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Showing posts with label Ocean Park. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ocean Park. Show all posts


ZJ Boarding House's 11th annual Haunted Heats Halloween Surf Contest is this Saturday! If you've ever been to one, you know you're in for a laugh and a few screams. Sign up in the store or online here. October 27th, at tower 26-27, 8 AM where you’ll compete for the fame and glory of Haunted Heats!!

Check out what went down last year: 2017 Haunted Heats Surf Contest.
October 20th the Board Swapmeet is Back!! 🙌 Get ready to Buy, Sell or Trade at ZJ Boarding House's Fall Surf-Swap.

ZJ Boarding House
2619 Main St. Santa Monica, CA
(310) • 392 • 5646
Store Hours:
Mon - Sat 10am - 7pm
Sun 10am - 6pm


Mark your calendars, mateys. ZJ Boarding House announced the date for this year's Haunted Heats Surf Contest. It's happening on Oct 27th, with registration opening on Oct. 3rd, this coming Wednesday 💀 Can’t wait to see what kind of costumes and fake blood they will conjure up.

Check out what went down last year: 2017 Haunted Heats Surf Contest.


Mark your calendars, mateys. ZJ Boarding House announced the daate for this year's Haunted Heats Surf Contest. It's happening on Oct 27th, with registration opening on Oct. 1st. 💀 Can’t wait to see what kind of costumes and fake blood they will conjure up.

Check out what went down last year: 2017 Haunted Heats Surf Contest.


Brian Behrens was surfing Ocean Park and a couple dolphins joined him:
We encountered a pod of dolphins at Ocean Park in Santa Monica, California on Saturday, September, 8th, 2018.
Check out more from Brian on his Instagram: @brianbehrens
Beyond The Borders Of Era: Natas Kaupas Designs Handcrafted Surfboards With Shinola



He is known around the world as a legendary skateboarder, but there’s nothing Natas Kaupas loves more than creating, whether it’s for wheels–or waves.

In Santa Monica, surfing has always been just as important as skateboarding. Skating and surfing are a natural way of life, and growing up in this community led Natas to the art he creates today.

“Growing up and using local shapers, you’d get custom boards. You’d always think of the designs, the airbrushes and the colors. That part is pretty natural—deciding how you want your board to look,” he says.

Santa Monica was nurturing in that way, Natas says. He began surfing and skating both at a very young age, and he loved watching the locals, skating pros like Jim Muir or Jay Adams, zoom by.



“It was almost like a bigger brother kind of feeling,” Natas says. “There was some mentoring, especially on the art side. Wes Humpston, one of the original Dogtown artists, would give me pens and little pointers.”

Despite watching the local pros skate around Dogtown, Natas developed as a skateboarder much on his own. He recalls spending time alone, experimenting and woodshedding tricks.

Nowadays, Natas finds inspiration in the community and collaborates with many artists and craftspeople on various projects.

“These sports are very expressive, and a lot of people consider it an artform. There’s a lot of creative people involved in surfing and skateboarding. And you have this perfect canvas,” Natas says. “You have this tradition of silk screening and adding graphics to skateboards and colors on surfboards. I find it inspiring.”

His latest creations, in collaboration with Shinola , are limited-edition surfboards and beach towels. The two share a similar design—two Ws that pay homage to West Washington Boulevard, the previous name of what is now Abbot Kinney Boulevard and the location of the Shinola Venice store. Natas describes the style as a bit looser, drawing inspiration from traditional 1960s boards with a resin tint and acid splashes.



“The thought was to bring a little bit of that without looking overly traditional,” Natas says. “I wanted to push that a little bit.”

Natas likes to draw from the past, often turning to hand lettering and vintage books for inspiration. He sees today’s great skateboarders—or “rippers” as the skateboard community calls them—learning tricks from history.

“I really love watching this current generation of rippers that pick and choose of era. They don’t stick to just one,” Natas says.

Curating this artform—pulling from tradition while simultaneously challenging it—is no easy task. Natas notes that crafting in traditional ways is a slow and difficult process. These surfboards require a lot of engineering, and shapers and glassers have many variables they must take into account. With hydrodynamics, every detail matters, from the contour of the bottom to the shape of the fin. Crafted by hand with a planer and a saw, these boards require the expert eyes and hands of the shaper.

“There’s a lot of craftspeople involved, people you need to trust and communicate with. Up to a fraction of an inch will make a huge difference,” Natas says.



This kind of commitment to quality drives all of his creations, and it is one of the many reasons that drew Natas to collaborate with Shinola .

“I’ve been doing projects with Shinola for a number of years now, and I really get along with the way they operate—the transparency and the honesty,” he says.

For Natas, quality hinges on reliability, especially when you’re skating the streets or surfing the ocean.

“I’m attracted to things that are of quality because of the reliability. When I go surfing or skating, I don’t want to wonder if this thing is going to break in my hands or not perform the way I want it to,” Natas says. “With quality products, you don’t get left high and dry, and you get to enjoy things to the fullest.”

Quality doesn’t come quickly, but it’s always worth the wait. Shaping can take a long time because of the many elements involved in the creation, Natas says, and shapers are notorious for taking longer than they say.

“It’s a running joke in the surf community: ‘Is my board done yet?’” Natas says.

One thing that is never done for Natas is creating. Whether it’s a new project, painting for fun, or making crafts with his toddler, Natas lives for it all. And though this leaves him with little time for waves or wheels, he still tries to sneak in a surf or a skate whenever he can. Because for Natas, life in California—surfing, skating, creating—never gets old. More at Shinola
ZJ Boarding House's is having their Semi-Annual Sale. Starting today save up to 50% Off select items!

ZJ Boarding House
2619 Main St. Santa Monica, CA
(310) • 392 • 5646
Store Hours:
Mon - Sat 10am - 7pm
Sun 10am - 6pm
ZJ Boarding House's 4th Of July Sale! Save 50% on ALL their 4th of July Gear now through the 4th!

ZJ Boarding House
2619 Main St. Santa Monica, CA
(310) • 392 • 5646
Store Hours:
Mon - Sat 10am - 7pm
Sun 10am - 6pm


This free block party will feature a return appearance by Tony Alva & His Eyes Have Fangs band, more info on the Summer SOULstice website.

Save Big this weekend at ZJ Boarding House's ! All Regular Price Apparel #bogo 50% OFF through Monday! It’s Coming.....ZJ Boarding House's Spring Sale Starts Friday

ZJ Boarding House
2619 Main St. Santa Monica, CA
(310) • 392 • 5646
Store Hours:
Mon - Sat 10am - 7pm
Sun 10am - 6pm


Some small waves at Ocean Park today. Here's a few shots from the gallery. These were taken by Six12 Media







There are a couple more photos, all full size and in high-resolution, in the huge Ocean Park - Saturday 5-12-2018 Photo Gallery. If you were out there, you prolly got some shots in the gallery, check them out.



Wanna see photos from previous days at this and other surf spots?
Click Surf Spot Galleries for a list of past days.


On April 8th, 2018 ~ We lost a good friend and the surf world lost one of its greatest heroes.

Many will remember Willy Morris for his surfing in Quiksilver’s 1984 movie “The Performers”, his surf-mag covers and his big personality. Willy’s strong frame and go-for-it attitude were a perfect fit for the powerful waves of Hawaii…He definitely brought his power game to the Sunset Bowl as you will see in the Performers film.

Willy left us too soon but his legacy will live on with his two daughters, Alex and Charlie and the endless people he touched.

Please join ZJ Boarding House in enjoying a tribute to the life of Willy Morris. ZJ showing a great surf film “the PERFORMERS”, talking story, and having a big raffle to raise funds for Willy’s family.

Friday, May 18th on the lawn at the California Heritage Museum (across from ZJ Boarding House) for a viewing of “the PERFORMERS”.

Film Starts at 7:00PM

Admission is FREE–FYI this is a fundraiser and the raffle is going to be INSANE!
The newest swell brought waves and with the waves comes more wipeouts. Here's some new Wipeout photos from some of our local spots.                                                                                        

The newest swell brought waves and with the waves comes more wipeouts. Here's some new Wipeout photos from some of our local spots. They were shot by Six12 Media.     












      We post new sets of wipeout photos every Wednesday (more or less).   Click: Wednesday Wipeouts to check out the previous Wipeout Wednesday photo sets.   


Sunday was another nice day of fun waves at Ocean Park. Here's a few shots from the huge gallery. These were taken by Six12 Media













There are over 200 more photos, all full size and in high-resolution, in the huge Ocean Park - Sunday 4-29-2018 Photo Gallery. If you were out there, you prolly got some shots in the gallery, check them out.



Wanna see photos from previous days at this and other surf spots?
Click Surf Spot Galleries for a list of past days.