Daybreak SUP Session
Reply
splash of light
Blurry eyed start today
5 a.m. alarm startled me awake today for an early wave down the coast. Knocked off a few quick shots before getting wet. Water was beautiful today, if it wasn’t for the cold air temp, could have easily surfed in boardies.
More photos coming soon
Tom Wegener
I’ve experimented with making my own alaia belly boards over the last year, it has been heaps of fun experimenting and redesigning ideas, but recently I came across a Tom Wegener shaped alaia, it truly is a thing of beauty! There is no substitute for experience, I think I’m going to have to add one of his boards to my quiver! The one I want is the Finley Model check it out!
The Finley Model:
This is a template that I copied from the ancient alaia surfboards in the Bishop Museum. It is the best all around shape for standing on as well as riding prone. This is the fastest shape with the straight rails and wide tail.
The boards in the Museum do not have concaves, but I found they ride better with a light concave. The concave gives a better flex and more control. I named the board after my son. I had made a board for him to ride and then took it out for a surf myself. I could not believe how fun it was to surf! Before then the boards were over 9’ long. This board proved the dimension of the alaias that the early missionaries to Hawaii saw were right on, about head high, 16 inches wide, and no thicker than your finger.
I do not think the Hawaiians made such a big distinction between riding prone and standing up. Prone surfing is faster because you can bend the board with your body to get reverse rocker which is definitely faster! Standing gives you a lot more manoeuvrability.
Check out more of his boards at http://tomwegenersurfboards.com/
GoPro Hero or Zero?
Cameras like the GoPro are becoming increasingly popular. This has its pros and cons. In surfing it has given regular people the opportunity to show off their abilities as surfers and film makers but this is a double-edged sword! Not only do we get to see more videos of amateur dudes ripping, we also see twice as much crap from people who think they are awesome. My main complaint is to often seeing a plethora of videos 5,10,15 minutes of guys paddling around, no action, in my opinion boring! Maybe it’s my short attention span? Or maybe I’m not the only one that thinks this?
I think GoPro videos need to be like tv ads, short, sweet and to the point. It needs to be kept simple and interesting the whole way through, and no over the top editing or cheap editing tricks like filters.
I currently own a GoPro, it is great fun to grab a few still photos from a surf/skate sessions but predominately use it to capture friends surfing. You are not going to see any self-uploaded videos of me surfing anytime soon..
Maybe just a still image or two..
Here are a few GoPro videos & photos done properly!
Mirage – The Full Experience (30 GoPro’s used to make a Matrix style surf video)
Surfing with Daize (Yes a GoPro TV ad but very cool)
Carving the Mountains (video speaks for itself)
Carving the Mountains from Juan Rayos on Vimeo.
King Kelly Getting Shacked!
Voodoo Sunrise
bird watching
Fin Junky
For over 10 years I use to ride the same board with glassed on fins. Lately I have been riding a variety of different boards with fin boxes. The only problem with this is now I feel like a bit of a fin junky! Always looking at different shaped fins and fin set ups to try change the dynamics of my boards.
I just came across a quick video from Korduroy.tv called Dial in Your Fins definitely worth the watch to check how you can turn a dog board into something that will get you excited!
Check out more Surf Sufficient videos at www.korduroy.tv
