Messages

2551

SUP General / Re: SUP death in San Diego bay

« on: July 27, 2016, 08:15:18 PM »

Since the paddler was 23 years old, I'm "guessing" he fell off his sup, hit his head on the board knocking him unconscious and he drowned.

2552

Sessions / Re: Summertime Stoke

« on: July 26, 2016, 04:52:29 PM »

Nice photos. Looks like you're catching some good waves to ride.

Thanks for your report and taking the time to post all of the photos too.

2553

Downwind and Racing / Re: Tahoe Downwinder - Video

« on: July 25, 2016, 07:25:06 PM »

When I watch your videos, the word "serenity" comes to mind. Thanks for sharing your video.

2554

Sneak Peeks, Rumors, and Wish Lists / Re: New boards in action.

« on: July 24, 2016, 07:47:53 PM »

Nice video. Good water conditions for a race.

As always, thanks for sharing your video.

2555

SUP General / Re: I love my board....

« on: July 24, 2016, 07:36:49 PM »

The professional photographer took a nice photo of all the boards in a broadside shot. And your unlimited reminds me of a stilleto. So sleek and narrow.

2556

Gear Talk / Re: SUP Sports "Hammer": 8'11"x31" or 9'5"x31"

« on: July 23, 2016, 10:05:25 PM »

@Zooport

I took my new Hammer for a test ride on my subdivision's lake at 7:30am Saturday morning before the air temperature got extremely hot since where I live in Texas, we're under a very hot dome of air. Today's heat index reached 108 degrees where I live. Our subdivision's lake water is 89 degrees F.

I'll give a test ride report when I get accustomed to my Hammer since it has an entirely different feel on the water than my 12' Hobie. I also had to shorten my paddle length (I use an adjustable length paddle) because my Hobie is 4.75 " thick, but my Hammer is only 4" thick. I plan on doing a flat water freshwater lake report and a saltwater surfing report so there will eventually be two reports. These will be separate reports so don't look for them in this topic thread.

I plan on doing another test ride Sunday morning since I want to do some more experimentation which I didn't get around to doing on Saturday morning.

2557

Gear Talk / Re: SUP Sports "Hammer": 8'11"x31" or 9'5"x31"

« on: July 23, 2016, 03:03:19 PM »

I went down to the closest FedEx shipping terminal this morning and picked up my Hammer sup.
.........
WarDog's crew at his shop really know how to package a paddleboard to ship it anywhere where it will arrive at it's destination damage free. WarDog suggested using FedEx Priority and I'm glad I went with his decision. BTW, my wife went with me and she took one photo at the FedEx shipping terminal and I hope to post it sometime later.

He does pack it pretty bombproof, but it is far more exciting when the semi pulls up next to your house and you gots some splaining to do.

Warren wanted me to pick it up at the FedEx facility and open it there instead of having it delivered to my home. In Warren's mind, the less people who handle the carton, the less likely the carton would encounter any damage. No need to tempt "Murphy's Law". 

When I arrived at the FedEx shipping terminal, one of the employees brought the 85 pound carton out to me on a hand dolly and the carton was strapped to the dolly. He told me they had 5 more sup cartons in the terminal from different manufacturers, but this carton was the thickest of all the cartons and it weighed much more than any of the other 5 cartons. It was basically triple boxed. Although I haven't weighed my Hammer yet (and I will), with pad on it, I'm guessing it comes in around 17 1/2 pounds.

As for that "explaining to do", I'm an adventurous man who loves a little danger every now and then. In other words, I took my wife with me to the FedEx terminal. When my wife finally saw the unmummified Hamme, she told me it looked great. And she, like me, likes the seafoam green color.

2558

Gear Talk / Re: Big Sunova USA Sale going on.

« on: July 23, 2016, 05:35:16 AM »

@supthecreek

Looks like I've ruffled a few feathers or have seen to hit a raw nerve. So be it. And this will be my last post in this thread which means I won't open this topic to look at it anymore.

My custom built Hammer looked just like those Sunova sups being loaded inside the truck with the bent look to it (and I'm quite familiar with "rocker" since I'm a former boat captain). However, my Hammer was placed inside a second all rectangular carton which consisted of heavy cardboard. This carton wasn't bent looking either even though my packaged bent looking Hammer was placed inside of it. Then this rectangular carton was then put inside a second rectangular carton which consisted of heavy duty cardboard. That is basically "triple" boxed". This is why the shipping weight was listed on the bill of laden as "85 pounds".

As for shipping companies and forklifts. Business owners know which companies to avoid if those shipping companies have many complaints for delivering goods damaged at their final destination. I don't know how Sunova deals with shipping companies, but I do know SUP Sports insured my Hammer at their end and I had to do before taking delivery of my Hammer, was to write on the bill of laden, "Possible Concealed Damage Pending Full Inspection" and I went over that one "large" shipping carton "with a fine toothed comb". This way, if there was any damage to my Hammer, SUP Sports and FedEx would tangle with each other and I would be left out of it. As for forklifts, all one has to do with a magic marker is to write on all sides of a large carton in very large words, "No Forklift".

In closing, I never said Sunova builds bad sups. Sunova sups are excellently designed boards and they aren't cheap by any stretch of the imagination. Cost for the different models (Flow, Speed, Soul) seem to start at around $2000. But at that price, in my own personal opinion, they need to be packaged better. This is why I would be very hesitant to purchase a custom built Sunova and have it shipped to me. My custom built Hammer 8'11" (all carbon and 140 liters instead of 148 liters which is standard for a production built Hammer 8'11") cost me $2200.50 and when I'm spending that amount of money, I don't mind paying anything extra for an excellent packaging job if you get my drift. This is why if I would have bought a custom built Sunova, it would have to be packaged the way I want it no matter the cost since I'm going to be paying for it anyway. If a company doesn't want to package it to my specifications, then no sale.

I'm about your age and I've got a nose for details. I think you're 68 years of age and I'm 66 years of age so this should tell you since you've been around the block many times, so have I.

End of discussion.

2559

Gear Talk / Re: Big Sunova USA Sale going on.

« on: July 22, 2016, 09:15:12 PM »

The service from the seller might have been good, but looking at the first "bent" shipping box, I wouldn't buy anything from this seller because of his "cheap" packaging for an item which costs four figures.

   the packaging isn't "his".  it's "sunova's".  that being the case, you shouldn't buy a "sunova," no matter who sells it.

You are correct. I would ask and have no problem paying extra for it no matter the cost, to have custom packaging done to greatly reduce the risk of damage during transport. If Sunova would say; "no" to my request, then my answer to Sunova would be, "no sale" no matter who sells it since Sunova is an expensive sup. That bent shipping carton in that photo, soured me on the Sunova brand due to the shoddy packaging.

Getting slightly off topic, but my custom SUP Sports Hammer 8'11" built to my specifications on length, thickness and liters of volume (and SUP Sports is also the manufacturer of the Hammer model) which I picked up today at my local FedEx shipping terminal was packaged so strongly (double boxed heavy gauge cardboard, extra heavy cardboard to cover nose, tail, rails and bubble wrapped to the hilt), it was the equivalent of breaking into a bank vault with a time lock. Strong packaging like that can take a lot of abuse from any shipping company.

2560

Gear Talk / Re: SUP Sports "Hammer": 8'11"x31" or 9'5"x31"

« on: July 22, 2016, 02:28:05 PM »

I went down to the closest FedEx shipping terminal this morning and picked up my Hammer sup. The carton containing my Hammer weighed 85 pounds. There were no holes in the carton, no tears, no dents and no smushed in edges either. Then I proceeded to open the shipping container at the FedEx terminal.

Inside the heavy cardboard shipping container was another smaller cardboard shipping container. There were no holes in this carton, no tears, no dents and no smushed in edges either in the smaller cardboard carton.

Inside the second cardboard container was my "mummified" Hammer. There was paper and lots of bubble wrap surrounding my Hammer. Once I peeled away the bubble wrap, there was heavy cardboard protecting the nose and tail of my Hammer. There was also cardboard along all the rails protecting the rails from nose to tail. When I finally lifted my Hammer out of it's cocoon, I think the it weighs 16 pounds with pad attached. From start to finish, it took me 7 minutes before the Hammer was free of all cardboard, bubblewrap and paper.

WarDog's crew at his shop really know how to package a paddleboard to ship it anywhere where it will arrive at it's destination damage free. WarDog suggested using FedEx Priority and I'm glad I went with his decision. BTW, my wife went with me and she took one photo at the FedEx shipping terminal and I hope to post it sometime later.

2561

SUP General / Re: How to ship a board

« on: July 22, 2016, 02:04:14 PM »

I picked up my Hammer sup at the closest FedEx facility to my home this morning and there were no holes in the outside shipping carton, no tears, no dents and no smushed edges either. If I ever have to have a large item shipped to me again, I will ask for FexEx Priority shipping and I don't mind paying extra for it either.

2562

SUP General / Re: How to ship a board

« on: July 22, 2016, 07:32:47 AM »

I'm going to pick up my Hammer 8'11" this morning at the FedEx terminal closet to me. I'm interested to see what the carton looks like after being handled by FedEx.

2563

Sunova SUP / Re: Sunova Soul 8'11 newbie review

« on: July 22, 2016, 07:28:39 AM »

Very nice review. Excellent video and good photos.

2564

Gear Talk / Re: Big Sunova USA Sale going on.

« on: July 21, 2016, 04:55:04 PM »

The service from the seller might have been good, but looking at the first "bent" shipping box, I wouldn't buy anything from this seller because of his "cheap" packaging for an item which costs four figures.

2565

SUP General / Re: Noseriding SUP vids: let's see em!

« on: July 21, 2016, 04:15:51 AM »

@Treth

Your link doesn't work. The correct clickable link is below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID4ud0Rc2v4&feature=youtu.be