Aloha to all visitors

Welcome to the Juice Sticks blog. 
Physically we are located on the North Shore of Oahu. So naturally, our subject matter will be ocean orientated. Since Hawaiian Juice Sticks are the surfboard brand that we build you can expect most talked about will be surfing and the various vehicles used to ride waves.
We will try to include eye candy on a regular basis with photos of the beauty of the ocean and environs and our latest surfboard products. Feel free to comment via e-mail Juicesticks@gmail.com

Mahalo, Richie Joe

Get ready, get set.......

The summer has come and gone without much surf action, but the North Shore is about to throw out the first swell of the coming winter. The boards are all fixed and the leaches untangled. Bring it on!
Hopefully Hawaiian Juice Sticks will have something to blog about. The shaping room is organized and updated and we are ready for the phone to start ringing after the first swell, as traditionally it does.
The longboard templates will be moving to the back of the pile as the guns and quads take to the front.
Hope everyone is well and we would love to hear from you. juicesticks@gmail.com.
To the left is one of my favorite pictures.

Surfing and Smiling

Surfing is fun and makes us smile.
Smiles like this one are what makes shaping fun.
Bryson hugging his 5'8 Quad.

The School of Fish

The latest graduates of the School of Fish line up for their post ceremony pictures.
Everyone involved are very proud and look forward to their upcoming graduate studies on the North Shore.
From left to right: 5'11 keel, 5'8 quad, 5'6 keel.

Logoemotion

I love my logo.

One reason is that one of my most favorite people on the planet is the artist behind it. 

In 1994 we took his original idea and the second draft was a winner!

Someone once told me that I should have something more like R. (R dot). Another reason why I love my logo ----- its not like an R. I think its more like ------ fun!

Which is the reason Juice Sticks exists, its fun, for me building them and hopefully for anyone riding them.

Aloha to Pam and Rick

The biggest smile

Planning a custom surfboard is for me a fun although very important activity. Ideally you get a chance to watch your custom(er) actually ride some waves. But still a lot can be learned with an interview. As I ask certain questions, pictures of surfboards appear in my head. As more questions are answered the pictures change in sort of a mental slide show. I like to know what they presently ride and what about their current board or boards they like and dislike. Where they most frequently surf, what size surf, how long have they been surfing. Why are they getting a new board? What they are trying to accomplish when they surf and their favorite maneuver. Certainly important is their condition. Are they in good shape? How much do they weigh? Even the size of their feet can be of help. The more info, the better. Eventually, my mental slide show stops on a particular picture and becomes my target. As I sculpt the foam to look like that picture a video begins to play in my head. I see my customer surfing their upcoming board and he or she stands out from the crowd, the best one out there...............
When it comes to smiling.

Jimmy Loves Jocko's

Summer is over and the North Shore has had some nice early season swells.

The phone has been ringing as customers seek to gear up for the real stuff when it comes.

Jimmy loves Jocko's when its firing and here is the latest Juice Stick that he plans to tackle it with.

A 7'6 Quad.

The DW's

The DW's.  Debbie, Dave, Danny, and Dougie Wayman, inspecting their latest Juice Stick.

It's a replica of a Ben Aipa longboard they have had since 1984. Single fin with 50/50 rails.

It still worked great but was real old and battered and taking on water. So now they get to start over and see if this one can last 25 years!

Beautiful NZ

Just returned from my second visit to the North island of New Zealand. The surf and I didn't connect but I did get invited to a surf school for pig dog lessons.

Puerto Rico

The Morgan's safaried from Malibu to Puerto Rico and sent me this shot of their environmentally sound board racks. Guess they were too surfed out to be in the shot. Hopefully more pics to follow.

My best buddy and logo designer Rick Morgan came over to the islands with wife Pam. The surf didn't co-operate but my glasser did. Here is Rick with his new 7'5 Quad just before we boxed it for his next surf stop in Puerto Rico. Updates from the Caribbean to follow.

The Daily Stoke

Check out the site: The Daily Stoke. It is well done and you can spend days traveling the surfing world from one segue to the next.

You can click the link to the right and continue to hear my sound track.

The Chef's Special Order

Finally, after patiently waiting for the line staff to do their thing, Chef's order of High Speed Fish has made it to his table. He whipped up a side order of stoke as he took possession of it and began mind surfing right on the spot. 

It's a template and design that I first built in the late seventies while stationed in J- Bay.

5'10" with plywood double foiled fins.

Trusting that the Chef will get his just desserts.

Hydro Quadrofinia

Scott is the quadster. He just added two more to his quiver to make it 4 or 5 quads.

Today he is christening the new 6'6. As I write this he is hopefully grinning and schredding. 

He will come back later to take home the 7'10 and give me his 6'6 report.

Spray fades by Laura Powers.

Cooking one up for the Chef

The Chef wanted fish on his menu so he ordered up a 5'10. He even picked up a couple of blanks from US Blanks.
Multicolored ones at that. First time for me. Wow, it was like I was wearing  weird sunglasses after I skinned his blank. After decades of pure white, my room was covered in some sort of rainbow confetti. I'm now motivated to hook up the vacuum system I bought long ago.
All in all it went well and looks cool. Going with double foiled plywood keels which I need to cut out soon.
Hopefully it won't be too much longer before I can ring the bell to let Chef know that his order is up.

Be happy to cook you up one if you like the taste of high speed fish. contact me at Juicesticks@gmail.com

My Favorite Place

Where do you go for peace and quite? The place that you feel most comfortable in?

For me (besides being in the company of my wife) it is my shaping room. It has no windows, was built as soundproof as I could get it at the time, the AC can get it down into the 60's if need be. It has gone from having a radio, to a radio/tape player to a walkman to a portable CD player to a multi changer CD player and finally I can't imagine anything better than it being wired to play my IPOD.

Cool air, cool tunes and cut off from the outside world. My kind of place!

Add to that an activity that has brought me untold pleasures for over 30 years, the shaping of a wave riding implement for current and future friends.

Easily I have found my favorite place!

Tim's Tangerine Dream

Tim drove over to pick up his third Juice Stick.
Its always a pleasure to see him, especially when he gets a new board.
He gets really excited and can't stop saying thanks. He's the kind of surfer who brings me the most shaping pleasure. He's a living, breathing, oozing container of stoke. I haven't had the pleasure of surfing with him, but there is no doubt it would be a fun time regardless of his skill level or the quality of the surf.
There would be endless hoots.
He requested a "tangerine bottom" and Johnny O nailed it.
Looking forward to his post surf hoot meter. (ten is tops, down to 1)

Remember George?

Well, He has his board.
Just waiting to hear if he has fun on it.
Stay tuned.

George called me ........again

I enjoy talking to customers about their future boards. Their excited anticipation is what stoke is all about. Sometimes its stoke mixed with a serious concern. Like an expecting father fearing his offspring may show up with a serious flaw. Will it paddle me well, turn good, look nice, etc.

No one has ever called me as many times about a single board than George. I haven't asked him, but I think that it is safe to say that the eight footer headed his way is his first ever custom order.

I'm pretty sure that he paces around in his waiting room for awhile before he can no longer resist (speed) dialing my number. I smile when I see that its him because George has always entertained me in one way or another. (his friends are obviously finding entertainment in whispering things in his ear). Each time I listen to his concern then explain to him the hydrodynamic concept or production process that will temper his uneasiness.

From the info that I was able to collect about his surfing level, I'm pretty sure that I shaped him something that will make his go outs more enjoyable. And that's the bottom line.

Speaking of bottom lines, my number one concern about any board that I make, is that the customer does in fact enjoy their surfing more. If they don't, I want the board back! That's the least I can do when someone invests a few hundred dollars in a board. So relax - no lose money brah.

The joy for me is when I get that first post surf call. The one filled with amped up excitement and gratitude. The one out of the dozen that will be music to my ears.

Check back here in about a week.
I'm hoping George calls me............ again.