Trip Forman: Welcome to the REAL Boardloft. I'm Trip Forman. Today we have REAL team rider Masen Barley with us. Masen, welcome.
Masen Barley: Thanks, Mr. Trip.
Trip Forman: We are here to talk about Masen's killer quiver of Lost surfboards and a Channel Islands Happy Everyday for the small wave jam. Masen, what is your height and weight right now?
Masen Barley: Right now, I am 5'5" and I weigh 108 pounds.
Trip Forman: 108 pounds, just weighed in on the official REAL scale only minutes ago. This quiver you have, you've basically just grown out of it. Is that correct?
Masen Barley: Just grown out of it.
Trip Forman: For the parents out there looking at boards and trying to figure out a whole new set of numbers with grom heights, weights, and sizes, Masen just grew out of these boards. We're going to share a little bit as far as the surf he's riding each of them in and what he likes about each board. Let's start out with the Channel Islands Happy Everyday.
Masen Barley: I got the Happy Everyday to surf the pool. We were going on a trip to a pool and I wanted a board that I could rip, but also hopefully get barreled on. So I grabbed the Happy Everyday and rode it in the pool, and it is the perfect pool board. It was phenomenal. It rides super good in the ocean, too. It's just amazing, I have nothing but good comments on it.
Trip Forman: What's the wave range that you like surfing this board in? The pool always serves up some good size, but what about in the ocean? What are the smallest waves you can ride this thing effectively?
Masen Barley: Smallest waves would probably be knee-high. The biggest I could ride it into is a chest-high wave. So, knee-high to chest-high.
Trip Forman: What about the shape of the wave?
Masen Barley: I'd say it can be a little mushier. I wouldn't take it out when it's super mush burgers, but it can really handle the smaller waves because that's what it's built for. I will say if you get to chest-high and it's kegging in the ocean, I wouldn't ride it. That's when you would step up for one of those.
Trip Forman: Good reviews on the Channel Islands Happy Everyday. There are still some Happy Everyday groms floating around in the surfboard world, but there's also a new Happy Everyday which is called the Better Everyday. That board is available in grom sizing as well, so that's the board you'd want to be looking at for that slot in your grom quiver. Next up is the Lost Stub Driver 3.0. Go into what conditions you like that board for, Masen.
Masen Barley: I could take that board out in pretty much anything. I wouldn't ride it in knee-high—it just doesn't handle that—but from waist to head-high, I can ride it and it feels good. It feels good in the barrel, too. It's also a good pool board, but if you're in the pool, I'd prefer the Happy Everyday. It rides super good in the tube and on the turns, just phenomenal.
Trip Forman: So if one board's going in the car and there is a swell, that's going to be the board you're putting in the car if you're only allowed to take one, most likely. All right, let's talk about board number three. This is the Lost Driver 3.0.
Masen Barley: I like this for heavy waves. So if you're at the Lighthouse and it's chest to head-high, maybe overhead sets, and it's just grinding tubes—super heavy, but also turn sections—it works great in all of it.
Trip Forman: If you show up to the beach and you have all three of these, what are you looking for that makes you go with that versus the Stub?
Masen Barley: I'm looking for steep, critical drops, heavy waves with a good solid bowl to them, and then also the speed. This gathers quite a bit of speed, and I like that for when I'm surfing racing tubes or just a racing wave.
Trip Forman: What was it like surfing that board at Macaronis?
Masen Barley: That was amazing. It's a slower wave, but I was able to get in front of the wave and do big carves. It also worked really good for snaps in the pocket and barrels, too.
Trip Forman: What about sizing these boards? Obviously, I see a little bit of length difference, but the volume of these boards, are they all roughly the same?
Masen Barley: I got the Happy Everyday before I got these boards, a couple months before. When I got the Happy Everyday, I had the size down of the Driver 3.0—the 5'0", which was 19 liters. This board is 18.9 liters, so it was roughly closer. I grew out of that one faster just because it's a smaller board. So I'd range them kind of closer together. Obviously, the small wave board is going to be shorter, but liter-wise, I liked them closer together.
Trip Forman: Having consistency in the volume. All right, awesome. That's good to know. Masen, thank you so much for joining us and sharing the insight on your quiver. If any of you out there have any questions on grom boards or would like to place an order or custom order for any of these models—or any models that Lost or Channel Islands makes—you can always reach us at the shop at 252-987-6000 or look us up online at realwaterports.com/surfing. Thanks for tuning in.
