Behind The Scenes: The Skip Frye Quiver From The Surfer's Journal

By: Ken Lewis

Photos: Shawn Parkin, Ken Lewis

In the Fall of 2016, I received a phone call from a friend, hero, wordsmith and the world's most interesting man; Scott Hulet of The Surfer's Journal. He had been at the helm piloting that ship for decades and was looking to do a bookend article on Skip Frye, with the angle being Skip's incredible surfboard quiver. Skip didn't answer his phone much and Hulet asked me if I could present the idea to Skip in a very easy, as not to ruffle any feathers, kind of way.

Skip is a very private person and knowing this lead me to believe that there was going to have to be some finesse applied to even get him to hear the pitch. He's the quick to make judgement call, and in the case if its one he doesn't like, well, it's quickly disregarded. Kind of like that scene in "Oh Brother Where Art Thou" when George Cloony's wife says "I've spoken my piece and counted to three." No matter what else may come to light, he trusts his decision and that's that.

I digresss.

Skip has much better, and longer friendships than ours. But ours is very honest and trusted, so I did not want to tarnish that with talk of publicity or the like. I heard Hulet's angle and would stop by Skip's shaping room in the evening after work to feel it out.

Me: "Hey Skip. So I spoke to Hulet today and he said he's been trying to reach you."

Skip: "Oh yeah. I saw he called. What's it about?"

Me: "I think about an article on your different models. Kind of like describing your catalog."

Skip: "Huh, Why? I don't really want to show them off. I don't want people thinking something weird about me."

Me: "No, not at all. More like documenting your original shapes and how they came to be."

Skip made his face, crinkled and semi-disapproving. I could tell he was sort of into it at first but then was looking at the other side. The coverage and the attention are two things Skip avoids at all cost. He's the first to say he was a wallflower when he was younger and that's why he enjoyed hanging out with Hynson.

Mike Hynson was gregarious, an alpha male if you will. He still is. The line Skip likes to say about Mike goes something like this, i'm paraphrasing to the best of my ability here, so take it easy: "Hynson wanted to be the man. If he wasn't the man, he would go see the man. Then see how he could be better and outdo the man." Skip liked that about Hynson. Mike was the "Frontman" so Skip could stand back and observe and not have to be the point guy. Skip's very much the same to this day.

So the point of all that is to say; Skip didn't want the publicity that may lead to more orders or phone calls. He was busy enough as it was.

On my next check in with Scott, I explained we were talking and that Skip was aware of the project but every time we spoke and he opened up about the boards, seemingly we were getting somewhere, the next day he was more deadset that this wasn't what he wanted to do. There are entries in my notes where I had to make points to email Hulet saying "CALL SKIP"  because the silence is deafening and creates doubt. More than once Skip told me he was going to shine it. Thank goodness for Hulet following through.

The Game Plan

Hulet had a game plan. He asked me to set up a day and time with Skip so that he and Pezman would come down to help seal the deal. At this time Pezman wasn't in the office day-to-day so him coming down meant something. Skip's reaction confirmed this as he said, "Pez is coming down? Wow."

The day and time were now set and the following week the power squad of Chris Ahrens, Steve Pezman and Scott Hulet rolled up and helped ease the worries of our favorite shaper.

Skip took them into his shaping bay, showed some boards, laughed with Pez about some fun old stories and I could see Skip letting down his guard. He walked the guys through his storage unit and they looked at dozens and dozens of boards asking questions. Soon it came time to deliver 'the ask.' I stepped back and let the heavies hash it all out. I snapped a couple pics and even though it felt like overstepping, I wanted to document the moment that the pitch became the approval.

After they left, Skip was more excited and the project was green-lit. My contribution was to document the origin stories of Skips' many models. Over the course of that December, I would stop by in the afternoons and spend a few hours with Skip going through old board bags and dusty board racks, pulling out a 50-year old backlog of memories. Each board had stories and laughs. I videoed some of it and have a great clip of him telling the story of going to the Ranch with Stoner and Hynson. It's pretty much the same stuff that's in The Surfer's Journal that came out this year.

The information was gathered and organized. Chris Ahrens was to write the main piece and he was the perfect person to do so. Their friendship goes way back and the trust and honesty in Chris' writing captures moments and feelings perfectly. 

Originally the photographer was to be Thomas Campbell but a scheduling conflict made it impossible. The Journal had this article on the books and it couldn't be rescheduled so they got my friend and Surfer's Journal Photo Editor Shawn Parkin on the job. This was great for me, as I really like Shawn and we were down to do whatever it took to get this documented. 

Going back through my emails with Hulet, One email is titled "Skip Day" from December 22nd 2016 and reads as follows:

"Hey Ken,

We’ve locked down February 5 for Thomas and Shawn to come down and shoot. High noon.

Please confirm with our benefactor!

 

Researching The Quiver

While I had known Skip for 30+ years at that point, I had never gone through his entire stash before. I was well aware of what was in there, but more than one surprise board was revealed in the process. Some of my notes from the weeks prior to the shoot were filled with quotes and memories from Skip, each board taking him back to the time they were built, his sharp memory transporting us back to the exact moment of inception.

Skip Frye Board Models
By Ken Lewis

Squaretail — 1966 (G&S)
Skip was offered his first signature model from Larry Gordon at G&S in 1966. The clean plane-shape and foiled fin were a signature calling card for this first offering. Skip's personal (#19 acquired from me – Use for photos) doesn’t even have his trademark wings yet, but rather a humble piece of rice paper with Skip’s signature. Skip says he got the wings from seeing Duke's board with a similar logo. “The Duke was the king so why not try to be like him,” says Skip. That’s some good advice for us all.

Eagle — 1967 (G&S)
On the heels of his first successful model, Skip released a pintail version, which he decided to call the Eagle. The shape was an instant classic with its sleek outline that promised speed in any condition. “It’s my most signature design,” says Skip. It’s still pretty much the same; not much has changed over the years except the bottom contours.” The original came with a classic vee bottom, which has since evolved into the concaved masterpiece it is today.

Surfers like Taylor Steele, Brad Gerlach and Rob Machado have all thrown down their money and spent time on the coveted waiting list to add an Eagle to their stash. While there are some great shapers making models similar to the Eagle, nothing can compare to the original.

Note: Skip said the shape almost went away overnight when the “shortboard revolution” came along. It reemerged with popularity in the early 1990’s when he was shaping in Pacific Beach and opened Harry's. Also some people like to say they have a double eagle. Skip laughs at that, saying, “There’s no such thing. Some people called it that because it was longer than others at the time. It's just the Eagle.”

Egg — 1969-70
Skip's first egg was shaped in 1968 when he took his beloved vee-bottom that was, according to him, a 6’6 and "kind of a dog.” He took a saw to the square-tail and cut it into a wide round tail that he rode and loved. “Once I did that, the shape worked so good. It was game on,” said Skip. Later he shaped a new board and used that tail design on the nose as well, tuning it in ever so slightly. The egg was born. This shape has been in Skip's quiver ever since and is one of the most versatile shapes on the planet. From six feet to eleven feet, this shape can do it all.

The rest of the list covers all Frye models. I think the Journal left out one or two because there is only so much space and some of the lesser known designs could be elaborated in other categories.

I also reached out to Derek Hynd to add a comment regarding Skip's influence on himself. DH responded with a wonderfully insightful short note that was gold but at the time of submission, there were just no more pages available to print the sentiment. 

So here it is now, the never-published words direct from DH.

Derek Hynd's Take

Derek Hynd and the Skip Frye Fish
As told to me by DH

"Nothing would've happened RE: Fish at J-Bay without the other key Harry; Hank Warner.

It's been important in my days to know Hank pretty closely since 1978 when he hosted Steve Wilson and myself in San Diego mid-winter. (Find old Surfing Magazine article) We got to surf a certain ledging point in the fog with only a few people out, that's still in my Top10 surfs EVER.

Hank's education regarding the ways of SD surfing and his shaping prowess in general was easy to trust. I guess I got to know Skip pretty well via the Two Harry's during the Harrys surf shop era — with Bird across the street. I'd had two phenomenal boards from Hank — a 5'4" in 1983 and a 6'9" in 1987. Anyone who ever rode that 6'9" was pretty well stunned at how it delivered.

"Hank and Skip together in that shop (Harrys), was probably the most core surfing experience of my life. When I was hanging around down there in full awareness of what the broader span of lads liked riding at their favorite spot. It was a classic signal that some things don't need to change, especially over 30 years at a great wave. Those same things would certainly translate well to other spots."

"Reno had done it in '76 or whenever it was.JBay was the spot where just about any board could be completely tested, so when Hank put me with The Skipper the equation was a bit strange for both of us."

"What size? What length? What width and keel size? Curve didn't come into it that much with the first board, a 5'10". It ended up being too straight and big for my power to weight ratio for JBay, but not for Curren. His ONLY surf on it was captured by Sonny Miller for 'The Search."

"It was the second board, the 5'8" fish the next year that came with a bit more purpose-built compromise. It was a lot of compromise for Skip's purism to swallow, but in reality, it wasn't very much in physical form. The rail line was slightly pulled in towards the tail without damaging the straight line, and the slightly shorter of Geppy fins came into play. This was the Litmus board that worked at JBay for the next ten years."

At this point it should be said that most boards work at JBay but some were downright special:"

• Woodward twinny 5'10"
• The Parrish single 8'4."
• An early Bruce McKee quad 6'10"
• Malcolm Campbell five fin Bonzer 5'10"
• Al Merrick squash 6'4"
• Dahlberg two and a half 5'11"

"Special mention to the FFFF boards I've had there since 2008. The thing about the Litmus Fish though was that it mirrored what the gannets and gulls could do on a screaming wall. The speed and high line seemed to take me to a plane away from surfing and into an avian mindset. I started looking at fractions of the wave because of that board, not just the bam-bam aspect down the line. Time seemed to slow down, the way it went so fast. The way it harnessed the momentum off the bottom once the surf got overhead and took me onto a holding line in the roof...what a feeling."

"Maybe it's important to note from my perspective that the moment 4 fins went on a Fish, it was as bad as killing Bambi...I saw a Rich Pavel 4-fin version there and wanted to puke."

Photo Shoot Day

The day of the photo shoot I arrived at the set time and met Shawn Parkin there along with Skip and about 8-9 other friends of Skip showed up as well. He was coming off a broken leg and needed help moving the boards around. Soon we had an assembly line of people and boards.

Shooting model by model first and then keeping a few of each selection on the ground in Skips industrial complex for Parkin to shoot from the roof. 

Devon Howard had heard and he stopped by for a few. Also, my life long friend Phil Castagnola stopped by and it was the first time Skip had seen him in seven years. Phil was locked up in prison for a bit and returned a new man. Skip wanted to show him how much he cared and wanted to get Phil back in the surf. Skip went and grabbed a flawless 10'2" Magic out of his stash and gave to Phil. The moment caught everyone by surprise and the magic of Skip once again was on display.

Over the next 4 hours, Skip and team were non-stop, fed by Pizza from Hulet and the smiles and joy felt by everyone there watching our hero. Hell...Skips everyones hero. To the few who dont understand why Skip is so beloved, its because theyve never experienced his magic. His sense of humor. His dedication to the craft. His humblness and love of who came before him. Its hard to describe but everyone who has shared a amoment with him will understand.

in the shadows of the afternoon as we were starting to put the boards back into their places, It felt heavy. Skip was now in his late 70's and nursing a broken leg and we wern't sure how much longer this kind of thing would be going on for. The surfboards and story time weve shared over the decades have been a major portion of our surfing lives. To know that those days were winding down sent some pangs of sadness.

Also earlier i mentioned this as a bookend article. Skips first Journal interview was almost 30 years before in Issue #4. Skip said this would be his last time doing this kind of thing, so we felt it very important to get it right. We stayed until he was satisfied and Parkins memory cards were jammed.

In the years since the article, we've watched the world change and the old guard slowly fade away, year after year. Skip is still in his room, shaping a board a day and surfing when it's not windy or crowded. Each day we have him here sharing his knowledge of surfboard design and aloha is a blessing for each of us. His love of his craft is strong as ever.

Long may he run.