Standup Zone Forum
Stand Up Paddle => Gear Talk => SUP Gear Reviews / Newly Acquired / On Order => Topic started by: Night Wing on June 13, 2019, 04:49:47 AM
-
I finally pulled the trigger on a Guest Board that not only my guests can use for flat water paddling and sup surfing, but I can use as well. I've done a lot of research. The Duke's specs are 10'5" x 32" x 4.5" @ 190 liters with 5 fin (Futures) boxes.
For flat water paddling, my 170 pound friend (A) didn't have too much trouble, balance wise, flat water paddling my One World 11'1" x 30" x 4.5" @ 173 liters sup. However, my 190 pound friend (B) did have trouble, balance wise, on my One World. (A) said he could handle the 30" width, but he admitted my Hammer 8'11' x 31" x 4" @ 140 liters seemed to "feel" wider than 31". (B) also felt my Hammer's 31" width felt much wider than my One World's 30" width.
For sup surfing down on the upper Texas coast (the lower end of Galveston Island), both (A) and (B) had no trouble sup surfing my One World in 3.5" height waves. I will say, it took them both 30 minutes of time to get used to my One World since they weren't used to waves and they fell off the board more than they stayed on the board. But after the first 30 minutes, they were staying on the board and sup surfing.
Yesterday morning (Wednesday), we used a conference phone call so we could talk with one another. Both of my friends told me what they liked and did not like in a sup for flat water paddling and sup surfing. The flat water concerns were basically about the width of a board and both agreed they would prefer a 32" width.
For sup surfing the smallish waves on the upper Texas coast, which are wind driven waves since the bottom contour from the beach out to one half mile is flat like a dinner plate, a sup with at least 10' of lenght, 32" of width and lots of volume between 180-190 liters, would be perfect for them as well as me since I can adapt to 180-190 liters of volume.
I sent my friends some Blue Planet videos which are below so they could actually see and get some info on how Blue Planet's boards are shipped from their manufacturing facility to BP's Hawaii's shop in Honolulu, how BP gets their board ready for air shipment and the toughness and durability of BP's boards.
So we all came to a consensus the Duke, with it's 5 fin boxes could handle any type of waves we would encounter on the upper Texas coast. BTW, have I ever mentioned on this site I'm a big fan of 5 fin boxes? ;) ;D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6qEzGnnJLE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAHDwj9pDAQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqcmKkXXZ-g
I'm a detailed oriented person, so if someone puts something on the internet that is hard to find and I find it, I will save it as a bookmark. With that said, in one of Blue Planet's videos, I found a link to Blue Planets "All Board Inventory" which let me see if the Duke was available in the Bamboo Epoxy build in the Blue color. The link to BP's inventory is below.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16mKsrbMifP3X4mIcInd4LK0knjG5QsS4IWbPZlnD2uU/edit#gid=515514258
There is a 5 hour time difference between Honolulu time and my time here in southeast Texas. Blue Planet's shop hours are 10 am-6 pm. So I had to wait till 3 pm my time to contact BP. I spoke with Robert for a very short time to ask him some specific questions which he answered. Then I was transferred over to Mike who answered some pointed questions in detail.
It just so happens Mike weighs between 145-50 pounds so that was perfect for me at my 146 pounds. I asked him if he had ever ridden the Duke and he said he had. After some discussion with the kind of waves we have on the upper Texas coast, I didn't go with the plastic fins that comes with the Duke. I went with a Gerry Lopez quad system which includes 5 fins.
The Gerry Lopez fins I went with were: 1 single 6" center fin; 2, 6" front fins and 2, 4.5" rear fins. This will allow me to use the single 6" center fin for flat water paddling. For sup surfing; a true thruster setup consisting of 2, 6" front fins with one (1) single 6" center fin and my favorite fin setup which is a quad 4 fin setup to generate speed; 2, 6" front fins with 2, 4.5" rear fins. This setup should be good for me and I hope for both of my friends as well when it comes to sup surfing. The jury will be out for them. I'm also having the dyneema strings attached to the two leash plugs as well as RailSaver Pro attached to both rails.
Air shipment will be Delta Cargo from Honolulu to Intercontinental Airport Houston.
https://www.deltacargo.com/Cargo/
The Duke will be shipped this upcoming Friday (June 14th) and I hope it arrives at the Delta Cargo air shipping terminal next Friday (June 21st). The one good thing about the DC shipping terminal, it is open 24 hours a day and (I think) 7 days a week.
-
congrats Wing! Looking forward to what I know will be a very helpful and detailed ride report!
-
The link below might be helpful for a lurker since the page has a ton of good information on it.
https://www.blueplanetsurf.com/105-x-32-duke-2019.html
-
awesome Wingman!
Robert, I loved the "Board Destroyers" video.... good stuff!
-
Thought I would give a little update.
Tony, at Blue Planet, called me yesterday afternoon (Friday) and asked me a few questions about shipping time and getting my Duke a little earlier than next Friday (June 21st). After a short discussion my sup will leave Honolulu airport (HNL) on June 18th (Tuesday) on a Delta cargo plane which departs at 8:45 PM that evening.
The cargo plane will fly to Salt Lake City (SLC) where it will arrive on June 19th (Wednesday) at 6:49 AM in the morning. There will be a 7 hours, 21 minutes layover at Salt Lake City.
Another Delta cargo plane will leave Salt Lake City on June 19th (Wednesday) at 2:10 PM heading for Intercontinental Airport Houston (IAH) which is the closest big airport to my home. The plane will arrive at Houston on June 19th (Wednesday) at 6:15 PM. The sup will be then offloaded from the plane and sent by truck to the Delta Cargo shipping facility by 6:45 PM.
The earliest I can pickup my sup at Delta Cargo will be June 19th (Wednesday) at 8:15 PM. Since it will be the dark of night by that time, I will call the Delta Cargo shipping facility and inform them I will pick up my sup on June 20th (Thursday) around 10:00 AM due to all the heavy vehicular traffic I'm going to encounter on I-45 (Interstate 45 south bound) since (I think) Houston is the fourth largest city in the United States.
From my home to the Delta Cargo air shipping terminal should take me about one hour drive time taking into account all the heavy vehicular traffic on I-45 south bound at that time of the morning.
-
Tonight (Wednesday, 6/19/19) my board was to arrive by Delta Cargo air cargo at 6:15 pm at the big airport in Houston, Texas (IAH). But alas, it looks like Delta Cargo unexpectedly ran into "Murphy's Law" and things went awry for both Delta passengers and cargo. So my board is stuck in Salt Lake City, Utah until it leaves on Friday afternoon (6/21/19).
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-delta-air-tech/delta-air-facing-technical-issue-with-flight-bookings-check-ins-idUSKCN1TK36C?il=0
Reminds me of an old adaption of a saying which is below:
The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. No matter how carefully a project is planned, something may still go wrong with it. The saying is adapted from a line in “To a Mouse,” by Robert Burns: “The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft a-gley.”
The new plans are, the board "should" arrive at 6:15 pm on Friday, 6/21/19 at IAH airport. If Murphy's Law doesn't interfere again, I plan to pick up my board from Delta Cargo on Saturday morning, 6/22/19 between the hours of 8:00 am-9:30 am.
-
Well, I had typed a long reply and tried to post my pictures but I got some error prompt about "too large for this system" software. Suffice to say, when I first saw my package board, it looked like an angry beaver had gnawed all over it.
Me and my neighbor, who drove with me, got down to Delta Cargo at 8:00 am and we were gone by 8:40 am. With the temperature, humidity and dew point, the heat index at 8:40 am was already at 99 degrees F.
The shipping clerk was not too happy when she saw my signature and what I had written below my signature which was:
POSSIBLE CONCEALED DAMAGE PENDING FULL INSPECTION
But I have to give credit where credit is due. The people at Blue Planet really know how to package a board since mine board was not damaged, but that is hard to believe when you see the pictures. I'll have to post these pictures in a few posts.
-
More pictures.
-
And more pictures.
-
Like an onion. Lots of layers ;D Glad it made it through. I could imagine that thing got tossed, shoved, a wedged along the way. They gave it just enough armor to survive the shipping gantlet..
-
In the last picture above, under all that bubble wrap was a blue colored board bag. Inside the board bag was my board and other accessories and they were all wrapped in lots of layers of bubble wrap.
If the ancient Egyptians could have seen how my board was wrapped and "mummified" in bubble wrap, I think they would have been pleased too for the nice handy work the people at Blue Planet did when they prepared my board for air shipping ;)
I would say it took us a good 10 minutes to finally get to the board. The pavement was really hot too. Even though it was only 8:40 am, the heat index was already at feel like heat index of 99 degrees F and if we had had a thermometer with us and laid it on the pavement, I think the temperature of the pavement was near 108 degrees.
I could feel how hot the concrete pavement heat was through my tennis shoes. The reason we didn't take any more pictures was; we just wanted to get my board on the soft roof rack pads, tie the board down, get back into my truck, turn the truck's air conditioning setting on to the maximum setting and "get the hell out of Dodge" as they say and head back to my home.
We got back to my home at 9:50 am.
-
Okay, now you've got it home, let's see the board. 8)
-
Okay, now you've got it home, let's see the board. 8)
As Kwai Chang Caine's teacher, the blind Master Po from the long ago television series, Kung Fu, would have said to Caine............."Patience Grasshopper, Patience". ;D As the old saying goes, "Good things come to those who wait".
I do have a dilemma though. Today's feel like heat index temperature at my house reached 109 degrees F. After 9:00 am, one needs to be in the house to "survive" the heat.
In order to take pictures, the best times are early in the morning around 7:00 am and/or after 6:30 pm in the evening. But with a new board, those times are really good as well for a flat water paddling session in the largest private lake in our subdivision to try out my new board for tomorrow (Sunday).
With the above said, which choice do you think I will pick? And if you were in my position, what choice would you make? ;)
-
Here are the pictures. But before the pictures, I also bought a set of performance fins from Blue Planet. The Gerry Lopez GL2 SUP 5 Fin Set.
https://westcoastpaddlesports.com/products/gerry-lopez-gl2-sup-5-fin-smoke-black
Now for the pictures. Might have to do this in two (or more) replies.
-
And more pictures. Hard to believe that my board was not damaged at all.
-
Last photo.
-
Looks awesome! #stoked
-
Your new board is beautiful! I’m really glad, and kind of surprised, that it wasn’t damaged, based on the condition of the box. What a great board.
I think Wetstuff has one like it.
-
Really cool graphics, too. Is yours stock? How much was shipping?
-
Really cool graphics, too. Is yours stock? How much was shipping?
Yes, it is "stock", not custom. The shipping was "free". BP paid for the shipping. And there is a board bag that comes with the board and it was "free" too.
I'll be adding four more pictures of the board bag in my next reply to anyone who is following this topic thread.
-
Thought I would add four more pictures of the free board bag that came with my Duke sup. I must say, the board bag is really nice. There are 2 carrying "D" rings with shoulder strap. Reflective material to keep the board inside the bag cool although it wouldn't keep my board cool if it was inside the bag do to the extreme feel like heat index (106 degrees F).
On the front side of the bag, there is a velcro slot in the middle of the board so one can reach in and grab their sup grip handle and carry the board that way if they want. On the back side of the back, there is a single zippered slot for a single fin to stay attached to the board with the board inside the bag. And there is a shoulder strap too.
The board is well made, really looks like a custom board. The deck pad is soft and has an arch bar and a kick pad. Vent plug is inside the BP Sup Grip handle. And there are two vent plugs on the blue colored side for ventilation when the sup is in the bag.
The pictures are large so I'll post two pictures in this message and two more in another message.
-
Two more board bag pictures showing the vents in the bag.
-
Awesome deal for $1400!
-
Awesome deal for $1400!
Below is the invoice for everything I purchased.
Item Price
1) 10'5 x 32 Duke (2019) Bamboo Blue $1349.00
1) Blue Planet SUP Bag 10' - 12'6 ($160 retail value Free with purchase) $ 0.00
1) Futures GL2 SUP 5-Fin Set ($140 retail value) $25 credit for not taking plastic fins $ 103.50
1) Rail Saver Pro - Clear $ 49.95
Shipping:
Shipping provided by Blue Planet Surf. Shipping information will be provided to customer
once board is packed, dropped off, and sent out via cargo carrier.
1) Shipping to IAH $ 0.00
Subtotal $1518.95
Discounts $ -17.00
Total Tax $ 0.00
Total $1501.95
For a production made board, not a custom, there is a "lot of bang for the buck" if you get my drift.
-
Thought I would add something to clarify about the invoice above.
The Gerry Lopez fin set, they normally sell online for around $140. But according to the invoice with the $25 credit, Blue Planet sells them for around ($128.50). So $128.50 minus $25.00 is ($103.50).
-
Cool, Winger. I like a guy like Robert who continuously reinvests in his business. I can easily see evolution in the board bag... Occasionally, nice guys win.
Spirit, My board is the wounded-warrior version of Winger's board. It's a little wider for us that appear to be wandering around shell-shocked. ...' well named the 'Multi-Tasker'.
Jim
-
@ Wetstuff
A lot of companies tell you how good their customer service is and it really isn't good. If you take another look at the invoice, since I didn't want the 5 plastic fins that come with the Duke, I got the discount when I bought the Gerry Lopez fins.
But, when I opened up all the wrapped packages, I got my 5 Gerry Lopez performance fins........and wait for it.........there was another wrapped package with.........wait for it again----------5 plastic fins.
Since I wasn't supposed to have the 5 plastic fins, I called Blue Planet yesterday (Sunday) at 3:00 pm their time. I talked with Lucas and told him about the plastic fins I was "not" supposed to receive. Since I was not supposed to have the plastic fins, I told Lucas I would send the 5 plastic fins back to Blue Planet.
Lucas thanked me for my honesty and told me I am an honest guy and he appreciated my honesty. Lucas then told me to "keep" the 5 plastic fins. And the 5 plastic fins are below in the picture.
-
I just came back from taking my Duke on a flat water paddle on the largest lake in our subdivision. I'll make another topic thread for that probably in the Sessions forum. But I thought I would give another picture for the lurkers on this site. The picture below is "after" my paddle.
-
For the lurkers on here, below is the link to my first flat water paddling lake session.
https://www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php/topic,34964.0.html
-
Hi NightWing,
Thank you for the detailed play by play, I was shocked to see the outer carton destroyed but glad to hear that there was no damage to the board. I'm looking forward to your ride reports.
Aloha, Robert
-
A quick paddle question: do you know of any structural differences between the 2017, 2018, and 2019 Alana paddles? Thanks!
-
@ Robert
You should let your employees see these pictures of how Delta Cargo handled "their end" concerning the transport of my board. Your employees, who worked on packaging my board, deserve high praise since the board only survived with the care and all the packaging on your end. I hope you tell them that and give them a personal "Thank you" from me.
-
Wingy, in some parts of the world you might be expected to hand out cigars!
Congrats and best of luck with the new arrival, your stoke is contageous! :D
-
A quick paddle question: do you know of any structural differences between the 2017, 2018, and 2019 Alana paddles? Thanks!
I only know of the 2017 Alana paddles. I can't speak for any structural changes in the 2018 and 2019 models in comparison to the 2017 models.
I now have two 2017 Alana 75 Vario RDS paddles. I can give you a picture of both of my Alana paddles side by side if you want. Just say the word and I'll get my wife and her iPad to take a picture of them together.
Since I did a flat water lake paddling session with my new Duke early this morning, I can post a picture of both of my Alana paddles in the Sessions forum in a new topic which I just made if you want to see them.
-
A quick paddle question: do you know of any structural differences between the 2017, 2018, and 2019 Alana paddles? Thanks!
I only know of the 2017 Alana paddles. I can't speak for any structural changes in the 2018 and 2019 models in comparison to the 2017 models.
I now have two 2017 Alana 75 Vario RDS paddles. I can give you a picture of both of my Alana paddles side by side if you want. Just say the word and I'll get my wife and her iPad to take a picture of them together.
Since I did a flat water lake paddling session with my new Duke early this morning, I can post a picture of both of my Alana paddles in the Sessions forum in a new topic which I just made if you want to see them.
The 2017’s are on sale for a cheaper price than the 2018’s, so if they work for you, they’re good enough for me. I’m thinking an adjustable (and a smaller blade) is the way to go.
-
Spirit I have some of those paddles from pre ‘17 and they’re great, so no need for concern at all for the ‘17.