Messages

1

Gear Talk / Re: New Ride-2019 Nissan Frontier

« on: November 27, 2021, 05:57:43 PM »

Very nice! I have 3 Frontiers. One with over 300,000 miles that I’ve never done anything to and still runs like a demon. You won’t at all be disappointed. They’re fantastic trucks. And very capably heavy duty for a mid sized truck.

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General Discussion / Re: New Ride-2019 Nissan Frontier

« on: November 27, 2021, 05:48:15 PM »

Nice! I have 3 of them. One with over 300,000 miles and I’ve never done a damn thing to it. And the dang things are little hot rods! You won’t be disappointed.

3

Technique / Re: favorite SUP Surf videos?

« on: May 17, 2021, 05:09:08 AM »

https://www.swellinfo.com/video/guaruja-praia-das-asturias-sup-session-adriano-3090

Still the best sup surf video, IMO

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Gear Talk / Re: Shaft flex

« on: January 31, 2021, 07:32:11 AM »

I just recently bought a Sunova balsa paddle. A real beauty. But I didn’t realize that the shaft was carbon wrapped in a bamboo veneer stick on. All good, I’m not complaining. And I like the paddle, but it’s a stiff shaft. I’m SO spoiled by the flex in an Xtuf shaft by KeNalu that I doubt I’ll ever use anything else. Love the flex. And I love the power in the spring back when really digging for a wave. I’m with DW, your pic looks right in there and fairly flexy.

 Have I said it already? Love the flex!

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The Shape Shack / Re: Board Thickness Effect

« on: January 26, 2021, 05:38:35 PM »

Yeah, you’ve hit it SSman. The Hokua is a more performance oriented shape and the straighter rail line L41 would help with smaller, more gutless waves. As you well know, they both have their respective strengths and weaknesses. And being a marginally mediocre surfer, I bring out the best in neither shape. For me personally, I like a shorter (sub 8’) board with a straighter rail line and my longer boards (8’5”-9’) with more outline curve. Just works better for the mostly mushy waves I get to ride.

The 12” from each end is just my personal crusade. I think too many get stuck on only the width at the middle, which to me means jack if the overall shape doesn’t fit your waves, your surfing style or goals, and the outline curve for the above. And I was guilty of that. There was a good while that I kept focusing on width at the middle not realizing I was missing the boat.

That 18” measurement is relative. I guess if you want to surf more vertically (which I only do coming down the face of the wave about to go ass over teakettle 😁) or more hollow waves, wider is more to your detriment. Starts breaking loose. But my favorite board ever under 8’ (for my waves) is 21.5” nose @12”, 27” middle, 19”@ 12” tail and 12” wide at the very tail. Pretty straight, as you can see. Fast as hell, nimble and fun. The other board I ride most is 8’10”. It’s 20”@12” nose, 28.5” middle, 17”@12” tail. Works great for me. And like Pono mentioned, it also incorporates rocker at the rail line to make the shape work, too.

The more boards I build, the more I realize I really am a long way from having a clue. Was it sflinix who suggested really looking carefully at all the shapes you come across? He’s right. Take measurements on everything you ride and zero in on what works for you.

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The Shape Shack / Re: Board Thickness Effect

« on: January 22, 2021, 08:43:46 PM »

Oh, I love it when I get the opportunity to add something useless to the equation 😁.

1. You’ll definitely prefer the 4.5” board.....unless you’re the same size as Kai Lenny. Float is your friend to a point. More so on a sup. As long as you had thinned out rials (dome would be better all around) that thicker board would be easier in every way. I’ll explain later.

2. I think you’re missing the point. When you reduce width you reduce outline curve. A key component to performance. That’s why you always see the really narrow boards by manufacturers being the shortest boards. They couple length with width. Not being the brightest bulb in the pack, it took me a while to realize this. I now ride wider boards, mainly to get the outline curve and 12” widths (most important IMO) I prefer.

I started building my boards early on because where I live you couldn’t even find, let alone demo anything. For a couple of years I never went out on anything over 7’8”x27”x 3.75”. Low apex rails, flat deck. Not by design but because I sucked as a board builder and that was the easiest for me.   Me, (at that time) mid late 50’s 6’1” 180 lbs, no surf background. Had a blast with no fucking clue  to what the shape, design was doing for me. I was just proud to be out there.

A few years, no little amount of bourbon, and more experience across the board and I’ve landed on what works for me and my waves. And there’s the operative thing....your waves.
Don’t forget outline curve with the way you want to ride.
And I think mid width is fairly inconsequential to your widths at 12” from each end. The mid width just completes your outline curve. Taking into account the waves you ride and the way you want to surf determines the end widths.
If you’re a stud, pointy nose, narrow tail, thin rails.
Partial stud, pointy nose, a little wider tail to offset what you’re losing up front.
Aspiring stud, more width up front, tail what fits outline curve and your mid width.

That thickness thing is kind of like the mid width thing to me. It’s so subjective to the way the board is shaped and the way the volume is distributed as to be kind of hard to pin down. These days my boards are 4.25” thick with a domed deck coming from a thin low apex rail. I know many hate a domed deck, but I think it’s a definite performance feature if you can stand it. I can see how that step deck shape could appeal to some for volume distribution and ease on knees. I often do a low apex thin rail to a flat deck for others.   Being more of a front foot surfer (sigh) and surfing mainly mushy waves, I like a little wider nose and a narrow tail. But I definitely want some outline curve, so I have to add width even though I’ve never had an issue on 25-27” wide boards.
For me, thinned out nose and tail, and thickness centered in the middle to just a little forward so as not to bog when stepping forward too catch a wave.

 Thanks Starboard for letting me beat my gums and add little to nothing of use. But I think you should home in on your 12” widths, determine the outline curve you like to suit the way you ride and the waves you surf to determine your mid width, and keep volume to a point, but keep it in the middle (or close to where you stand) both fore and aft, and starboard to port.

All the best!

7

SUP General / Re: Surfboards (Longboards)

« on: June 02, 2020, 05:53:58 PM »

There’s a couple of very talented guys there in SS that could build you a nice board that suit the local waves, and probably be a less expensive option. Good guys. When you come over the causeway bridge, stop at those shops directly on the right at the light and inquire about local board builders. Someone there should be able to help you find them. I know lots of people that ride their boards and are plenty happy. And you’d support a local board builder

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The Shape Shack / Re: So, how will it affect....

« on: January 26, 2020, 05:12:54 PM »

Here’s the pattern.

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The Shape Shack / Re: So, how will it affect....

« on: January 26, 2020, 05:10:18 PM »

Thanks burchas, that was one of the benefits I was thinking of. And, shit rolls downhill....so they say! Just today we had some good offshores and I would step forward and really drive the nose of the board down on the wave. But this board was 9’2”. I could see the extra foam on the shorter board being handy for that.

Yeah, supmmm, the board is probably going to be around 90 liters for my 84kg. Thanks! Good to hear. I’ll be anxious to feel the difference.

Ha! No Surfside. He gets the slasher boards. This will be my Geezer Pleaser.
Flatter rocker, carries its width, low tail rocker. Gonna put in channels. Been reading of the benefits of channels in low tail rockers. And I’ve liked channels in boards I’ve done before.....just hate glassing them!

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The Shape Shack / So, how will it affect....

« on: January 25, 2020, 01:14:45 PM »

So, if my thickest point on a board is forward of center, how will it affect it? Would it be detrimental, beneficial, or really do very much? This would be on a flatter rockered board for weak, mushy waves. Say the thickest point is 16”+ inches forward of center on a 7’10”
board. I just don’t really have a clue. I thick I could maybe see benefit, but what the hell do I know?
Anyone?

11

SUP General / Re: stocking stuffers for paddleboarders

« on: December 16, 2019, 04:58:33 AM »

A great big stocking and a new board? 😁

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SUP General / Re: LongBoard SUP renaissance

« on: November 09, 2019, 03:33:22 AM »

The conventional wisdom seems to be: “Shortboards are for young kids on perfect waves, while longboards are for the rest of us”.   And it’s easier to catch a mushy wave on a longboard-style SUP, for sure.

But one factor that I don’t think receives enough attention is that the kind of noseriding on display in the (beautiful) video posted by Area10 requires a very high-quality wave, that may not be available to “the rest of us", eg:  A long, peeling wave that gives you enough time to anchor the tail in the wave, and venture up to the nose.

My home break is a beach-break, with hollow, short-period waves that tend to close out quickly.  On these kind of waves (which I suspect are more common than the perfectly walled-up, 300-yard peelers in the Gong video), a good ride involves:

   1.   Make a hard bottom turn
   2.   Bash the lip
   3.   Do a floater as the wave closes out
   4.   Spend 10 minutes trying to paddle out the back again 

Here’s a video of an elite surfer (kiter actually) in the kind of non-elite waves I’m talking about:

   https://www.supthemag.com/videos/airton-cozzolino-sup-circus/

Maybe I just don’t have sufficient longboard skills (I don’t have any shortboard skillz either, come to think of it ), but for these kind of run-of-the-mill waves, I think a shorter board -- not necessarily a classic shortboard, but something you can throw around more quickly than a longboard -- is actually easier to manage “for the rest of us”.  Or am I missing something?

Would love to hear any thoughts on how to have fun on a longboard in crappy, short-period closeout waves, as I'm a relatively old fart who is always looking for the path of least resistance.  It's just that, in these kind of waves, it seems like a shorter board is the path of least resistance.

in those waves i think a longer sup maybe 9'6 is perfect because it allows the glide and stabilty to make a fast turn and still be fun and snappy ... i think SUP needs progressive longer boards not necesarily a full nosed old schoool potatato chip nose rider .....

I finished this a couple weeks ago, 9’2x 26, but have yet to have a chance to ride it. I’m not a cruisy, glidey guy generally, but I’m hoping this falls somewhere in between. I made a set of large twins kind of based on those AsherPacey fins and put in a 3.5” center fin. Can’t wait to try it.

13

Gear Talk / Re: Board bag for my 7'10"?

« on: June 27, 2019, 04:02:21 PM »

Thanks guys. I've contacted vitaminblue to get an idea of the price. Biggreen, how much extra width does your bag have? I looked at this one, but with a stated width of "31", I assume it won't fit my 31.5 x 4.5" board.

Sorry to be late with a reply, Logan. I had plenty of width. Your board would fit just fine in the 31” bag. They’re well built at a reasonable price, and ship free and quickly

14

Gear Talk / Re: Board bag for my 7'10"?

« on: June 23, 2019, 07:40:11 AM »

https://www.storeyourboard.com/surfer-sup-bag-paddleboard-cover/

I ordered this 8’2” in the 28” width for my board (7’10”x27”) to take to Mexico. Nice quality bag. May be more than you’re looking for since it’s a travel bag, but I like mine quite well.

15

Whitewater and River SUP / Re: 3 days on the San Juan, Tips?

« on: May 01, 2019, 05:16:21 AM »

I did 10 days on the San Juan last year at around the same time. I paddled a canoe because I didn’t want to stand that long. My feet begin to fall asleep seems no matter what I do when paddling for an extended period of time on my stand up. I was surprised at the number of sweepers I encountered, and I chatted with most of them. Lots of cute girls. It was tough duty. Many said they did both a lot of standing as well as sitting/kneeling. I imagine you could also tie off to one of the rafts and ride for periods as well. River trips are about grooving with your pals. You’ll probably also be doing quite a bit of stopping and exploring because there’s so many petroglyph and pictograph panels as well as Indian ruins along that stretch. That will give your feet a break, too. It’s a great trip. The stretch of river below Mexican Hat is amazingly different from the upper and just as beautiful. You’re gonna love it. Pics, please!