Lines Converge: Manuel C. Caro’s Prismatic Path
Interview: Andrew Smith
M.Caro Portrait: Jay Watson
Shaping Bay photos and Art Direction: Ed Fladung
Hand drawn type: Beth Fladung
Drift has a new feature up, Andrew Smith interviews Manuel Caro of Mandala Custom Shapes and it’s a barn burner. Amazing read. Mani Caro simply and beautifully illustrates how the dharmic knowledge of handmade surfboards is silently transferred from older generations to new generations of shapers, ensuring that surfing retains its soul and karmic traditions. If you have any interest in surf culture beyond potato chips and competition results, click on over and read Mani’s piece.
When I was up in North County SD over the holidays, Rob70 and I paid a visit to Moonlight where Mani has his shaping room. I was fortunate enough to be able to slip in for a few minutes to take some photos. Unfortunately, Mani was home sick with a cold that day (I think). I was instantly drawn to Mani’s tools, shaping room detritus and wall decorations but the thing that struck me most about the shaping room was his profound collection of hand-foiled fins and template curves. A geometric collected history of surfboard shaping. I felt kinda guilty oogling his curve collection with my camera, like staring at someone else’s girl. But I knew I’d kick myself twenty years from now if I didn’t take the time to at least briefly document what I saw.
Like most Drift features, this article formed like Voltron: Andrew Smith put together the transcendent interview with Mani, Jay Watson took Mani’s portrait, my sister Beth hooked up the hand drawn type, I added my shaping bay photos and hooked the photo editing and art direction and of course the folks at Drift provided the stoke.
