Board update: sanding

Cleaned up the blank, shaped the rails, and am underway with the sanding. Up to 120 grit at the moment. Some of the cedar sanded up quite light, while some strips stayed dark, it'll be interesting to see how it all looks under the glass.

Off to Hawaii this week (looking forward to the warm waves), so it'll be a few weeks before the next update.

  

A Belated New Year's Resolution: A True Daily Driver

Underway on the first board of the year so I thought it time to update the blog...
This year my goal is produce a true daily driver, something approaching a regular board's performance and lighter that the ones I made last year.

I thought I'd try to keep the weight down by shortening up the boards (to a reasonable degree for a 90 kilo+ rider), and try to compensate for length with more width and thickness. With that in mind, I made up a template for a 6'6" diamond tail, approaching 23 inches wide and 3 inches thick. I also tried to lower the weight by using 4 mm plywood for the frame, and 10 mm planks for the skin/decks. We'll see how that goes.

Here's some pics thus far...I'm liking the way it's coming together. Once again, I'm using paulownia and western red cedar for the deck.

January Surf Report

Pretty inconsistent this month, but we've had a few good days. Here's a couple shots of Kako and Gyoko. I got out at Gyoko early on the 16th, and surfed it by myself for about an hour, then the crowds descended on the place. By the time I left there was 10 people out...pretty crowded, but everyone wanted to get on it while it was good. Back to flat again....hopefully it'll pick up again this week...

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

 

Went out for my hatsu surf today, my "first" surf of the year. The conditions weren't great, lumpy, a bit windy, and a balmy -2. Still, it felt good, and was actually warmer than it looks (see pic below). With five guys in the water it was about as crowded as winter surfing gets here. I hadn't been out since Christmas eve, so was really itching for a surf. 

 

I'm working on two board frames at the moment, and will post some pics as they start to come together. Also, the tides will start shifting around this month, so hopefully I can get some winter surf pics up.   

 

Have a happy and safe New Year.  

 

 

 

Blackout

Wow, we're famous here in Noboribetsu, at least for the day...we're top national news thanks to being blacked out from a crazy storm we had yesterday and a giant power transformer/tower crashing over a national highway. Luckily, only a few people ended up with minor injuries. According to the Hokkuden (Hokkaido Electric), we'll be without power for the next three days.

Time to fire up the BBQ and have a bit of a yakiniku party before the meat goes bad. Full story available here:

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20121128a6.html

We're going to tough this one out at home (even though they have set up an emergency center a block away in the Noboribestu Community Center). We have power at work, so no problem there...we can shower, eat etc. at the university, and then just head home to sleep...it all should all be straightened out by Friday, fingers crossed...


(NHK news photo)

Fall session on Board 4

Out this morning on the 6'8" fish. Still over 10 degrees here, with stiff offshores and a declining swell. The waves were small, but clean. I haven't been riding this one much recently because the swell has been up, but today was the perfect chance, small and nobody else out. The board caught waves really well, and rode nicely in the pocket. It's buoyancy is really fantastic...the only problem is the rails, but can't do anything about that right now, so I'll just keep on riding it as is. 

Snow forecast for Sunday, time to dust off the hood...    

Fall Update

It's been a bit of a weird fall weather-wise, some beautiful stretches of days punctuated by some crazy rain and wind. The result has been some really nice sessions with glorious waves and decent weather. The sand at the rivermouth at Kako has shifted resulting in a heavier inside section. Last Friday caught some of the heaviest waves of the year, got some really fun rides, took some serious beatings, and am still smiling about it...only two people out...

This morning, had a fun day at Kanesan-mae, the weather has been fantastic...The left here breaking back towards the point was a lot of fun. Everyone else was going right, so I had it all to myself.

The repair is well underway for Board #3. I planed open the upper rail and deck area over the length of the board, then turned it over and let dry out for a couple months. Luckily, the paulownia wood came as advertised, and appeared to dry nicely and doesn't look to have warped or sucked up any water. I am now gluing up new pieces and sanding them down. It gave me a chance to thin out rails, which is something I wanted to do anyways...looks like this one will get a chance to ride again... 

As a last note, Ping and Pong are still in the house...or in the shed...fattening up for winter. Here's a pic of Ping with my new camera (Canon S100). I usually take pics with a SLR, but needed something smaller for travel. Been playing with the S100 over the last couple weeks, and really like it. Ping helped me test it out by posing for a few shots.