Petrilo quest 2009

Here is what popped up on my laptop, a clean looking 7'8" Petrillo Gyro

So fast forward 30 years, and I had sold this board. You've heard of "buyer's remorse", well I had "Sellers remorse". I never should have let that one go, I didn't need a 100 bucks, and off it went to Hawaii in 1972 with some guy named "Fish"

I asked a friend of mine, a local collector to look for a used one for me, I always wanted one in the rack. Almost once a quarter, he found one that was close or ugly or just beat to death.

This is an example of one, I would have considered for 300 bucks.

Out of the blue on April 20th, a Monday I googled "Petrillo Gyro" and here is what popped up for $550 bucks and it was still available in Santa Barbara where we were headed!.

The Stars aligned, I exchanged emails and we drove to Carpinteria for a3 night staty with the Trumans of Corralitos.

Santa Barbara & the second coming of Petrillo

For me, this surfing craze began on Long Beach Island in the 1960's, a cousin of mine rented a board to meet some guys, and in that two day rental, I hung unto that object like I was a lamprey eel.

I then borrowed another board for a 3 week period, a gorgeous Ron Jon, Hansen Competitor. I wanted my own board, and finally in 1970 my Dad bought me a 7'8" Petrillo Gyro. I didn't know anything about the brand, there were some 1/4 page ads in the surfer mags with Dru Harrison on them.

Here's mine. off my right shoulder is my younger brother James kicking water on Nick Balbo, my old man.

I really loved this board, it came down to the island for 4 weeks, maybe 3 summers in a row. I couldn't drive and it was lashed to some hard racks on my old man's 1968 Cutlass Supreme.

A look back: April 25 2007, Kane at 11

A Crowd of One

These shots are compressed and
are best seen with an expansion.

** ENLARGE with a DOUBLE CLICK**

This is a stormy day, and you are looking south towards Monterey.
A speck of neophrene in the center of this shot, is Kane
He has this point break to himself. Him and a quarter mile of
kelp beneath him, smoothing out the reef.





Here he is working his way out to the lineup on his new 5 8" Fish

Looking at the storm above Watsonville and Corralitos

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Just Brie and I on the railing checking him out.

stormy night Early April 2009

Alaia surfboards of Court Drive

Kane used scrapers, then hand sanded and then used a belt sander to smooth both sides of his board

three six foot sections of dry, light clear redwood from 1995

here's the laborer, Sanchez, waiting for the glue to dry. That's Gorilla GLue Waterproof.

Storm Surf, late February 2009