Finishing the painting on 57 AGIN

[JimNolan]

Bob,
   I meant to ask you before. DO YOU SURF? Jim

[57AGIN]

Jim:

Not as much as I did when I was in my 20's, 30's, 40's, & 50's.  I'm 68 and I surf once or twice a week, when the waves are between 2 to 4 ft and the water is at least in the 60 degree range.  55 to 59 degree water requires a heavier wet suit & booties and wearing those takes a lot out of me.  So during the Southern California winters, once a week is plenty.  I'm well beyond the days when I used to look for 6 ft plus waves to surf in and didn't care what the water temp is.  Now I just like to go out shoot the breeze with some of the guys I've been surfing with for many years and wait for that "perfect wave."  I surf a 10 ft "log" that weighs about 25 lbs and still have a great time doing it.  I can hardly wait until I can load my board into my 57 AGIN and go down to the beach again.  With all the care Santini took with the paint and body work on my car, I'll be much more careful in loading and unloading the board.  But, I surfed using my first 57 Custom 300 as a make shift surf wagon and I'll continue to do it as long as I'm able.  It is a great sport and you only have to do what you feel like doing.  There are a couple of 80 year old surfers around out here and I hope to some day be one of them.

Bob
57 AGIN

[JimNolan]

That's NEAT!!!!!

[57AGIN]

Jim:

I had to wait to get back to work to find a somewhat recent  (2005) picture of me enjoying a small wave at my local surfing spot, Seal Beach, CA about 6 miles from where I live.  As you can see I was wearing a full wet suit and booties, this is a sure give away that the photo was taken sometime late fall/winter/early spring.  The hat is to keep me surfing and going to car shows longer, as my bald head needs protection and using the greasy kid stuff (SPF 50) just makes the board slippery.

Bob
57 AGIN

[JimNolan]

Bob,
   That's awesome ( to borrow a phrase from Jeff Gordon ). The Beach Boys used to sing songs about you guys. The smog must not be THAT detrimental to your health out in California. I've got to ask, did you ever surf through one of those tubes with the water breaking over you. Jim

[57AGIN]

Jim:

Yes, in my younger years I managed to "get covered up" in a tube on occasion.  Of course it wasn't in one of those huge standing up inside a 10 foot type wave, like they show on television.  It was in about a 6 ft wave at a local beach, on one of those very rare "perfect days."  Getting "tubed" is one of the ultimate challenges in surfing.  With the new short boards ridden by today's younger surfers, there is a bit more opportunity to get tubed.  These boards are "late take off" boards, meaning that when the wave is in the process of folding over and crashing down, the surfer is in the process of standing or crouching below the lip of the wave.  On the long boards that I surf now and have always surfed, the take off is generally done well before that critical instant.  The opportunity to "get tubed" generally will come some distance after the take off and unless the surfer is really lucky it will usually result in getting tubed for a short time and the wave then crashing down on top of the surfer and his board.  This is when the surfboard leash is really a blessing, as when this is about to happen the surfer dives off of the board and is usually able to escape getting pounded in the washing machine turbulence with his surfboard banging into him repeatedly (or even just once, ouch).  For me this and bowling are the sports I have take into my senior years, both of which are only as punishing as the participant makes them.  I never could get the hang of golfing, my baseball swing just doesn't make for a consistently straight shot and most other sports require running (which after refereeing soccer during the 15 years my daughter played and playing slow and fast pitch softball in my 30''s & 40's messed up my knees a bit).  Car shows are a very good spectator sport and drag racing occasionally is sublime.

Bob
57 AGIN

[RICH MUISE]

That's awesome Bob...LOL my sports consist of watching baseball and yanking on a slot machine handle.
Rich