Next Step - Finboxes

Probably the most critical of tasks in building a surfboard is determining the fin placement.

I'm still researching this, but I'm hoping to converge later this week on a decision so I can get the boxes cut out and at least the bottom laminated before next week.

Ding Repair - Quad Fish

This is another repair job I took on recently.  The tips of the tails were crushed.

I had to grind down to good foam, glue on some surrogate foam, file down to rough shape, fill the bottom with milled fibers, clean up, laminate a few layers of fiberglass on to the tops, and finally sand to 60-120-180-400.

Not too shabby.

A Proper Wax Job

This is what a good wax job on a surfboard should look like.

The smaller and more plentiful the bumps are, the better the wax will allow you to "stick" to the board.

You should never rush the waxing of your board.  This was half a bar of base coat and a 1/4 of a bar of tropical wax.

Dawn Patrol - 3/29/2020

Marlon and I got out for some exercise again this morning.  The swell came down a notch, the wind was slightly on, and the tide was a low high at 0.7'.  This spot is deeper to begin with so even at that tide, I did not have any anxiety about hitting bottom.  I caught a bunch of waves, but early on it was taking me a little bit to find my front foot sweet spot.

I had the GL180 and 4'10" out again - same settings as yesterday.  This thing is super fast - probably some of the reason I was misbalancing.  On the ones where I did find my center, I could just keep going on and on, and I got several turns in. I was 50-50 on white water and green wave takeoffs.  Like anything, the more you do something, the easier it becomes.  Marlon had several rides and even went it a hair early (he kept thinking about the leftovers we had in the refrigerator).

Afternoon Surf - 3/28/2020

Marlon did come this afternoon.  Went back to the same place.  The wind was up, but it wasn't blowing the waves apart.  The tide was pretty high at 1.2'.

The swell was pumping - chest if not head high on the sets.

I brought out the Go Foil 24.5" mast with the track adapter, then placed the GL180 and Kai tail wings.  This setup feels great!  I caught tons of waves.  The GL180 takes of more like the Armstrong 1600 - I have time to get to my feet and pop the front wing up.  I was setup to have done two 2 for11s but didn't connect the dots (yet).  The wing feels like it is in between the Iwa (controllable lift) and the Maliko 200 (gliding through the flat spots).  I also lucked out with dropping the mast track onto the right place - balanced out the gate.

Marlon had a good time - smiles abound!!!

More Shaping - 3/28/2020

Today, in addition to mowing the lawn, I also spent time in the garage getting the shaping done on the two boards I am working on.  First up was the 4'10" foilboard.  I got through the dragon skin blending and the 50-100-180 grit sandpaper runs.  I think it came out really nice (but for some reason I didn't get a picture - I'll update this post when Marlon sends them).


Next, I worked on the asymmetric fish.  I got through the 100-180 sandpaper runs.

Will need to spec out the fin locations (this includes the foilboard) before glassing these boards.

Morning Surf - 3/28/2020 and the Everyday

I got up early, but Marlon wanted to pass on the dawn patrol so I cancelled the op.  However, while I was drinking coffee, I kept looking out the window and there was no wind.  So an hour after I decided not to go, I went ahead and loaded up the Firewire TJ Everyday and headed to the beach.

Some of the regulars from White Plains were out.  The waves at this spot were really fun - a lot steeper and more energy that our normal break.  I had several really long rides that had stacked walls - I was done in an hour (did not want to over stay my welcome - new break etiquette).

I took out the TJ Everyday because I wanted to take the wax off and check out the condition of the board.  This thing is definitely bulletproof - not a pressure ding after almost five years of multiple trips to the break per week.  I love these timbertek boards!

I also swapped out the sidebites to some tiny 2.5" True Ames - this should make the turns more dependent on the center fin (which is a flex high aspect ratio).

I'll rewax this board sometime over the next few days (never rush your wax job).

Still Closed

Damn virus...

Dialing in the Prone Foilboard

With the COVID-19 virus making its rounds, I have retreated to the garage and am punching out some boards to enjoy this summer.  Yesterday evening I spent some time cleaning up the rough shaping on the new prone foilboard.  Right now the dimensions on this one are 4'10"x20"x4.25" - will probably shrink just a bit as the blending occurs.

I wanted this to be a narrower version of the 4'10" I made last year (and one that is EPS).  I'll compensate the lost volume from the narrower width in more thickness in the back end.  I'll also play with some d-cell layering and targeted carbon placement (instead of all over).  If the wind is up again tomorrow afternoon, I likely start the fine shaping on this board (and the wind is light, I'll try to get some surf in).

100 Sanded Asymmetric Fish

I got the asymmetric fish sanded down to 100 grit.  The dimensions right now are 2 15/16" thick and 21 1/2" wide (I think the length is just under 5'11").  Probably mid 30's in volume.

Going to sand to 180, plot out the fin positions and get this ready for glassing.  For the record, I hate glassing.  And I really hate sanding.

Marlon Getting Close

I got Marlon through the 80-100-180 sanding.

Almost time to glass (but going to have to make some logo laminates and define fin positions first).

Lock Down

And here it is -

I checked on the status of the beach this morning and found the gate locked.  Good thing I'm shaping and glassing me some boards!!!  Gotta be productive with what little time we have.

Tuning in the Rails

We worked on the boards again this afternoon.  I helped Marlon get his rail bands cut, and then got him through the dragon skin work.  I forgot to take a picture, but it looked like he was getting confident using the planer.  We dialed in the rails and got some of the deck faired in also.

I did the same in the asymmetric fish.  I got the toe side rail adjusted so it is straighter (and more aesthetically pleasing to the eye); and the heel side tweaked.  I'm trying to preserve as much volume as possible - it is rather small... This is going to be one sick ride!!!  Tomorrow I want to get some more work done on the foilboard, but then we will be fairing in the decks and sanding screens - this should get us to fin placement and glassing.  At this rate, we'll be sanding the boards this weekend.

Electric Planer Day

Got some more work done on the boards today.  Marlon skinned his blank and got some additional trimming completed (the tucked under edge).  Still needs to get the rail bands cut - then we can move on to fairing in the rails with dragon skin (drywall sanding screen).

The electric planer can be intimidating if you haven't used it before - but after some coaching Marlon got the nuances down.

I got the asymmetric fish foiled out more, cut out the rail bands, dialed in the tail a bit, and got the tucked under edge cut in.  I used the surform to get the deck leveled out and the high points on the rails knocked down.  Tomorrow I'll also dial in the rails with dragon skin.

In this time of needing to play it safe for the benefit of us all - making a few new boards for this upcoming summer will help us keep to social distancing standards.

Dawn Patrol - 3/22/2020

Marlon and I headed out this morning and found this - locked gate to the beach.  Lots of people were figuring it was a shutdown, I said it was probably the security guy oversleeping.

Since we were out, we decided to drive a little further out to see what Tracks looked like.  It was breaking about chest high and it was clean - but crowded.  On the way back home we figured we'd check if signs had been posted at the break - and we found the gate open.

We ended up surfing for less than we did yesterday - conditions wise the wind was up so there was a chop, the tide was slightly higher than yesterday but still in the draining mode, and the swell seemed to be holding.  But the crowd was a little thick (we missed the dawn patrol obviously) and the chop somewhat reduced the quality.

Considering where we all are at with COVID-19, this will likely be the last time we surf until things start to get better.  I did switch the rear tail out from the 232 to the 300.  The ride did tighten up and was more predictable.  I caught a few that went on forever - I basically stayed inside since the crowd was fighting for the peak waves.  Stay safe everyone -

Electric Planer Training

With the templates cut out, it's time to skin the blanks and trim up some of the excess foam.  Marlon wanted to be to sole shaper on his board so to get past this set, I trained him to use the electric planer.  This tool can be unsettling the first time you use it - so we worked on an offcut from the new 4'10" I'm shaping.

I was able to skin both of my blanks, rough in the foil and then work the chines and rail bands on the foil board.

Tomorrow I'll work on the rails again.