I really enjoyed this recent Surfline/Real Watersports vlog collaboration with Brett Barley. The "Under the Glass" series follows the east coast /outer banks ripper as he adventures out into the varied world of modern surfboard construction. Up until recently, Barley was a SUPERbrand surfboards team rider, and he admits in episode one that he rarely experimented outside of his typical high-performance shortboard dimensions. He also acknowledged that his understanding of surfboard design was very limited. And while he probably KNOWS more than he's able to articulate (based on his incredible natural surfing abilities) like most surfers he was overwhelmed when it came time to choose something different, or out of the norm. It was refreshing to see Barley willing to put himself out there, and not act like a lot of other ripper board snobs. So i'm really enjoying this series, not just for the superior display of surfing on east coast fall season waves, but because it attempts to shed some light on new board shapes and constructions without being too pretentious.
Now that season one of the series has wrapped-up, I've posted the six episodes below. Honestly, you won't be disappointed checking out ANY videos on the Real Watersports YouTube Channel. I can spend hours on there, watching Trip Forman's surfboard reviews and surf clips of Real team riders shredding the outer banks. Any east coaster will tell you how important this region is to our surf culture. A pilgrimage to the lighthouse, and the surrounding beaches of Cape Hatteras, is a must for all wave sliders hailing from the right side of the continent.
I'm really interested in trying out the Lost... "Light Speed" construction after watching Brett go crazy on his Driver 2.0. I'm looking at another stick from the Puddle Jumper series for surfing the New England mush. It really doesn't look like there's much meaningful surf in the forecast for the rest of the month outside of a knee-thigh wind chop day. I guess it's best to just settle into the Thanksgiving holiday, and try and get stoked for a potentially rewarding month of December surf. I'm turning the big 50 in just under a month. WTF?!? So glad I'm still getting in the water. Let me know if you wanna hang! I hope you're surfing where you are.