We’ve been getting great feedback about the surfboard we’re giving away at Toms. It’s wonderful to see that you all love the board as much as we do.
There are about two weeks remaining in the giveaway, so if you haven’t had a chance yet, stop by Toms Flagship on Abbot Kinney, snap a shot with the board, and tag #honeygirlthenovel for a chance to win.
A lot of you have been asking about the board: where it came from, who made it, how big it is. So we wanted to give you a little background on the board itself and its shaper, my friend, April Newman of Ape Shapes.
April is a local through and through. She’s been surfing in Santa Monica since she was just a kid.
“I started surfing where the P.O.P (Pacific Ocean Park) Pier was,” April told me recently. “Straight down from Ashland Avenue. There was a cove where the Dogtown guys were surfing on the south side, and I was surfing on the north side. I’ve pretty much surfed right there my whole life.”
These days April is hand-shaping some of the most memorable surfboards in Southern California. They are each painted in gorgeous one-of-a-kind designs. She sells them at ZJ Boarding House on Main Street in Santa Monica.
“I usually have somebody in mind when I’m shaping and coloring a board,” she told me. “Not that I’m going to make it for them, but it gives me inspiration. I’ll use their weight, their ability and ask what their favorite colors are. But this board was just random, for me.”
The whimsical design of this board was inspired by the letters she wrote her first love in the ’70s. “Every envelope I designed like that,” she said.
The board is 7′ long, 21″ wide, tri fin, and it’s a hybrid board. “Anybody can ride this,” April told me. “It’s fast, loose, and catches waves really easily. It’s the best board that I’ve ever made so far.”