Another nice morning

The first snow of the year fell yesterday morning, but it quickly melted and warmed up to a balmy 4 degrees. I had this point (Pachiura) all to myself before work. Beautiful offshore plumes, and tons of fun. The best season of the year continues...

ahh, Hokkaido fall surf

The waves have been great. This year things were pretty quiet through September, but it really picked up in October. We just finished up typhoon #27, and may get one or two more before winter and the north winds arrive. I got in a week straight up until Monday, which is a really good run for this season, especially with the short days and work. All these pics are from Kako, my home break. Really fun waves and nice steady offshores...

The rail rebuild on the fish is going pretty well. I sanded all the varnish off the top and bottom, and am now shaping the new rails. I had to drill out the old FCS plugs because the extra width put the rails too far from the fins. Got quite a bit of kickback/movement drilling with the 30mm bit not liking the hard plastic of the plugs...ended up with some ugly tearing around the holes. I filled the holes with 30mm dowling, and quite a bit of wood filler, looks pretty ugly but should function OK... I probably should have just left the old plugs in. It'll be set up with a pair of big twins and a small trailer (MR TFX), the same set I bought for the previous incarnation of the board. Actually, with the wider template the board is looking more like a MR superfish (minus the wings), so hopefully it will go OK...More posts later... 



Repair, rebuild and fall surf

The diamond tail is back in the water. I replaced the cracked piece and nose area, and although it doesn't look as good as before, it is ridable. While I was at, I redid the somewhat bumpy gloss finish with a fine sand and clear acrylic coat. It's something I wanted to do anyway, so the repair was a good excuse. Nice to be back riding my favorite board again.    

 

Another project I have underway is a rail rebuild on the fish I made last year. It was my first framed board, and I did a really really lame job on the rails. So, I finally went ahead and planed off the rails and built them back up again with paulownia strips I picked up at the 100 yen (dollar) store. It is looking more like a normal board now...luckily, I finished it only with varnish before, so I can sand the whole thing down and glass it.

Ahh the fall, fun waves and hardly anyone out. Hopefully this will hold until the end of November.

back home again, sup report, and repair

Back home after two weeks and a couple of conferences in Europe. Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Antwerp and Mont St Michel were definite high points...as was the Dutch and Belgian beer and those tasty frites. Unfortunately, was not close to any surf, but the time off was probably good for my body after surfing pretty well every day for the last few months. Good to get out and see new stuff too, here's me at Mont St Michel:

 

Returned home to some solid swell. It got up to about head high and a half, the perfect size before the waves start closing out. Tuesday was probably the best day of the year, only two people out and really clean.  Here's a pic after the swell had dropped and the wind came up, still fun though...and the Hokkaido fall weather is incredible.   

 

Unfortunately, got some damage on my favorite board (the 6'6" diamond tail) this week. I went up high, came down in the shore break, and the nose plowed into the sand cracking the upper deck from the vent to the nose. I removed the cracked piece, dried it out, and am starting a pretty major repair. Looks pretty bad, but it is interesting to see how the inside of board looks after a season. Will post more as the repair gets underway.

And last but not least, a quick bit about the SUP. I've taken it out a couple times. It works OK, but it's pretty heavy and somewhat squirrely due to its short size. Also, I've only got wax on the deck, and find it comes off  pretty quick and gets slippery after about 30 minutes. I need a deck pad, and then should be good to go. The paddle works awesome.

I'll post more on the repair, and a rail rebuild I have underway, when I get some time. In the meantime I'll be enjoying Hokkaido's finest season.

Ready to go

The SUP is ready to go, I just need to finish up the paddle with one more coat of epoxy and I should be ready for a test run on Saturday. I don't have a deck pad at the moment, so I'll just use wax while trialing it and making sure it floats me. Pretty excited about giving this a go.
I'll update the blog this weekend to report back on how it goes.

Final dimensions: 8'5"X 32.5' X 4.75"

Getting there...and summer surf

I'm finally getting there with the SUP. I've finished the top coat, now I just need to sand that smooth, and apply a clear acrylic finish coat. Of course, then I need to put in the vent. The paddle needs a couple more coats of epoxy, then sanding and the final clear coat. Here are some pics as she sits at the moment. Can't wait to take her for a ride...hope she floats me.

Pretty well every morning of the year I park my car, walk down along this river to the Horobetsu River rivermouth (kako), and the closer I get to the end the more complete the picture is of that day's surf.  Here's a step-by-step look at this morning's set-up...nice little waist-high lefts you could take right across, with the occasional bigger set. It is, quite simply, summer bliss. Yesterday, it was much the same with only me and a buddy out. There's no place I'd rather be when it's like this...

Ready for glassing

Finished up sanding and have started to glass. Here's a pick of the board and paddle ready to go:

I'm using six ounce fiberglass mat this time and it really feels heavy compared to the four ounce I usually use. I thought a little more strength would be better for a SUP. The first coat on the deck wetted out nicely, I like the light color of the paulownia I used this time.

Changed up my logo up a bit this time, I'm pretty sure the angled letters will make the board go faster...check it out:

More updates to come as I finish up the glassing.