NEW SURF UTILITY BOX ROCKS 5-21-08
BY CORKY CARROLL

Not too long ago I got an email from a surfer from up in Malibu named Matt McPherson telling me about a new “surf utility box” that he and a friend had developed. I wasn’t sure exactly what a surf utility box was to tell you the truth and I get a ton of email about new product lines all the time. Most of time I glance at them and hit the eject button. But I was sort of curious as to what this was as so I emailed back asking if they could send me one to check out. Thankfully they didn’t blow me off and they did send me one.

Wow, I was amazed. This thing is really cool. It is a hard plastic box that is large enough to carry all your surf stuff yet small and light enough to be easy to carry around. And it’s got a handle.
I love it and now it is a major part of my daily surf routine. I keep all my extra fins, wax, rash guards, repair stuff, extra fin bolts, leashes and a wetsuit in there. If I am going somewhere I add a towel. It even has a cool pad to put on the ground to keep your feet clean. This is the perfect surf utility box. And now I know what one is so I can testify that this is the perfect one.

The name of the company is TRUNQ and its based in Malibu. The owners are Dallas Hitchcock and Matt McPherson who are both surfers. The met while both were attending Pepperdine University. It was there that they started the company and developed the surf box, which is their first product. The idea was to create something to clean up the mess and clutter that accompanies a surfing lifestyle. In my, oh so, humble opinion this puppy rocks.

After I got my surf box I wrote back to Matt and asked him to give me a brief run down on how they came up with this idea. I actually got this following reply from his partner Dallas Hitchcock:

“One cold winter morning in 2005, I was headed to a favorite local break off the shores of Malibu. There was a solid head-high winter swell coming in from the north and I was in a hurry to get into the water before work. I scrambled to put on my wetsuit as perfect point rights peeled to shore before my eyes. With the crashing of waves echoing in the background, I fumbled in excitement through my car for my leash, my booties, a stick of wax, a comb, anything that would help me get out of my car and into the water. After a five-minute frustrating search and a long sprint to the shore I was in the icy pacific enjoying my passion of surf.

In between sets that morning I got to thinking that if I could somehow organize all of my surf gear, I would be able to rid my car of mess and spend more time in the water when it counted. This is when the idea for Trunq was born.

The idea was simple: a tub for wetsuit and bootie storage; a tray for wax, fin keys, combs and other miscellaneous gear; a changing mat to keep the sand out of my suit; all locked into one place with a lid! I thought the idea was great but I needed a second opinion.

Later that day I met with my buddy Matt to enjoy the strong NW swell. He is an avid surfer who shares my love of the water so I felt I could trust his opinion of my idea. As soon as I shared my thoughts our journey began. Matt was as certain as I was. We could build a practical product that would help clean up the mess surfers’ deal with everyday.

After a year and a half of material research, product design, and saving what little money we had, Trunq LLC was born. We had successfully created a product prototype out of my apartment and hit the local market. Instantly Trunq created a buzz at our local breaks and the word started to spread.

The success of the TRUNQ SUB 1 prompted us to invest and expand further to a more durable and customized version. In November of 2007 we began the mass production and distribution of the TRUNQ SUB 2.”

I have to give a huge BUENO to these dudes and this new product. It certainly has cleaned up my back porch and the back of my car.

SURF CUB REPORTER
The Wave ~ 5-21-08
BY CORKY CARROLL

For the most part I like to use this space to rant on about this and that surf story or about surf dudes and dudettes of lore and legend. Or, sometimes just my own inner nonsense. But from time to time, it has been pointed out on more than one occasion I might add, I need to don the hat of Corky the Cub Surf Reporter and pass along some news of local surf happenings and the such. I would rather give my take on the latest and greatest of the new season’s mini thongs for surf babes. But this week it’s gonna be news. The following newsbits come for press releases sent to me in the past couple of weeks that I would think would be of interest to you, the most wonderful readers on the planet. Here ya go:

The Huntington Beach International Surfing Museum has announced two new exhibits: Surf Sounds Part 2: featuring Jan & Dean and Sharing Perspectives: An Art Exhibition by Céline Chat.

HBISM Staff of Volunteers are proud to be honoring the sensational musical duo Jan & Dean with the new exhibit, complete with a special Dean Torrence guest appearance, a Juke Box, decades of memorabilia and the 1978 "Deadman's Curve" movie playing on the new flat screen TV in the "Surf City" Theater.

French Artist and avid surfer Céline Chat shares her presentation of "Sharing Perspectives". Céline is from Guadeloupe where she created some of these beautiful works of art. Her work has been shown all over the world and been part of many surf festivals. She was recently in the Mostra De Arte Cultura Surf Festival as part of Alma Surf in Brazil and had a Gallery showing in St Barts.

The International Surfing Museum is located at 411 Olive Ave in Huntington Beach. Phone: 714-960-3483
http://www.surfingmuseum.org

The big surf show hits town again as Honda Cars and Trucks has renewed their commitment to the world’s largest professional surfing competition, the Honda U.S. Open of Surfing. Hosting 500 world-class athletes and drawing more than 400,000 spectators over 10 days, the massive event runs July 18 to 27 at the famed Huntington Beach Pier. All of the action will be accessible live on www.usopenofsurfing.com.

With a rich history dating back to 1959 and the United States Surfing Championships with such great champions as Jack Haley, Corky Carroll (I love that guy) and David Nuuhiwa, the Honda U.S. Open of Surfing continues the tradition and boasts North America’s only six-star World Qualifying Series (WQS)-rated men’s and women’s events. Offering the highest-possible allotment of qualifying points and overall cash prizes totaling $200,000, the prestigious competition is critical to American surfers aspiring to reach the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) elite World Tours. Other divisions include men’s and women’s junior contests, and longboarding.

The gargantuan Honda U.S. Open of Surfing is the international benchmark for professional surfing, boasting records including attendance, media coverage and number of competitors. The roster of recent champions reads like a “Who’s Who” with Andy Irons, Kelly Slater, Cory Lopez, Layne Beachley, Lisa Andersen, Rob Machado, Stephanie Gilmore and Sofia Mulanovich among other notables.

In other news, our own O.C. based etnies is excited to announce the 3rd Annual etnies Girls Get on Board (GGOB) clinic, a nation-wide series of female-only action sports instructional programs committed to inspiring girls to participate in action sports and encouraging them to remain active to lead a healthy lifestyle. For this year’s program, etnies has again partnered with the Girls Riders Organization (GRO), a nonprofit group with a mission to inspire, educate and support girls in action sports, to present a tour of GGOB clinics and special events. Other partners in the event series include skateboarding label Cool Girls Decks, the Boarding For Breast Cancer foundation (B4BC) and the Huntington Beach Wahine All Girl Surf School.

Beginning this month etnies’ professional team riders, serving as ambassadors for the GGOB program, will travel to cities across the nation to mentor and coach females of all ages in the action sports categories of Skate, BMX, Surf and Motocross. The etnies Girls Get on Board program, along with GRO, will host 40 free clinics for girls as it embarks on its way around the country, including a stop at the etnies Skatepark of Lake Forest, Calif., before culminating in November in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For a complete list of clinics across the country, a detailed schedule of events and to sign up, please visit etniesgirl.com/extra/onboard.

Whew. O.K. there is the latest off the surf ticker-tape. I feel like Jimmy Olsen. No, Clark Kent. Nooooooooo I feel like the amazing MOOCHO MAN. More on that later.