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AM_Glass · Joined: 09 Aug 2004 Posts: Location: Santa Cruz, CA

After my last session I took the stinger home and glued it up and put another coat of varnish on the top and bottom. The glue didn't do the job. Most of one of the layers had released from the other and the wood had deformed into a bubble. I could have attacked it with glue but I didn't really have the patience so I let it be. This last Sunday the waves were perfect for it. Two ft hollow peelers that the shortboarders couldn't get into very well. It looked just like the day I first found the Stinger. I took it out and right away noticed the increased flexability. I nosedived on two of the waves and overflexed a bottom turn on another. I did get one that set-up well and I almost made it out of the barrel. Most were just drives and pull into the closeout barrel. By the tenth wave or so the bubble of delam gave up and a chunk of wood was floating beside me. To far gone to fix, too basic to bring home I left the stinger back where I had found it (except in the trach can, not in the sand.) I feel like the work I put into it was well worth the waves I got on it.

I also got to thinking about ways to gain strength and maintain flex. I wandered over to Hawaiian Paipo Designs and I think that's the way to go. A foam coare wrapped in fiberglass, a lightweight skimboard. Now I need to decide if I'd rather shell out $250 for one of his ready to ride, or $250 and try to make one (or two) of my own...

Anyone know where to get foam skimboard blanks around Santa Cruz?

kage · Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2004 10:44 pm Post subject:

You can get sheets of low or high quality foam in various thicknesses at Hawiian Fiberglass on 17th. The hawaiian paipo I think is a sheet that has been scored and then vacuum bagged in a mold? I don't know anything about it except for looking at the part of my board where the pad was removed so I could put on a leash loop. Isn't 17th a little out of your nieghborhood? Very Happy

AM_Glass · Joined: 09 Aug 2004 Posts: Location: Santa Cruz, CA

I'm one the road Nov 3rd driving home to Santa Cruz.

About the vacuum bagging and mold. Do you think that is making the paipo significantly stronger? Or is it a way to make alot of them quickly?

From the pictures on the HPD website it looks like the have alot of belly. I would be interested to know why, since my dead flat plywood board seemed to hold a line well and work fine while it lasted. My feeling is that the belly would make it harder to hold a high line and may be slower than a flat bottom.

kage · Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2004 10:06 am Post subject:

Excellent, maybe we can get a session here when you get back. The foam seems to be pretty saturated, it seems quite strong. I am guessing at the mold because it is turned up in the front and the sides at the front, and short of carving the whole thing out of one big peice I am not sure how else it could be done. As far as belly goes, it's pretty flat. It has about 3" of kick in the nose tapering back to dead flat at about halfway down the board, it holds a high line really well, partly because of the wide back (I think).

PaipoJim · Posted: Fri Oct 15, 2004 12:09 am Post subject:

AM_Glass · Joined: 09 Aug 2004 Posts: Location: Santa Cruz, CA

Less belly, that sounds better to me. Flat = Fast is what I was always taught. Any ideas why they have the angled rails? The kick in the nose would help avoid the nose dive which can be really bad and that part of the board isn't in the water most of the time anyway so I have no question of the usefullness of that feature.

PaipoJim · Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2004 8:33 am Post subject:

AM_Glass · Joined: 09 Aug 2004 Posts: Location: Santa Cruz, CA

I was revisiting Rod's site and ran across this thread I started. I never posted photos because my hard drive crashed and had to be replaced, long gone now. I'm in Santa Cruz and kneeboarding mostly but I did get out on my mat yesterday in some 4'+ shorepound. More fun than expected and longer rides than if I had just been bodysurfing. Reading this thread reminded me of that great session I had on the little plywood skimboard. I really liked it but I really didn't like how it failed me in the middle of a good session, and that was in East Coast waves. Is there a cheap, easy, strong, flexable option out there for puling under the Pacific piledriver lip of a 4'+ wave?

P.S. I miss the warm water of the Atlantic in summer.