Swell coming soon!!

Hopefully we can all see a new swell hit the Gold Coast of Australia on sunday/Monday this week! , which means change of thought, change of direction, change of board style, a time to get out there and try new styles of boards , or just to feel life again after our very long flat spell. we'll see! If you're feeling stale? Or Adventurous, or even just a user? /Why not try a free demo board out this weekend from our Tugan Store? We have at least 3 new models of boards only released to the public in the last month. New gig dates have also been added to my website www.isaacpaddon.com. if you manage to get some time out to chill

WAVE DOMINATOR HITS THE SHELVES THIS WEEK!!!

Roger Salmoggi of Tugan on the Gold coast was stoked to be the first person to pick up a new WAVE DOMINATER surfboard from our Tugun store. This board Features an extra wide diamond tail and 5 fin set up. This board is works excellent as a thruster in good conditions and ideal for sloppy days as a quad set up. Dave has been testing this model with team riders such as Dale Richards. We now have a full range in stock ready to be ridden and pleasured.

Nice Fun in the Mentawais

Mattia Di Bitonto Morri "YeWiE" from mattia di Bitonto on Vimeo.

Quick new years Surf Trip

New years day 2010 4am- Kuta, Bali

Alarm on my Phone rings... No Power on in town again, i have to catch a 6am flight so the quick shower & pack bags in the dark routine begins. First time i had stayed in my mates Villa so the scramble with the Iphone as a torch got me by.
Out to the front of the villa complex, waking up the security boys to give me an Ojek (motorcycle taxi) to the busy Denpasar airport. There was clear skies with no wind & still a few leftover bangs, pops & whistles from the Revelers who had left over fireworks & energy from NYE. 5 minutes short of the airport the solitary cloud in the dimly lit sky found us & loaded buckets of rain! All moist and checked in fine, Gotta love priority seating on AirAsia!

Thru turnstiles in Singapore airport moving with Cues of pensive jet-setters, doing their own personal security scanning of fellow travelers with eyeballs of judgement, along with Immigration, Customs & Health officials doing their official stamping & screening. Hello its Luggage collection time! As this was one of several legs of my promo tour i had sent fresh boards ahead of me from the Diverse Factory at home via unaccompanied baggage. I had sent them on 21st dec to make sure i had left plenty of time for them to arrive before me.

1st hurdle, The cargo office was not answering the phone! it was new years day... oh-oh, public holiday! The helpful information desk sent us in the direction of the freight terminal, as there were planes coming in she thought we might find someone to help us. The Taxi ride was pretty much a whole loop around the airport. Once we were thru the security checks leaving our passports etc, we found our way to the office manned by a 13 y/o kid with a PSP who went to work with his dad! His Dad came thru with some info on the office computer. The boards had not left Australia yet! “maybe tonight sir, please come back tomorrow”. Not good enough, as we were leaving in about 1 hour on the ferry to Malaysia! Ok no new boards, promo material, T-shirts & banners to use at the Monsoon Madness Competition i was going too! Lucky i had a few customers with boards there already to borrow. Its cool I can sell my boards with my heart & hands & my laptop.

Next stop was back to the airport to meet 14 of the crew from Phuket board-riders, Thailand, They joined us for the 20 minute bus ride to the ferry terminal. After another cue-ing session with immigration, Customs etc we were on the Ferry leaving the harbour cruising past Sailboarders racing container ships. Desaru Beach here we come.

Thru the next cues of Customs etc & into 2x Pajeros, with the remainder of the boys & boards piling into a lorry winding along a coast reminiscent of Dunwich at north Straddie complete with calm waters & mangroves. Five minutes into the Drive we turned down a small single lane side road with the Driver explaining in simple english “shortcut” we found ourselves meandering thru palm plantation trees & small settlements of families playing in the afternoon sun. Road signs warned us of Monkeys, Wild Pigs & surprisingly Elephants! I was glad we didn't run into any of them playing in the afternoon sun. Brief glimpses of the ocean didn't look promising for swell as the coastal road took us past seaside hotels from the 80’s, we found our destination of Golden Beach Hotel @ Desaru, Johor, Malaysia. A 4star hotel with a couple of falling stars over years of weekend use with a small beach break right out the front!

a Quick surf check reveals a 1 foot sloppy beach break, but its low tide & looks to have potential banks for the morning! The young guys from Thailand slip out for a couple wet ones, then we are off in the back of a Hilux with 12 others to the local dinner choice. Spicy hot Rice & chicken washed down with ice cold fruit juices... Alcohol is illegal for Malaysians , But no problem for tourists. So for all of us who wanted a beer we drove 10km up the road to the market that had some liquor to buy. We were stopped by a police roadblock! All the visiting guys including myself had left our passports/ID in our room! I am sure the Police must have been happy for the contest to be in town as they let us all off & directed us to the Bottle shop/roadside cafe. $2 cans of Carlsberg special brew @8.8% filled our bags & a couple made sleep come quickly!

Rise & Shine 5am just like home. No-one is up so i take a little walk down to the water to see that the surf is clean & fun looking. Breakfast voucher in hand i head over to the buffet much like any other in the Asian arena. With a full stomach i am off to the contest site. After 10 minutes of looking around the Contest Director Ajill asked me to help out & judge, with five more i was 2nd head judge! A little dismayed on how to judge bodyboarding etc i took on the challenge & learnt pretty quick. I was impressed with the standard of short-boarding with current Malaysian champion Mamat & Bandah Aceh surfer Yudi setting the bar. The waves are much like a japanese beach break or an ordinary gold coast summer windswell beachie. Little left + right hand peaks good for a couple turns if your lucky!


Officially opening the event at 2pm was the minister for tourism Malaysia. Government interest is high in surfing & its related business channels. Pumping music reminicent of early mornings at Double six in Legian, with camo clad army officers patrolling the park & beach admiring the beauty of youth. Malaysia is a strong muslim country so there was a lot of the girls on the beach were wearing veils! Being a Tourist beach town things were pretty relaxed. Surfing Guest of honour for the Event was Dede Suryana from Cimaja in Indonesia
I had an opportunity for promo with Malaysian TV as they were on location filming at Getaway style program, The producer had asked me of the possibilitys of arranging a surf lesson for their “Jennifer Hawkins” style host. Quickly aided by Local surfer girl Brenda we set them up with basic instructions about paddling, standing up & using a legrope etc. My good friend Dede Suryana 2 x Indonesian surfing champ helped by taking the Sharmeen the host into the water to get wet surfing for the 1st time. As entertaining as i was watching her get pounded by the shore break almost loosing here wear the Film crew managed to get the shots they needed. Proceeding onto interviewing me on the merits of board type, design, style & basic construction, fortunatly i had a Diverse board from one of my customers for the high performance example. Making do with a Thailand made minimal for the beginners example. Nice to give a plug to DIVERSE on national Malaysian TV!

Dinner that night was a dodgy beachside resturant, with the hunger being quenched but the taste buds were not! one of the ladys with us managed to find a fly in her fried rice! Jokes aside she did not order Flies with that!
The contest organizers from Bigfoot Industries had arranged for beach party kicking off around 11pm, turning out to be a lot of fun not unlike a full moon party anywhere in Asia, with crew dancing until sunrise to well mixed jungle beats. I took my judging seriously and was in bed by 3am to the Doofing sounds of DJ’s pounding a good beat.

Ground hog breakfast buffet with the contest kicking off at the reasonable time of 9:30am. The waves were a little bigger with a bit more water on it making it fullish. Competition surfers seemed to make the most of the conditions riding the waves that came thru very well. Still struggling with the concept of judging the bodyboards i took a break & wandered the beach stalls looking at all kinds of things from food stalls to Hookah pipes while the sound systems pumped out amping music mixed with a live reggae band on the park stage!

by the afternoon finals the waves had deteriorated as most contests do, with the smaller younger guys looking like favourites to take out the event. Hailing from Cherating the boys were used to long right hand point break waves, getting long rides with perhaps a little too safe manouvres. Contest Winner Yudi from Bandah Aceh put down some powerfull turns taking chance with radical turns over safe long rides. His Gamble payed off winning quite convincingly over the billabong sponsored grommy from Cherating & Malaysian champ Mamet.
A quick speech from the Malaysian tourism minister, followed by retired local army General started the presentation, Handing over certificates of appreciation to sponsors & judges. With prizes being giving to all division winners, where nods & handshakes took prevalence over acceptance speeches. Good thing really as we had 30 mins to say goodbye to all the new friends, pack, checkout of the hotel & catch the last ferry back to Singapore for the day. We had plans of Surfing the Standing wave on Sentosa island at the WaveHouse in Singapore in the morning before our flights back to Bali that evening.
We made the ferry, of course being the last ones there! Once thru all the customs/Immigration rigmarole we had a mission getting 2x taxis with boards! Apparently they dont like to pick up from the ferry terminal because they miss out being able to charge the $10 airport terminal tax. Eventaully we caught one, Heading to our guide Arfian house. he had insisted we stay at his house. Arfian & his wife Radiah were awesome treating Myself & Dede to an amazing dinner in Arab st. By 1am we were in bed after adding countless new friends we had made over the weekend on facebook! So many hookups for new surfing destinations around south east Asia!

Monday morning starts off with a large chinese style breakfast spread prepared by the grandma who had magically appeared at 5am to cook breakfast for guests! Steamed pork buns thru to a dragonfruit salad we were treated like kings. a phone call from our friends at the Wavehouse , The barrel had been put out of action with a loose surface coating & would not be running today or for another 2 weeks! Fortunatly the Flowrider was still running so we went to Sentosa Island anyway. We met the owner and made arrangements for 2 hours on the Flowrider. We found it more difficult than it looked but a lot of fun, Tom (owner) explained to us that it was easier for non surfers to learn than for more experianced professionals becuase a lot of the actions & weight placement was the opposite. Quickly we found that to be true, watching young chinese boys who had never surfed, maybe not even swim before picking it up very quickly. Dede Suryana was blown away how good some of the local regulars were, flipping & sliding, making tricks look easy. I was intrigued by the board designs. Once the staff found out they had a visiting shaper they quickly brought out several shapes for me to try. Our local instructors who were also the current Champions were totally stoked for me to show some interest in making them some new design boards. Several ideas were running thru my head with concaves & sidecut etc. Out with my trusty mini tape measure & iphone to record some basic dimensions. I knew i was going to have trouble sleeping that night creating some new shapes in my head. Tom spoke of the new model wave they were working on installing in the future that may actually bring surfing to the Olympics in a few short years.


After a quick tasty lunch at the WaveHouse we were escorted VIP on a golf buggy limo to the Carpark & Airport promising to return with more time to enjoy thinhgs & a handful of boards to test out. If you have a couple hours spare when you stopover in Singapore, catch the train to Sentosa Island & have a go, you can hire boardies there, lock up your carry on in the baggage lockers & rip it up, you pay by the hour & it sure beats drinking at the Airport watching people while your in transit!
Back on the flight to Bali & a good nights sleep for me....
more Pics here...

Custom Surfboards are your Right.

Diverse Surfboards are continually getting more & more feedback from around the Globe. Just this week we had orders from Dubai, The Ivory Coast in Africa, Malaysia, Singapore & USA. as our international customer base grows & grows we are finding lots of Happy surfers totally stoked with the Durability of our boards, Along with being able to create & design any Graphic they want on a Custom board made the the Best Specs for them! Young People have such an amazing choice of futures within Surfing nowadays. Here is a Fortunate Student of the Super Surf Camps Being Held along the east coast this school Holidays. Students get to Design thier own boards and Spend a Entire weekend learning futuristic skills in Surfing.

STOKED ON NEW DQX QUAD FISH MODEL!!

hi Dave, Jamie, Isac.

That thingy board with the sticky up fins DQX I think, looks like a chicken drum stick, but goes like a cut cat.

Took the demo out at the alley last week, went surprisingly well in 2ft sloww slop, then took it to sraddie for a couple of days 3ft peaks went unreal, heaps of speed down the line, and up and over sections. Next step chunky stuff, with bigger fins maybe.

Ordered mine the next day. Got it yesterday, have to wait for it to cure, just as well there is no surf.

Cheers guys have a good xmas

Paul Webster

win a spongebob surfboard

check out the spongebob squarepants board we made...

Hard Rails Vs Soft Rails

Its great to have your theorys backed up by other shaper/designers. I tried Hard rails all the way up on my boards about 15-18 years ago. i did a few for friends too. they all loved them Too. the only negative comments were before the board was ridden. Once they surfed the board it was all good...
But as always the marketplace dictates we do designs just like everyone else... Your welcome to discuss having hard rails on your next custom!

This is a reprint of A Surfline article by Maurice cole. Eminence grise of the designing set:

This innocent seeming question is hitting modern high performance design right on the nail. The logic of hard rails-versus-soft deserves to be challenged. Mark Richards once said, "Hard rails don't catch, bad rocker lines do." This would have been 20 years ago. I think we're only beginning to get a grip on what he said today.

Why do boards have softer front edges? It's simple. In traditional surfing style, the front half of the board is essentially irrelevant to the turn. Most of the time, you're lifting the nose out, and only using the last two feet of tail rail -- the hard bit -- to turn.

Rails have been left soft up front because many designers have believed that hard edges up front would "catch" -- ie., interfere and block water in turns. I think this is a fallacy on the modern high-performance surfboard. The softer front edge is designed to be forgiving. In fact, it's too forgiving. The softer the edge, the more the water wraps around and sucks onto it, the less control you have. It's like sloppy suspension on a car.

Here's an example: you've probably seen the footage and photos of the Jaws sessions late last year. What we (Ross Clarke-Jones rides MCs) found was amazing. Ross was riding 6'6"s and they actually felt too long! In 30-foot waves! Those boards had hard rails from nose to tail and yet they didn't catch -- in fact, they were incredibly lively. They felt too long because suddenly Ross was able to use the whole rail to turn off, not just the last two or three feet. We've cut lengths down to 5'10" and 6'3" and we'll probably cut more after the next swell.

Tow-ins have taught me over and over again that we don't know what we thought we knew. I believe we've gotta be able to translate that back to everyday surfboards. I went in on my high performance boards recently and started putting hard rails in way up, from nose to tail. All I found were improvements. The boards paddled better; they took hold of water and got it under the board quicker; reaction times improved. You could use all the board, all the time.

Surfboard rockers have improved tremendously since MR called it on 'em way back when. Maybe it's time we kissed the soft front rail goodbye.

Dale Has a New Quiver for the Summer season.

Here is Dale Richards new batch of performance shortboards. Along with his
high performance Sprint Model boards for competition, Dale has been
trialling our latest release WD (Wave Dominator) ModeL & a super funky fun
board we call the Squid.
A famous guy said in 1895
"You never change things by fighting the existing reality. Too change
something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete."

Quads may just change your Day!

Quads have been around for a long time now..
I have always had a few in my private testing collection...
here is a shot from 1984

and some feedback from a customer today...
Daniel Binskin
"Hey Dave , I rode that new 6'0 demo quad today . The one with the pulled on tail with green and black checkers on it . I want it . Please sell it to me . "

Daves reply... in short. no sorry mate. there is a newie on the shelf made from the same file. that one you rode is a demo at present but i colored it specific for a movie project i have coming up in a couple of weeks.. and i want to ride it some more too!

Daniel Binskin
"Hey Dave , I bought the board off the shelf today . It looks a bit ugly but goes unreal . I take back everything I said about quads. I am genuinely excited about going surfing on it again . Stoked ! "

Customer feed back is welcome...

this is not Wayne.. this is another happy guy with fresh custom off to Peru...

Dave
Surfed new ten foot Longboard at Wilsons on Sunday morning, strong north swell 3 to 4 foot right handers peeling towards corner on a funny angle real glassy and fun. At the time I was wondering how this board would go anyway It picked up the outer sets real fine and the board has control and speed on bottom turns pushes off possible the square tail. I quickly found that the extra thickness allowed stepping or walking about and pulling the board around left go right easy. I used the fin you supplied and will continue to use on this model thanks again I would also like to give the swallow mullet 7ft 10 ago maybe just a tad thicker when I get cashed up again.

PS: Some locals commented on the Longboard shape showed interest.

All the best
Pete Le Breton

And Another one...

G'day Jamie,

Just got a call from Wayne with some feed back on the board:

"It's a f&cken ripper mate, happy as a pig in shit I am.....best glass job
I've ever seen, love the Diverse logo and the fish graphic....."

One of the strangest customers we've had, but you guys have made him very
happy indeed, much appreciated.

Thanks! (Wes,Vic Diverse Retailer)

Chrismas eggs?

Heres a little taste of a couple new eggs lineing to make smiles on some lucky customers face.. the "style Commander" taking over a break near you!

New Teamrider Mattia Morri 1 week into a new board at Canggu

Mattia "stratonto" morri-MONOPRODUCTION from mattia di Bitonto on Vimeo.

Fun Little Waves today....

Here is some nice pics of Chris on his Sprint model at the Tweed Coast this morning...
Great pics by dan@oceanartwork.com

Commitment

commitment....

Customers Creative Craft

Customers Creative Craft They want they get they enjoy... you benifit!
Team Try Test Talk...

Three of a kind?

Here is 3 of a new Quiver for slim@baliwaves.com
Jack is a 6'2 x 18 1/2" x 2 5/16" sprint,
The Queen is a 6'4" x 18 1/2" x 2 5/16" turbo sprint
With the King being a DK quad 6'1 x 19 1/2"x 2 3/8"
im holding the Ace up my sleeve... Haha.

New Webstore online now!

Our Complete board inventory in our store is now online ready for you to purchase, updated allday, everyday! Browse thru the Used, New & Amazing customs ready to buy immediatly. To celebrate the opening of our very own Dedicated online boardstore... You get FREE shipping of all online purchases until the end of November...!

THE RIGHT BOARD FOR THE CONDITIONS

This week conditions have been small but super clean on the Gold Coast of Australia, Which has meant choosing different equipment to suit the waves on offer. This week the pick of the boards for the small conditions has been the Diverse MINI SIMMONS quad model, and the Diverse LONGRIDE Longboard model. The two models are totally different to each other but both perform in small waves and are super fun to ride. The 10'1 Longride pictured makes it easy to catch waves that you would usually call too small to surf. Francois Vienne and Brodie Dunne are two happy surfers this week after picking up their new equipment on Saturday. They, like many others had the opportunity to talk one on one with the shaper Dave Verral about what they wanted out of their new boards. The two were so stoked they waxed up their boards in the store before the even hit the beach!

Dru Adler Video by Angie & co

ADAM AND CHARLIE GREER GO TANDEM IN STYLE

Respected Waterman Adam Greer, well known for paddling out solo in huge swells when only tow in surfers are usually out, Hacking big carves on retro equipment, and ripping stylish moves on his longboards, was found on Sunday at The Pass in Byron bay sharing the stoke of surfing tandem with his oldest son Charlie Greer aged 5 . Adam has taken both of his two sons surfing from an early age, and it has paid off with many memorable sessions together as a family. Adams choice of tandem equipment for the points is his 10'1 single fin Nose Rider Model perfect for floatation for the whole family, and the right kind of glide you need to feel the stoke! The pic was taken by Mark Stables also at the Pass with his family.

Board Delivery Bali Style...

Another nice shipment of uor Diverse Boards to Bali. We just delivered
almost 40 boards ranging from Sprits, Mullets & Kwads. Check em out in
poppies2 today!

Ethans new board

Date: Sun, 4 Oct 2009 21:14:25 +1100
To: David Verrall <feraldave@feraldave.com>
Subject: Ethan

Hey Dave

Havn't had a chance to get some shots of Ethan and his DK, which he
absolutely loves "because it flies!"
Anyhow here's a good 1 2 sequence of him, on the Sprint, throwing a few icey
litres of water off the back of one cold Tasmanian wave.
Shots of the DK and spray to come.

Also watched young Howard ripping it up doing some training for the state
team, this morning.
His coach, a mate of mine, was quite impressed and said "the board goes
really well for him!"

Cheers Jake

technology at its best

Supernova from Siggi Eggertsson on Vimeo.

Vernon AhKee & Dale Richards at Venice Biennale 2009

ISAAC PADDON TOURS HIGHWAY ONE

(pic- Larry from Fox Wetsuits frothing over the DIVERSE boards on display at the Spring Cassic in Cronulla on the weekend.)



I had the chance to hit the road last weekend for a short tour playing 4 shows and surfing in the spring classic in Cronulla on the Saturday. The waves were small but clean and very surfable. I took a range of boards down on the trip but due to our tight music playing schedule didnt get much time time in the water. I drove to our first gig at The Pacific Hotel in Yamba On Thursday Arvo after work .After the usual very late night there, drove the 7 hour trip to Newcastle just in time to get in the water and catch the last 20 minutes of light. With only an hour to spare before the next show, I managed to restring the guitars , sink a quick ( warm ) beer and race to the View Factory Arts Cafe to sing my heart out. With The longboard contest in Cronulla the next morning ( 3 hours away) and being after midnight already we had to decide to either drive that night and have a quick sleep before my heat, or have a quick sleep and leave at 3:30 am . We opted for the latter. I arived just in time to judge the first heat, slip into my wetty , and try and still see straight. I vowed it would be the last time i play a show the night before a contest. Although cloudy and fatigued the day ran smoothly and a lot of people were stoked on the DIVERSE boards i had on display . The quality, the Art and the shapes were what most people were impressed on. The day followed with the presentation where i placed 1st in over 30's and 4th in the opens. We then jumped on stage and cranked up the amps. The south side crew were an apreciative and hospitable audiance and it was a pleasure to perform for them. With no where to safely store our music and surf gear we waited till the last partyers had left and attemped to sleep next to our gear on stage curled up on a hard floor rapped in towls and whatever else we could find to keep warm. After the 4 hour partial sleep on the surf club floor, we headed off in the van back up the coast to our next gig at Barrells Bistro in Sawtel on the coffs coast . We made it just in time to the gig and played one off the sleepiest layed backe gigs in a long time . I think i only opened my eyes in 2 songs . The small but quality crowd seemed to love the performance. Next stop was Arrawarra spot x Surf camp, a usual rest stop on our sleepless journeys . Ariving back yesterday arvo it was good reflecting on the short but interesting times we had experienced on another one of our Highway one music/surf tours. and now as im back in at work in the Diverse surfshop on the goldy i can do some thing else i love, and that is talking to customers about one of the most favourite things i do . Enjoying the pleasure of surfing the waves of the ocean. It also occurred to me the the oil leak in my van had got alot worse. we used 17.5 litres of oil on the trip. it cost more in oil than fuel. Pleasures of being on the road. Isaac

16gb Iphone unlocked contract free $949.00

I felt I needed to write this down rather than just tell you both,
 
I got the call Sunday that the mini simmons iPhone board was ready to be picked up, so like all big boys do, I raced down to pick it up. Dave you have excelled yourself it looks brilliant, a unique design on a unique board. Whilst I was in the shop Jamie was busy as there was a flood of people,  and the iSimmons drew quite a bit of attention. As I waited for things to quieten down so that the fins could get there ceremonial fitting, I was talking to one of your customers that was returning a demo board (at this time store manager Mr Drew had sealed the deal on yet another Diverse shortboard) the conversation was based on Diverse and shapes etc, when the iSimmons caught his eye. He asked me what i expected from the board and how would it perform and let me say it was a rare moment when i was lost for words as i really didn't know. But today i surfed it at Cabba (cabarita point) and i'm still lost for words but in a different way, its shape is hard to get your head around until you surf it and then the performance takes over......... its amazing
iFast
iPerformace
iFun
 
iStoked
 
Thanks to both of you
 
Simon Fowler

BIG cold waves again in Tassie

James Hollmer Cross serving up some great shots again from the deep cold south of Tasmania....

JAIDEN ELGEY

Hey dave i got back from Bali about 5 days ago had a really good time and got some sicc waves! Here are some pics from bingin on my newys which go soo good. I went on a boat trip and got deserts pumping off its head like 3-4 foot so yea that made my trip!! Im goin down to manly for the pro juniour in 2 weeks so i will let u no how i go.

Jaiden..