R&D The storm track continues to thrash the east side. The surf out front has been sketchy and the water has that clay-brown look. One of the parameters that most effects the quality of drinking water is turbidity (water clarity). The idea is that turbidity represents the presence of suspended material - silt, organic matter, dirt. The suspended materials are the equivalent of motor homes loaded with bacteria, viruses, and cysts. The higher the turbidity, the higher the population of bacteria, viruses, and cysts. Clay-brown water draining from the local watershed carries a butt-load of fecal matter and suspended material chalk-full of bacteria, viruses, and cysts. And these fuckers can live through a lot of trashing. Chlorination only deactivates the lot - it doesn't necessarily kill'em. Anyway - boil untreated water at least 10 minutes before drinking and good luck surfing in it. Meanwhile - examination of the buoys shows that the storm surf is masking what would be a nice south swell - 2.6 feet at 14 seconds from 180. These early south swells are righteous! Now to the title - research and development - R&D. Companies developing new products spend tons of dough on R&D. The military industrial complex chews up R&D funds like the neighborhood trash dog goes through garbage. The pharmaceutical industry does the same. What about the surf industry? It's true boards have changed over the years, but what is the investment in change. Fin design is changing, but I suspect more is invested in advertising than in the design. Well, I found that in some parts of the globe surfboard R&D is flourishing with some out-of-the-box thinking. Check out the work being done by this fellow-

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