Bill Barnfield: Setting the Record Straight
Steve Wilkins, was actually me dropping in by the skin of my teeth. What a great winter for Pipeline! It has never really been the same since. I rode for Lightning Bolt, worked with Gerry on board designs, and did some glassing work for them. What fun!
TELL ME ABOUT YOUR LABEL EVERGREEN SURFBOARDS THAT YOU HAD UP IN OREGON?
Wow! How did you know about that?
After that winter in Hawaii I returned again for the summer in Seaside. Myself, Art Spence, and Lanny Schuler (now shaping sailboards?) became Evergreen Surfboards in summer,1972. Actually, it was supposed to be just Art and I, but Lanny moved up there from CA and mooched his way in with Art, before I got back from Hawaii. Lanny was a nightmare! But we made some insane boards and surfed our brains out.
DID YOU WORK GLASSING BOARDS FOR AL MERRICK?
This is one of those Pre-Printed "facts" that needs to be corrected.
In the fall of 1972, I went to Santa Barbara and Wendy went back to Hawaii. There I met Al Merrick. He was a backyard, ex-con, ex-hippy, ex-drug dealer, who was just getting his act together. I stayed that winter and summer in Santa Barbara helping Al get his factory together. I Built much of the facility and trained his staff. Mark Andrini was the Laminator (glasser). I never "Glassed" for Al Merrick! I don't know how this rumor ever got started. Maybe Al started it, as I don't know who else would say it. Saying I started glassing for Al, makes it sound as though I was a protege of Al's. When in fact the influence was very much so, the other way around.
Al is a great friend and I don't tell this story to denigrate him but just to correct the facts. Frankly, Al wasn't a very good surfboard maker then. I took Mark Andrini down to Hobie where Bobby Patterson trained him for a whole day on Laminating. I trained Polishers, Sanders etc. I did mostly Sanding, Glossing and Pinlines, until I got people to do those jobs and then in Sept. of '73 I went back to Hawaii.
If you know the "old" Santa Barbara" scene, you know that it was a pretty "closed" world back then. Al was a newcomer and not readily accepted by the old guard or cool guys. I talked my friends, Ronnie Wolf, Dicky
Latest Articles