“Today we’re doing a handplane shaping workshop in our new shop in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. You can come in, grab a handplane blank and a spot at the table, and start shaping. A handplane is a mini surfboard for your hand for bodysurfing. They’re super fun and surprisingly effective. We make ours out of wood – Northern White Cedar. It’s all leftover pieces that were not used while making our surfboards. We have this new retail space in Portsmouth and we wanted to make it a little more interactive. We still do our classes back at the farm in York, Maine but we thought it would be cool to bring a workshop to our shop in town, and make it a lot more accessible. We’ve also done a community board building workshop here for a surfboard that’s going to be raffled off for Sandy Relief. It only takes an hour or two to make a handplane. You don’t have to sign up. Just walk in, grab one, and start going. The handplane workshops are for anyone, even people who don’t surf. Everyone can bodysurf.”

For more information about Grain Surfboards and their workshops
www.grainsurfboards.com
www.grainsurfboards.com/classes/course-schedules
www.facebook.com/grainsurfboards

Or to visit the store
The Wood Shop
74 Congress Street
Portsmouth, NH 03801

Share the Ceto Stoke ~ click on the social buttons below to share this post with your peeps.

Chris Burkard is known as a unique visionary whose photography has the ability to catapult the viewer into the moment. At 26 years old, Chris has accomplished a style and composition all his own. In this visually stunning video, Chris talks about what inspires his work:

“I’ve always just aimed to do something that would keep me passionate and keep me sort of smiling, enjoying every second, and being challenged. If you put yourself in the right situation, your work can really make you grow, it can make you a better person. As far as work goes, the ocean has always been my favorite canvas, although that’s not really where it began. I think it all started with a passion for landscapes and, for me, the biggest goal has been just trying to merge that passion with anything I’m shooting.

I never take photos to do a place justice. I just take them as a record of my experiences there. And that’s really the beauty of doing what you love for work. The search is your reward. If that mind set comes with you anywhere you go, then you’ll always be successful. The second I get outside of my comfort zone, that’s where I find inspiration. It’s those moments that test you the most ~ these refining moments. In the long run, they’re the ones that give the most reward. This is where the inspiration is. It’s part of the process. My goal is always to just compose an image where the landscape is the hero – where I pay homage to these places that we get to find ourself.”

For more info about great work by Chris Burkard
www.burkardphoto.com/
www.facebook.com/ChrisBurkardPhotography
chrisburkard.tumblr.com
@chrisburkard

“Insivity” videos  www.insivity.com
Produced/Directed by Kellen Keene www.kellenkeene.com

Share the Ceto Stoke ~ click on the social buttons below to share this post with your peeps.

“Shooting my Venezuelan friend Rossany Alvarez from the Junior Team who was visiting the island of Bali to compete at the 2012 Oakley World Pro Junior Championship surf contest. On this day the waves were very small, so I decided to do something different and try to get some pictures with a good background and also show her sponsors on it, so we got this great photograph. For this shot I used my Canon 20D, tokina lens 10-17mm using a 10mm on Av mode Manual Focus f/5.6, 1/800 sec iso 400, SPL water-housing.” Edwart

For more photography by Edwart Ramirez
www.edwartramirezphotography.com
www.facebook.com/pages/Edwart-Ramirez-Photography

Thanks to www.thephotographersjournal.tumblr.com for turning Ceto on to Edwart and this great shot.

Share the Ceto Stoke ~ click on the social buttons below to share this post with your peeps.

Ryan Scura and Dylan Ladds are surfer/filmmakers from Concord, New Hampshire and the creative team behind New England Blood. This visually stunning portrait of New England surfers offers a sneak peak at what will become a feature length documentary. Ceto can’t wait to see more!

Ryan and Dylan: “It’s been over a year now since we began this project. We have collected hundreds of hours of video and audio from the New Hampshire coast and its surfers. Our ultimate goal is a feature film about this community, which will be released in April, but we’ve made many short films along the way. New England Blood is the most recent, and it’s different from our previous shorts. This is the first time we’ve tapped into our entire collection of media, rather than focusing on a specific person or event. It’s a lot of fun to look through our footage and realize how many awesome people we’ve met. They’ve let us interview them – usually at their houses – follow them around, and stick our cameras in their faces out in the lineup. We’re very lucky to be working with this welcoming group of people.”

More about the work of Ryan Scura and Dylan Ladds
www.facebook.com/surfnh
www.thegranitestoke.blogspot.com
Twitter/Instagram: @thegranitestoke
Contact: thegranitestoke@gmail.com

Mark Tipple is a surfer/photographer from Sydney, Australia and creator of The Underwater Project. Mark’s stunning underwater series began with a split second decision while caught inside by a big wave: “as I dove underwater, I suddenly thought I’d see what the kids next to me were going through – I turned the camera on them.” Here Mark shares a few harrowing moments with buddy Mike while shooting his most recent installment of The Underwater Project on a razor sharp reef in the Cook Islands:

“I’m done bro, I’m done.”

With those few words, Mike rose to his feet in ankle deep water and began the 10 minute walk towards shore. Even from behind the waves, I could see a stream of blood run down his arm, and t-shirt turn red across his shoulders.

This was in the first hour of a 10 day shoot. We both knew the reefs on the island were shallow; we’d been there before and surfed the waves, but shooting The Underwater Project dictates no boards and definitely no wetsuits – meaning the danger of losing skin was increased tenfold. With a wary eye watching for rogue waves, I watched as Mike left the water. He stumbled on a few urchin spines adding insult to injury; and I wondered if there was something else that I could shoot underwater. After a few technical adjustments (read: complete confusion with new gear I wasn’t experienced with), the Mare Vida series found me.

To see the full Mare Vida series
www.theunderwaterproject.com/mare-vida

Read on to learn more about these innovative companies:

GRAIN SURFBOARDS, York, Maine
www.grainsurfboards.com
Grain Surfboards was created by a group of friends with a similar vision: to face up to our responsibility for the environmental impacts of surfing but still to surf a great board. What surprised us was that building our own boards heightened our surfing experience in every way – from the satisfaction of building our own boards, to knowing that they have a smaller environmental footprint, to feeling a thing of style and beauty driving down the line. We use a renewable local resource (Maine-grown cedar) and organic zero-VOC epoxy. We also re-use and recycle waste – not just into garden mulch and animal bedding for local farmers – but into solid-wood body boards and hand planes made from the off-cuts of our board building.

We believe that surfers are ready for a better experience than foam and plastic can provide. This experience begins with knowing you’re carrying and riding a hand-built wooden surfboard that feels more like a fine instrument than mere recreational equipment.  Our shop hand-builds them one at a time, using traditional methods and proven design and construction techniques.  Because we also offer kits and board-building classes, getting a Grain Surfboard can be a really personal experience that ends with one of the sweetest rides around. Grain Surfboards wants to deliver this experience to a new audience of both seasoned and aspiring surfers.  An audience that’s looking for something new, something different, something that lasts, and something they can believe in.

ENDLESS WAVE, INC, Newport, Rhode Island
www.endlesswave.net
Endless Wave was created by a group of surfers with one goal: to design simple, innovative, and environmentally efficient products. Striving to purify the impact surfing has on the ocean, Endless Wave is most notably known for the WAX BUDDY, a three-in-one wax comb with a handle, made from 100% recycled plastic. Simply put, your WAX BUDDY solves a very basic problem: getting old wax off your boards.  After years of experience using everything from credit cards to those kitchen spatulas, we set out to craft the perfect tool for the job. We’ve incorporated a scraper, a comb, and a cupped rail edge. Its trademark is the handle that provides perfect leverage. The size fits easily into your travel bag, baggies or glove box.  Once you try it, you’ll never go back to using old wax combs again.

Every WAX BUDDY is 100% recycled because we love the sea.  We think our boards should reflect that attitude: Endless Wave is all about cleaner boards for cleaner waves.

CAPE ANN SUP, Gloucester, Massachusetts
www.capeannsup.com
Cape Ann SUP is more than just lessons by friendly professionals and tours of scenic Gloucester Harbor and the Essex River. We’re in the business of changing lives. We have taken the literal stewardship of Cape Ann’s waterways and beaches to heart in building the foundation for our company. In 2011, our volunteers removed almost 8,000 lbs of garbage from the ocean, rivers and beaches of Cape Ann. We also made headlines in 2011. With the help of Natti Surfboards and Shawn Vecchione, we designed the world’s first 8’6″ Kids Displacement Racer. In November of 2011, we created the world’s first SUP with running lights and rechargeable battery. With a focus on Fun and Fitness, we have been able to innovate and collaborate. We believe in leaving a place better than you found it. And we show honor and respect to the earth, the water and all its inhabitants.

CROOKED BLANKS, Marblehead, Massachusetts
www.crookedblanks.com
Mark Cruickshank  is founder and creator of Crooked Blanks. Mark is an enthusiastic woodworker and surfer who has developed a hollow wooden surfboard blank that can be shaped by a foam surfboard shaper. A Crooked blank is built from sustainable paulownia wood and is shaped in the same manner as a foam blank. The end result is a beautiful wood surfboard shaped from environmentally friendly, light-weight woods.

A Crooked Blanks handplane is made from the off-cuts produced while making a Crooked Blank surfboard blank. The blank is 90% paulownia wood with accents from other sustainable woods such as douglas fir and western red cedar.  The leash plugs are made of bio-plastic, which is 80% cornstarch.

VEC SURFBOARDS, Orleans, Massachusetts
www.vecsurfboards.com
After learning to shape surfboards in the Hawaiian motherland, Cape Cod native Shawn Vecchione brought his world-class skills back home. In the 12 years since Vecchione first learned to shape on the island of Kauai, his custom boards have been surfed by top surfers like the late Andy Irons and his brother Bruce, Makua Rothman, Dustin Barca, Felipe Pomar, and Victor Rosario. His teachers included legendary craftsmen Dick Brewer, Bobby Allen, and Billy Hamilton. Vecchione credits Hamilton, a renowned surfer and the stepfather of big wave rider Laird Hamilton, as his greatest influence. Shawn Vecchione has teamed up with Mark Cruickshank of Crooked Blanks to build beautiful custom shaped boards using paulownia and other sustainable woods.

GREEN LIGHTNING SURFBOARDS, Seabrook, NH
www.greenlightningsurf.com
Green Lightning is an innovative start-up, founded by Michael Emery and Kevin Schoenthaler. Green Lightning provides an eco-friendly wave-riding experience by handcrafting custom surfboards from recycled, organic, and bio-derived materials. We hold environmental consciousness and responsibility at the core of our business strategy and are taking active steps to significantly reduce the environmental impact of a surfboard and the surfing lifestyle. As surfers, we rely on the health and stability of our oceans; it is our duty to preserve and protect what we love. We know that the natural world and the business world are inextricably linked, and we want to strengthen that link by setting an example and inspiring other businesses in the industry to adopt more earth-conscious operations.

CHANGE IS SIMPLE, INC, Beverly, Massachusetts
www.changeissimple.org
Change is Simple, Inc. strives to instill environmental and social responsibility in our communities through sustainability enrichment programs. The Change is Simple, Inc. enrichment programs are administered to schools, businesses, and other organizations in order to spread sustainability awareness and educate others to realize the connection between their actions and their planet. Our age specific lessons teach schools, businesses and communities about the power of simple changes. By educating individuals on the cumulative impacts of their choices, we seek to inspire, empower and motivate others to protect our future. Change is Simple also offers sustainability consulting services. We specialize in designing sustainability strategies, organizing sustainable/ zero waste events, and connecting organizations with key players in their community in order to expand their sustainability understanding and develop their sustainability policies and programs. Our consulting services are available to the entire community.

CINNAMON RAINBOWS SURF COMPANY, Hampton, New Hampshire
www.cinnamonrainbows.com
Cinnamon Rainbows Surf Company is one of the largest surf shops in the Northeast. The shop is owned and operated by local surfers. Owner Dave Cropper grew up surfing in Hampton from the age of 11 and has since traveled the world, surfing in Fiji, Hawaii, Australia, Chile, New Zealand, Central America, the Caribbean and more. Dave continues operating the shop with fellow surfers and world travelers Phil Carey and Heather Day. Through the help and support of a devoted local surfing community, Cinnamon Rainbows Surf Company thrives as a modern surf shop with an old school feeling.

WISDOM PUBLICATIONS, Somerville, MA
www.wisdompubs.org
Saltwater Buddha, A Surfer’s Quest to Find Zen on the Sea by Jaimal Yogis
www.wisdompubs.org/SaltwaterBuddha
Fed up with teenage life, Jaimal Yogis ran off to Hawaii with little more than a copy of Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha and enough cash for a surfboard. His journey is a coming-of-age saga that takes him from communes to monasteries, from the warm Pacific to the icy New York shore. Equal parts spiritual memoir and surfer’s tale, this is a chronicle of finding meditative focus in the barrel of a wave and eternal truth in the great salty blue.