The Surfer's Journal Article About Christian Fletcher & The Body Glove Surf Bout II. Get your copy now!

The year was 1989. A time when the PSAA was the reigning US tour for American surfers, and when volleyball ads took up a lot of ad space in surf magazines. When people rolled up their Gotcha t-shirt sleeves to go along with their tight corduroy Op shorts. Ah, what an era. It was also during the end of this decade when an 18-year-old kid by the name of Christian Fletcher was dropping jaws and taking down some big names. Out with the old, in with the new? Christian was at the forefront, if not the pioneer, of a movement that still has many people trying to catch up and understand. Check out the latest issue of The Surfer’s Journal. Writer Ben Marcus picks some brains and gets some interesting commentary on some of the people who were there to witness Christian’s aerial assault. Did these guys realize that history was being made?

An outside source recently pointed out that with Nathan’s current (and record-setting) 8 magazine covers in one month, as well as past cover shots of Christian and Herbie, there may be no other family in surf history with more combinations of front journal pieces. Those of us here at Astrodeck got a chuckle out of it and never really thought of it along those lines. But it is an accomplished feat of publication. So, yeah, we think it’s pretty bad ass, too.

Check out just a FEW of the covers that the Fletcher’s have graced over the years.

Herbie Fletcher: "Surfing Magazine", 1968

Herbie Fletcher: "Surfer Magazine", 1976

Herbie Fletcher: "Pacific Longboarder", 2005

Christian Fletcher: "Surfer Magazine", 1988

Christian Fletcher: "Breakout Magazine", 1990

Christian Fletcher: "Thrasher Magazine", 1991. (Christian was the only surfer to have ever been featured on the cover of this skate mag.)

Nathan Fletcher: "Surfer Magazine", 1999

Nathan Fletcher: "Surfing Magazine", 2008

Nathan Fletcher: "Transworld Surf", 2011

I really love this photo of Trestles. Too bad some Aussie pro surfer (who shall remain nameless) is blocking my view of it. But, hey, is that an Astrodeck Traction Pad on his board? Just wondering…

We get a little chuckle here when we find random pro surfers riding our traction pads. But who can blame them, right? Best grip, no slip, truly the originators - Astrodeck.

Oh, look! Here’s Julian Wilson during the Hurley Pro 2011 at Trestles. And what? What’s that on his board? You don’t say! Why, that looks like the 403 Crossroads in black and green! And funny thing is? We’ve heard that Julian scored the highest wave this particular day. Hmmm, coincidence?

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!

(Photo by John Salanoa)

Astrodeck team rider and resident surf grom, Ian Crane, killed the competition during Volcom’s “Totally Twisted Crustaceans of Metal” event that took place earlier this week in Newport Beach.

He swooped up the junior’s division and was a force to be reckoned as soon as the singlets were put on. And when all was said and done, Ian got a big chunky $7,000 payday. Not bad for a kid still in high school, huh?

Congrats, Ian! Yewww!

Straight from his win in Newps, Ian stops by Astrodeck for some pads.

You never know who’ll stop by our headquarters to pick up some Astrodeck traction pads. One week, it’ll be a group of traveling Chilean surfers. Another week, if the circus is in town, it could be a handful of the pros. And just yesterday San Clemente local and 1/3 of the tow-headed Guduaskas brothers, Dane, stopped by with his new housemate Masatoshi “Mar” Ohno, who just also happens to be the first Japanese surfer to ever crack the grueling WQS Top 40.

Both Dane and Mar have decided to have a go at trying out our front foot pads, and, in return, we’ve only guaranteed them a better success rate at going off and sticking it!

Here’s a photo of the boys posing with the CF 409 Front Foot pads. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! And it wasn’t even Christmas morning! (And you’ll also happen to notice Greyson in the background. He’s snarling because everyone’s ordering a ton of the 409’s and he can’t keep up with the demands. Either that, or he just has really bad indigestion from lunch.)

Mar and Dane got their CF 409's. What about the rest of ya?

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.

(Astrodeck Team Rider Shane Beschen)

It was a pleasant surprise yesterday when Shane Beschen came by the Astrodeck office with his little grom, Noah.

Shane and brother Gavin have been long-time Astrodeck team riders. Their loyalty, support and belief in knowing that we produce the best traction pads has now transcended to the new generation - their own offspring of mini-rippers.

Noah is 10-years-old and is going the way of his dad and uncle. In other words, the kid rips in the water and apparently he’s no hack with a skateboard either. Greyson’s had a few sessions with him at the local skatepark and both “sons of” had a pretty good time landing a few.

(Noah Beschen with the Astrodeck Black & Green Crossroads traction pad.)

Check out the 113 Shane Beschen Traction Pad. Not only do we have this in solid back, but there’s also a camo version as well.

113 Shane Beschen Black

113 Shane Beschen Camo

And it wouldn’t be nice of us if we didn’t include and produce some pads by Shane’s little brother, Gavin, right? So here they are. Another one of our more popular models. Solid and sick.

148 Gavin Beschen Black

148 Gavin Beschen Camo

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.