Ocean Pacific OP...still pretty cool?

The late 70's is when my ocean life started. Op was huge and going to the Op Pro every year was just bitchen! I can still recall Tom Curren's boards with the big Op sponsor laminate on the nose. Back on 3/7/2008 in bfS Commentary, we asserted that Op has done almost nothing cool since the late 70s or early 80s. Mainly, Op stopped creating classic cord shorts and pants, and bitchen print tees. Only back then, it was really the style, not retro-is-the-in-thing garbage. Then the Op Pro was discontinued. Finally, some mega clothing company (likely based in the eastern U.S.) tries their hand at sustaining Op. This was certainly the end of an era.

Through the past few years, Op has been trickling stuff back into the retail stores. I honestly don't think, though, a single indepedent surf shop within a mile of a surfing beach actually carries Op clothes. So, in the past 4 years, I've seen Op at Costco, Wal-mart, and Nordstorm. The Op clothes at Nordstrom were excessivly overpriced, like everything at Nordstrom is. This was kind of like "re-introduce classic Op at nordstrom with exhorbitant prices so well-heeled metrosexuals can buy the stuff and pretend they surf". The Op clothes at Costco have generally just been very lame, except for a few shirts one time. Now the latest Op clothes have shown up at wal-mart. This effort is big, as evidenced by lots of web ads and relatively large floorspace in the stores dedicated to Op.



If you can't view this slideshow or want larger images, check out the Picasa album.

I've got to say, though, these Op clothes at wal-mart hold the closest promise to anything remotely similar to the Op clothes from the 70's and 80's. I think this is actually due to the latest trend that "the 80's are back in". Maybe Op actually hired someone who surfed back in 1976 for their expert opinion on design. While O'neill and Quiksilver are busy churning out retro plaid by the ton, Op seems to be getting back to their roots. Op has come up with some collar shirts that could be mistaken as leftovers (classic ones) from the 70s and early 80s. Op has also created some ladies tote bags that are way 70s looking (and they even look worn a bit). Still, though, no nut-huggin cord shorts and pants. Saldy, the Op bags are made in China. There are also some printed t-shirts with some old-school looking prints (hippy-ish surfers on, but no hot babes). Maybe this is kind of a sell-out, but the stuff looks kind of original (except for rather lame printed and sewn-on references to "1972", when Op was founded.).

I don't think we'll ever see anything as cool as The Op Pro again, Tom Curren's Op-sponsored boards, or Thomas Magnum-length cord shorts, but they are headed in the right direction. Finally. Ok, on to some photos of Op stuff...

Flat Spell Continues...and some cool stuff

The soCal flat spell continues. Yes, now we're really into summer, even though it's almost over (according to the school year). Instead of surfing this AM due to no waves, I added more images to the Google Surf Images gadget for your enjoyment. Just shy of 2000 images now, and a ton more to come (as time permits). Added still images of:

Honda US Open 2008 in Huntington Beach, CA (July 2008) - not a ton of stills since we were mostly doing video. Will probably grab some stills from the video and post later on. Includes some nice close-ups of Shaun Thompson, Mark Richards, Wayne "Rabbit" Batholomue, Peter Townend, all signing autographs in promo of Bustin' Down the Door. Being in the presence of these four legends, all at the same time, was awe-inspiring.

Volcom Totally Crustaceous Tour, Mandalay beach, Oxnard, CA (Nov 17,2007). Super blown-out day. All groms, but they handled the crap surf really well.

Perhaps by doing the good deed of adding more surfing images to the web, I'll be blessed with some waves later today when the tide starts to roll in.

As usual, no Surfing in the Olympics (2008)

Why are the following events in the 2008 Olympics, while surfing is not?

badminton

rifle shooting

ping pong

handball

synchronized diving (when was this introduced?)

trampoline

synchronized swimming

By the way, the IOC does "recognize" the sport of surfing, but just can't bring themselves to actually feature the sport in the Olympic games. The recognition is merely intended to appease folks like me who keep asking the question, "why is surfing not in the olympics?"

Swell Analyzer - Alpha release

We've made available the swell analyzer graphs. The graphs present a view of the swell data that the buoys off the coast of SoCal are reporting. Hopefully, this can help us figure out if a swell is on the rise in OC. It's updated every 2 hours. We tested the graph images in the Blackberry browser (widescreen models), and they look fine. You will now know when to leave work early to go surfing :) Check the graphs here (scroll way down).

Perfect Wetsuit Storage Bag

I always leave wet wetsuits in my car. They stink really bad after a while. But, I never want to be without my wetsuit and a board. My wife hates the smell. So, she found me this bag at Costco for $8.00. It's called a Keep Cool, and it's intended to be a plyable, crushable ice chest. Since it's watertight, has a strong zipper, and is made very well (outside is a strong nylon, canvas-like material), she got it for me to store the wet suits. This is perfect because I don't want to store a rigid plastic box in my car, as it takes up too much space. Sadly, it's made in China. I'd pay $20.00 for it, but is only $8.00 (probably b/c it's made in China). I've used it for the past 1 year and it's never torn or leaked. A much better deal than paying $50 to $100 for a bag that has branding all over it. Pictures are below.



If you cannot view the images above or want to see larger images, check out the Picasa web album of the KeepCool bag.

Only One Tide Flow Today - kinda odd

Kind of odd. For today, 8/9/08, most California tide measurements have a tide table like the following:

Newport Beach, CA, USA, 4.7 at 04:17PM

That's right, only 1 tide. It looks like a high tide, but with only 1 tide, it's impossible to say what it is. I wonder why this happens. Surfed this AM and things seemed ok. There are still waves and the coastline is not breaking off.