SUP on the cheap

[nevOZ]

Hi guys, love the forum

As  not many SUB's have hit the shops yet in OZ I have been mucking around on an original windsurfer and a home made paddle and having a lot of fun learning the basics. The original windsurfer brand board is about 11 feet,27" & I have found it plenty stable for my 85kg. I epoxyed in a 9" cutaway sailboard fin which seems to suit the board, rather then the skinny plastic flexy black ones that came standard with this board. I built the paddle from wood, following instructions that a guy has posted on the swaylocks board building forum. He did a great job with his instructions & its not hard with a few basic tools. As the board was free (it was my first ever windsurfer that had been under my Dads house since the late 80,s) and the material cost for the paddle would not have been more then $25 I think this is a great way to get into the sport and have some fun. By learning this way I hope to bypass buying the huge learning board (like the Laird), and get into something a bit more advanced once more boards hit the market for the Australian summer.

Anyway have fun
NEV

[Rand]

Nev,

Stoked to have you!

Empty stretches of OZ coastline sounds pretty great.  When should we be there? 

Where are you located?

I had one of those WS originals as well.  Cool thing is if you leave it in the sun for a while with a dark towel on it, you can flex it and modify the rocker.  Nice way to see what you want for shape in your next board.

When you get a chance, send some picks of local breaks and make us jealous.

Best,
Randy

[RUSS-D]

I ride an old 11'6" x 26" wide windsurf board right now. I am waiting on my SUB, should have it Saturday morning. I am going to pick it up, and run across the street from the Shop and ride it LOL. Should be a little 2-3 foot swell running on Saturday. Glad to see this Sport taking off in such a possitive way.

[Chan]

Congrats on your new board.  Post some pic's so that we may oggle her when you get her.

[toejammer2]

Hey SUP on the cheap!
I also started on an old plastic euro 11' sailboard I learned how to windsurf on (glad I didn't throw it away!) The moment I hopped on it though I got "vertigo" trying to balance the board and paddling with only 27" of width ( too tippy). Later, a sailboard maker I know said I shoud just get a handsaw and go right down the stringer and cut the board in two followed by widening it out to at least 29" with Dow Corning closed cell "pink foam" insulation (he makes awesome sailboards out of it) strenthend with wood dowels and "gorilla glue". He mentioned that I should I shoud put tons of holes in the foam with a nail due the "closed cell"  nature of the pink foam so that the gorilla glue would expand into the holes in the foam and form a better bond. Anyway-wow!!!! It was like magic when I put my former trash board in the water (complete with my homemade plywood fin) I use it from Nov -March when I finally got my Sean Ordenez 11' 11" which I love.  I also still  have the pink foam 12'x 30" blank I  glued together myslef waiting  in my barn until the day I could shape my own SUP- when my 3 yr old daughter stops asking me to take her to the beach-NEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[nevOZ]

Toejammer
That sound like a great idea wih the pink foam down the centre. I have built kiteboards over the years with it and it's good stuff to work with. I don't think I could bring myself to cutting the old girl down the guts though, as getting her out  and having so much fun has rekindled my love of the old wally. When you get it going on a nice fat 3 foot wave, standing on the tail to try and bring the nose around for a bottom turn with water gushing up through the centreboard slot, there is just no way you can wipe the silly grim of your face. Its just so much fun.

I agree at the standard width they can seem unstable. The biggest thing for me in rough water is to remember to keep a nice stroke going with the paddle. I find if the board is moving forward at a fair speed it is stable enough and I spend much less time in the drink.

Am looking forward to getting a real SUB at some sage soon (roll on tax check) but for now the old wally is giving me a good SUP fix. I was thinking about a school boys windsurfer event I was at about 20 years ago. On one day there was no wind. To burn up some of our energy the organisers sent us out for a race around the cans on our windsurfer boards with our masts for paddles. There were lots of different paddling styles on display, but I remember the winner was standing  SUP style stroking along with his mast.

anyway have fun

nev

[xtricity]

I was out at a local lake and stumbled across a really cheap sale on Windsurfer OneDesign.  I decided to pick it up on a whim.  It is 12' by 26".  I've taken out the center daggerboard.  The black rubber sleeves are still on the slot.  I can't figure out how to take the aluminum mast bracket off the board.  It's flush with the top, so I don't need to take it out.  However, I thought it might save some weight.  I also took off all four foot straps.  Is there anything else I should do to the board to prepare it before I test it out?  Do people put duct tape over that center slot?

I weighed the board at weighs 44 pounds.  wow.  I'm 6' tall and can carry it okay, but it is a little heavy.  Is the Dow pink foam you're talking about EPS foam sheet?  I went to Home Depot and saw that they had InsulFoam R-Tech 2" 4'x8' sheets, 1#.  This is an EPS foam sheet used for roofing insulation.  From reading the swaylock forums, it appears that people have used it as surfboard blanks.  I may look into this more as a second stage.

For my paddle, I went down to Big 5 and bought a $15 wooden canoe paddle that was 4' long.  I then went to a hardware store and bought a shovel handle.  I sawed the paddle in half, cut the shovel handle to length and attached it with stainless steel hardware down the center of the dowels.  I then used spare fiberglass cloth and polyester resin to strengthen the joints.  I decided on this method because I already had the fiberglass supplies at hand from fixing delam problems on my normal surfboard.  So far, it is serving me well.  I think this may have been less work than building a paddle from scratch.  It's also fairly easy to do if you don't have a table saw.  I only had a manual short-cut saw in my garage.   I've set the balance point of the paddle roughly in the center.  I think this is different from a real standup paddle.  When I rest the paddle in my hands on flatwater, it balances nicely.  I figure that the paddle shaft will snap eventually.  When it does, I have some additional ideas using fiberglass to cover more of the shaft.  The paddle is definitely heavier than a normal paddle.  I'm not sure how much this matters.  I figure that I'm getting tired from paddling anyway.

Any advice on phase I of getting my One Design windsurfer in the water as a SUP board?  To duct tape or not to duct tape?

[Dwight (DW)]

I was out at a local lake and stumbled across a really cheap sale on Windsurfer OneDesign.  I decided to pick it up on a whim.  It is 12' by 26".  I've taken out the center daggerboard.  The black rubber sleeves are still on the slot.  I can't figure out how to take the aluminum mast bracket off the board.  It's flush with the top, so I don't need to take it out.  However, I thought it might save some weight.  I also took off all four foot straps.  Is there anything else I should do to the board to prepare it before I test it out?  Do people put duct tape over that center slot?

I weighed the board at weighs 44 pounds.  wow.  I'm 6' tall and can carry it okay, but it is a little heavy.  Is the Dow pink foam you're talking about EPS foam sheet?  I went to Home Depot and saw that they had InsulFoam R-Tech 2" 4'x8' sheets, 1#.  This is an EPS foam sheet used for roofing insulation.  From reading the swaylock forums, it appears that people have used it as surfboard blanks.  I may look into this more as a second stage.

For my paddle, I went down to Big 5 and bought a $15 wooden canoe paddle that was 4' long.  I then went to a hardware store and bought a shovel handle.  I sawed the paddle in half, cut the shovel handle to length and attached it with stainless steel hardware down the center of the dowels.  I then used spare fiberglass cloth and polyester resin to strengthen the joints.  I decided on this method because I already had the fiberglass supplies at hand from fixing delam problems on my normal surfboard.  So far, it is serving me well.  I think this may have been less work than building a paddle from scratch.  It's also fairly easy to do if you don't have a table saw.  I only had a manual short-cut saw in my garage.   I've set the balance point of the paddle roughly in the center.  I think this is different from a real standup paddle.  When I rest the paddle in my hands on flatwater, it balances nicely.  I figure that the paddle shaft will snap eventually.  When it does, I have some additional ideas using fiberglass to cover more of the shaft.  The paddle is definitely heavier than a normal paddle.  I'm not sure how much this matters.  I figure that I'm getting tired from paddling anyway.

Any advice on phase I of getting my One Design windsurfer in the water as a SUP board?  To duct tape or not to duct tape?

I would try to keep the slot covered on the bottom. I recall water spraying up thru the daggerboard slot, back in the day. The mast foot was a plastic wedge shaped part that was just pressed into the deck. People use to hot glue it into the deck because it popped out while sailing. You should be able to pull the mast foot assembly out of the board. Unless the previous owner made some weird modifications to it.

[xtricity]

DW, thanks for tip.  I was able to take out the aluminum mast support bracket.  I put EPS foam in the daggerboard area as well as the mast support brace.  Then, I applied white duct tape.  The EPS is probably soaking up water, but I wanted to test it out with something cheap.  The board is working out okay.  It seems a little tippy, side to side.  I may eventually cut the board down the center and widen it.  Then, assuming the epoxy, foam, and glass weigh  6 pounds, I would be stuck lugging a 50 pound monster around.  Though, I should be able to take two or three pounds off by taking off the plastic from the centerboard area.  It might be an interesting experiment. 

Another interesting thing I found out when walking up and down the 12' monster, I keep tripping over the leash when I cross-step.  I didn't really cross-step before because my boards were shorter and lighter.  I always shuffle if I needed to adjust my weight.  I am not much of a noserider.  However, since I'm now six feet from the rear of the board in a parallel stance, I've got to take a few steps to get to the rear of the board to turn it.  There's also a lot more heavy board out front to move.   

About the board, if I cut it down lengthwise,  I'm wondering if 2 layers of 6oz E-glass on top and bottom, primarily over the new foam, would be enough to hold the right and left sides together.  Right now, I'm not thinking about putting reinforcing dowels or any type of stringer for strength.  I'll probably use Titebond II and pipe clamps to glue a 4" section down the center, then glass it over with the E-glass.   I may ask this question the Swaylocks forum.  I'll probably use the board with the duct tape for another 3 months or so.

[Dwight (DW)]

DW, thanks for tip.  I was able to take out the aluminum mast support bracket.  I put EPS foam in the daggerboard area as well as the mast support brace.  Then, I applied white duct tape.  The EPS is probably soaking up water, but I wanted to test it out with something cheap.  The board is working out okay.  It seems a little tippy, side to side.  I may eventually cut the board down the center and widen it.  Then, assuming the epoxy, foam, and glass weigh  6 pounds, I would be stuck lugging a 50 pound monster around.  Though, I should be able to take two or three pounds off by taking off the plastic from the centerboard area.  It might be an interesting experiment. 

Another interesting thing I found out when walking up and down the 12' monster, I keep tripping over the leash when I cross-step.  I didn't really cross-step before because my boards were shorter and lighter.  I always shuffle if I needed to adjust my weight.  I am not much of a noserider.  However, since I'm now six feet from the rear of the board in a parallel stance, I've got to take a few steps to get to the rear of the board to turn it.  There's also a lot more heavy board out front to move.   

About the board, if I cut it down lengthwise,  I'm wondering if 2 layers of 6oz E-glass on top and bottom, primarily over the new foam, would be enough to hold the right and left sides together.  Right now, I'm not thinking about putting reinforcing dowels or any type of stringer for strength.  I'll probably use Titebond II and pipe clamps to glue a 4" section down the center, then glass it over with the E-glass.   I may ask this question the Swaylocks forum.  I'll probably use the board with the duct tape for another 3 months or so.

I don't think you can cut that board and epoxy it back. The skin is roto molded polyethylene. The core is poured polyurethane. Those board were prone to blowing up in heat. Resin might not stick to that skin.

Any other old windsurfers you probably could cut. They were ASA skin, glass, and EPS cores. But not the one design by Windsurfer.

[snappy]

Hi NevOZ I was wondering where abouts on the east coast you are.My mate and I have had our JL11s for a couple of months now and were having a blast here in the Newcastle and Central Coast area.I find it helps my longboard surfing as well.
Cheers

[xtricity]

DW, thanks for the tip.  you saved me a bunch of time.  it would be a bummer if the epoxy didn't stick and from a quick search on the Internet, it doesn't seem like anything will stick to polyethylene.

[nevOZ]

G'Day Snappy

I am on the Nth coast of NSW and I see a few SUPs around, often people on holidays. The amount of potental great spots along the entire coast makes the mind spin. I know your part of the world well and recon some of those spots around swansea heads/caves would be perfect for SUP.

I believe SUP is great for you balance when you hop back on a normal surfboard, but it can make you a bit heavy footed for the first wave or so. It's great that it can make a traditional 9 footer feel light and snappy though. 

I think SUP will gain in popularity in OZ but they are still quite pricey, I think this will change as the big "pop out" board makers get onto it. I can see dramas with SUPs in the built up metro breaks but once you get out of the city their should be no hassles if a bit of common sense is used. The big appeal for me is the out of the way reef setups and river mouths that we have.

anyway have fun
nev

[Big Island Mike]

Snappy,  I'd like to see a photo of you and your mate charging Box Beach (Shoal Bay), or Zenith

Used to surf there with Tezza McKenna in the 80's. I had a hard time there even on my short board. I hear now it's a sponge spot.

Aloha from Hawaii

[supguam]

my board is a formula wide stye windsurf board from fanatic its called the shark.i have gotten used to it now the i can almost ride like the guy on you tube  on the 7ft kids windsurfer.