Beach break.. here

The waves yesterday were walled up and fast. The off shore wind made it all possible. It's so much fun to fly thru the sections and transition to the reform and slide on that too. ANyways,, I've surfed my wood boards and I've surfed my foam quad. The foamy is a lot more fun. It's high performance and it gets up and goes just a little faster which makes a huge difference for me.

THere are times and places where wood would be a better choice but, it's not the better choice for here. The wood can be a lot of fun when it's high tide and mushy. All I can say about that is, I'm waiting for that day. I've got a couple balsa/pine/cedar evo boards from Ron Ferrer and I'm looking forward to testing them. They are about the same weight as my foamy so, it should be interesting. BTW- there are lots of places (sunset beach, nc) where the wood is the better choice.

Little Wednesday

We had some fun surf the day before Thanksgiving. It was fun and the kids were tearing it up.

getting out

It's been fun getting sessions in when conditions are right. The wind and waves have been unpredictable. Sometimes when you least expect it, the wind turns around and the surf cleans up. The surf was fun yesterday.

things change

Another warm water season has pasted. I get out and look at the surf a lot. It's different than the west coast. There seems to be a lot more messy days. Sometimes there are waves, but it's disorganized. More off shore wind days so that helps. There were some short boards out yesterday and most of the guys are wearing full suit already. Sometimes it's working and most of the time it's not.

What's working

I've been away from home on an extended vacation for awhile. It's so good to back in Ormond Beach and surfing again. My go to board is a foamy quad. It's suited to the conditions here. For me it's great to be back in the water and doing what I love.

Better ideas

I got to ride Ron's 9' board. It's very light (14 lbs) and worked good. I really like his construction methods and use of balsa wood. His board makes catching waves a little bit easier but, the ride is different. The board felt lively and similar to foam.

meeting the Blind Dog Surf crew

I had the good fortune to meet Tom and Dan during my trip up the coast. We shared a session and they showed me and my girlfriend Julie a great time at Sunset Beach.

Waiting for something.

It's the waiting game... for the next tropical storm. One of the best things about living here is getting in the water. Lots of time to relax and ride boogie boards when the surf is too small. I've been busy tiling the place and fixing things as I go. My shop....well it's a train wreck. There are to many house related projects. I'm not going to let that bother me. I'd rather surf and enjoy the beach.

nose rider fin gloss

I had a chance to gloss coat the fin. This one should be ready for the water by the 4th of July.

D.

Nose rider bottom gloss

The bottom is done and I'll be getting to the fin next. I'm going to do a sand finish and hard buff. It's going to be sweet to take this one out.

Gloss coat nose rider

I gloss coated the top today. This time I used epoxy that was thinned down with xylene. It worked out alright and it's a lot easier than shooting clearcoat.

D.

Finishing the noserider

I wet sanded yesterday. It's ready for a gloss coat. I'm going to try a thinned out coat of epoxy instead of clear coat on this one.

Shaped rails BLUNT NOSE

I had lots of fun with the spokeshave today. Great tool for shaping and blending.

Bottom check

I leveled the bottom and checked the belly. It looks good.

D.

Rough shaped

Shop dog in training...

D.

Top Panels done

I cut up a couple 2x4's to get these last two strips. I'm happy with this so far. It'll set in the jig for few days under weight to let everything settle in.

D.

Top Panel gettin done.

It's going along well and I'm loving it. It's still setting nice and flat with minimum weight. I'll belt sand down the nose and tail a little before stripping those out.

The cedar blocking in the tail is for the leash plug and the off center cedar is for the vent. I like to keep the nose and tail as thin as possible.

D.

Not your usual stuff.

Today, I received a package from the United Kingdom. It contained some of the most beautiful wood I've ever seen. A big thanks to Mike Skinner for these pieces of English Elm Burl. It's a very rare wood and I can see why. I plan to use it for the fin stock on my blunt nose. It's going to be amazing.

Here is a picture of how this wood looks when it's finished.

http://www.dunnsohnwoodwork.com/newstuff/elmburl.html

Thanks Mike, you made my day.

D.

Transitioning

I finished with the rail strips. The next step is to scribe in some 5/8" wide stock. It's a good time to square up the strips. I use the spar as my line of reference. All my rail and top panel strips are soaked in water for 30 minutes before they're set.

Yesterday, I re-sawed my 2x material for my top panel strips. I got lucky, there are some nice fungus stains and a little heart wood. I'm thinking book matched reverse flames. It's gonna be fun.

D.