review of the Ke Nalu (Pono Bill) paddle

[kayadogg]

Anyone have some yellowing appearing on the blade edges?  I have two KeNalu's, a Maliko elite and a Wiki elite (2nd).  Have had both for approximately 2 months and use either or almost daily but the Wiki gets much more use than the Maliko.  Always stored inside, never left in the sun except for the time on the water, even wipe them down with fresh water occasionally to get them clean.   My Maliko blade is devloping a yellow edge.  At first it started on one side close to the top of the blade and then started to spread down the entire side.  Can't feel anything, it seems to be just cosmetic but just wondering if anyone else has seen this? 

[PonoBill]

It's probably a thin spot. The wrap of the blade edges are two layers of fiberglass and two of carbon fiber and the edge is sanded lightly when it's taken out of the mold. What you're seeing is probably the fiberglass-it's easy for the carbon to be sanded to thin on that sharp edge. Keep an eye on it and let me know if it gets any worse or just fill out the warranty form on the website, take a picture and we'll replace it. One of my Malikos shows the same yellow and it's the one I use most--for about a year. Hasn't done anything but it's not supposed to show.

[kayadogg]

That's what I figured.  No effect on anything other than looks, just didn't know if it was common or not.  Guess I can't blame it for my slow race result last weekend after all.

[SUPRon]

I'm having the same problem with my sailboat.  I've got some faintly yellow splotches in some places and am not sure where it came from.  Maybe something is the rain I'm not sure.

I've tried Soft Scrub with bleach which worked the best, then I used Marine On/Off and 3M Fiberglass Restorer with no success.  The next thing I will try is Davis FSR.  We'll see what happens.  But check around and see what sailboat owners use and try that on your paddle if it is concerning.  I juat haven't found anything to get rid of it 100% yet.  Like I said, Soft Scrub with Bleach worked pretty good.  Another owner told me to try the Soft Scrub and put a bunch of lemon juice in it.  Haven't tried that one yet, just because I don't have any lemon juice handy.

This is what I'm going to try next.

http://www.jmsonline.net/fsr-cleaner-stain-remover.htm?gclid=CN6ssbvawbECFSQ0QgodOgwApg

[PonoBill]

This is a different thing. Ke Nalu paddles have a PVC core that is yellow. Carbon fiber covers the core, but on the edges, if the edge was sanded a little too much the fiberglass shows, and the glass is transparent so you can see the PVC. I intentionally abuse the crap out of my paddles, and I can see yellow on one of mine. Hasn't made any difference, they don't pick up water even if the fiberglass is dinged. But it's not how they are supposed to look.

It doesn't require the kind of abuse I dole out to have the PVC show, I've seen one brand new blade that showed yellow. We're working on some minor changes to the blades to deal with this and the dimpling.

I also have a successful shape for the "catch monster" blade, and it might eventually see production, though I think it's going to be a specialized thing. It is a monster. Even prototyped on a wiki blade it feels like the blade is stuck in concrete. But I did manage to eliminate the wobble. Amazing how subtle the changes were to stabilize it. There's still a lot to learn about these paddles.

Also finding some strange relationships between shaft length, flex, and blade size. Time to get the instrumentation out and figure out what's going on. Who would expect that a shorter shaft, small blade and high flex would be a fast combination?

[Strand Leper]

I've got that going on my "go to" paddle.  Just figured the spot where I sometimes rub has rubbed away the CF on the edge.  I think I may have exacerbated the issue on my ill fated downwind run on Candi, when form went out the window and survival pretty much dominated my thoughts... I noticed it shortly after that run...  Still an amazing piece of equipment... I just grabbed some permanent black marker and colored it in... haven't checked back to see if it stayed black.

By the way, I moved all of my paddles (distance, surf, flatwater) down a smidge... I am liking them shorter.

SL

[PonoBill]

Weird about the shortness thing. It's driven somewhat by conditions, but I did a set of sprint tests at Nichols that were clearly in favor of a somewhat shorter shaft. Especially if it's one of the flexier shafts. I'm thinking it's just a matter of the blade being a little more vertical at the catch, and the flex might let more air get off the blade before it starts moving fast. I need to measure the catch to say for sure, but just from feel I think it's stronger right at the onset with a shorter, flexier shaft.

I don't think this a general thing, I tried the shorter flexy shaft with one of my mule blades (competitor's blade with an adaptor so they can fit onto our shafts) and didn't feel the same thing. It also didn't show up on the GPS tests. The competitor blade was at it's fastest with a longer, stiffer shaft. Pretty strange. The difference is not small. Its around 7 percent. Of course that's just subjective, I could be compensating unconsciously, but I did ten runs with each combination, swapping randomly between four sets.

Still learning.

[SUPpaddler]

Interesting, and I hope there's an explanation somewhere in there.  A 7% speed difference is huge, but it's a hard difference to measure accurately over a few runs.  (Kayak racers switched to wing paddles for only about a 5% advantage.)

If you are pushing the boards near hull speed in a sprint test, the smoother application of power from a smaller flexible paddle might keep from wasting energy pushing the board up its bow wave as would happen when the board lurches in response to a bigger paddle.  Other than that, I don't have a clue.

[PonoBill]

I suspect that the difference is nowhere near that big, that's why I figure there's an unconscious bais creeping in. But that's what the numbers currently show. I'll be thrilled if there's a consistent 2% advantage.

[TN_SUP]

Just ordered and received an xtuf Wiki from an online sup store and can't tell the difference between it and my elite blade - do the xtufs have the carbon weave on them?

[jdmotes]

Just ordered and received an xtuf Wiki from an online sup store and can't tell the difference between it and my elite blade - do the xtufs have the carbon weave on them?

 NO! They are definitely different. The xTuff blades are simply black with NO weave pattern. The Elite blades you can actually 'see' the carbon weave...         Paddle on;    JD

[TN_SUP]

Thanks! I wasn't sure, hard to tell from photos. Shipping 2X would eat most of cost difference, it's a used paddle anyway. I'll just tape the blade for xtra durability.

[Caribsurf]

Hey JD good to see you are selling KeNalu, no doubt you will do a great job for them.

Just put together my Maliko Xtuf(S) paddle yesterday and will paddle with it tomorrow.  Looks and feels great, and it was so easy to put together even an idiot like me was able to do it.  Heat gun helped for sure, thanks Ace Hardware

See you at Surf Expo

[jdmotes]

Hey JD good to see you are selling KeNalu, no doubt you will do a great job for them.

Just put together my Maliko Xtuf(S) paddle yesterday and will paddle with it tomorrow.  Looks and feels great, and it was so easy to put together even an idiot like me was able to do it.  Heat gun helped for sure, thanks Ace Hardware

See you at Surf Expo

 Hi Don and thanks for the "Hola"... Having a blast with the Ke Nalu line. Your paddle decision is exactly my 'everyday' surf choice. I even use the same combination in a few races and liked it for that too! Trust me; You are going to love your new paddle... Off to Outdoor Retailer with Exocet but we will be at Surf Expo too. See you there and looking forward to your feedback.     Paddle on;     JD

[crtraveler]

Hey Carib - you're gonna love the paddle, I have the exact same setup for a couple months now....love it!!

Hey JD good to see you are selling KeNalu, no doubt you will do a great job for them.

Just put together my Maliko Xtuf(S) paddle yesterday and will paddle with it tomorrow.  Looks and feels great, and it was so easy to put together even an idiot like me was able to do it.  Heat gun helped for sure, thanks Ace Hardware

See you at Surf Expo