About

Shaping in Cocoa Bech, FL 2013

Writing these things is always so difficult. You have to say important, profound types of things, but not sound like an egomaniac or too businesslike. You're either a super niche groovemiester or a corpo sellout, mass producing copycat boards for the surfing sheep. Right?

There are still a few core craftsmen out there not waving their hands for attention, or trying to take over the world. They do seem to be a disappearing species though. Pressures to pay bills, compete with the big brands, get a fair price for their labor, and actually have a life turned many off the surf board industry, myself included.

So, I'm starting this blog to celebrate the journey I took in my almost 20 years making surfboards under the Royal and Label brands, and those that have helped me, inspired me, and just been damn good people that deserve some attention - even though most of them don't want it.

Custom surfboards are special. Surfing is one of the few activities where you can actually meet the person that made your equipment, or you can make your own. That is unique in this modern age, and should be treasured.

Why a blog? I mean, no one, like, reads that stuff anymore. That may well be true. Frankly, I don't like social media. First of all, it is not real life. It makes people shallow, distracts us from actually enjoying the moment in order to capture the perfect picture, and it is limited to a few characters or hash tags. Life is not like that. Every picture tells a story, and there is usually more to it than finding the ideal angle to represent something we wish was our real life.

I hope you enjoy it, and it provides some stoke.

Rob Lion

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