If you spot the white CI van, pull over immediately, give Dave Downing your drivers license as a deposit, and go ride a Channel Islands model of your choice. Photo: Checky

This morning in Oceanside, we met up with the good guys from Channel Islands to try out a few of their new surfboard models. The waves were waist high and a south wind was hacking it up pretty bad, but in the interest of servicing our readers, we manned up and paddled out. Below you’ll find a few notes on the different boards we tried. Stay tuned to cisurfboards.com for more of these grass roots demos, matter of fact, there’s one in Newport this weekend. See the flyers at the bottom of the page for West Coast and East Coast demo dates…

I rode two boards today; a 5’8″ Dumpster Diver and a 5’9″ Warp inspired by Shaun Tomson. I think I was the last guy in California to try a Dumpster Diver (the board Dane Reynolds made cool). While I like the premise of the board (short, wide, and made for small waves) I didn’t like how it rode. To me it felt like it pivoted in the middle of the board and was kinda sluggish. Apparently they are made for surfers who surf off their back foot (like Dane) and not guys who lean forward when they surf, aka a “front footed surfer” like myself.

After ditching the Dumpster Diver, CI’s Dave Downing recommended “The Warp.” It felt much better under my arm (an unscientific yet perfectly reliable methodology) and rode pretty good in the windy, waist high surf on tap at Buccaneer Beach. Designed by 1978 World Champion Shaun Tomson, it’s made for old guys who still wanna rip. Although it was only 5’9″ there was enough hidden thickness and width that it paddled well and was able to make it through flat spots. Although the bottom third of the board looks like something out of the 80s, all the bells and whistles are on the bottom making for a high performance stick with the distinguished gentleman in mind. Two thumbs up. —Justin Coté/Editor

See the whole review on Transworldsurf.com