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obsponge
Joined: 30 Jan 2010 Posts:
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Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2010 10:33 pm Post subject: Home Depot Alaia |
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Hi everyone! I'm new to the forum, but have been learning a lot for your posts + Swaylocks. I'm a bodyboarder up in NorCal and I recently got interested in making a alaia paipo. Any other folks up here by San Francisco?
Made mine out of a $25 Home Depot pine shelf with some plans from Grant at SurfingGreen (Australia). Putting the finishing coat of polyurethane on it. I'll throw up some pics soon. Thanks for the inspiration!
Mike |
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OG-AZN
Joined: 27 Jul 2009 Posts: Location: Norcal
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Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 12:47 am Post subject: |
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^^What's up & welcome Mike. Another SF regular here; usually riding a plywood paipo, bodysurfing, or on the boog at OB. "Slackkey" from this forum rides paipos & boogs in SF as well. There's another a guy in the area who's riding a Home Depot pine wood mini alaia too. Said it started as a stand up size board that he eventually shaped down.
I'll probably be lurking around OB sometime during the coming week. Forecast to be offshore winds at least a couple days. |
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mrmike
Joined: 06 Sep 2007 Posts: Location: coronado, ca
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geoffreylevens
Joined: 18 Nov 2009 Posts:
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Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 1:19 pm Post subject: |
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Was driving down the hwy earlier today contemplating...width! I know alaia are traditionally pretty narrow. First thoughts for paipo one would be start w/ tail width a couple inches wider than widest point of hips/thighs (to keep you out of the water and minimize drag) then add a couple inches for wide point. But then I wonder why so narrow? Yes, easier to hold in to wave face and not slide out but then again maybe it is just a matter of riding style? Traditional guitar pick shape has very wide tail and you just shift hips over toward inside rail to get it to hold a line right? With an alaia shape, you would get more planning speed in small, weak waves w/ wider board and could just compensate w/ a bit more "crawling around" on the board while riding? Am I all wet on this? Have not seen anything about anyone experimenting w/ wider except brief mention in reference to stand-up which a much less stable position. Also, mostly the stand-up crowd seems to be very into the la-la slide stuff which I am not... |
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geoffreylevens
Joined: 18 Nov 2009 Posts:
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Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 4:34 pm Post subject: |
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Here is first things I've ever seen on wider alaia. This is a much bigger one than most anyone would use for prone but at least in tiny, micro surf the maker liked it. Photos of board at link.
http://ninelightssurfboards.wordpress.com/2009/12/05/foam-alaia-take-two/
Quote: | This is the latest foam and wood alaia I’ve made. There have been a few changes since the last one I posted. I brought the volume up a bit in the nose and tail for even better paddling and wave catching ability. The nose and tail are a bit wider, so the outline has a bit more curve in it. It seems the more outward curve you have in the tail, the better the board will set and hold in trim and turns. The rail stays stuck in the wave rather than curving away from it and releasing. The deck is bowed with reverse rocker to keep volume in the middle and allow the ends to flex. Also the wood on the deck has been cut in an hourglass shape to keep the panel flat. This avoids any compound curves in the panel that could stiffen the structure. I rode a similar board recently at almost flat, high tide Rincon and had way more fun then I should have had. The board motored along great in the weakest of waves and I didn’t have to worry about nailing a fin on the rocks. Dimensions of this board are 6′8″ x 17″ x 2 1/4″. The widest points at the ends are 18 1/2″ and the rails are pinched to 1/2″ and squared off, with a hard edge almost the entire length of the board. The bottom has a full length single concave and 1/4″ of chine on the rail.The rocker is almost flat. This board is currently available at Wetsand surf shop. The one I rode is now my new favorite ultra small (I wouldn’t be going out otherwise) wave board. |
Searching "foam alaia" was the key. Here's 3 more links, 1st one is more photos of the board above, the other two a Wegener experiment...
http://driftsurfing.com/blog/?p=3593
http://vimeo.com/8232789
http://driftsurfing.com/blog/?p=3956 |
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bgreen
Joined: 20 Feb 2004 Posts: Location: Qld. Oz
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Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 5:05 am Post subject: |
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Geoffrey,
I don't know how long/short you are thinking of going but there are some fundamental differences between an alaia ridden standup and a board ridden prone , where your legs are likely to be hanging off the tail.
The guitar picks are also shorter boards. I'd be happy with a board under 18" - my foam boards are wider but the designs are so different.
regards
Bob |
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geoffreylevens
Joined: 18 Nov 2009 Posts:
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Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 9:30 am Post subject: |
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Yes, part of the many variables though Wegener seems to ride prone on longish alaia. He mentions in several postings riding a 6 footer prone in bigger surf so he can use flippers to get into waves etc. Interview w/ Paul Gross he talks about thinking that "hull" single fin, about same length as your body height is the perfect prone board. Go figure. I'm sure a great deal has to do w/ your riding style and what you like. Like the 8 foot (?) El Paipo Grande that PG made...
Many years ago (maybe 1968?) I went to Wilderness in Santa Barbara and just sort of hung out watching Greenough make a fin and eyeballing Velo (w/his permission) and harassing him w/endless stupid grommet questions. Several times I asked him about "what if" in terms of varying contours and dimensions, etc and he always answered, "Oh, anything will work. It all depends on what you want to feel." I'm sure in part he was just blowing me off but I have also come to see the wisdom in what he said. |
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mrmike
Joined: 06 Sep 2007 Posts: Location: coronado, ca
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Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 10:06 am Post subject: |
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go to youtube and see a guy surfing a unfinished sheet of plywood. he was rignt allmost anything will work MRMIKE _________________ PAIPO ON
blog http://mrmikespaipos.blogspot.com |
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Uncle Grumpy
Joined: 15 Jan 2007 Posts: Location: San Clemente
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bgreen
Joined: 20 Feb 2004 Posts: Location: Qld. Oz
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Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 2:55 pm Post subject: |
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Geoffrey,
It does come back to what you have in mind, wave-wise as well. Proneman rides his longer boards in long lined point waves. Around this time last year he was making the most of waves in OZ. He was catching wide sets and waves further out than other guys. Faced with bowling beachbreak peaks, I suspect he might choose another board.
Before I bought a TW board I got to try a 5-6 of Tom's boards, including one of the longer boards. Only surfed a couple on the longer board, it may have been 8' I can't really be sure, but on a strongish short period beachbreak swell I much preferred the shorter boards. I went wider than his usual boards but it probably was unnecessary.
Length/width- what optimally fits into a waves curve? Also, you might be 6'6 or 5'2".
Mctavish's autobiography, includes an account of surfing with GG. GG's velo, was reported as needing more solid waves to perform.
There is a forthcoming interview with Vinny Bryan, where he describes spending hours on a board to find it doesn't work. In the end, it is a matter of giving it a go.
Bob |
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geoffreylevens
Joined: 18 Nov 2009 Posts:
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Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 4:10 pm Post subject: |
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Indeed, giving it a go is the call. I am 5'3" X 110 pounds so pretty small. Made a plywood "guitar pick" awhile back, more or less copied the Hawaii Paipo template. It was HUGE for me, felt like trying to surf a garage door |
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mrmike
Joined: 06 Sep 2007 Posts: Location: coronado, ca
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Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 5:26 pm Post subject: |
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scale it down a bit. I also had an stander HPD it was very fast but it went were it wanted to go so I made mine narrower and some what shorter then cut it in, in the back and used 1/2" birch ply then I put a 1" block on the nose to give it some lift MRMIKE
_________________ PAIPO ON
blog http://mrmikespaipos.blogspot.com |
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geoffreylevens
Joined: 18 Nov 2009 Posts:
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Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 6:00 pm Post subject: |
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Nice! From guitar pick to rocket ship. That was part of the "garage door" feeling I mentioned, that it had its own agenda and it was nearly impossible for me to alter that. Maybe if I weighed 200 pounds it might have been a different story. |
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bgreen
Joined: 20 Feb 2004 Posts: Location: Qld. Oz
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Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2010 6:05 am Post subject: |
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Geoffrey,
Given your weight/height, I'd definitely go for something scaled down. I'm sure there's a story there as to how you managed to hang out with GG as a grommet. Sounds like you did get some good advice - but at the time, it would have been frustrating to hear the same message over and over. I'm reminded of some of the zen koans when I re-read your story.
regards
Bob |
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geoffreylevens
Joined: 18 Nov 2009 Posts:
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Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2010 10:34 am Post subject: |
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HAH! Exactly, Zen Koans. At the time, I was riding a canvas mat and a small, more or less oval, plywood paipo w/ little dagger single fin, riding it kneelo. Was very interested, obsessed w/ Velo etc. Lived in Whittier of all places. So I just drove my butt up to his shop and walked in. At the time shop was very "off the beaten track" and back in the trees. All work area, no showroom. I just sort of pushed on in and asked if I could hang out and ask a few questions and look at his kneeboard and he said "sure." He was just finishing a mold to lay up uni-directional (rope) fin blank; fill w/ glass and resin, put on the lid and press under heavy weight. Oops it started to overheat and there was a great moment of very intense scrambling to fill big bucket w/ water and where's some F%$King ice and shove it under water. Whew! After that I left and they all went to lunch. The end.
Well really sort of a beginning as I made a very crappy glass spoon that did not really work. Then went to stand-up a couple years, then to Oahu where a guy named Paul Steel had, the year before, been schooled by visiting McTavish in how to shape hulls. So I had him shape me a spoon kneelo and proceeded to get my ass hammered for a couple months in small, per-season North Shore surf. As the waves got more consistent and started to pick up some size the crowds got so ferocious I went back to Cali and school in Santa Cruz. Actually got one of my "life time best" tube rides on the spoon at Mitchell's Cove and then nearly drowned when my nylon leg rope (w/short surgical tubing bungie at the end) wrapped around my entire body, arms, legs, NECK as I was going over the falls on about a 10 footer. Managed to get one forearm in between the rope and my throat before the impact and then wiggled loose before running out of air. Whew. And that is my free association history for the day. |
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