So it's the New Year, or at least a few days or actually weeks off and I have been trying to start this blog for a while now. While normally my philosophy is "why procrastinate today, when you can do it tomorrow", I decided I needed to get off my ass and actually do it. So here it is. Not exactly sure what form it will take but over the weekend my son Michael, who is 5, and I started to shape a new board so I thought this would be a great point of departure. I would call myself a true longboarder. For the past 15 years I have been exclusively riding noting under 9-0, with the exception of a fish thrown in there for fun every once in a while. I had an 8-0 shaped a few years back; it is a Harbour Spherical Revolver. I didn’t take to it too well at first. I don’t think I was in the state of mind to truly appreciate it. Lately I have been pulling it out and shaking off the dust to give it a chance again. I absolutely love it now. I never thought I would ride a “shortboard” again but here I am. So when I picked up a couple of old beat up Clark blanks from the shaper that is in the next building to me I decided to try and shape something other than a traditional longboard. I have been surfing now for almost 27 years and have always wanted to give the world of shaping a try. I shaped a fairly traditional 9-8 noserider a few months back and now I am venturing out to a new realm. The board that Michael and I started to shape over the weekend is a 6-0 Simmons Hull. Big departure from the normal day to day ride. We started with the template, then cutting out the blank, and then starting mowing some foam. Michael was gung ho the whole way even though he couldn’t see past the mask that took up over half his face. 
It is one of the most fun things in the world to shape, but doing it with your 5 year old is pure joy, especially when he tells family friends at school that “we shaped a board and shaved it. You know, I’m really young to be shaping a board!!!” Just the best thing I have heard ever. We got through most of the rough shaping, rails and most of the rocker. Something tells me that when we get this board finished I’m not going to be able to ride it very often, which is just fine with me………
