My best friend Richard, ordered a new board from me at Stewart Surfboards, a few weeks ago. It is the newest model from Bill Stewart, the Redline 11, 9'0". I don't say this about many boards, but this board does it all; we only make 9ft Redlines, and they turn like an 8'6", paddle like a 9'6", and nose ride like a 10'0". The nose riding of this board is nothing short of astonishing!! I made Richard jump thru lots and lots of hoops, in order to get to the finished product. Lets just say I pranked the hell out of him thru the entire process, and it was really fun. We've been friends since the 9th grade, so pranking each other comes with the territory; just ask him!!

First off, after we agreed on the color you see above, a nice seafoam green fade, I sent him a text,  changing in colors....I changed the colors to hot pink and black. Then sent him a picture of the new design, which kind of looked like a maze. His response was, "you're kidding right"? Yes, I was kidding, but that was only the start. I did send him jpegs of the finished shaped blank, the paint job prior to and after hot coating; then sent him pictures of the logos and pin lines, which are painted on the hot coat, not on the blank itself. The real fun started after his board was delivered by our glasser, Chelu glassing, in Talega, SC.

This is me, pretending to wax his new board. I texted him the following: "I'm going to wax up your new board, and take it for a surf. I will let you know how it rides." Richard says, "you'd better not!" The next thing I did was send him a picture of his board in the sales rack, not the private, roped off, custom rack, complete with price tag and dimensions. I really priced the board to move, and told Richard the board may be sold before he comes to pick it up, ha!

Such a deal for a $900 surfboard, eh? I came to find out that someone actually tried to buy the board, and that created a bit of a brouhaha. The price had to be explained by our main shaper, Geoff. Luckily, I had already gone home, knowing that Richard was picking up his board at 10am the next day. So, I missed all the excitement. Geoff wasn't too pleased with me, but the guy ended up being cool about the price and the events that led up to the discounted price tag.

Here is Richard's board all finned up and ready to go.......nowhere!! This is what he saw when he first focused eyes on his new board. Whoops, my bad!! A good laugh was had by all, and that was the end of my pranks. We are surfing this Friday, he on his new board, me on my Redline 11 Yellow. Ed Bradley(another very close friend), and my son Justin, are also meeting us at Lloyd's Spot. Justin rides a Stewart California Noserider, another great board from Bill. Eddy rides a Becker 10'0".

You might be wondering why he chose to have DRAGMASTER logoed on his rail? The story goes back to the early 70's, when Richard bought an orange Datsun pickup truck. I had an earlier model that was red, complete with camper shell and bedding. Anyway, the tires he had on his truck had white raised lettering, and DRAGMASTER  was what it said on the tires. The name kinda stuck. I also was lucky enough to find a fin, that came with a much bigger fin order, in the exact color of Richard's board. That was totally cool, and rare.

I know he is going to really, really like his new board. We went with 24"W X 3 3/8" Thick @ 9'0".
The board should float him well, paddle amazing, and if he ever finds himself on the nose (when hell freezes over), he will be smiling!! I think I had more fun with his surfboard order, than I've had with my own personal sticks. Now, let's hit the surf, so I can drop in on him, cut him off, and hassle the crap out of him. I'm here to expand the experience for him:-} Until next time, this is Scooter Surfs, bidding you all a happy 4th of April.

Ciao