Notes from the Road Canadian surfers abroad
Louis Robert, winter 2005, Florida, San Diego, France
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Florida
Jan 02-05
Florida was going to be busy… first I had to meet the Uwl surfboards team at the airport, go to the trade show in Orlando to meet a few shapers , meet Greg Loehr to see the new blanks coming up soon , check out the wqs at Sebastian inlet and try to fit a few surf days in between.
The flight was good and the uwl was there waiting to pick me up, we check the beach but never seen anything that flat in my life so we decide to check some tourist attraction like the everglade
Alligator farm…pretty cool. |
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Jan –05
WQS sebatien inlet
We checked out the contest, super small waves but fully ripable when you're Slater, or one of them…
The contest was great, the weather was good, the girls were out and the boys were shredding the 2 foot mushy Florida surf.
Cory Lopez got first and Slater second. |
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Jan 08-05
The surf expo.
We check out the surf expo to meet with Jeff “ Doc” Laush from surf prescription because Uwl are Licensees for Europe, the trade show was pretty cool, lots of chick and cool products
We had to meet Greg Loehr to see is new tech. Is got some new idea about a blank that has better flex pattern, the blanks is eps with T-band stringer and urethane foam on the outside. Super light and strong when the board is finish with his new epoxy. After the show Doc and his wife offered to invite us for dinner, we eat and drank like kings, was unreal.
Interesting. |
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Jan 10-05
We were staying in Cocoa beach so we could check the waves in the morning, that wasn’t bad.
Really small but surfable so we went to Ron Jon and got the biggest board we could find.
Got some waves but nothing to write about I guess… |
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Jan 11-05
We had to drive to Jacksonville to meet a inventor for a new shaping machine, really impressive.
The shaping machine are really popular right now, they allow you to make custom boards more refine and more precise than hand shaping. Cleaning up a computer shape is almost as long as shaping a board by hand but you put all your effort in making a perfect rail.
The machine was great but I don’t think I can afford it… |
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Jan 13-05
San Diego
Renaud Cardinal (uwl shaper) and I had to fly to san Diego to meet a few people,
First we had to meet T&C to sign the contract for the Europe licensees and to talk with Glenn Pang (main shaper) about some shapes and stuff. Everything went wicked and was fun to listen to a world class shaper about some design concept.
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Jan 14-05
Sharp Eyes
We had to meet Marci Zouvi at the sharp eyes surfboard factory so he can teach us how to shape his design so we can build his board in France.
Wicked shop, small but efficient. They make about 10 boards/ day which is a lot of work.
Was fun to be shaping in Marcio’s bay, he went trough his rail design and stuff, learned a lot about rail design that’s for sure. |
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Jan 15-05
We try to check out some local spot but again the ocean was dead flat… I am starting to think that its more like a shaping trip than a surf trip.
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Jan 17-05
We flew for 14 hrs back to France, finally got in the airport and right away there was a bomb alarm so we miss the train and lost another few hours. I am burnt!!!
We still have another 4 train ride to the west coast and start shaping and checking the surf on a regular bases. |
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Jan 18-05
Uwl Factory
The factory is fully modern, possibly the best in Europe.
A couple shaping bay, a huge glassing bay, 2 shaping machine, wicked surfshop , artroom…
This is the shapers dream come true.
I came here a few years back and did a lot of classic fishes and people really like them so
I shaped a few on the first day. So good to be back shaping. The best part is probably the food,
Renaud’s dad is a amazing cook so he did some local recipe on the first nigh with a nice bottle of wine was just perfect.
The weather is stormy and the winds are really strong so will have to wait to check out some waves but I'm ready, just made myself a new board… cant wait to try it out….
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Jan 20-05
Been working for a few days now and its good. The surf is crapy but some waves suppose to be coming for the next couple days.
Salomon S-core project ask Renaud to design a few plugs for their new blank line and Reanaud ask me to design one so I am a little bit busy designing new shapes. I feel really fortunate to have hands on that project and be part of a technology progression.
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Jan 21-05
We got really good surf in the last week, almost everyday.
We drove by hossegor to check out Renaud's friend that owns a blank factory called
surfoam. Wicked guy. The factory was really fun to check out and really got me to understand
the main composite of our surfboards.
On the way we check out some surf and was really big. we scored.
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Jan 22-05
We finally signed the T&C contract this week so we started making some board for them.
I got to airbrush a few of glenn pang's shape...
The surf got flat now wich is good because there is plenty of work. France is really cool
for a surfboard maker because people have no attitude on constuction, the factory where i work for is
really good in many constructions, sandwich epoxy boards, polyester boards or Salomon boards.
When the customer come for a board he has the choice of everything, everything custom built
right here in France, Not in China...
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Feb 3-05
Got some surf on "the wild coast" 25 km of perfect beach break.
1 foot overhead, 5 knots offshore... so awesome. The water is still cold like home
and the waves are similar (brown looking) but those beach break are f$#king hollow!!!
French surfers are really friendly if you respect the spots. I have to say that the beaches are really dirty
with plastic bottles but they told me that hey usually clean up just before the summer...
I got to try the prototype that we designed for the Uwl Salomon blank.
The board is looking weird, really fat in the tail, almost fishy. I really liked it, I think i am gonna try to bring it back home.
If someone want to try it I'll be glad to let it go...
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time to go home...
this trip was amazing... France is an unreal surf destination. You get to surf perfect waves in a friendly environment with a incredibles cultural life.
The history, the food, the girls... I would never think twice about going there again.
Everygood thing ends.
Before I left we got some head high, 10 knot offshore, little barrels. That finished that trip quite well.
I got lucky because the weather dropped a couple days after I left. Now they are walking in snow...
Thanks for following my trip and if you guys have any question about France feel free to ask. I can answer a few about surfing and getting around over there.
Louis from the Road
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