Paddle Repair

I also had this paddle in the garage waiting for a repair.  I laminated both sides in carbon fiber.

I'll trim the excess tomorrow, get a fill coat on, sand-sand-sand, spray and it should be done.

Cool Paddle and Holder

This is my first mobile post - let's see how the mechanics flow...

I first saw this paddle at a coffee shop at Ala Moana Shopping Center on one of my business trips out here a few years back.  Now that I am learning to make paddles, I felt compelled to come back and take a closer look.

Very nice craftsmanship!

New Tool Experience and Progress

More shaping on Sunday - worked on the first of three handplaces. I started off with a hand block planer. Really slow going but controlled and steady as ever. Mind you that was how I shaped the paulownia boards I have (paipo and kick board). Charlie highly encouraged me to use the belt sander and then the electric planer. I have extensively used a random orbital palm sander, but never a belt sander. After a few minutes, the belt sander and I were friends. Then I tried the electric planer. I've used this tool before, but with a sanding barrel attachment (no blades) and on foam blanks, not wood. This one took a little longer to get used to, but afterwards I actually got very close to the finished shape on the hand plane. A few more tweaks and this one will be done. Charlie put some time into the paddle he is making for Amy. Maybe next month I'll start on my paddle. Working on boards and with tools again made me really miss my own gear.

Paddles, Hand Planes and Tools

Over at Charlie's house - He's making a couple of paddles. I'm making three hand planes. Work on the weekends for the next few weeks or so. STay tuned.

Tropical Blends Shop Visit

On the way to the airport, Charlie and I stopped by Tropical Blend Surf Shop. Jim was there and as usual was eager to discuss the finer points of board design and construction. Lots of cool stuff like racks, boards, paddles and accessories.

Paddle Covers

La made this one for my Methane last night.

$4 towel from Target, an hour for measuring and getting in the mood, and Viola!!!

Custom Paddle Cover to keep the sharp nailed gremlins away from the epoxied paddle (bad gremlins!!!).

I put the Shaka Pu'u next to it for a comparison (so you wouldn't be asking "what is that?").

"Kids under 8" sized paddle

With the kids' paddleboards nearly completed (and the threat of rain/lightning/thunder preventing a trip to the beach), I finally undertook the modification of the paddles I bought for the kids to use.

I made a quick template, marked up the paddlehead and fired up the jigsaw and ROS (random orbital sander). After about 30 minutes, this is what I had.

La's first reaction was "why'd did you make it so small?" and the kids giggled.

The weather did clear up and after running an errand, we were in the water (nice and glassy).

I let Marlon use the small head paddle first - he was buzzing around like a pissed off hornet!!!

Noe used it and I could tell she was more efficient in paddling.

I'll cutdown the second one this week and fiberglass both.

What fun SUPing is eh???

New paddle grip

I found this stuff at Boater's World - Deck grip made of EVA foam (I am guessing).

I cut it into three strips and after putting it on the front of my paddle shaft, I used La's hair dryer to soften up the foam long enough to let it conform to the Kialoa Methane's oval shape.

After it was on, I tapered the edges (beveled about 45 degrees) and the results are AWESOME!

Great grip without adding shaft diameter - nice grip without the wax or blisters from a sticky, naked grip (get your mind out of the gutter!).

Another paddle

This is a Malama custom paddle from Maui.

Rich, curly koa - awesome craftsmanship - and lots of love went into building this.

It's also light (surprisingly so) for an all-wood paddle.

I classify this as pure art (and if it weren't so functional, it would probably be just a wall hanger).

Methane

I've been able to paddle the new racing SUP twice now. Inaugural wetting was this past Thursday - with head high swell in the water, I did a south-north jetty run at Silver Strand beach (2 miles roundtrip).

This morning (Sunday) with waist high swell and a NE offshore breeze, I paddled from the south jetty, to the north jetty, then on to the rotunda of the Mandalay Bay hotel - then back to the south jetty (times per leg - :14, :26, :19, :12) for a total distance of 5.2 miles (not GPS, but goggle earth distance).

The new board is ridiculously fast! It is very stable and cuts through chop well. A completely different feel from the 11'6" Naish I've been distance paddling since November 2007.

And the pictures today are of my new favorite paddle - a Kialoa Methane. I've used this paddle in the surf and now for distance paddling and the 8" blade makes it easy to keep a higher cadence without aggravating my left elbow (which I have been battling golfer's elbow since last winter - I had the rowing machine at work set too high and I think I really hurt it on a working dive around the same time frame).

Great paddle!!!