Chuck Dent in full flight

 Deep V redone

I had slowed to look at the lamp

which was quickly dismissed

and then the two fans

artfully draped

with an ancient

spring suit

Then I saw the Dent. 

If it was a snake it could have bit me. 

In the late sixties, 

there were good winters

and the shortboard revolution

coming on

Chuck Dent would have been in full flight

the unofficial mayor 

of the official underground 

downtown scene

a lot of new boards made in every too small garage in town

cut the nose of your nose rider

leaving you with just a "rider" 

peel the glass 

shape in a little rocker

and reglass

the boards

were generally

horrible

but nothing ventured nothing gained...

It's relatively easy to spot a deep V

aside from the rarity

it's the slice of cake tail

revealing a generous V mowed into the blank

The rest of the shape is the standard performance

long board for the period, with touches of the hull school

but still in the 8 foot range.

the idea being 

get the whole package up to speed

the V would help you

roll the board 

from rail to rail

long driving turns

think Kirra, Rincon or The Islands

Total involvement surfing

Dare I say that Rick Griffin was one of the most influential surfers of the period?

He literally drew everyone a picture of where we suddenly all wanted to go

These boards were a link 

between a refined  9'6" noserider 

and 

going were no one has gone before 

and doing it 

on a stylized space dart

with psychedelic graphics

The beginning of the revolution. 

Rocker, rail and fin changes were right around the corner. 

This one was probably ridden out at the HB pier and hopefully Trestles.