9’ 0” x 22” HP Longboard

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

Promo Video

Check it out:

Insanity

From the Honolulu Star Advertiser article today:
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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
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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

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

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

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

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.