Happy Holidays

I've been busy building toys for the holidays and stirring up Christmas cheer (aka painting surfboards). The tree was a happy side product.

Board Meeting

When the folks at Duke University's Nicholas Foundation asked me to come up with a board to present to Bill Reilly during a recent board meeting, it was only natural that I created a board that fit his values. Bill's had a lifelong commitment to oceans, having most recently led President Obama's commission to investigate the causes of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Bill helped create the EPA, ran the World Wildlife Fund for years and now chairs the boards of companies as well as green causes. 


The board I put together used Marko Foam's E blank, a blank made with 100% recycled styrofoam, Entropy's Super Sap BioResin, a 40% biobased epoxy, and fins from FCS's GreenFlex project. Put them together and you have a board that is mindful, green, and environmentally aware. 


Bill was stoked to get the board, said he had a pretty big pond at his place to try the board out before he hits the ocean. I'm thinking consulting on a wave pool and private surf lessons might have to be put on the agenda at the next "board" meeting. 

Lofting Curves

When the blanks and templates don't exist to build what you want, you have to make them yourself. I'm old school and like to loft the curves at full scale before I start throwing foam around. This project is for a couple of short, wave specific SUPs I'll be building.

Yak, Yak, Yak II

Following up on a good thing, I got together with Rick Starr and Murky Waters to produce the Salsa.



Rick and I designed the plug. Then the folks at Murky Waters made the mold and now build this very popular International Class wave kayak. This boat has sported an impressive record in competitions around the world.



It's cool to see how some projects lead you into new and uncharted waters.

Yak, Yak, Yak

Meet Dennis Judson, owner of Adventure Sports, aquanaut extraordinaire, and lover of all things racy and red. He also possesses the power of persuasion, so much so that he and his cohort Rick Starr talked me into building them a couple of wave riding kayaks from scratch.

But wait before we go further, I know, I hear the murmurs. Yes, there were a few cries of blasphemy from my homo erectis wave riding brethren. And even calls of "why are you doing that?" Well simply put, because I can, and I love taking on projects of design and construction of watercraft for riding waves.



So let's see what it took to to get this project off the ground. First off I lofted out some curves for the profile and outline. Then I used the curves to hotwire out this blank. From there I shaped out what the boats would look like.



After the shapes were done I prepped the foam with mold release and vacuum bagged the skins on. The bottoms were sheet foam and the decks were this cool honeycomb matting.



Master Glasser Tony Mikus did the outer lamination which was then polished out.



With cockpits cut open it was now time to let the genie out of the bottle (ie, pull the foam out). After that, the combing went on and we were approaching launch day.



A crystal clear day greeted the christening. And I have to admit that the boats looked awesome. But the burning question for me was "how would they work?"



Mother nature provided a perfect test track. And with waves like this, all I have to say is whatever "floats your boat", get out there and have fun!

As for how the boats went, it was all thumbs up. But our story doesn't end there. Next post I'll explain where all this is going.

Back to the Future

What does the son of a surfboard shaper do for a school project given a choice? How about "The History of the Surfboard."

Not wanting to be too new school and muck about with resin and foam, Ben chose to get back to basics and feel the soft, warm grain of wood. His scheme was to make a replica of an Alaia board.



First step was to find a suitable blank. Our backyard fence that fell down last year provided the perfect piece of aged redwood, worm holes and all.



Once he figured out the length, Ben laid out the plan shape using some basic tools like a compass and french curves. (Who knows what a french curve is?!)



The block plane made quick work of rolling the rails.



Then on to the final sanding.



The last thing was to apply a dark stain and beeswax finish to give it a rich, old wood feel. The end result was pretty cool.



It's about the size of a Paipo board. Looks like fun.

The main thing for me was that Ben was able to get his hands on some new tools, learn how they work safely, and feel empowered that these basic skills and tools can open a lot of doors.



Ben is just looking forward to taking it out and giving it try.

Tony's Balsa Outriggers

Another one of those time consuming projects that, when all is said and done, is worth it. The results are wall hanger quality.



Who's mixing the glue? And where are all my bar clamps??

Coffey Table

Who could resist the play on words. It's a natural fit!

Well, Adam Brodsley and the folks at Volume Inc decided they needed a table they could use to hatch their latest visual schemes. And having a surfer in the bunch, this balsa table was born.





The added bonus is the chips and dip and beer rings wipe right off.