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Nels Dolphin Glider
Joined: 13 Jan 2004 Posts: 340 Location: Ventura County, California
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Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 9:21 pm Post subject: |
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Quote: | Nels, when you say, "carry speed through sections," can you be more specific? Are you talking about connecting across flat sections? |
Yeah, pretty much...the bodyboard seems like it just bogs in those situations. The mat...well, those things just seem to have life of their own, eh? I don't even pretend to be aware of everything going on with them. But after 29 years of bodyboarding I'm pretty comfortable in saying the things bog in certain situations. I was wondering if just the added length might help, or the catamaran design.
I guess I just need to try one like you say. Maybe this year I'll make the trek through L.A. and across Orange County to the Golden City of San Clemente (Saint Clemente is reputedly the patron saint of soft goods fortunes). Might as well talk to the people behind the products, and The One, another item of interest that I'll probably never see up my way.
Thanks for the kind words about vagabondsurf.com. I'm rapidly coming up on the time when I have to make the Final Decision about it. These forums have pretty much risen up to provide what vagabondsurf was created to provide, in a format that does it better and quicker. Which isn't to say vagabondsurf couldn't change to something...maybe just a signpost in these directions for those wandering souls out there. I remember how nice it was to find Rod's Paipo Page...there may not be many of us but who has more fun? |
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Nels Dolphin Glider
Joined: 13 Jan 2004 Posts: 340 Location: Ventura County, California
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Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 4:50 pm Post subject: Updates? |
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I thumbed through a fairly new bodyboarding magazine at a bookstore today and saw a blurb and a big ad for the Waveskater. In it Tom Morey was quoted as saying something to the effect that the material is the same color all the way through and is not decked or painted or coated. Is this true? Is this the miracle material that would let us hack and adjust design at will? Or would we even want to with the current design? |
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Poobah Dolphin Glider
Joined: 09 Jan 2004 Posts: 696 Location: California, San Diego
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Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2007 2:09 am Post subject: |
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Yes, the color goes all the way through. No, it doesn't sand/shape as I had hoped. I drilled a hole for the leash plug in a spot on the nose that was too thick for the plug. I made it work by recessing the bottom of the the plug/bolt. I tried a bit of sandpaper on the countersunk hole, and I thought it was too rubbery to sand well. So I just cleaned up the hole by melting it with the head of a carriage bolt that I heated up on the stove. Yes, I did the melting outside in a well ventilated area. After I screwed on the plug/bolt, I filled the hole flush on the bottom with silicone. |
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tumak Dolphin Glider
Joined: 10 Jan 2004 Posts: 131 Location: FL, Indian Harbour Beach
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Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2007 7:29 pm Post subject: |
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I have several chunks of sawed off Wave Skater. Those swirls of color you see... they swirl all through the board. The exterior surface you see and feel is just the heated outer edge of the one single piece of PVC foam the board is made of.
I have six of these surfcats now. They come out of the molds with different rockers and in differing sizes. I just procured a 46.33" Red & Blue one that I just love... and it has slightly reverse rocker, making for a pretty serious concave slot bottom.
Board names:
Akita - (45.75")Black & Yellow
Manalishi (46.75")- Yellow
Mahanaga (47.5") - Teal & Yellow
Veda - Black & White (46")
Uma - Red & Blue
Jewel-Eyed Judy (43.75") - Teal. This board is totally spoony and bowed out... very interesting in extreme bowl sections. |
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Uncle Grumpy
Joined: 15 Jan 2007 Posts: Location: San Clemente
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Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2007 8:44 pm Post subject: |
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How about some pictures of the surfcat family? |
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Nels Dolphin Glider
Joined: 13 Jan 2004 Posts: 340 Location: Ventura County, California
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Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2007 1:14 am Post subject: |
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Quote: | have six of these surfcats now. They come out of the molds with different rockers and in differing sizes. I just procured a 46.33" Red & Blue one that I just love... and it has slightly reverse rocker, making for a pretty serious concave slot bottom.
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Well, I guess you really like them, eh?
When you say they come out of the molds with different rockers and sizes...I assume they are true to the respective molds? Or are they potluck? Any observations on the merits of the various sizes? I notice all that you mentioned are bigger than standard bodyboard size. |
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tumak Dolphin Glider
Joined: 10 Jan 2004 Posts: 131 Location: FL, Indian Harbour Beach
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Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2007 6:30 am Post subject: |
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Yeah... pretty much potluck. When that stuff hits the air, expansion is presently uncontrollable. Having said that, though, I'm always amazed that they come out so well.
I just like 'em basically as big as I can get 'em. I'm 180, so it's not that I'm a huge guy. I'll tell you the truth: in my opinion, they're not really bodyboards... they are bonafide paipos. I have other paipos that range from 4'6" to 5' in length, so the Wave Skaters still are short by comparison. It's like enjoying the longboard difference; I like the feel of a large Wave Skater planing the way it does... and the bigger the board, the bigger the feel. I don't know how else to put it.
The present quest by Wave Skater enthusiasts for boards between 40" and 43" is, in my opinion, an unfortunate holdover from the sandwich-boogie world. I think grown men should get these boards as big as possible, and the result will be a paipo feel, not a boogie feel. Perhaps my comments echo my love of glide... as opposed to a desire to do aerials to grunge rock or whatever. For me it's about good turns and tube time! |
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Nels Dolphin Glider
Joined: 13 Jan 2004 Posts: 340 Location: Ventura County, California
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Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2007 10:14 am Post subject: |
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Quote: | Yeah... pretty much potluck. When that stuff hits the air, expansion is presently uncontrollable. Having said that, though, I'm always amazed that they come out so well. |
Well...that says to me I'd want to buy one I could hold in my hands first. I suppose. Maybe it just doesn't matter...get one and have fun...?
Quote: | The present quest by Wave Skater enthusiasts for boards between 40" and 43" is, in my opinion, an unfortunate holdover from the sandwich-boogie world. |
That may well be so. That said, I've played around with the notion (and homegrown harder equipment) that maybe a smaller boogie can be a good thing. In the end that direction was much cheaper to follow with wood and also more fun with painting and whatnot.
Seriously, do you waveskater guys think these boards have something special to offer that other craft don't? That they provide something as wild and exciting and different as the first bodyboards were? I'm just trying to calibrate my world view here. |
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tumak Dolphin Glider
Joined: 10 Jan 2004 Posts: 131 Location: FL, Indian Harbour Beach
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Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2007 8:04 am Post subject: |
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I think what makes them special is their unique deck and bottom contour, as well as their unique construction. After getting a Wave Skater, I met a longtime Hawaii bodyboarder and we traded off. I found his board, a good, higher-priced sponge board, to be really fun... but different. He liked my WS well enough to order one on the spot.
The WS just has a more refined feel. I personally like the wild color patterns on the WS... kind of provides that acid splash thrill of the late 60s.
One-piece PVC foam construction means none of the usual decay found in sponge boards; I think that in 5,000 years these things will still be rideable.
All said and done: I still like and use all my other paipos, and still want more. I want a wooden, oiled paipo now, a really ancient affair. But I often feel that the WS is giving me the essence of the art of wave riding. It's like the ultimate 21st century version of what the ancient Hawaiian common folk were riding when Capt. Cook landed. Pure, basic, functional, eye-catching, easy to handle, highly portable, really a pleasure to ride.
To me, it's different enough. As a paipo rider, I never was drawn to bodyboards. The WS had what it took to make me look, and to get me stoked. |
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kenny
Joined: 29 Jan 2007 Posts: 0
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tumak Dolphin Glider
Joined: 10 Jan 2004 Posts: 131 Location: FL, Indian Harbour Beach
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Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 4:22 pm Post subject: |
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Uhhh... I think I'll pass on that one, amigo. Don't wanna anger the water spirits with catering equipment. Besides, why pass up a Rolls Royce for a Ford Fiesta? |
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kenny
Joined: 29 Jan 2007 Posts: 0
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Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 5:25 pm Post subject: |
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kenny wrote: | http://catalog.carlislefsp.com/?search=surfing+trays |
I stumbled across the post about the tray paipo awhile ago and thought it was pretty funny. The posts have been passed around our IT and Sales departments and everyone has been getting a kick out of it. In return for the laughs I threw it in as a search term (it's really just griptite).
Nels wrote: | Waveskater guys - join up and post here! It's the last outpost of freaky iconoclasts in surfing. |
Let it be said that the Carlisle guys aren't scared
Kenny
(oh, and it's probably not a safe idea to actually use the tray for this) |
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Poobah Dolphin Glider
Joined: 09 Jan 2004 Posts: 696 Location: California, San Diego
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Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 4:30 am Post subject: |
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I glued a Surfco Hawaii E-Z Plug onto mine for added safety. The coiled bicep leash isn't shown in this photo, but you can see the translucent E-Z Plug where the leash is attached.
http://www.surfcohawaii.com/access.htm
Surfing has its longboarders and shortboarders. I like a large tray. I recently noticed that Steiny over on Swaylocks had this photo for an avatar....obviously a fan of the small trays. I think the whole Steinberg family rides trays together. How's that for family values?
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kage Dolphin Glider
Joined: 12 Jan 2004 Posts: 286 Location: Santa Cruz
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Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 3:48 pm Post subject: |
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Steiny hooked me up with a couple of broken boards as raw material for paipos. Nice guy. Son surfs long boards pretty competitively. |
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DaGRizTX
Joined: 30 May 2008 Posts: Location: Texas
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Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 12:05 pm Post subject: |
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Been wave sliding a while now and picked up a 45" yellow and orange WS last summer to add to my quiver ( BZ big brudda, custom Toobs Alias). Brought the WS out to GP2K07 but the surf didn't cooperate much. The waves I did catch on it I liked, it had a solid "feel" and tracked like it was on rails. It was slippery, washed it with soap, rubbed it with wet sand and had to resort to waxing it in order to stay on. I have yet to get this board in some good conditions where I could race down the line...perhaps this years GP.
Sea-ya |
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