Does
it need a powerful wave?
It doesn’t need a real powerful wave but it is a bit
stiffer. It draws your turns out a bit more. For example
if you’re going along fast at Maalaeaa and the wave
sections off the six fin draws the turn out a little more.
You can drop out onto the flats, do a turn and go around
the section. Where, with the four fins you would’ve
come up short. You get more drive and being a canard fin
it has better water flow so the fins don’t amp out.
If you go out on a big mushy shoulder where you might amp
out, it’s still solid.
Closing thoughts?
The greedy guys in surfing now are becoming annoying. The
guys who go out on boards to paddle and not to surf, just
hogging waves with no etiquette. That’s the bummer
of nowadays. As many waves as you can get and the heck with
everyone else. But you can still find waves without the
crowds and the vibe is still somewhere. People can experience
that and not just grow up with having to fight for everything.
Clark made a lot of great blanks but his going down has
opened up the Styrofoam thing from which we can get lighter
boards out of. More companies have come out it so that’s
a good thing. That’s a good direction, working toward
lighter boards although you can’t do it as easily
with Styro/epoxy. It means that people have opened up to
trying different designs now, rather than being stuck and
not trying anything new. All of these different boards do
something different, have another sensation. If you’re
riding the same wave all the time it can make each go out
different if you have different boards. It makes it more
fun. Ride longboards, shortboards, everything.
After
hearing that Belik was located on Maui I asked Tom Parrish
whether he’d heard of him. He said he knew a bunch
of "Johns" but not a John Belik. A few weeks passed
and I got an email from Tom asking if Belik rode boards
with a JB laminate. That was Belik and it turned out he’d
known JB for the past couple of years and had shared some
rather amazing moments with him. I asked if he wanted to
put something together and what he sent back was a classic
batch of hair-tingling stories.
Tom Parrish: JB is the kind of surfer you
are happy to see paddle out, he never makes of hog of himself,
never burns anyone. And yet he gets plenty of waves. Stylish
and smooth, he is a pleasure to watch and there is usually
something to learn from his choice of waves and sense of
place in the lineup.
Seems
like JB is there every day and especially if the waves are
really good. He must work at night to be so available all
over the island when the waves are good. Most of the times
and places I see him, it’s not at the marquee spots,
he likes out of the way sessions where you don't have to
deal with snakes and pigs. JB is always one of the best
surfers in the water from 2 to 12 feet.
Also
seems like every time there may be waves at Maalaea, JB
is already out there. JB must have a great selection of
boards because he rides so many different types of conditions.
It’s
hard to pick out only a few memorable surfs, we have surfed
together many times. From December through February we migrate
all over the north shore of Maui while everyone else is
vying for better waves over at Honolua.
Guess
the two most memorable surfs would be:
The day JB's mother passed away we were both at our home
break and her spirit was so present it was chicken skin.
Instead of it being a sad time, it was full of love and
warmth. JB was surfing really fluid and there was hardly
anyone else out. We surfed till pitch black darkness and
then stayed at the beach well into the evening talking about
life and how lucky we are to score great sessions. So special
to share that day, consistent surf the perfect remedy to
the sadness over losing someone so special. JB channeled
it into something beautiful.
Another session at home break, middle of winter. It was
a really big day, maybe 8-10' solid and there were around
20 guys out. We were all sitting out really far and the
waves were great, big and thick over in the pit and peeling
all the way through if you got the right ones. Seemed like
we were in the middle of an unusual lull and JB, another
guy and I had somehow become the furthest guys out from
shore with them off to the side a little. We all seemed
to see it at the same time inside of us, something I’d
never seen. The dorsal fin on this beast was about 2 feet
out of the water, it was so huge it seemed like a cartoon
screen. We immediately realized it was a tiger shark in
between us and the other guys closer to shore. The immediate
impulse was to paddle in as fast as possible but we were
so far out and the shark was right in the way of a direct
paddle in. As it motored by, you could see the tail moving
back and forth and feel the current move from the thrust.
We decided to paddle sideways into the peak and take one
on the head to get in faster. It was a risky move because
the waves were big and thick. Along came some more mackers
and we both got pounded. When I came up JB's cord had broken
and his board was gone, it’s all rock if you lose
your board over that far. JB was yelling over to me, I thought
he wanted me to get his board. Got pummeled some more and
went in over the rocks and got his board. On the beach we
were both aghast from the sighting and close proximity of
the shark. Thinking JB would be stoked to see his board,
he had been yelling to get on my board so we could paddle
in together. It was very scary, the shark looked like a
submarine so wide and thick, isolating us from the rest
of the pack. If it had wanted us we wouldn't be here.
Lots
of great surfs with JB, a favorite in the lineup. Never
fights with anyone, never a worm, just a real solid surfer
with a beautiful style. JB is a total gentleman and versatile
board maker, the kind of guy you keep as a special friend.
Sean
Mattison:
John and I met through a mutual friend Don Holland. Don
would talk daily about John so I got a history lesson in
just a few lunch outings. At first I was like ‘Dude,
you’re just too consumed by this guy.’ Don goes,
’I’ll get Belik to make you a board.’
I’m thinking this is where I get to really see if
my buddy was whipped on his friend or if this guy is legit.
I ordered one (a modern 4 fin) and this is about 4 years
ago. His approach to hull and fin placement was all very
unique. While I was waiting for board number two I started
investigating this John Belik guy. I came to realize that
not only is he legit but many of the notable icons of the
Sunset Cliffs/ San Diego region claimed John as a Master
shaper/designer and surfer. Bird Huffman told me stories
of John and how both his surfing and his designs were so
advanced over anything that was going on at the time. When
stand up surfing went to the fish, John modified it to rip.
Rich Pavel also claimed John and his abilities and cheers
to Steve Pendarvis, he still has a number of John's early
fishes and won’t let them out of his sight. The deeper
I got into John's world the more I realized that my friend's
claims were holding water and the well was much deeper that
I could imagine.
So
why didn't this guy hit it big with shaping and design?
The answer is that he made boards in more of a selfish way.
He wanted to keep his personal surfing journey satisfied
by experimenting, changing fins, hull designs, outlines
and so on. Plus making boards at the time was a total hassle
because he shaped, glassed, airbrushed, sanded, laid up
the glass for find--a one man show. He didn’t want
to be a production guy. He didn’t want to be found.
He has a hard time promoting himself and is a bit reclusive
and stealth. If you were standing next to him in a super
market you wouldn’t even know that this guy was a
shaper or a super hot surfer He looks and acts like a quiet,
average Joe. That’s what’s really cool about
him.
The
fun part of surfer/shaper relationship is to blend the style
of the shaper (approach) with style of the surfer. In some
cases the shaper may dictate because he knows what will
work for you or he has a style which is what he's known
for and that's it, like Skip Frye. Every Shaper is different.
