duke kahanamuku remembered

[shapeshifter]

That is a shame; I hope the beaches are useable in the near future.  Are you offering any paddle shaping courses this semester? 

yeah, we'll have to see if the wind from the west will blow the crud off the shores.

the current classes were proposed months ago and way before i was interested in paddling. honestly, i really don't foresee paddle making as a popular curriculum in the chicago at this time or until there is more of a demand for stand up paddle boarding equipment or similar forms of activities. that being said... you know that i'm working on developing the process using the roarockit vacuum lamination system. education should be the cornerstone for sharing the art of the paddle across this globe of ours.

not sure if you are aware but the roarockit story had its humble beginnings less than a decade ago in hawaii. ted and norah hunter , avid wind surfers themselves, developed this accessible teaching program on maui to bring life to a hui wood shop that had gone into disuse. it was during our meeting out there last may that i was introduced to the recently revived activity of stand up paddle surfing. funny thing is that ted, norah and i discussed the pros and cons of their process and how it applies to paddle making over the phone a couple nights ago. imagine it...  wouldn't it be wonderful to be able to assist with bringing this experience full circle and return something back to the people of the islands which the duke would be proud of?

[stoneaxe]

How are you planning on using the roarockit? To shape blades?

Also...just curious...how'd you get Bill's number?

[shapeshifter]

figured on customizing a bag or have them send out a real long one out to cover the whole paddle. another option is to do a partial envelope, covering the blade up to the neck, but then would have to keep a mech pump on it because there's no way to seal up against the open grain of an unfinished project.

getting informaton is pretty easy actually, if all you had to do was ask. not to worry though, nothing you said (nor anybody else from here) gave him away. if you're ever in chicago... never mind i'll find you.

[stoneaxe]

I noticed they do custom bags. I don't know that you need it though. If you build the shaft seperately it's easy to do with forms. the roarockit would be great for blades though. You could do compound curves easily.

Hehe...Bill mentioned you called the four seasons. I guess all the pieces were there...Just in disparate places.

[shapeshifter]

heheheh... glad you figured it out, gotta love a puzzle.

the paddle is coming together quite nicely i think...
...too bad it's just all my head.

[stoneaxe]

You have to build it there before you can build it for real.

[Chan]

Roarockit is just down the road, funny that I should first hear about them from someone thousands of miles away— small world.  I am sure the interest in skate board design/construction generates much greater interest than paddles would amongst urban youth.  In Hawaii, the high school students compete in a milk carton canoe regatta.  They build the boats out of empty milk cartons, and then race them against teams from other districts.  It is quite popular, but not likely to catch on in the greater Chicago land area…unless…. 

[shapeshifter]

well actually, the hui was where the original idea was developed. for several years the community center flourished with ted and norah providing some guidance. through the passage of time the place has changed. the wood shop had since been converted to a print shop and the craft is no longer practiced there at this time.

that's okay though... there are currently classes being held in san diego, chicago, and toronto now. potential teachers have reached out to explore the possibility of bringing the classes to their own communities. it takes a lot of work bringing the physics and math of manufacturing into the minds of our apprentices. one day it would be nice to have another opportunity to do this on the islands again.

[Scott Bass]

Here's a little video I created at the Duke Fest

http://surfermag.com/av/flash/duke-kahanamoku-aloha/

[Chan]

Hi Scott,

This video made my day, a big mahalo for the link.  I checked out some of your photography at surfermag.com— wow, what a remarkable body of work!
Aloha,
Chan

[Scott Bass]

Thanks Chan.

My photos are okay.

I'm sort of a hack compared to the real experts: Divine, Brewer, Servias et al.

Glad the video stoked you!

SB

[shapeshifter]

love...
in...
it.