"Welcome. We're here at Garden Glassing with Mencel Surfboards, making a bundle of boards for Whalebone in downtown Montauk. We did the custom logo, a couple of different custom palettes for colors, and the shape is really specific to East Coast waves—especially the ones out East in Montauk.

I’m Charles Mencel, owner of Mencel Surfboards and the shaper here. I’m from Monmouth County, New Jersey, and I’ve been making surfboards for about 20 years—this summer marks my 20th year of shaping. I surf all up and down the East Coast, but especially in New York and New Jersey, which is where I call home.

Whalebone, much like Mencel Surfboards, is really a family. It’s a group of friends and community members invested in supporting something grassroots—brands that grow organically and are pushed forward by the people we grew up surfing with.

I think that’s the differentiator: when you build a brand like Whalebone or Mencel, you’re doing it because it’s always been part of you. It’s something you’ve always done, something that’s just who you are. Any brand built that way shines.

So for us, collaborating with Whalebone on this quick run of boards was just a natural fit. Each board carries the shared spirit of community, creativity, and love for the ocean that brought both brands to life in the first place. And when they hit the water in Montauk, they’re more than just boards—they’re a reflection of the people, the place, and the waves that shaped them." - Charles