Driftwood Caravan

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

5/6 -5/7 2017 Driftwood Caravan on Display at the Boardroom Show in Del Mar

I'm super stoked to announce that Driftwood Caravan will be on display at this year's Board Room Show at the Del Mar Fairgrounds May 6th and 7th. Abe and I will be at the booth all weekend. Space A19 and A20 across from Danny Hess. For all of my friends in the digital world, this will be a great time to come and feel some rails, talk design and meet up. Ill have a bunch of new boards as well as all of my other goods on display and for sale. For more information or tickets please visit http://www.boardroomshow.com/

Hope to see you there!

Friday, February 10, 2017

Art and Surfboards - Driftwood Caravan X Surfing With Friends

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Here's a little piece I wrote on my collaboration with my friend Mauro - I'm stoked on the way these are coming out.

Surfboards and surfing in their most pure form, are created out of the to express beauty and the emotions of love and joy. Both surfing and surfboards require a great deal of human creative skill, imagination and a commitment to the craft. Each are refined over time with both the physical and emotional evolution after every board shaped and every wave ridden. Most of us would agree that surfboards and surfing are pure and deep forms of art. The feelings they inspire could in most cases be regarded as magic. When you add the work of Graham P Day, creator and shaper for the classically styled Southern California surfboard label Driftwood Caravan and the Graphic Design Talents of Mauro Ferarro, the Uruguayan creator of the “Surfing with Friends” concept, more than ordinary rabbits come out of the hat.

“Last year, I crossed digital paths with a guy that I thought was doing some amazing work in the surf / art space. He is a graphic designer from Uruguay named Mauro Ferarro and he was doing these crazy graphic renderings of some of his favorite classic board models with colors and image layouts like I had never seen before. They were of his own effort and uncommissioned works. I thought it would be awesome if some of these boards were made and brought out of the digital world and into the real world so I asked him if he would do a rendering or two for me. I posted them to gage the interest in this type of work. He agreed and did the first renderings for my DC Sam model based on some photos I had sent him. The colors, and his use of shadow and light made the boards look like I had already made them. In fact, one of the guys that regularly reposts my boards on his Instagram profile @boardporn started to think all the photos I was sending him were renderings. It’s hard to tell the difference. Anyway, his work is impeccable and I feel that it complements the curves of my shapes as well as my taste in design.

As of now, he has done 18 renderings which cover most of my stock models. We’ve also done a few totally custom original designs on request. Most of my customers have received the boards have a hard time even waxing them up. They are made to be ridden and they work well. However, I don’t mind if they end up on the wall if it feels good just to have them around.

As of now, I have brought about half of these designs to life. My goal is to keep working and make all of them and continue to expand the line. In addition to the boards, Mauro is also responsible for the design of my new branding. He’s a very easy guy to work with. His art is clean and I really appreciate his understanding of my personal aesthetic when it comes to image design.” - Graham P. Day

For more information, contact Graham at info@driftwoodcaravan.com or visit the driftwood Caravan Surfboards website at www.driftwoodcarvan.com

Mauro Ferraro is a 46 year old surfer / designer . He has enjoyed surfing for over35 years. Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, he has served as a Creative art director for various firms since 1993. He is also a dedicated Husband and proud father of 3- Baltazar 7, Candela 5 and Juana 2. He currently serves as a partner and director of Havas Gurisa Montevideo advertising agency. Surfing and design are his passion.

Driftwood Caravan Is a “Design First” brand founded by Graham P Day in 2011. Day has a passion for shaping surfboards inspired by alternative concepts in surfboard design born out the transitional era of surfing from late 60’s to the early 70’s. Raised as a surfer in southern California, Day shaped his first board “for the fun of it” in 2006. Focusing on quality, and originality, day now produces about 100 boards a year out of a small factory in Oceanside, Ca

Friday, January 20, 2017

Transitional Period Shape for A Modern Surfing Experience

A Time Capsule? Some cool and interesting concept tucked away like an ornate skeleton key forgotten in the velvet pocket of time? Or, is this just a bridge to the fun and personal expression only experienced by riding a wave? Maybe its all of those things. To keep it simple, we will call this one Mr. Style (after my good friend Abe).

A classic, transitional shape with wide point forward.

50/50 rail, a convex bottom entry that blends into a mild panel see out the back. The deck is scooped in both nose/tail and domed at the helm. Fine Foils forward and aft of the meaty parts.

The tail is pulled in with edges foiled. The fin box is pushed slightly forward for more maneuverability from the center of the board and turns off the rail.

Mild panel vee out the back is blended cleanly from the a flatter mid-section.

Lights out did a great job on the glassing with both 8oz and 6oz volan. I carved this 7'2 out of a nice piece of Millennium foam. If you want to know more about Mr Style, please feel free to send me a message and I'll introduce you!

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Magic Sam and Spartan Noserider Fins

Stoked to say that Ive just added these 2 beauties to the arsenal. Both are made from Hand-foiled volan right here in California by Master fin foiler Larry Allison for Driftwood Caravan Surfboards. For those looking for a real deal Magic Sam fin or something different and new to try in your noserider.

World Championship of Surfing 1966. One guy from across the pond, the Babe Ruth of surfing at the time, rode to win on a board that has captivated the minds of many. A bladed, transitional style, planky longboard named "Magic Sam" danced beneath his feet as he dazzled judges and spectators all the way to the sand. A critical part of this dance and the platform was the guidance system. So here we have it. In tribute, the 11" SAMflex fin is like in performance, foil and length to that original fin. Hand foiled from amber tinted volan, crafted right here in Southern California by master foiler Larry Allison of Fibre Glas Fin Co for Driftwood Caravan. Made to fit a standard Single fin box. Updated to stay put with the click-in, screw-less Kumano fin system. This is narrow based flex fin with ample take designed to work in any longboard for a responsive feel with plenty of twangy drive.

Stability, maneuverability, durability with a truly unique foil. A third generation inspiration based on fins developed for the best nose-riders our time has known. The 10.5”Spartan Flex #noserider was designed and hand-foiled by veteran fin maker Larry Allison of Fibre Glas Co for use in my DCNR and Valiant Pin shapes or any surf vessel that needs the tail end to stay put when the piggies want to take the front seat. The vertical angle of the base offers drive stability, and easy pivot turns while the flex foiled tip reminiscent of the tail end of a spartan helmet offers added drive through your turns by offering recoil through flex.

To find out more about these new templates and to see the rest of my hand-foiled fin collection, click here.

Saturday, January 7, 2017

Driftwood Caravan Long-Fish Glider

I've been wanting to shape something that was more than your average glider. My newest shape, the 9’4" long-fish is something ihave created to dominate in the small surf we've started off with this year. However, I also wanted something that I could also take out on bigger days to catch outside sets offering slow rolling mountains early.

Starting with Millennium green density foam and a 3/4" cedar stringer, The Curves seemed to fit the length and width well but I can go longer or wider. Within the outline I managed to fit full volume with a slightly domed deck, and a thinner rail that is mostly down with a slight bevel on the underside.

Slightly rolled entry and mid section a-la-simmons for classic longboard stability. On either side of the concave, there's a wide angled chime that wraps around a thinner tail to provide ample amounts of lift and hold.

I thought a lot about what fins to put on these and settled on some long base low profile, single foiled twins. The depth of the concave and foil on the tail almost make going fin-less an option. The length of the base should provide plenty of drive.

Ill post pictures of the glassed goods in a few weeks when its done. I'm also offering this as a custom order option for those interested. if you want to know how much, find out here. I also have a Surfing with Friends Edition with all the bells, whistles and custom art by Mauro Ferarro here. Questions or thoughs? Share in the comments.