Family and Friends

 Hi!

It's always good to get a face with a name, so here we are.

At our favorite local surf spot, C-Street, Ventura.

Russell, Jeannine, Merrick and Justice

Missing in the family photo is 'bro-bro', Josiah, 18. He is a young adult now, living in Central California.

**We love you, bro-bro!**

(sorry, hope that didn't embarrass you bro-bro....but I'm gonna make it my life mission to make our kids used to hearing those words!)

Merrick means 'ruler-of-the-ocean'. Can you believe it? A name of destiny for Al Merrick, right?

And our little Merrick is our fearless, extreme-sports ball of ever-moving energy!

Justice means, well, Justice. And trust me, don't try breaking any rules around her. She'll quickly put you right.

She's our feminine, sweet ball of kindness.

Hi honey, lookin' good!

Love you too, but in a very different way!

**wink wink**

This is our good friend, Liselle, who like me is also from South Africa.

Liselle took the above photos.

Liselle has the highly privileged and responsible job of travelling around the WCT tour as chaplain to the pro-girls.

She just came back from balmy Puerto-Rico and is soon heading to balmy Hawaii.

Dang! You go girl!

We love her too!

Happy Friday everyone.

(Can  I hear a Hallelujah?!)

Resin-X

Firstly, I just wanted to share how beautiful Ventura is in a thunderstorm.

Check out the rain coming across the ocean.

If my IPhone could have predicted the crazy lightening strikes you would see those too.

The reason for todays blog is to boast of Resin-X again.

(We are not owners of Resin-X, nor do we have shares in the company. Nor are we paid to advertise:)

We just know it's a cutting edge, revolutionary product.

Therefore, we use it.

And not just on surfboards....

On an earlier post, we explained how we're using it on some table for a local restaurant.

Here Russell is brushing on Resin-X as a sealer. This particular application will be three to four coats.

Here he's applying a new product from Resin-X called UV H2O.

It is a protector that keeps the paint and tables from reacting in the sun.

Here Russell sprays UV H2O rather than adding the extra weight of a Resin Gloss.

Happy  Wednesday.

But...where's my pint?

Excellent Relationship

I spent a while today contemplating about Russ and his work. About his time spent behind the scenes, nameless and faceless, working for the best and the respected.
One of the things I love about him is his ability to do that, silently, without credit....because he loves and respects the people he worked for and because his standards are those of excellence.

He has spent years ghost-shaping for the best and has done so, willingly and without the need to be recognized.

Well, now that we have ventured into our own business and companies have been bought and sold..... I think it's time to type out his resume without hesitation.

Russ is an excellent! shaper and highly skilled craftsmen. I can say, without any doubt or bias that he values doing his craft with perfection and with integrity.....he is not one to cut corners to save time or cost, but will build a surfboard until he is satisfied with the final product.

He spent fifteen years working for and under the best! With gratefulness and with pride.
And silently.
Fine - shaping boards for the best surfers in the world and loving the opportunity to do so.

He has known the standards set out before him and has does his best to fulfill them.

Now...... the opportunity to create and perfect his own designs is set out before him.

He also values relationship! Rare these days. He really does appreciate and value every surfer who comes across his path, willing to spend the extra little bit of time, talking and evaluating.....dreaming and building.

I often ask Russ about his day.....and today two things stood out.....Chris and Eric 'the Bird', two local surfers, popped round to the shaping room and were excited about surfboards and the epoxy work Russ is doing. Russ was excited too. Stoked.
Russ also texted photos of board's he's working on to a client in Hawaii......just because he wanted to include the customer in the progress......and the reply: " OMG! Beautiful...thanks for the best picture message of 2010. Stoked, Aloha."

That's what I love about him. Excellence for his craft and genuine love for his fellow man.