One of the most famous surf shops in the world is located at the north end of Newport Beach, CA right on Pacific Coast Highway. The Frog House is a surf shop in the purest sense of the word and has been operating at this location since 1963. A short walk across the street is the Beach and the 56th Street and River Jetties surf spots. The keeper of the keys to this retail surfing icon is an energetic man with a quick wit and a gentle soul, one, T K Brimer and has presided over the place for years. ”We still have some of the old surf shop edge going on,” said Brimer from behind the big wood and glass counters. What you will find at the Frog House is real surfers selling real surf products in a way that you … Read More »

The name itself fits the man’s personality Rick “Rockin” Fig Fignetti and he is synonymous with Huntington Beach. A ten-time West Coast Surfing Champion, and member of the first NSSA National Team in 1978, ³Rockin Fig² has been and still is the voice of surf announcing for local and legendary surf events including the US Pro Tour, OP Pro, the US Open of Surfing for 16 years and the NSSA Nationals for the past 20 years receiving a lifetime NSSA membership award for his contribution.
Fig has been the KROQ FM ³Surfologist² for the last 26 years doing morning surf reports and for 20 years owned a surf shop on Main Street in HB, a local institution called Rockin’ Fig Surf and in the ³Old School² tradition there are lot’s of surfboards on the floor which he’ll talk to you about … Read More »

The International Surfboard Show in Del Mar, San Diego, Ca Oct 6-7th 2012 was a success. I had a great time, both on the Networking side and down time – got in the water both in the AM and PM sunset sessions and spent some quality time with shaping and surf Legends like Reno Abellira, Mike Hynson, Maurice Cole, Mark Richards and others..

Look for Buggs across from the Gun Lounge (E9) and get inspired by what he has hand picked for story telling!

If one were asked to explain Jamie O’Brien in a word, they might choose “explosive.” Whether being spit out of a seething Pipeline barrel, launching an air reverse six feet above the lip, or blowing up in front of a camera, Jamie’s surfing is a full frontal assault on the senses. There is a saying that “the person having the most fun in the water is the best surfer on any given day.”

O’Brien was born on June 9, 1983 in Hawaii and currently lives in Haleiwa. He has said that he was fortunate as a child to grow up near the Banzai Pipeline. He is one of the youngest surfers ever to win a Pipe Masters challenge.

Jamie’s father was a life guard and Jamie has said that one of the things that got him … Read More »

Known by many as the “Father of the Modern Longboard,” Steve Walden shaped his first surfboard in 1961, at age 13, and never looked back.

Eight years later, the native Southern Californian opened his first board factory and store in Huntington Beach, then moved to the North Shore of Oahu in 1972, where he made a name for himself as a prolific longboard shaper. While the rest of the surfing world was fixated on short single-fins, Walden continued to faithfully hone his longboard designs. Over the years he shaped for prestigious labels like Lightning Bolt, Local Motion, HIC, and Channel Islands, but it was always his own boards that set him apart. By the early 80s, Walden returned to California where he unveiled his wildly successful Magic Model with its radical rocker, down-turned rails, and super-fast Turbo Hull bottom … Read More »

Pick a surfing stereotype from smuggler to savior and you’ll find a piece of Dick Catri. Widely considered “the godfather of East Coast surfing,” this Floridian has influenced the sport for more than 40 years. Competing, coaching, repping, retailing, shaping — some would even say, shystering — Catri never missed an opportunity to promote the surfing lifestyle at home and abroad, crossing paths with renowned watermen from the venerable Duke Kahanamoku to modern wonder Kelly Slater.

Born in New Jersey, Catri [pronounced CAH-tri] moved to Miami as a boy. Upon graduating from high school in 1957, he began working as a beach attendant where he met a stunt diver named Jack “Murph the Surf” Murphy, who later achieved infamy for stealing the Star of India, the world’s largest sapphire. The California native introduced Catri to surfing in the … Read More »

Thomas Victor “Tom” Carroll (born 26 November 1961 in Newport, New South Wales) is a former professional surfer from Sydney, Australia. He won the Australian Junior Title in 1978, the Pro Juniors in 1977 and 1980, the 1983 and 1984 ASP World Tour, and the 1987 Pipe Masters. He became the first surfing millionaire after signing a contract with Quiksilver in 1989.

Carroll made the finals of the 1979 Pipe Masters as a world tour rookie, finishing 24th in the world that same year. He continued to ascend from 17th to 10th to 3rd before taking the world title in 1983 (winning 6 of 13 events) and distinguishing himself as the first goofy foot world champion.

The following year he answered the … Read More »

Surf Line Hawaii was a shop in Honolulu that during the 60′s was a dealer for most popular mainland brands.  With the move to the shortboard revolution, they shifted to production and had many of the top island shapers working for them.  Dick Brewer, Reno Abellira, Gerry Lopez all pre-Bolt.  After the start of Lightning Bolt, a number of shapers left Surf Line Hawaii for Bolt, leaving the main shapers as: Dennis Pang, Rick Irons, Ryan Dotson, Randy Rarick, Buddy Dumphy among others.  They stayed in business until the early 80′s.

KEY: O= Original, R= Repaired, RF= Refurbished. Condition of board rated: 1(worst)-10(best)

Length: 8’0″
Width: 18 3/4″
Thickness: 3″
Condition: (O) 10

Sparky was a staple shaper for SH during their peak. This beauty has been totally restored by Randy Rarick and was slated for his 2007 Auction but did … Read More »

Video may have killed the radio star, but for Chris Ward, it made the surf star. In another time, Ward would have been another hot kid from Southern California. As it is, his legend has followed — and perhaps even surpassed — that of his San Clemente neighbor, Matt Archbold, another worldwide sensation who never seemed to fit in a contest jersey.

The Wards moved to San Clemente from Galveston, Texas, when Chris was nine. Martin Potter had clocked some hours at T Street in the mid-’80s and ignited a freesurfing frenzy that began with Archbold and Christian Fletcher, filtered through international stars like Shane Beschen and rubbed off on kids like Ward. As Ward entered his formative years, the area was already synonymous with radical, outside-the-lines surfing. Rumors started circulating in the mid-’90s about a little … Read More »