Surf Shadowbox

Koa and mahogany planks with redwood and mahogany rails; oak frame, koa nose block, redwood tail block. LED lighting inside as well.

Cribbage Time

Mahogany base, bookmatched and tinted to resemble a flowing wake. Figured Koa for the submarine.

Super Deluxe

Decided to make myself a "transitioning" board. Full-on, ten foot, no compromise noserider with 50-50 rails, wood nose and tail blocks, leash loop, and 260 feet of pinlines. All resin color- no paint here. Resin color stripes on the blank, resin tint on the lam, and resin pinlines on all the borders. Top it all off with a True Ames "Slick" noserider fin and I'm ready for some tip time.

Kailua Longboard

9' 1/2" x 22 1/4", concave nose, vee in the tail, forgiving rails. Resin pinlines and a wood tailblock for a touch of class. A real sweetie.

More Paddles

I've got a batch of boards coming up soon...but for now, some more beautiful wood steering blades. These went out to a couple of Senior NCOs at DISA, great people to work with.

Mahogany/Koa with challenge coin in the handle:

Koa with abalone highlights:

Shadowbox Board

I was asked a while ago to make a retirement shadowbox, a traditional Navy gift that is usually kind of like a picture frame-box which one can display all their goodies from their service.

"I don't really do shadowboxes, but let me see what I can think up".

So...this is a wooden surfboard, made basically the same way I'd make the real thing, but with a box built into it and a nice hinged frame around the box part. Redwood and fir, with mahogany frame around the box part.

Figured wood

Sometimes the wood is just naturally perfect...I did nothing to this piece other than coat it in the epoxy resin, and the grain of the wood just popped.

The Beauty of Koa

I had the honor of making a paddle as a retirement gift for a good friend who was retiring after 45 years in Government service, including a career as an Army aviator as well as a civil servant. This guy is the last guy you'd ever figure was a no-sh!t steely eyed helo driver from 'Nam, but he was. I call myself a helo pilot because I have a few thousand hours and have done some stuff. THIS GUY is a real helo pilot. Anyhow...

I got some decent Koa and went to town on a Foti-style steering blade. I've cracked the code on getting a nice gloss on epoxy (it's no secret...let it cure and sand progressively up to 2500 grit, then rubbing compound, then polishing glaze).

Palaoa #3: North Cackalackee

6'0 x 22 with lots of width in the tail and nose. This one falls right in between the 6'6" and the 5'10"  models I made two years ago, which have been just great, fun boards that catch everything and max the fun factor from knee high up to overhead. The only real change on this one is the addition of a 5th fin box, as there are times when I like thrusters better than quads (as well as being able to add the mini 5th fin for a "knubster" setup). Also added a bit more rocker to both the tail and the nose, as the original ones were pretty flat and really had to be pushed to get them to carve tight turns. It's still a "flat" board when compared with the typical shortboard, and by design it will be easy to catch waves and fast - the formula for fun, for most of us regular surfers. Standard EPS/epoxy glass job with a deck patch; graphics designed by the customer (call sign Stapler) from North Cackalackee.