I first heard mention of Rincon in 1964 the same way most of the world likely did, when the Beach Boys exclaimed “…at Rincon, they’re walkin’ the nose,” as Surfin’ Safari riffed from the tinny speaker of a Zenith transistor radio hidden beneath my pillow.  Wherever this Rincon was, and whatever it was they were doing there, it sounded pretty darn cool to a six-year-old in central Ohio.

Turns out that Rincon has long been considered America’s gold-standard pointbreak.  Located on the border between Ventura and Santa Monica, about 75 miles north of Malibu, its elegant, right breaking point wave has hosted a pantheon of surfing legends since it was first ridden in 1938.   That lineup includes original big wave board designer, Joe Quigg, of the late ‘40s, and the builder that started the shortboard revolution of the late ‘60’s, George Greenough, aka “the barefoot genius,” then a resident of nearby Montecito.

With the “Rincon,” Surf Ohio’s Longboard Legends Collection pays homage to this classic break known as “the Queen of the Coast,” and those early watermen that her made famous, and vice-versa.  The Surf Ohio “Rincon” is a limited-edition of 100 hand-crafted 23” surfboards, each numbered and signed by Ron Kaplan and arriving ready-to-hang in your tiki bar, beach house, office, or wherever you hang ten.  Only $45 per board.    Buy any two boards for $80 (savings of $10), or all three styles with matching edition numbers for only $110 (savings of $25).  Priority Mail shipping is $12 for one board, or $16 for two-three boards.

The North Shore. Oahu.  “Pipeline.”  According to experts, it’s the world’s most photographed and filmed wave by far.  Perhaps that’s also because of a well-earned reputation as the world’s premier tube – and most dangerous surf spot.  Once called Banzai Beach, a pretty good moniker for the towering sets crashing onto an uber shallow reef of lava caves, in the early Sixties it was boardmaker Mike Diffenderfer who noticed the spot’s waves resembled the giant concrete pipes being used in a nearby road project. Before long, the “Banzai Pipeline” became known as the sport’s ultimate break and, many would claim, the ultimate test of a surfer’s courage, skill and luck.

Today it is simply called “Pipe,” but there is nothing simple about mastering its beguiling and bedeviling barrels.  In an attempt to provide a tutorial to surfers aspiring to conquer Pipe, one website offers this astute observation; “It’s not a matter of if you will wipeout, but rather when and how bad.”  According to the Encyclopedia of Surfing, on one December day in 1998 there were 30 injuries at Pipeline, including a near fatality.  But the photos? – they looked marvelous.

A roster of Pipeline masters would read like a who’s who of big wave barrel riders, from the likes of the early days’ Butch Van Artsdalen and Jock Sutherland, to contemporary tubists like Kelly Slater and the late Andy Irons.  And the annual Pipe Masters surfing classic today dangles a total purse of $425,000.  That’ll pay for a lot of stitches.  Unless, of course, you lose.

Surf Ohio salutes “Pipeline” and the legacy of the famous barrel riders who have mastered it with this Longboard Legends Collection limited-edition of 100 hand-crafted 23” surfboards.  Each is numbered and signed by Ron Kaplan and arrives ready-to-hang in your tiki bar, beach house, office, or wherever you hang ten.  Only $45 per board.    Buy any two boards for $80 (savings of $10), or all three styles with matching edition numbers for only $110 (savings of $25).  Priority Mail shipping is $12 for one board, or $16 for two-three boards.

A surf journalist once wrote that “Malibu is the exact spot on earth where ancient surfing became modern surfing.” When the lineup is crowded with every kind of surfer imaginable, from foreign tourist groms to reality show wannabes posing for paparazzi staked out on the shore, no doubt many Malibu regulars probably wish they could go back into time.

Back the day, Malibu was ruled by longboard icons like Dewey Weber, Mickey “The Black Knight of Malibu” Dora and Terry “Tubesteak” Tracy.  Dora’s riding style is still being copied by surfers today, and “Tubesteak,” well, he was the model for the Great Kahoona, made famous by surfer/actor Cliff Robertson in the movie “Gidget,” which was set in Malibu. That 1959 cinematic pop culture phenomenon catapulted surfing into the American youth culture, and waveriding at Malibu would never be the same.

Personally, I’ve found dozens of reasons to love Malibu besides the surf, not the least of which is the killer banana bread french toast at Coogies Beach Café, and then running into Dick Van Dyke and Pamela Anderson (but not together) while avocado shopping at the Ralph’s next door.

A fitting tribute to the original beachhead of American surf culture and the iconic surfboards of the day, the Longboard Legends Collection “Malibu” by Surf Ohio is a limited-edition of 100 hand-crafted 23” surfboards, each numbered and signed by Ron Kaplan, and arriving ready-to-hang in your tiki bar, beach house, office, or wherever you hang ten. Only $45 per board. Buy any two boards for $80 (savings of $10), or all three styles with matching edition numbers for only $110 (savings of $25).  Priority Mail shipping is $12 for one board, or $16 for two-three boards.

A fitting tribute to the original beachhead of American surf culture and the iconic surfboards of the day, the Longboard Legends Collection by Surf Ohio is a limited-edition of 100 hand-crafted 23” surfboards, each numbered and signed by Ron Kaplan, and arriving ready-to-hang in your tiki bar, beach house, office, or wherever you hang ten. You’ll receive all three styles with matching edition numbers for only $110 (savings of $25).  Priority Mail shipping is $16.

Hate to admit it now, but the very first Cleveland edition of the Surf Ohio shirts in 1978 boasted the “Flaming River Masters Surfing Classic” on the back. Many of my Cleveburg mates at Ohio U. claim their Surf Ohio shirts later inspired a hometown bar band to record a 45 titled, “There’s No Surf In Cleveland.” I don’t know about that, but if you have one of these ’78 Surf Ohio t-shirts in your archives, sell it on eBay and go buy yourself a new pair of Oakleys.

Whether you say I’ve since matured, mellowed, or otherwise grew to love the city formerly known as “the mistake on the lake” – the city that also developed a derelict waterfront warehouse district into the partyin’ “Flats” (now derelict again), where I once had my van stolen, stripped, and discovered up on blocks by Cleveland’s finest even before I heard “last call,” the city with more “Don’t Blame Me – I voted for Kucinich” stickers per capita than any other, the home of the Rock’n’Roll Hall Fame, which of course hosts its annual induction ceremony in, where else, New York – I am, in all honesty, very proud to present the all new, all cotton Lake Erie Masters Surfing Classic/Cleveland, Ohio edition of Surf Ohio t-shirts.

And what’s best of all? They really DO surf on Lake Erie!

Where were you for the Great Blizzard of 1978? It started as an ordinary January winter quarter Thursday for me, then a sophomore Graphic Design student at Ohio U. Walking out of typography class, however, the buzz was electric as signs were posted on each classroom – no less than the Governor had decreed that all classes were canceled at noon, and we were to prepare for an “unprecedented storm.” I knew exactly what the Guv meant. Better get back to my dorm as quickly as possible, find my checkbook, head uptown to the bank, grab some cash and hit the carryout to beat the rush, before the sky fell. Anxiety rose with the predictions, perhaps 3 feet of drifting snow by morning. By the time I made it to the carryout, a line already snaked from the register to the front door. Easy enough to grab a big bag of Beer Nuts and a couple boxes of Swisher Sweets, but when I fought my way to the coolers, alas, every last case of Goebels was gone. So I settled for the last two twelve-packs of Mickey’s Wide Mouths. The noon street scene was a bizarrely chaos – bustling sidewalks, frantic bag-laden people in a full jog, even stop-and-go, bumper to bumper traffic, a sight usually reserved for Friday nights when the locals cruised uptown in their hopped up, straight-piped pickups to show off their sticker collection, flaunt the noise ordinance, and look for fights with frat boys driving pee yellow Trans Ams. As my vibram soles propelled me across State Street toward home, a fellow Gamertsfelder Hall mate passed on his Honda 125, stopped in the middle of the intersection, shouted to jump on. Off he weavingly sped between the cars, me with my precious cargo gripped under each arm, trying not fall off backwards on a teeth rattling, wrong-way descent of brick-paved Jefferson Hill. Alas, once safely settled in Gamertsfelder Hall, we of the second floor gathered in the hall to take stock of our situation as flurries outside began to waft downward. Were we properly prepared to survive the full-on wrath of Mother Nature? Were we suitably girded for every possible scenario – loss of power, heat, or worse? Would they cancel mid-term exams if we were buried in snow long enough? Did anyone remember to buy some Wild Turkey? Between the fourteen of us on our wing, we ascertained ourselves to be in fair shape for at least a three day encampment, with a combined 19 ½ cases and 11 quarts of beer, 13 tins of Vienna sausages, 4 pounds of Beer Nuts, 9 cheap cigars a piece, some beef jerky and enough Oreo’s to last a week if we rationed six per man a day. Then, as Mother Nature rarely chooses to do, she threw us a bone. Over the next 36-hours of what became the deadliest blizzard of the decade, if not recorded history, Athens got all of about 10 inches. That’s it. We of Gamertsfelder Hall Second Floor were each taught a powerful lesson that perilous, freezing Hocking Valley weekend, one that could never be learned in any classroom, one that was never lost on us despite all the winters that have come and gone since. Don’t drink and sled.

The all new 2011 Surf Ohio tees – screened on Gildan 100% cotton, on either White or Sand.

Six surfing cities to choose from – Columbus (Olentangy), Dayton (Great Miami),Cincinnati (Ohio River), Lima (Ottawa), Cleveland (Lake Erie), and Athens (Hocking River).

Though the world has borne witness to many Greats throughout contemporary culture – the Great Train Robbery, The Great Gatsby, The Great White Hope, The Great Wallenda, The Great Santini, The Great One, The Great Escape, The, well you get the concept – but there is only one Great Miami Surfing Classic, and it happens but once each year in Dayton, Ohio. Wear your greatness with pride. Own the shirt. You are worth it.

The all new 2011 Surf Ohio tees – screened on Gildan 100% cotton, on either White or Sand.

Six surfing cities to choose from – Columbus (Olentangy), Dayton (Great Miami),Cincinnati (Ohio River), Lima (Ottawa), Cleveland (Lake Erie), and Athens (Hocking River).

Whether you’re rockin’ the house, combing the beach, or grabbing some air, the brand new Surf Ohio “SO” euro-oval shirt is the do-it-all-anywhere design for you!  Inspired by the ever-popular black and white “SO” oval Eurostickers, this premium all-cotton white tee features the stretched oval logo, screened in vibrant black ink on the center chest, with the Surf Ohio – Since 1978 logo centered on the upper back.  Elegant in its simplicity, yet unrefined in its ruggedness.  Or something like that.  And only $15 each for adult sizes Small thru XLarge, $17 each for 2XLarge.  Plus, each shirt comes with a free “SO” oval Eurosticker – a $2.50 value!

Shipping and handling separate.

2010 Surf Ohio tees – screened on Gildan 100% cotton.

Six surfing cities to choose from – Columbus (Olentangy), Dayton (Great Miami), Cincinnati (Ohio River), Cleveland (Cuyahoga), strong>Lima (Ottawa River), and Athens (Hocking River).