The Fletchers and Astrodeck are featured in the September 11th issue of The New York Times Style Magazine. If you happen to have an extra copy around, send it over to us!

In the meantime, here’s the online version of that article, as well as a video piece on the family made by the guys at NY Times.

Click on the link below or copy and paste it to your browser. You know the drill by now!

http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/28/family-values/#more-175333

So by now everyone’s seen all the grotesquely epic waves that Teahupo’o produced this last weekend of August. I mean, for the average person such as yourself and I, even going out there on a boat would be some kind of kamikaze suicide mission… Never mind getting towed-in and trying to surf that unflinching rogue.

But when has Nathan ever been considered average? Nathan is (g)narly by nature. As a Fletcher should be.

We’re stoked to see that Nathan, once again, pretty much stole the show. There have been massive amounts of attention and coverage going his way, with some even claiming that Nathan’s wave at Teahupo’o might very well be the biggest ever ridden out there. ESPN is calling it the “wave of the year”.

And who are we to argue with such a declaration?

http://espn.go.com/action/surfing/story/_/id/6903518/teahupoo-pumps-epic-tow-day

Nathan trying to tame the beast. 08-27-11/Teahupo'o. Photo: Joli

Now, we wouldn’t take ALL the credit, but it’s pretty cool that a week before the US Open, Kolohe Andino stopped by the Astrodeck Office to pick up some of our traction pads for the contest. Heat after heat, he became the giant killer, and found himself in the semi-finals where he was eventually taken down by overall 2nd place finisher, Yadin Nicol.

Kolohe Andino with some sweet Adeck on his board.

Kolohe again. All grip, no slip. That's Astrodeck for ya!

And speaking of Yadin, check out the pic below as he prepares to leave the competitor’s area and hit the water. Looks like the Aussie contender jumped on the Astrodeck bandwagon. Yeah, you like that, just as much as we do, dontcha? That board looks really solid with the Adeck.

Congrats on placing 2nd, Yadin! And a bigger congrats for using the best surf traction in the world!

In fact, we’re stoked that a lot of guys who were riding Astrodeck did pretty well overall: Ian Crane, Shane Beschen, Timmy Reyes, the Gudauskas trio, etc.

Pretty good representing Astrodeck, guys. Pretty damn good.

Fiji has been going off and everyone from Kelly Slater to Bruce Irons is there. In fact, Nathan is there with Bruce now and they’re having a blast. Apparently Nathan even caught one of the bigger waves of the day yesterday. Just wanted to share this link with you that Transworld Surf posted. Some great pics of Nathan on it, so check ‘em out!

http://surf.transworld.net/1000134192/photos/cloudbreak-goes-xxl/?pid=55554#ngtop

Happy Father's Day from the Astrodeck Family

Astrodeck has been family owned and operated since 1976. So we know a little bit about longevity, loyalty and the drive to keep it all together.

And through all the years of spectacular highs and dismal lows, the one thing that we’ve always been consistent and proud of is that Astrodeck has always kept it Fletcher. We’ve always held that bond; from Herbie to his own sons Christian and Nathan, to Christian’s boy Greyson, there’s a strong patriarchal influence and kinship that’s thicker than water.

This Father’s Day, we just want to give a shout-out to all of our friends, riders, fans, supporters and even the occasional passerby… because we know there’s a father in that mix somewhere. And whether your own childhood was memorable (or scarred) because you had the kind of dad who yelled at you about forgetting to turn the light off, or you had the kind of dad who got on your nerves and embarrassed you in front of your friends, or you had the kind of dad who gave you a break even after you messed up the umpteenth time, we just want to take this time to acknowledge all the dads out there. We know that they’re not perfect men but we hope that they at least tried.

And one last thing… if you were lucky enough to be that kid who hung out with your family at the beach, especially with your dad, make sure you let him know how grateful you are because of it. And if he was the kind of dad who pushed you into your first wave, give the guy a hug. Come on, don’t you think he deserves at least that?

Happy Father’s Day!

Here at Astrodeck headquarters, we’ve all pretty much come to the same conclusion; Herbie definitely takes top honors in the “Coolest Surf Dad” category.

And while your own dad may still be walking around in those Bermuda shorts and white knee-socks - so much so that you just wanna hide and shrivel up from embarrassment - come on, cut the guy some slack. Or better yet, help him up his cool factor by ordering him a pair of killer Astrodeck sandals.

After all, he is your dad.

Happy Father’s Day!

In the Mentawai Islands: Nathan going off and Bruce cheering on!

Nathan just got back from a surf trip to Costa Rica with Ivan Florence. (The pic above doesn’t have anything to do with the Costa Rica trip but we just felt like posting it anyways and, so, what you see is what you get.) Typical of Nathan, of course, he had a great time and made the best of it. Now he’s back in California for a spell; surfing local breaks and catching up with the family and being good ole eclectic Nathan.

So there’s your little Nathan Fletcher update as of now.

A rare Nathan Fletcher sighting.

We’re really stoked here at Astrodeck that we actually have a relationship and rapport with all of our team riders. In fact, we consider them friends first and foremost. How many companies can claim that their riders come to their offices to just hang out and get caught up and shoot the breeze? Not a whole lot.

As is often the case, we’ll get weekly visitors. You’ll never know who will pop up. We’ll have Reef Macintosh come over and get some sandals for his size 13 feet. Or Nathan will drop by with best buddies Mr. Buzz and Bruce Irons, or maybe Shane Beschen might bring his little groms and chat skate with Greyson. It’s like a constant who’s who of popular surf culture at Astrodeck.

In fact, Danny Fuller just swung by yesterday. He picked up some of our sandals; his favorites are the MG1 and the ML3, as well as some of his traction pads, the 405 Danny Fuller pads, both in black and white and black and green. He talked some art with Herbie and also told the A-deck crew about SUP guys doing tow-ins at Puerto Escondido. Haha, what a trip that is!

Danny likes the MG1 Sandal.

He also picked up some ML3s.

The 405 Danny Fuller Pad in Black & White

The 405 Danny Fuller Pad in Green & Black

Anyway, it was great seeing Danny - one of the nicest guys ever, and one of our favorite surfers of all time.

Danny Fuller gettin' some.

Christian and Nathan went down to Mexico with fellow surfer Brian Conley to film a commercial for the new 2011 Ford Explorer.

This is Part 3 of the commercial where the boys show us just why the 2011 Ford Explorer is the way to go for your surf road travels.

If you can’t click the link, just copy and paste it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRlOAMU_3yg&feature=related

Christian ready to surf.

Christian and Brian Conley showing us why the 2011 Ford Explorer is capable of nearly everything.

Nathan Fletcher; plugged in and strumming.

Herbie, Dibi, and Nathan currently have some of their artistic creations displayed in the “Swell” exhibition in various galleries throughout New York. Check out a little review that the New York Times recently did about the showing. Pretty cool.

Copy and paste this link if you’re unable to clickity-click it:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/23/arts/design/23surfing.html?_r=2&scp=3&sq=swell&st=cse