Time out

The best thing about being retired is the ability to travel.  I'm currently in Southern California with my girlfriend Julie visiting family, friends and doing a little surfing.  Last week, I paddled out at Imperial Beach.  It's a beach break I was very familiar because I lived there for more than 15 years.

Southern California has been getting lots of swell this winter because of the El Nino.  The waves that day were a solid 6'.  Imperial Beach is a thick heavy wave.  Frankly speaking, it can be nasty if you're not ready for it.  Well I didn't have trouble getting out, but I struggled to catch them.  The ones I did catch were extremely powerful and it humbled me.  The next day the surf was 8' and more than I felt up for.  The day after that the waves were even bigger.

For me surfing is about having fun.  If people want to surf big waves or be in contests good for them.  I don't feel the need to prove anything to myself or others.  I like to paddle out with friends and share a fun session.  Paddling out with friends means someone has my back in case something goes wrong.  Building boards is my way of combining my love of surfing with my love of woodworking.  It's not about trying to make money.  If I sell a board that's fine.   My goal is to design and build boards that work at my break.

New baby

This one is getting prepped for rail strips.  The board is very light and feels strong.  I'll add the last deck strip soon and clean up the tail.

It won't be done for Christmas.

Thanks Grandpa.

Today is a rainy windy crappy day here in Ormond by the Sea.  A good day to work in the shop and enjoy the process of building a board.  My grandfather was a good woodworker.  He had a small shop, a few power tools and lots of hand tools.  My favorite place was being in the shop with him.  He was very kind and patient.

Making patterns and parts.

I feel very fortunate for the time we had together.  Thanks so very much Grandpa.

Simple enough.

There is a beauty in keeping things simple.  I like to build a cradle for my frame work.  It keeps all the parts where their suppose to be and makes gluing the bottom to the frame much easier.

This board will be a 6'6" fish.  The nose and tail will be developed after the stringers are glued in.

The board will be covered in paulownia and balsa.  It should be light and strong.  Perfect for the waves here.

Surf what you build.

It's taken a while to make a board that works well here.  This balsa board is strong enough, light enough, has the right fin set-up and shape to handle our beach break.  I've taken it out the last three times I surfed and have had good sessions.  It's my all the time board now.

It's been a lot of fun building this board out and surfing it.  I love surfing my creations at my local break.  Balsa wood made it all possible.

Finished board for Dawn Patrol Surf Shop.

This has been my most interesting project to date.  It's small like the keiki board.  I had a great time with all of the design features.  The shop provided me with a board to copy.  I drew it up and made all the patterns or built it on the fly.  The bottom and deck are paulownia.  The rails are balsa.  I used polyester resin and 4 oz. S-2 glass.  This is the lightest board I've ever built and it seems pretty strong.  Big thanks to Lance and Randy for providing materials.

If you come to Ormond Beach or your local check it out at the Dawn Patrol Surf Shop on A1A.  Really nice people, lots of boards, wet suits, fins and SUP stuff.

Laminated 5'6" board

It's been a while since I've posted anything about this board.  The top and bottom are laminated.  I'll glass on the fins in the next few days.