marc andreini

I first met Bill Barnfield in 1972 when he moved into Santa Barbara from Seaside, Oregon.  While Bill was in Seaside he was building boards and pioneering barrel riding in the Pacific Northwest.  The locals in that area labeled him “The Dean” of Seaside surfers. I had started my surfboard business in Santa Barbara in 1971 the same year that Al Merrick started Channel Island Surfboards in Santa Barbara.  Al and I had become friends and I had taken a job with him sanding his boards to help him out. By the time Bill arrived in town in 1972, he had stopped by Merrick’s shop looking for work. Al was pretty busy at the time so it was decided I would become the laminator and Bill would take my job as the sander. Over the next year we became great friends and aside from working we spent every spare moment chasing waves between Newport Beach and Jalama. We also spent a great deal of time surfing The Ranch, either in our own 8 foot dingy or with Al who had a 12 foot dingy.

During that year Bill took me to the Hobie factory where he had spent an earlier Summer sanding surfboards.  During that visit I was able to meet the famous Patterson brothers from Hawaii who were famous in the industry for their sanding and laminating. It was there that I learned many of the things I carried with me throughout the years as a board builder and I have Bill to thank for that experience.  About a year later Bill explained to me that true career surfers should spend time on the North Shore of Oahu. To not only learn more about board design but to find out what we were made of in the water.

We bought one way tickets and moved in the Summer of ‘73 to Velzyland. Bill spent all of his time surfing Pipeline and following the work of Gerry Lopez while I spent my time at Sunset and following the work of Barry Kanaipuni. After one year I moved back to Santa Barbara and continued my board building career. Whereas Bill remained on the North Shore and still lives there to this day. He went on to become one of the top board builders and surfers at Pipeline and as one of the select few to build the famous Lightning Bolt surfboards. During the ‘80’s Bill pioneered what became the largest board building operation in Hawaii. From there he went into mountain bikes and now into retail. His current store, Raging Isle, is the largest shop on the North Shore. Without Bill’s influence I might not have had the courage to move to the North Shore and ride the world’s most dangerous waves at the time!