Surf Gallery

GoodBye to Dev -

Back in 1995 I was looking for a new board,and was tired of the 17" wide x 2 1/8 " thick surfboards everyone was making!! I went into Chris McElroys shop in San Clemente,hoping to have him make me a board. Thats where I met Dev Gregory. I'll never forget...One look over at me and he say's "Lookin' for a long board??" Geezz...Getting old and fat sucks!!!
I liked the boards he was working on, and decided Chris might not be back for months? So I ordered a 7 0" 19 3/4 x 2 5/8 " thick squashtail. He
kinda shook his head at the dimensions.. and mumbled. But hey?? I'm tired of missing waves!! So he shaped me a beauty of a board!!!!

She was great before her time!! It was I think one of the first "Big Shorty's" that was made by Dev.I Was immediatly shredding again and never missing waves!!! That was the start of a three year love affair...We Danced in Baja .....we Danced at Tower Six ( Brookhurst Area ).......We Danced on Big Island!! Yeah Now!!......We danced (and froze our asses off !!) at Northern secret spots....We shared tent space too.....I really loved Her.

But Alas, as time went on she eventaully got stood up by a younger model,and was condemned to the corner of the bedroom.She stood by with out even a word nor frown as I dated the younger boards. But I kept going back to her, she was beautiful and always dependable no matter what the conditions.Then a friend of mine wanted to try Her out. He was stuck on the "Flat-Line Fun-Gun thing, but was happy because he got a lot of waves.I lent Her to Gregg for 6 monthes to a year or so, and was amazed to watch him go back to shredding carves ,lip turns and cutty's again!! I loved watching my old girlfriend perform and strut!!! It was really gooooood and Gregg no longer even owns a longboard.

Well as time passed poor old "Deverly" got dinged and battered,even
started taking on water from the deck under back foot area...It was to became a fatal leak...After a session,we had to drain Her like a kayak....really sad to see...Everyone who rode Her, loved her too!! She was happy with Her men, I believe. Unfortunatly ,She had become like a 17 yr.old Dogg....You know She wants to play some more,but you really shouldn't treat her so ruff!!! The family of riders got together and decided it was time to put the "Ol' Gurl " down. So on our next baja trip we brought Her along, and everyone took one last ride...One Last
Dance.Then we drained the water.

So that evening we walked Her out to the point over lookin' "The Arch" ,
and said our farewells....We had a group hug and shared a few beers ,(and a few tears), along side a shot or two of tequila.We even shared a shot with Dev,...just opened up nose ding and poured right in!! I think She
smiled. Then I walked Her out to edge and had my Last Dance with
Dev......kissed her on cheek and then suddenly flung her high!!!!!! Boy
SHE could Fly!!! High ... out over head... ,over water... ,, she flew
high!!!! We didn't even take off Her leash,it just seemed a part of Her..but
it would also prove fatal, as it got tangled in the rocks against the high
tide cliffs and held Her there getting battered to death. As darkness made
Her disappear we could still hear her getting thrashed against the
cliffs.....bumps in the night......But ,I believe thats how she would have
wanted to go,ridden to her last day!!!!! Death at sea rather than some
backyard woodpile!!!

The next morning we found Her remains on the south beach and brought them back to camp. We had a little board burning firewalk contest!! One last Dance!!! one last nose ride...and then she was gone, and of
course the waves got really really goooooood!!! that day!!! I truly loved that board.

Thanks for the great board Dev Gregorey...and thanks Chris for being gone to indo when I needed a board??

I'm Lance Edwards and Dev was my girl.

By Lance Edwards