Island Dreams Surf Designs

The Boards of 2011

2012-01-25T22:17:00.001-08:00

The Kala II: Electric Bugaloo

2012-01-18T18:21:00.001-08:00

The same shape as this board; I used the template to design the frames for a one-off wood board. I went with a nice bookmatched redwood top and a lauan bottom (ripped and alternated at the stringer and glassed on both faces). All in all I still prefer a properly planked bottom but the lauan is quick and easy to work with, and looks good. I went with a bonzer fin setup with an FCS trailer rather than the regular large single fin – I intend to surf this one as a slippery twin as well as the bonzer setup. The smaller side fins are glassed on and made of meranti marine plywood.
Artwork is a kala I shot a while back (hence the name) and printed up myself. I wanted to see how the heavy rice paper would glass, and it came out nice. The blue highlights cover the deck-rail joint, which due to the heavy dome of the deck came out uneven. The lizard on the bottom was heat-transferred directly on to the wood.
Rails are strip-planked with alternating white fir and mahogany. The leash plug is stacked ply, cut and worked by hand with a stainless bolt as the anchor.
Video of the gyotaku process after the pics.

The Kala

2011-12-11T00:01:00.001-08:00

6’5” single fin round-tail, single concave to double concave/vee, moderate rocker, 2 5/8” thick. Multi-color resin tint with cutlap on deck.

Konahuanui

2011-11-28T20:49:00.001-08:00

Konahuanui is the name of the highest peak on the Koolau range on Oahu. It sits prominently over the Hawaii Loa campus of HPU and looms large above the Pali gap (where the lookout is). The name, according to Tom Stone (professor of Hawaiian studies at Kamehameha) means “his large fruit”…as it is shaped a bit like…well, you get it.
Anyhow, this board is a full-on big wave gun – built for tackling serious North Shore surf. 9’1”x21.5”, vee in the nose and again just forward of the fin to flat out the back. This is based on inputs from a couple of prominent shapers – the vee in the nose helps negotiate chop on those big Sunset faces, and vee-to-flat in the tail provides a good balance of stability and maneuverability. Triple-stringer 2.0 EPS with heavy glass (double 6 oz bottom, triple 6 oz top).

The Gun Show

2011-10-18T21:52:00.001-07:00

Shaping a 9’ full-bore rhino chaser.

Ride Report: Hynd Sight

2011-10-18T21:49:00.001-07:00

Riding finless takes an entirely new mindset to surf. Paddling and catching the wave is pretty much the same…but try and crank a bottom turn off the tail like a “normal” board and you’ll just swap ends. Move your weight forward – engage much more of the rail – and order is restored. It’s much more sensitive to small inputs; and the crutch is to stay very low and use your hands for coarse corrections – but it’s totally manageable. On a wall, once the rail bites it really takes off. On the flats it’s more squirrely. I understand D. Hynd’s 360 moves now – they functionally slow up the board while the wave catches up. Plus they are fun! Easier to paddle and take off than the alaia, with the same speed thrill.

Hynd Sight

2011-09-28T01:14:00.001-07:00

The natural evolution of my finless surfboard obsession was realized recently when I came across some video of Derek Hynd surfing Jeffrey’s Bay on a finless board with deep channels in the tail.

I’ve been a fan of channels for a long time – my go-to board for the North Shore in college was a 6’ 10” thruster with deep channels. It was the fastest board I had ridden and would make sections that otherwise I’d get stuck behind.
Anyhow, Mr. Hynd’s boards are somewhere in between an alaia and a modern fiberglass board, with the funky tail. I’ve had success with my hollow-wood “Nohu” board – I’ve ridden it nearly exclusively since I made it. One of my lessons learned is that the tiny little twin fins on it bite almost as much as full-sized fins. Between the rail, the tail design and those fins, it really held tight. Maybe too tight for what I was looking for.
So I took what I could glean from Hynd’s designs and combined them with my alaia and Nohu knowledge to come up with this “Hyndsight” design. It’s 6’10”x 21 5/8”, about 3” thick but with a good amount of foam removed from the tail concaves and the nose. The top and rails were painted to match my old Sunshine quad from 1984. The bottom…well, I let my creativity get the better of me.

Left: The New model. Right: The inspiration from 1984.

Above: Pay no mind to the man behind the curtain…

Pokeboard

2011-08-03T23:24:00.001-07:00

This is for my youngest daughter, who is a pokemon fanatic. It’s the same “Malasada” template I used on the “demon hands” board, but a little thinner. It makes a great kids board as it is wide and stable, yet it is a full high-performance adult shortboard as well – thus it will grow with the kid.
I think it’s a good move to teach kids on a shortboard as soon as they are comfortable in the water. It builds strong surfing fundamentals – paddling, turning, balancing – where a longboard does not. I can always tell someone who learned to surf on a longboard – their style reflects the easy and forgiving nature of the big stick.

The Malasada

2011-07-13T22:23:00.001-07:00

It’s a “Hawaiian Biscuit”. Short, wide in both tail and nose and shallow rocker. Vee-tail with channels for speed. K3 fins on FCS Fusion inserts. Lightweight. This board will go airborne off the lip.

A Reasonable Facsimile

2011-07-01T14:45:00.001-07:00

One of the joys of doing surboard art is using my technical abilities to bring an artist’s design to life on foam. Noted artist Paul Arnold designed the spectacular graphic design for his Waimano model mini-longboard. For this design – I call this the “Malasada” model (it’s like a CI Biscuit…but Hawaiian) the young man who ordered the board worked up this design with his father:

Armed with my new Iwata airbrush – which, once one gets the paint consistency and air pressure figured out, works like a dream – I came up with this:

The Grey Ghost

2011-06-26T12:42:00.001-07:00

A 7’ funboard (the “Kalaeloa Blaster” template) for my Nephew Al who just graduated from high school (Westford Academy, home of the “Grey Ghosts”). Epoxy/EPS construction with airbrushed skulls and highlights, FCS fusions and lightweight glass with a deck patch.

Paul’s Longboard

2011-06-02T21:46:00.001-07:00

Fresh out of the shop, a sweet 8’ longboard for my high school buddy Paul. He designed the graphics and paint scheme on it, and I designed the template/shape for the board. A classic shape with concave to double concave on the bottom, soft-to-hard rails and a modern 2+1 fin setup. With the pintail and a nice continuous rocker it’ll work in just about anything from ankle slappers to overhead tubes, looking good the whole time.

Nohu

2011-05-27T20:16:00.001-07:00

The nohu, or scorpionfish, is a real ugly fish. Thus I named my newest design after it. It’s a 7’ twin fin fish with minimal rocker and a wiiiiiide tail. I made it for small days when it’s too mushy for an alaia, as an alternative to a longboard. We’ll see how it rides – the fins are real small, so it should slide quite a bit but still bite enough for control.
Here’s the inspiration (not one of my prints):

And my take on it. Meranti marine plywood interior frame, bookmatched redwood top, redwood rails, lauan ply bottom. I actually ripped the ply and alternated the light/dark faces for the bottom, using a layer of fiberglass to bind them into a single sheet prior to gluing to the frame. It’s not the prettiest but it’s easy and inexpensive, and stucturally both light and strong (as it’s glassed on both sides). Fins are my own design; nose/tail blocks are redwood with paulownia on the nose and mahogany on the tail block. :

Laminating/Pinlines and a Completed Board

2011-04-03T21:42:00.001-07:00

For a board like this, laminating is a multi-stage process. I like to do the majority of art and color right on the foam. Once the art is good to go, I do a “skim coat” of thin epoxy resin over the raw foam. This fills in the many small gaps and spaces between the EPS foam beads, and will provide a solid base for the glass coat to lock on to. Once it starts to kick, I’ll lay out any logos or art that I’ve done up on translucent vellum and squegee them flat, ensuring all the air bubbles are out from underneath. Then the glass goes on – while the thin “skim coat” and wet decals are kicking. A nice tight lamination, pulling out from the center to the rails, usually gives a nice flat surface with the cloth well adhered to the blank.
On this board I’ve done a fabric inlay on the nose. Once the fabric is cut out, I pour on the resin, spread it around, give it a minute or two to soak, and squegee it flat. The edges will get covered with pinlines after the lamination.

If I’m doing pinlines, I’ll wait a day or so for the first lamination to cure. I clean the board with denatured alcohol and a tack cloth, and then lightly sand down the area where the pinline will go. Then I mask it off and lay the line using an art brush and good-quality opaque acrylic. I’ll do a thin, quick coat which will seal the edge between the board and the tape, then lay it on thicker. Once complete I pull the tapes, clean up any goofs, and it’s off to the next lam.

Between lams is also a good time to look at the board up close and far away, and see if any changes to the art need to be done. This is the last chance I’ll have to put something under glass (and thus make it a permanent part of the board).

Overall I’m fairly pleased with the end result. There are numerous imperfections that are clear to me, as I’ve hand-crafted every square inch of it from blank to polish. Everyone who’s seen it so far has been impressed; hopefully the customer will be also.

Color

2011-03-15T21:45:00.001-07:00

I like to make boards with a good bit of color. Not a big fan of clear/white boards. Anyhow, Paki’s 9’0 is coming along, almost ready for glass.

9’ 0” x 22” HP Longboard

2011-02-16T22:02:00.001-08:00

Time lapse video of Paki’s 9’0 getting shaped. Thin, fast pintail longboard shape.

Promo Video

2011-01-22T11:31:00.000-08:00

Check it out:

Insanity

2011-01-13T13:09:00.000-08:00

From the Honolulu Star Advertiser article today:
--------------------------------------------------

Thieves recently stole thousands of dollars worth of tools and equipment that are used to teach Hawaii children the art of building koa canoes and making their own canoe paddles at Heeia State Park.
"I hope that whoever took it feels real bad," said Alana Burrows, a board member and founder of the nonprofit Puakea Foundation of Hawaii Inc., which works to preserve Pacific Island canoe culture.
The group was formed around the ongoing work of "Uncle Bobby" Puakea, the former head coach of the Lanikai Canoe Club who was given a proclamation in 2003 by the City Council for his commitment to preserving the art and traditions of Hawaiian canoe building.
A donation of a Matson shipping container to the foundation two months ago to store dozens of power tools and hand tools meant that the 70-year-old Puakea no longer had to haul equipment in his van to and from Heeia State Park five days a week.
"He was so excited to be able to leave his things there instead of taking hours loading and unloading every day," Burrows said.
But on Jan. 3, Puakea discovered the lock missing to the 20-foot container, and the door ajar.
"First I noticed the generator missing," Puakea said. "Then I saw I was missing carving tools, grinders, power saws."
Burrows believes the theft was the work of more than one person, given the size of the equipment and the number of items stolen.
Many of the tools are used by children to learn how to make paddles and carve koa canoes under Puakea's guidance, she said.
"There were generators and large electric planers, grinders, routers, extension cords, sanders, saws, worm drive saws, circular saws. ... To replace everything will cost $2,000 to $3,000 easily," she said.
Perhaps more important, Burrows said, the theft was a violation that left Puakea "with a broken heart."
"He does all of this out of love," Burrows said. "He teaches the art of koa canoe building because Hawaiians didn't paddle fiberglass canoes. He has so much knowledge to share. And he is the artistic director, founder and reason we work so hard at doing this for free."
The foundation now will have to divert funds intended for children's workshops to start rebuilding its tool inventory, starting with generators, planers and routers.
But to make sure each child gets hands-on experience, the foundation eventually will need lots of sanders, sandpaper, routers, tongue depressors for stirring, marine-grade varnish, circular saws, tape measurers, pry bars, clamps and other equipment, Burrows said.
For more information, contact Burrows at 342-5262 or puakeafdn@yahoo.com
-----------------------------------------
I've attended a few of Mr. Puakea's seminars on traditional canoe making. As well as being one of the few remaining folks with the knowledge of the art of traditional canoe building, he is the embodiment of old-time aloha. I remember once when a particularly self-important guy with a euro accent kept interrupting his talk asking why he didn't do things a different way...I wanted to get in the guy's face and tell him to shut up, but Uncle Bobby smiled and just said something that made the guy feel smart, and moved on.

I can only guess that the folks who ripped him off were druggies. No one who knows what he does for the community, and the importance of his stewardship of the craft, could be so heartless.

If you're on Oahu, and you have some spare tools in your shop, please consider contacting them to see if they can use a donation. I've been looking for a reason to upgrade a few items in the shop and I think this is the sign I was looking for.

The Boards of 2010

2010-12-21T20:08:00.001-08:00

With the completion of the last two projects for the year, the shop has been cleaned and the project slate is clean. Here is a retrospective of the eight boards that were created this year.

Santa’s Workshop–Part 3

2010-12-18T16:37:00.001-08:00

For the final project of the year, I went for a high performance pintail longboard for my surfing buddy. His boards were surfed out – yellowed with age, ding repairs all over and heavy with water. It was time for a new one, but I knew he’d never ask me, so I took the initiative.
He was over this morning to drop something off, and I asked him to help me photograph my latest project. I had him hold it up while I snapped, and he suddenly noticed this:

Nice.

Santa’s Workshop-Part 2

2010-12-18T16:23:00.001-08:00

I made this nice little fun shape for a young lady who lost her dad to cancer – the same time as I was undergoing treatment. It was a hard time for all, but she remains a happy kid and a good friend to my oldest daughter. She was over one day and saw me working on Angelyne’s fish, and asked me: “uncle, can you make me a surfboard?”. It is impossible to say no to that.
If it looks familiar – that’s because it’s the same shape as the family board. It’s an all-around fun board, can be ridden by little kids like a longboard in mushy waves, by bigger kids a bit more aggressively, and really rips for big kids. It will allow her to either enjoy surfing once in a while as a fun thing, going to the beach and riding the foam straight in, or allow for progression towards more proficient surfing.

Santa’s Workshop, Part 1

2010-12-09T16:38:00.001-08:00

First up for the Christmas season is this lovely tanker I built for my big brother Rod. After he and Becky’s wonderful visit to the islands last summer he asked me to build him a suitable board for his home break in the great state of Maine. So we have the “Big Brother” model: 9 feet long, full profile with plenty of thickness. Fabric inlays on both sides; spray fade on the deck with masked rays and pinlines. A real beaut. It’s on a slow boat to South Berwick and should arrive in January.

Big Brother Time-Lapse Shaping

2010-10-16T11:39:00.001-07:00

Big Brother Part 2: Shaping from rotorhead guy on Vimeo.

Winter Board 2010

2010-10-08T11:31:00.001-07:00

Your basic high-performance shortboard. 6’6” x19”, 2 3/4” thick. Even with double 4 oz. glass bottom and double 4 top with a 6 oz deck patch, it’s still real light.

Uhu

2010-10-01T10:35:00.001-07:00

The latest out of the shop is this unique alaia. Based on the success of the omilu model, I made some changes that I hoped would be beneficial. First, more wood. The omilu was a bit to thin and too light, making it flex more than I would like. Additionally I don’t feel like it would hold up to overhead waves. Also, maintaining more width throughout would help in catching waves and planing. The omilu tended to downshift once off the face. While fairly easy to maneuver, I felt it was too loose – particularly when in the flats, where it was a chore to keep it from spinning out.

So, I developed the uhu. Very little wood was removed from the blank – just enough to give it a nice outline.Unlike the narow waist of the omilu I went with a “stinger” tail, keeping the board wide up until the last 20 inches or so where the tail steps in. For control I went with a Catch Surf setup – rounded 70/30 rails up front and hard, inward-canted rails in the tail (Catch Surf hand-makes finless soft surfboards which are really taking off). The bottom is the standard single concave, with the addition of a couple of channels in the tail to help keep it straight.

So how does it work? I took it out on a nice chest-high day at an empty reef break out by the Coast Guard air station at Barbers. It was perfect alaia surf – long, gentle lines with reforms and multiple sections. The board performed beyond expectations. It was markedly easier to catch waves than the omilu, allowing me to get in earlier and really set up my rides. It tracked straight – almost too straight, and I really had to use a shortboard-like technique to turn it, unlike the omilu which really needs a light touch. The only negative was that it really wasn’t any easier to paddle than the others (alaias are a MAJOR arm workout). The extra wood didn’t make a difference – it was essentially neutrally buoyant weight. The positive side of that is that you can duck-dive the thing about 6 feet no problem, and actually “swim” underwater with it.

As for the graphics…after cutting the outline, it just looked like an uhu (parrotfish). I bagged my first uhu a few weeks ago (granted a red-phase, not a bicolor) and that sealed the deal. I just wanted something interesting on the back so I made some camo stencils and went with an aquaflage scheme. The logo is again just a reflection on my current obsession of spearfishing. I couldn’t bring myself to put a camera mount on the nose – it would just ruin the art.

I’m really excited about riding this board this winter. This will be my “co-number one” along with a “normal” shortboard I’m making for more critical surf.

Manini – Done.

2010-09-24T10:41:00.001-07:00

The newest model is a twin-fin fish that I’ve called the Manini (the Hawaiian name for the convict tang, one of themost common reef fish). This one has a nice wide bat-tail and low-to-medium rocker to keep it going in smallish surf. This one is a kids board which will allow my 10-year old to progress from mini-longboards and funshapes up to proper short boards. It’s still got plenty of volume and length for her. At 6’ it may seem small but fish are generally ridden 6”-12” shorter than ones “regular” board due to their design. Take a mini-mal, cut 6’ out of the center and there’s your fish.

Manini

2010-09-15T14:05:00.001-07:00

The little fish progresses. Almost ready for glass.

“Little Brother” is also shaping up, ready for art. 6’ 4” squash:

Brothers Board pt. 1

2010-09-06T00:39:00.001-07:00

Rod's board pt. 1 from rotorhead guy on Vimeo.

Brothers

2010-09-04T17:49:00.001-07:00

That’s what I’m calling these two boards.

“Big Brother” is a 9’0 longboard, full and thick, for my oldest brother.

“Little Brother” is a high-performance 6’5” shortboard which will be my winter board.

Since they both are new shapes I’m starting by cutting the templates out of 1/8” ply:

Finished

2010-08-02T11:45:00.001-07:00

Came out nice, with the exception of a few air bubbles under the glass on the deck. Otherwise it's good to go. The wahine who received it was stoked!

Grad Present

2010-07-18T00:58:00.001-07:00

This board is a "customer board" for a recent H.S. grad. It's going to be crazy. 8'6", single-to-double concave/slight vee, and a color job that is turning out insane.

Time Lapse Shaping: Fish

2010-07-13T23:21:00.001-07:00

Here's a fish I did recently from a 6'2" EPS shortboard/fish blank. Making a board from a foam blank is like sculpting, where making a wood board is more of an exercise in engineering. The wood boards are more satisfying...but a hundred times more time consuming.

This fish is essentially ready for glass after less than 2 hours work shaping (I'm going to put color, fin plugs and a leash plug in).

Time Lapse Fish from rotorhead guy on Vimeo.

The Biofoam Board Chronicles: Art

2010-06-04T00:24:00.000-07:00

Art:

Biofoam Chapter 4 from rotorhead guy on Vimeo.

And glass:

Glassing from rotorhead guy on Vimeo.

The Biofoam Board Chronicles: Shaping

2010-05-05T18:28:00.000-07:00

Working it over top and bottom:

Biofoam part 2 from rotorhead guy on Vimeo.

Shaping the rails and finishing:

Biofoam part 3 from rotorhead guy on Vimeo.

Next up - Art!

New Paddle

2010-04-30T18:04:00.000-07:00

In Action:

Early Season South Swell from rotorhead guy on Vimeo.

SUP Paddle

2010-04-25T23:37:00.001-07:00

The bending jig used is actually for an iako (outrigger crossbeam). I’ve modified it for a nice double-bend. Since my last 2-ply paddle failed (see the video here) I used 4 laminations on this one; two lams of douglas fir in the interior and mahogany on the outside. Here is is just out of the jig:

From there, it’s a whole lot of hand-shaping with a small plane and a spokeshave. Here is some sequentials:

The blade is douglas fir with mahogany highlights. I made a temporary jig to glue up the “wings” on to the shaft.

I used the same blade template as the last paddle, as I really liked how it felt both paddling and surfing:

The blade was covered with glass set in epoxy:

From there, once the epoxy was dry, I sanded and filled with urethane, and she’s ready for her premiere.

My First West African Order

2010-04-21T20:16:00.000-07:00

Found this one in the in-box:

From: Charles James
Sent: Wed 4/21/10 8:37 AM

Hello
With regarding you and your company,Am Charles James And I will like to know weather you do carry Planer Board do you have them TX-22 Special Planer Board in stock available for sale,for me to make a purchase of it. If yes i will appreciate alot cool let me know the size and the types as well as the prices arrange you have in your inventory plus sales tax Excluding Shipping & Handling Because it will be Picked Up and Shipped international to West Africa (Accra-Ghana) Do you accept credit card as a method of payment and what term?
Thank You

Wow, I'm fresh out of planer boards, Mr. James (or is it "prince James"?). I promise the next time I work up a batch of "TX-22" boards I'll make one for you. As soon as I get that $8000 bank draft from Ghana.

I may have to design a new shape called the "TX-22" as it is kind of a cool name...

The Biofoam Board Chronicles: Getting Started

2010-04-21T01:19:00.000-07:00

The latest project is a BioFoam blank that I'm shaping with my daughter. Biofoam is "50% organic soy-based plant materials", which means it's a little easier on the environment than regular EPS blanks. It seems to shape well with hand tools; we'll see how it goes when I break out the planer this weekend. I've challenged the girls to come up with an art design for it. It will be glassed with epoxy and will primarily be a fun board for the girls to ride this summer.

The Biofoam Project: Chapter 1 from rotorhead guy on Vimeo.

Super Sting Session

2010-01-26T20:59:00.000-08:00

The Super Sting is designed after a mid-70's stinger, with modern rails, a concave-to-vee bottom and 1+2 fin setup. The result is a board that paddles easily and catches waves like a dream. The main fin is set forward making the board "pivoty" while still holding a good line when one's stance is mid-board. She's got a redwood bottom with mahogany details between the planks, and a bookmatched redwood deck with mahogany strip rails. The art on the bottom is based on an old French woodcut, and the deck has my "modified" Loiselle coat-of-arms (the three crosses on the shield are traditional, the mermaid, seahorse and shark are my own additions).

This video was shot with the new GoPro HD hero camera, which gets my highest recommendation.

What a beautiful spot. Life is beautiful.

Wood Longboard Sessions

2010-01-10T15:35:00.000-08:00

The first wood board I made, using a Grain Surfboards interior frame. Heavier than necesary - I used thicker wood and two layers of glass on the deck - and it still rides like a dream.

Dawn Patrol 9 Jan from rotorhead guy on Vimeo.

Surf for the New Year from rotorhead guy on Vimeo.

Farewell Paddle

2009-12-16T23:48:00.001-08:00

First coat of epoxy:

A few more coats:

Gallery

2009-11-14T07:28:00.000-08:00

For Mighty Mo:

Hand Planes

2009-10-21T14:40:00.000-07:00

Another example of scrap use. These were scraps from the Omilu alaia (the pieces cut out of the sides), glued together with a nice redwood stringer:

For the finish I experiemented with some clear wood dyes - very simple and easy to use water-based formulas shot with a small spraygun in many thin coats. I'm pretty happy with how they came out.

Haven't tried them in anything big yet, but the seem to work well - particularly using one hand to paddle into the wave.

Kid's Boards

2009-10-10T16:41:00.000-07:00

I build them just like my adult boards - hollow with an internal frame and solid wood planked decks - but with a 1/8" ply bottom, which I then paint white and let the kids decorate it (okay, I help with the paint job a little...).

Angelyne's swizzle stick:

Catherine's 60% 9'4". This one's a beauty - concave-to-vee bottom, nice rails, FCS fins...

Alaia Clock

2009-09-13T20:37:00.000-07:00

Here's somehting different for retirement, change-of-command or promotion gifts. It's a clock/weather station made just like a full-sized alaia.

It's made of mahogany, fir and a redwood stringer - all scraps I had in the bin from previous projects. Here they are glued and clamped.

Once set, I cut the outline, did a bit of shaping on the rails, and cut the holes for the inserts (from the top down: tide clock, regular clock, thermometer, humidity meter, barometer). The clocks can be rotated so the board can be mounted at any angle, vertical or horizontal.

Although it's in an alaia shape, it can be done in just about any shape, out of a variety of wood, natural or dyed/stained in any shade. Definetely a nice, nautical/surf-themed gift idea.

Stand-Up Paddles

2009-08-17T21:07:00.000-07:00

These can be made with a variety of woods. Fir, pine, maple and mahogany are all available and specialty woods can be ordered as well.

Shafts are available in any length and can be straight, bent or double-bend. The bent and double bend shafts are two or three layers of wood, and I can set the jig for most reasonable bends.

They are heavier than commercial aluminum or carbon fiber paddles. They do have a much more natural flex to them, and in my opinion feel better in the hand.

Like everything I make, each one is unique and made one at a time.

Here's a clip of this morning's SUP session with one of my paddles and a Naish 11'4. The thingy on the paddle where the shaft meets the blade is my gopro camera mount.

An Alaia in Three Minutes

2009-08-09T03:08:00.001-07:00

Actually it took a bit longer - about two hours or so, on two days. I got a few nice paulownia blanks from the Wegeners in California, and this is the first board from them. Paulownia is light- about half the weight of pine, with equivalent strength. It also works very nicely, with a decent grain structure that lends itself to the hand plane nicely, with the exception of some wandering grain.

It will be interesting to see how it holds up in the juice - it is much more flexible than my pine alaias, and I'm a bit worried about lengthwise splitting - but since it's wood, I can always re-join it and reinforce with stringers or glass if needed.

For the finish I used a simple water-based dye solution, which the wood took up nicely. It's easy to work with, has no harmful fumes or solids, with virtually no clean up. I wanted to try something colorful and I think this "omilu" design worked well.

Here's the bottom, with green dye rails, a bit of red dye down the center, and very subtly masked leaves with blue dye underneath it all:

Here's the top, blue down the center, green rails and the omilu below the logo:

The art:

And the original:

Rails

2009-08-05T22:08:00.000-07:00

I use the strip-planking method for my rails. It creates a strong, lightweight rail that has a nice look to it. The disadvantage is that the rail shape must be designed into the transverse frames, and thus the rail shape is essentially engineered vice shaped. I use a chine where the bottom skin meets the frame, so I can do a little more shaping right at the bottom of the rail.

Here's an example of how it looks during the build. In the past I've used epoxy or Titebond-3, and both methods are time consuming. It takes a minimum of 3-5 hours for each strip to set until it's strong enough to place the next strip. I'm going to try the new Titebond CA next time and rail an entire board in an afternoon.

From Rotorhead's Waterblog

Here, on a kid's board with a plain ply bottom, I'm dry-fitting the chine with clothespins. In this case I had to use another chine log - note the gaps between the chine and the frames:

From Rotorhead's Waterblog

On this, a 7'1" stinger, I used the strip-planking from the nose to the sting, then a single piece of fir for the relatively vertical rail aft to the tail:

From Island Dreams Surf Designs pics

For pointy boards, it's critical to get the nose just right (unless a nose block is used, but those just don't look right on pointy boards).

From Rotorhead's Waterblog

Once finished, the last few rails are sanded nearly flush with the deck and then the deck is placed. Once the board is finished and glassed, it really looks nice. Here is another stinger, with mahogany strip rails, a little hardwood piece right at the transition, and a solid cedar rail going back to the tail:

From Rotorhead's Waterblog

There are many lessons learned here:
- The chine log is essential - it sets up the entire outline.
- If the chine extends beyond the frame edge, the rail strips will have a gap between themselves and the frame, which is problematic. Again, a properl fitted chine is the key.
- The rail strips I use are all just square-edged. I sand a bevel into each strip individually prior to glue-up to ensure it fights tight with the adjacent strip. It sounds like a lot of work, but with practice it only takes a few minutes. The last few boards I made had virtually no gaps in them, which simplifies the finishing process.

7'4" Stinger

2009-08-04T21:51:00.000-07:00

The dimensions for this board came from the Clark Foam 7'5"R close-tolerance blank, with my own modifications engineered into the transverse members (narrower tail aft of the sting). Frames are every 8" with an additional frame at the sting point. The deck is bookmatched redwood with a central mahogany strip. The rails are strip-planked mahogany about 3/8" tall and 3/16" wide.

From Island Dreams Surf Designs pics

The bottom is redwood with fir and mahogany strips between the planks. The board was glassed with a layer of 6 oz cloth set in epoxy.

From Rotorhead's Waterblog

From Island Dreams Surf Designs pics

From Rotorhead's Waterblog

Welcome to Island Dreams

2009-08-04T00:45:00.000-07:00

I have been making wooden surfboards for several years now, both solid 'alaia style and modern boards made using an internal skeleton covered in timber. They are both beautiful and functional, and designed to be ridden in Hawaiian juice.

I have also built outrigger sailing canoes out of wood, as well as many specialty gifts for military occasions (Hail and Farewells, Changes of Command, etc.). Take a look around and contact me via my e-mail (on the sidebar) if you are interested.

Aloha,
Charlie