"OWL CHAPMAN UNDERGROUND"
“A Magic Board Can Change Your Life- Underground with Owl Chapman”
By Brittany Wilund
Five years ago I made a personal goal to myself that I was going to sit and meditate every day for at least 60 days. I wanted to make a concerted effort to be more present in a world that is constantly vying for attention with countless mind-numbing distractions and relentless anxiety-provoking chatter. I get caught up in it with the best of them, scrolling through the computer in my hand, the gesture defining my generation. We’re constantly taking in a never ending flow of information without real regard to its effect on the shape of our lives, society, and our experience of “being alive.” With my intention to practice the simple act of daily meditation as a countermeasure to losing the moment, or my mind, I decided that as a bonus incentive I would reward myself with an Owl Chapman surfboard when I hit 60 days in a row. I had wanted a board from him for a while, and knew this prize at that 60 day mark would help me keep to my goal. Now I can thank this practice, that has been as central to my sanity as surfing has, for also rewarding me with my first Owl Chapman board, that changed my life.
Flash forward to a month ago. I snapped it. I know, that’s hard to do. I wish I could say it happened pulling into an epic barrel, but it was a true case of “when the wave breaks here, don’t be there,” drilling. The ocean is never short of humbling experiences. I came up smiling even as I saw her folded in half, accepting that this is just an inevitable part of the tale and immediately feeling a sense of gratitude for all the waves she’s carried me through the last 5 years. I propped her up next to me on the jetty to watch the pinky-orange sunset from the beach, matching her color, and our friends surfing big, beautiful, glassy waves. People passed by and sucked air in through their teeth when they saw her, and offered heartfelt condolences for my loss. I told them not to pity me, she’s lived a good life, and I’m putting in a new order tomorrow.
I brought her in the next day to take measurements with Owl, one half at a time, to make a new one, because I didn’t even know her dimensions. I'd always replied to people with, “just right,” when they asked me how big she was. It’s what Owl told me originally when I asked, and I didn’t question it, because she was “just right.” (She’s 6’8” for whoever is curious). I've surfed my best waves on this board, and she’s travelled around the world with me. He shaped me an 8’1” single fin last winter that's also pure magic, that has pushed me into enjoying bigger surf than I ever thought I’d want anything to do with. That said, I was on a mission to replace my ole trusty and first love. So I put the order in to my Santa with a planer before I left for the holidays.
I had just returned to the island, and popped into Owl's shaping bay in the back of my work to check out the progress. She was shaped and ready, and as we were discussing colors, glassing, and logos, we got into the conversation of the origins of the “Owl Chapman Underground” logo. He explained that an artist named John Rivero designed it for him based off of a photo of him surfing Rocky Point. You can still find an original surf magazine clip of it pinned to his wall, camouflaged amongst a montage of hundreds of legendary surfing photos, but immediately recognizable when holding the logo up next to it. The artist nailed the cosmic rendition and specifications he requested- creating a colorful interstellar scene of Owl surfing Rocky Point in deep space, resulting in the iconic logo emblazoned on his t-shirts, stickers, and boards across the globe. It was created back in 1975 when Owl had two shaping bays there in the heart of Haleiwa, before Dick Brewer took up residence in one and their pairing began in ernest. He was nestled up next to Matsumoto Shave Ice, with Country Surfboards, and the glass shop that was simply called “the glass shop,” housing Jack Reeves and David Gardner. They were in the thick of the most exciting and experimental days of surfboard shaping. Legendary surfers and shapers regularly walked in and talked story, read the paper, listened to the radio, rolled joints, drank coffee, and brought to life the new ideas that would rapidly change the shape of boards, the industry, and surfing as a whole.
When I asked about the word choice of “underground”, and what it means, his reply was simple, “It's when you can go straight to the guy to get the thing. We're all underground, really.” I thought about it and realized it’s what we were doing right then. Times have changed, sure, but standing in his shaping bay, attached to Waialua Surf Shop and 3rd Stone Glassing Factory, talking story with the radio crackling in the background, friends popping in to say their hellos and make promises that they’ll return for that one board once their next paycheck clears, I’m quite sure that these still are good and special days. Owl has preserved the spirit of the dance between shaper and rider. He’s been doing it at the top of the game for over 50 years. He has always done it, and still does it, for the love of the art. To make a truly good thing and put it into the world, first and foremost, because it makes you feel good to do so. Shapers now, by and large, are making boards mostly on a computer. And that's not so bad. It's the way the world works, and there’s plenty of ingenuity that comes from it. But with it comes more files, fees, programs, popouts, taxes, and less tactile transactions than there used to be. These “underground” interactions are much more rare to come by, and more special for their rarity and purity.
A couple years after he made me that first magic board, I took it to Indonesia one summer. I turned down relentless offers from people to buy it off of me who knew from experience I had something magic that was hard to get, especially in Indonesia. There was one particularly kismet session along this trip, during which I let a buddy sample it, to see what it was all about. He immediately proceeded to pull into a kegging barrel, and got spat out giggling like a child. I’ll never forget that perfect four and a half hour sunburn-session, and the wild look of pure bliss on his face as he locked into a conveyor belt on my board and churned through life-changing wave after wave. I knew the feeling, and loved seeing it on his face before I snatched the board back after a handful of waves and left him craving one of his own.
Months later, he came back to Oahu from Indonesia. He jetted to the Waialua Sugar Mill, and into Owls shaping bay, to tell him about that session, and get one for himself as quickly as he could. Recently, he let a friend who was visiting from the mainland sample his board to get a taste of the experience. On this same day as Owl and I were discussing surf history, glassing, and logos for the board to replace my ole trusty, in comes the friend to buy one for himself, because he had to own one now too. Full circle. That’s underground. Just word of mouth, multi-continental, inter-generational, out-of-this-world, cosmic board magic from an underground guy who found himself in a shaping bay and hasn’t stopped shaping since. He’s Owl Chapman- Underground.
By Brittany Wilund
Five years ago I made a personal goal to myself that I was going to sit and meditate every day for at least 60 days. I wanted to make a concerted effort to be more present in a world that is constantly vying for attention with countless mind-numbing distractions and relentless anxiety-provoking chatter. I get caught up in it with the best of them, scrolling through the computer in my hand, the gesture defining my generation. We’re constantly taking in a never ending flow of information without real regard to its effect on the shape of our lives, society, and our experience of “being alive.” With my intention to practice the simple act of daily meditation as a countermeasure to losing the moment, or my mind, I decided that as a bonus incentive I would reward myself with an Owl Chapman surfboard when I hit 60 days in a row. I had wanted a board from him for a while, and knew this prize at that 60 day mark would help me keep to my goal. Now I can thank this practice, that has been as central to my sanity as surfing has, for also rewarding me with my first Owl Chapman board, that changed my life.
Flash forward to a month ago. I snapped it. I know, that’s hard to do. I wish I could say it happened pulling into an epic barrel, but it was a true case of “when the wave breaks here, don’t be there,” drilling. The ocean is never short of humbling experiences. I came up smiling even as I saw her folded in half, accepting that this is just an inevitable part of the tale and immediately feeling a sense of gratitude for all the waves she’s carried me through the last 5 years. I propped her up next to me on the jetty to watch the pinky-orange sunset from the beach, matching her color, and our friends surfing big, beautiful, glassy waves. People passed by and sucked air in through their teeth when they saw her, and offered heartfelt condolences for my loss. I told them not to pity me, she’s lived a good life, and I’m putting in a new order tomorrow.
I brought her in the next day to take measurements with Owl, one half at a time, to make a new one, because I didn’t even know her dimensions. I'd always replied to people with, “just right,” when they asked me how big she was. It’s what Owl told me originally when I asked, and I didn’t question it, because she was “just right.” (She’s 6’8” for whoever is curious). I've surfed my best waves on this board, and she’s travelled around the world with me. He shaped me an 8’1” single fin last winter that's also pure magic, that has pushed me into enjoying bigger surf than I ever thought I’d want anything to do with. That said, I was on a mission to replace my ole trusty and first love. So I put the order in to my Santa with a planer before I left for the holidays.
I had just returned to the island, and popped into Owl's shaping bay in the back of my work to check out the progress. She was shaped and ready, and as we were discussing colors, glassing, and logos, we got into the conversation of the origins of the “Owl Chapman Underground” logo. He explained that an artist named John Rivero designed it for him based off of a photo of him surfing Rocky Point. You can still find an original surf magazine clip of it pinned to his wall, camouflaged amongst a montage of hundreds of legendary surfing photos, but immediately recognizable when holding the logo up next to it. The artist nailed the cosmic rendition and specifications he requested- creating a colorful interstellar scene of Owl surfing Rocky Point in deep space, resulting in the iconic logo emblazoned on his t-shirts, stickers, and boards across the globe. It was created back in 1975 when Owl had two shaping bays there in the heart of Haleiwa, before Dick Brewer took up residence in one and their pairing began in ernest. He was nestled up next to Matsumoto Shave Ice, with Country Surfboards, and the glass shop that was simply called “the glass shop,” housing Jack Reeves and David Gardner. They were in the thick of the most exciting and experimental days of surfboard shaping. Legendary surfers and shapers regularly walked in and talked story, read the paper, listened to the radio, rolled joints, drank coffee, and brought to life the new ideas that would rapidly change the shape of boards, the industry, and surfing as a whole.
When I asked about the word choice of “underground”, and what it means, his reply was simple, “It's when you can go straight to the guy to get the thing. We're all underground, really.” I thought about it and realized it’s what we were doing right then. Times have changed, sure, but standing in his shaping bay, attached to Waialua Surf Shop and 3rd Stone Glassing Factory, talking story with the radio crackling in the background, friends popping in to say their hellos and make promises that they’ll return for that one board once their next paycheck clears, I’m quite sure that these still are good and special days. Owl has preserved the spirit of the dance between shaper and rider. He’s been doing it at the top of the game for over 50 years. He has always done it, and still does it, for the love of the art. To make a truly good thing and put it into the world, first and foremost, because it makes you feel good to do so. Shapers now, by and large, are making boards mostly on a computer. And that's not so bad. It's the way the world works, and there’s plenty of ingenuity that comes from it. But with it comes more files, fees, programs, popouts, taxes, and less tactile transactions than there used to be. These “underground” interactions are much more rare to come by, and more special for their rarity and purity.
A couple years after he made me that first magic board, I took it to Indonesia one summer. I turned down relentless offers from people to buy it off of me who knew from experience I had something magic that was hard to get, especially in Indonesia. There was one particularly kismet session along this trip, during which I let a buddy sample it, to see what it was all about. He immediately proceeded to pull into a kegging barrel, and got spat out giggling like a child. I’ll never forget that perfect four and a half hour sunburn-session, and the wild look of pure bliss on his face as he locked into a conveyor belt on my board and churned through life-changing wave after wave. I knew the feeling, and loved seeing it on his face before I snatched the board back after a handful of waves and left him craving one of his own.
Months later, he came back to Oahu from Indonesia. He jetted to the Waialua Sugar Mill, and into Owls shaping bay, to tell him about that session, and get one for himself as quickly as he could. Recently, he let a friend who was visiting from the mainland sample his board to get a taste of the experience. On this same day as Owl and I were discussing surf history, glassing, and logos for the board to replace my ole trusty, in comes the friend to buy one for himself, because he had to own one now too. Full circle. That’s underground. Just word of mouth, multi-continental, inter-generational, out-of-this-world, cosmic board magic from an underground guy who found himself in a shaping bay and hasn’t stopped shaping since. He’s Owl Chapman- Underground.
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