experience and expertise looking back at you. Two of the best longboard shapers left here in San Diego. Photo was taken recently at the UCSD Cancer Center Luau and Longboard Invitational held at Scripps.

Here's Dennis' contribution to the auction and raffle. Wide balsa and redwood stringer, wood tail block and beautiful glassed on skeg. It fetched a few $K and has made somebody very happy indeed.

Neopolitan

Cal Noserider

The Ladies Love Murphy

Came across this image taken last weekend or so. It was the summer Stubby surf-thingy get together at Beacon's. While the surf was marginable - at best - they all seemed to have a good time. And low and behold, they posed with a Murphy longboard. Looks like fun in the sun.

Big Red

Wrigley's Big Red chewing gum is tasty - but this new 10'-2" Cal Classic Nose Rider, shaped for Aaron Foster, is sweeter than lemonade on a hot summer day. Watch out all you janitors at Cardiff Reef, there is a new sheriff in town. Big Red is back.........

Baja Baptism

Here's a shot of RJ Scott and his 9'6" Comp longboard. RJ is a San Diego local who took his Murphy down south for it's first session in Mexican waters. Looks like they both had a great time. Rumor has it that he is so stoked with this board, that he is already plotting for his next custom Murphy. Thanks for the props RJ.

J.P.

Long time Murphy rider, and La Jolla reef aficionado, J.P. Marengo shown here doing his thing. We will probably see more shots of him when he gets that new custom board and the Souths

Old Green Is Dead

but NEW Old Green is born. Here is a new custom board shaped for Coronado resident Joe Ditler.

It's clean, it's mean and it's green.

Glide: Don't Hide

Mitch's has loads of Dennis' boards in their Sol Beach store. Want to glide with the summer dribble instead of bog? Get one of these featured models and get your fair share. You deserve it man.

Bob Scott's New 9-'0"

Central California

We recently received a nice photo of Kirk Waddell from Morro Bay, California. He also sent us a quick story on his relationship with Murphy Surfboards. We look forward to more surfing photos and shots of his quiver.

One Of My Favorite Boards - Murphy Breakers - Calvin "Stingray" Sullivan

Here is a shot of a Murphy shaped Breakers board (center) that Calvin "Stingray" Sullivan sent in with the story behind it.

In 2006 I went to Plumeria to see what kind of boards they had, and there was the very slighty used Murphy "Breakers" board, a 9'-0". I instantly had to have the board, but I did not have the money to buy it. I asked if they would let me pay them a little each payday and they agreed. A few hundred bucks each payday, and a month later I was the proud owner of a Dennis Murphy board. That store, Plumeria, went out of business shortly afterwards. I went to the Longboard Grotto in Encinitas and bought a red fin to go on it (also now out of business), then I took it to San Onofre to try it out for the first time. "The Murph" has been one of my favorite boards ever since. I especially like it on bigger days, since its a bit shorter and thinner than my big Brewer Noserider.

Murphy 9.0 in Fiji

Chris Miller has been spending some quality time in Fiji with his Murphy quiver. Here is a shot he emailed me just before he took off for his second two week stay. He got a camera 3 days before the end of his last trip so this time he has promised to shoot plenty and send us shots. See the Foster Surf Adventures Blog for photos of him surfing.

Chris Miller Enjoying his Murphy 9.0