In this episode, Corey and Sean team up with BOTE Creative Director Rob McAbee to talk about the first ever “BOTE Presents” trip. It was a product launch for The Grambler—a board that Rob envisioned as being a surf style board that wasn’t necessarily performance-based, but that would surf more like a longboard. 

Sure enough, that’s what the Grambler became. A board forged in Florida, yet with a chilled out vibe similar to Northern California. In other words, “East Coast Style Meets West Coast Soul”, the operational tagline for the Grambler. And it’s from this tagline that the “Grambler Out for Delivery” trip & film were born. 

Rob was good friends at the time with Tim and Nicki Bluhm—of the band Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers. They were planning on performing at the Hipnic Music Festival in Big Sur that year, and Rob loved the idea of pairing music with surf to fit the laidback ethos of the Grambler board. What better way than to set off on a surf-fueled, music-filled road trip up Highway 1 to deliver the boards to their musical ambassadors. 

Tune in to hear how the trip went, including stories about Sean’s tramp stamp tattoo, his dart gun, and a tense run-in with some super protective locals. 

Links from the Episode 

Get to know the Grambler. 

Listen to Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers. 

Visit Zuma Beach.

Watch Shane Reynolds’ Top 10 Locals List, PCH Edition.

Who’s in the Episode

Lead Designer, Co-Founder, and CEO at BOTE, Corey Cooper is a licensed engineer hailing from Auburn University. Corey is the pioneer of the DarkRoom, assisting with the design of the machinery, concepting the layout and ultimately developing the workflow used in DarkRoom production. Corey’s passion for this project is so strong that on any given day, regardless of how busy things are at BOTE, you will often find Corey working in the DarkRoom.

Sean Murphy is the Director of Photography at BOTE and a world-renowned photographer based in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. After spending most of his career based in Los Angeles, shooting for brands like Adidas, Red Bull, and Toyota, just to name a few, Sean moved back to the Redneck Riviera. You can find Sean capturing gritty America and spontaneous moments that translate into visually stunning photography.  

BOTE Creative Director, Rob McAbee, brings the style when it comes to designing eye-catching stand up paddle boards and developing color palettes, patterns, fonts, and illustrations that unite and define the BOTE brand. With over 25 years of professional brand building and marketing experience, Rob combined his love for fishing with his love for creative design when he joined the BOTE family in 2013. An avid fly fisher, Rob is the founder of Bugslinger Fly Gear and, in collaboration with Corey, the creative brain behind the BOTE brand. 

Sound Bites

“What could have turned out to be a complete nightmare turned out to be a killer week with unlimited cool shit happening non-stop... It was rad, but it was no Kana Beach.” — Sean Murphy, Director of Photography at BOTE

“The planning of a surf trip is one of those things in life that ranks up there with a kid’s anticipation of Christmas morning. This trip was no exception and the gear lists, the online recon for camping and surf spots, and all the traveling arrangements were made with the same excitement of ripping into those special gifts from Santa.” — Rob McAbee / Creative Brand Director