The lowdown on the board: It will be a 7’8″ x 23″ x 3″ twin fin fish. I am contemplating the decking materials, but I am leaning towards redwood with some lighter accents. I have to order the redwood and that will take a week probably so we will see. The board will spend some time in California at some point I believe so redwood will be perfect there.

I drew up the design the other day and I have completed the framework, a.k.a. fishbone. It’s amazing how much material you remove with a forstner bit from the ribs and stringer. It was good to have to sweep up some of my own sawdust and chips for once. It is just fit together awaiting the final approval later today. I had better look into that redwood soon then. Thanks for checking in as usual. I will post pics really soon.

 Paddling out like a champ

Hey kid. Where you get such a good looking board?

Riding his first wave standing tall!

The pictures obviously speak more than words can, but this was my friend’s son’s first time surfing. I made the keiki last April for them and hand delivered it during my visit for the STS-131 launch. It was the first time the keiki saw the water and it worked perfectly. If only we could all gravitate to surfing as quickly as the young ones do. A special thanks to Dennis Hanson for the plans! Hope to share more soon.

I started working on the 6’4″ fish one of my students and I started a few years back. It feels forever ago honestly, but I am glad to see this one finally start to approach a completed board. I wanted to change the design slightly, using walnut for the nose and tail sections. Originally, these had both been made of cedar. I started by cutting the sections out I wished to replace. This was relatively easy for the nose, but the tail was a large chunk and required a lot of sawing by hand. I made some measurements and cut the walnut pieces to fit for nose and tail. Some gorilla glue and lots of clamps and a bit of waiting equals good progress. That is where I left off today.

The plan for tomorrow is to do take the block plane and belt sander to blend the pieces in so I can get the top deck affixed in the days ahead. I will post pics tomorrow of the progress. Thanks for checking in! Mahalo!

Here are a few pics from the beginning of the build:

Tyler (student) drilling out one of the ribs.


Spanish cedar and antique redwood bottom deck awaiting its fishbone.

A WHOLE lot has been going on lately, which has gotten in between surfing and building. It is too much to go into detail here and there is really no need to explain. But, all that being said building boards is therapeutic.

So what am I going to build? I have to finish those two hollow wooden boards. One is a 6’4″ fish, which needs a tailblock, top deck (secured), to be shaped, fins, and glass job. The other is the twin of 5’6″ keiki, which needs rail strips, top deck, to be shaped, fins and glass job. I also have a mind to work on a Simmons Casper and maybe a longboard. So I hope to be putting up progress of all the designing, building, etc.

Thanks for checking in and hope the stoke is contagious.

After a slow-down for a mowing crew and a quick fill-up, I finally pulled onto the beach road. All that said the ride is less than two hours. Everything seems to get so much better and a wave of relaxation and excitement comes over me once I turn onto that road. It is still about a mile to get to the first glimpse of the jeweled surface of the ocean, but just know your that close makes all the difference. A few minutes later I pulled into the driveway and headed in to catch up with the crew. About half an hour later, a few of us were headed to the break to see what rides there were to be had.

Upon first glance, it seemed very small with only a few bumps out there. Nevertheless I had made the drive to SURF and SURF I would. I put on my booties, since the tide was out and the bottom is comprised of barnacle encrusted rocks of varying size. A sure way to tear up your feet. The water was unusually warm, but I wouldn’t complain about this fact. A short paddle out to the spot of choice and we began to wait for something rideable and a hopeful gem or two. We wouldn’t have to wait too long before a rideable set appeared. The story of the day was crumbling 2-3 footers rolling through with an occasional 4 footer. It made for a fun sesh and then it seemed to slow down. I found the waves to be mostly too weak to push me on the fish, but just to have my handiwork keeping my afloat was a pleasure beyond compare. We decided to take a break and relax until the tides switched and more waves would come.

I followed this first sesh up with a second sesh with a larger crew a few hours later. It was the same wave report as before. The lighter and smaller guys seemed to catch everything, but when there are party waves to be had it is all good. It was a lot of fun and it gave me a reason to get started on another board; this time a longboard.

After taking a break for a bit, I decided to take a kayak out and try my hand at some fishing. I paddled solo out onto the salt pond with a quick set of directions and my flyrod. I came upon some activity and cast the fly into the mayhem only to come up empty-handed. I was foiled by some hungry, but smart enough to not get caught fish. The activity ended as quickly as it began and I was only left with a star-filled sky and an empty stomach. I turned the kayak towards the cove where the house is and paddled away. I took some breaks to coast and look heavenward and take in the beautiful stars. It was an amazing sight and I could only imagine what the sky must have looked like to the ancients who didn’t have to contend with all the light pollution. I managed to even catch a few rogue meteors from the Perseid meteor shower. Eventually, I coasted into the dock and unloaded the kayak. I was famished and entered the house to find a plate of delicious food saved for me. Now that was best catch of the day! I ate and tried to get some sleep for one last early morning fishing sesh awaited before the drive home.

I have been distracting myself with helping my students finish their woodworking projects and trying to make an acoustic guitar.  That was until a resin spill occurred and messed up the top.  Now that project has been pushed aside.  The priority for work will become finishing the “twin keiki” and starting a longboard with a ride date goal of mid September.  I hope that will hold.

Here is a pic of the Florida crew this past April when I delivered the keiki and saw the space shuttle launch!

Friday was a busy day as I had a huge task list to get accomplished just to keep pace:

• foil fin
• glass on fin
• make and install leash plug
• hot coat at least one side

I started with the fin.  I needed to only make a few passes with the oscillating spindle sander to tweak the foil of the fin.  I had done most of that Thursday afternoon using a variety of sanders.  The middle strips of wood were much more dense and needed some extra effort to foil properly.  I was ultimately pleased with the shape, foil and degree of flex in the fin.  I had made marks on the board for placement before laminating the bottom so they were preserved under the layers of glass.  I used a quick 1 minute epoxy to adhere the bottom of the fin firmly in place.   While that epoxy cured, I prepared the pieces of s-glass and fin rope for the laminating of the fin.  I used a bit extra glass at the bottom of the fin and hinged it to create a good bond to the bottom deck.

While the fin cured I made my leash plug.  I made one similar just as I did for my first board (7’2″ fish).  You may recognize it from paipogloide.com as that is where I got the original idea.  I made this one using some sapele and maple for materials.  I actually sliced a 1/8″ strip from my piece of sapele and made my own form of plywood the day before.  I am not sure if it give it any extra strength, but I would like to think so.  I worked quickly and had it drilled and epoxied into the board before long.

Then, I sanded the “shinies” and bumps on the top laminating coat and prepared to hot coat the top deck.  I mixed up the resin and worked it around filling the weave of the lam coat.  I used a foam roller to smooth out the coat and let it cure over the weekend.  Here are the pics after finishing that process.  I use a steel bolt to keep the threaded insert for the vent screw clean.  It seems to work well enough, plus if it gets glued in some you can use a ratchet to loosen it.

I like using the blue painter’s tape to make it easier to blend the bottom hot coat into the top.  I don’t want to be sanding big bumps on the bottom of the board.  This is a new step for me.  Running the tape around the edge may take a few minutes, but saves me 20 minutes of sanding I would say.  I will continue to use in future builds.  Monday means hot coating the bottom and the fin!

Today, I blended the tape line for the hot coat from the top so I could hot coat the bottom.  I also had to sand down the high spots where I glassed on the fin.  The excess glass around the fin needed to be trimmed as well.  Next I mixed up some resin and used the trusty foam roller to smooth out the hot coat on the bottom.  I also used a foam brush to put more resin over fin.  Then I allowed it to cure for the rest of the day and night before the final sanding can happen Tuesday and Wednesday if needed.  I also have to spend some time over the next few days figuring out a way to transport it safely.

ANNOUNCEMENT!

If you are heading to New York then you should plan to check out the 3rd annual New York Fish Fry on May 15th or 16th. The date will be determined a few days before the event based on the weather and surf , so stay tuned. This is sure to be a great time if you are in town. Take your quiver or just go and check out everyone elses. It will kick off at 9am Lincoln Blvd, Long Beach, New York.

It is great to see that the Fish Fry can exist anywhere there are some hard core Fish Heads willing to get together for a day of fun.

Working the resin out to the rails in the nose area…

Below: You can see the menacing tape vent cover.  Glad I caught it in time.

I would have taken a photo of the bubble, but decided to jump right on top of the issue instead.  It definitely wasn’t outgassing though.  I have yet to discover that phenomenom.  I think it is air pressure building up inside and escaping more likely.  Well time to let it cure and start working on leash plug and foiling the fin.