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| Dave Parmenter, Central California, August 2014. Photo: Jeff Chamberlain. |
MICHAEL KEW: What’s the state of
Aleutian Juice Surfboards, and why the San Luis Obispo resettlement?
DAVE PARMENTER: Up until
recently, the Aleutian Juice label was more or less restricted to friends and
family, since up until 2008 the bulk of my living was made as a writer; after
that, I was involved with C4 Waterman Inc. until early last year. After parting
ways with C4, I was no longer able to afford the high cost of living in Hawaii
and so returned to my hometown of San Luis Obispo and to the little rural
farmhouse and garage shaping room I have kept since 1989. I am fortunate that
my friend Andrew Kidman has, with his films and articles, created considerable
demand for a number of board designs that I have worked on for decades. The
timing couldn’t be better for a shaper/designer like me, since so many surfers
are exploring vintage or exotic surfboard design.
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| Photo: Andrew Kidman. |
What is your
assessment of today’s surfboard world?
I am very content
with the present state of the domestic surfboard industry. Things are much
better than they were over the past two decades. It seems as if the hardcore
surfing population has circled their wagons against nondescript el cheapo
surfboards and have a far greater appreciation than, say, 10 or 15 years ago
for hand-built, locally designed surfboards. In particular, the trend towards
fully finished, beautifully resin-tinted glasswork by a growing number of glass
shops has made the surfboard both a work of art again, as well as (finally)
worthy of a price tag that lets our domestic craftsman earn a living. The
hipster trend, while pretentious and smarmy at times, has nonetheless helped in
a big way to restore our cottage industry to its former glory. Bottom line: people
really seem to appreciate quality now—and if some of the boards are slabs, at
least they are works of art.
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| Photo: Chamberlain. |
What distinguishes your
boards?
There are
literally hundreds of highly skilled shapers working out there. The level of
craftsmanship is very high, and with the CNC machines, very accurate. There are
probably far fewer really good designers, but that might not matter since so
there are so many verifiably successful board designs that are low-hanging
fruit for anyone smart enough to recognize them for what they are and copy
them. I ride every sort of surf craft so perhaps I might possess a wider
understanding of design than the guy who scrubs out ten 6’1” squash-tail tris
every day. I see myself as a designer first and a shaper second. Each surfboard
I design and shape is done completely by hand from start to finish—no one else
touches the blank until the laminator. And speaking of glassing, a skill I feel
is highly underrated is being able to work with glassers in a full partnership
and not a push-me/pull-you antagonistic relationship. The surfboar
Thoughts on the
current status quo?
Two things come to
mind: First, the people I get to build boards for each day have all been a lot
of fun to work with and are hardcore surfers who place their surfboards at or
near the center of their lives. That’s very satisfying for me. Whatever I build
for them has to work; it can’t just
be trendy or pretty. Second, I see soooooo many boards or pictures of boards
inappropriately and overly finned—biggest offender being quad fins. A hint:
Fins are drag until they aren’t….
People can order a
board/boards from you by doing what?
Most people contact
me through my website (nowtro.com) and/or writing to dave@nowtro.com. The order process is designed to be personal and
collaborative, with a lot of back-and-forth, working down towards the finest
detail.
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| Photos: Jeff Chamberlain. |
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