1st SUP

General Discussion
1

So, I’ve been reading Oneula’s post aobut SUP for the past… 2 years? Continueing to pique my interest… so I made a paddle and tried it on my biggest boards, 10’x23"x3.25". Not wide enough, not enough float but fun. I needed a bigger board.

Read the archives again, wrote down the important measurements…12’ length, 27" wide, 4+" thick. Then began thinking… (don’t think, just do it as it says!) I’m smaller than them… I have good balance… OK I’ll make mine 10’6"x25"x4".

Just finished it today and took it out to a flat, no waves, no people. It floats me just fine but I sure need to work on balance. When I first stood up…and then right back down! After about an hour I was able to stand up for 50-100 yards but still precariously! With this size board it’ll take a bit longer to learn but I’ll keep it up.

I now think that if you wanted to teach someone, many people, that a rectangle 12’x30"x5" would work the best (ha! I serious!). I’ll keep training with it because I can really see how, after I get good enough to actually surf with it, it’d be a LOT of fun.

Les



2

When I say your name on the post I was wondering if it was going to be a balsa - It looks Great! I really like the design (artwork). How did you make it.

3

What was the construction method of the board or how did I make/do the design?

Board - HD foam (2x2" 1# EPS) Pu foam glued together, 4oz. S Glass, 1/16" balsa, 4oz. S Glass. I also added a 4oz. S Glass deck patch that I don’t usually do with my other boards. There is also a 1/4" redwood rail (perimeter/parabolic) then 1/4" balsa outside the redwood. It makes it look like a 1/4" pin line. And don’t forget the vent! Oh, and for anyone that whats to know… it weighs 17 lbs.

Design - I’ve been doing this type of design for the last 6 or 7 balsa comps. Cut design out of newspaper, tape onto board, airbrush using wood stain. Add embelishments with Zig pen. This is all done on the balsa befor the top layer of glass is added.

Love to read your posts DanB! Thanks for all your input here at Swaylocks! Would love to meet all the wonderful people that I’ve taken advice from! If any of you end up passing near Monterey give me a call.

Les

Who was it that said (I read here a few years ago…) 10 boards and you_ _ _ _ , 100 boards and your _ _ _ _ , 1000 boards and your _ _ _ _. Can’t remember what it was but yo get better… I am! Thanks!

4

I also always follow your posts. I just noticed the redwood pinline. They look great! I have some red cedar cut so that I can do the same thing on my next board. I try to make it up north a couple times per year and it would be great to see you and your boards (though don’t ask my to try and sup on a board that small, I wouldn’t make it 2 seconds :wink: )

5

Very nice,

I think making the paddle first and getting a feel for it is a good idea.

I made a regular big longboard from a sailboard blank almost that size.Tons of fun!

I looked at the Laird SUP Surftech Board and paddle today.The board was giant and looked nice.

The paddle looked a little long and poorly put together.

What angle and wood did you use on the paddle? Cedar is hard to find here in the land of the red woods.

I would like to hear how the red wood perimeter stringers hold up.I was going to use 1/8 poplar bending ply and 1/4 balsa.Now I am thinking I should make my 10’ SUP 28"-29" wide.

Thanks for the inspiration.

Ian

6

28-29" would make a good learner board.

Redwood perimeter stringers…

I first started with 1/2" balsa rails. In overhead surf I went out the back door and my board went under the closeout section and it came back in three pieces. (by the way…I fixed that board and eventually sold it, patching was a breeze, very easy and almost looked like it had never been broken)

Next went to redwood because it’s a nice contrast with the balsa and should be stronger than the balsa rails without too much added weight. I broke one just two months ago (with 3/8" redwood rails), well, it didn’t break it just bent/buckled. So it is stronger but now I’m thinking of putting some other type of wood that will bend better. Researching Red Oak, nice bending, strong, weight (?) not sure. Anyone have any suggestions on a wood that would work, and must be a contrast to balsa, be light, easy to work with. Too much of a difference in density and it’s hard to shape next to a soft wood.

I think the way I make my rails is a bit different than I’ve read here… I shape the board complete, add top and bottom skins, cut 3/8" off the rails all the way around (not the tail), smooth this cut edge flat/square, then…

I cut clear heart redwood 3/8"x3/8"x length of board and as many pieces I need to cover the widest flat section, glue (pu foaming glue) the 4 or 5 3/8" pieces onto flat section of rail, when dry I shape the rail (yes again!) then glass.

Paddle - It’s actually a hollow redwood shaft, two 3/8" square x 60" (?) long flanked by two 1 1/2"x1/4"x 60" long. Then shaped the shaft in an oval.

The blade is three layers of 1/8" thick balsa with 4oz. glass between each and then glass on front and back. As I remember I made it 15 degrees? When I glued the shaft together I put it in a mold/brackets(?) that bent and held the bottom (close to the blade that wasn’t on yet) at that angle.

I was wondering if the redwood would be strong enough… seems to be! Worked fine.

Les

7

Beautful board - and at 17lbs. that great. Like you discovered wider is better. Also, go with a parallel stance when paddling - much easier to balance. Once you get going you can slide a foot back. My 2 cents.

8

Ha! I LOL!

I started out normal goofy foot stance, can’t stand for one second! Tried that a few times, got to stay up 2-3 seconds. One foot or the other would always sink the rail down and I couldn’t get it back up, down I’d go.

After about 1/2 hour like this I remember someone posting a pic of side by side stance and saying to learn to surf this way…? So I tried the parallel stance…! bingo! I was able to stay up for 15 to 20 sec.! Couldn’t even think of trying to turn it. Maybe a few more times in flat water.

Les

9

Im not going to say that anyone one way is right or wrong. But what I will say is my fiancee paddles a 26" wide 11’; she’s 5’4 and 120 with amazing balance. Even she has trouble balancing it sometimes when it gets rough. You can stand on anything in a harbor, we paddle 20.5 wide paddle boards at dana point. But after you get tired, its just too hard. And you cant even think about p-addling them outside the harbor…

Width is there for a reason, Im 6’0 190 and find the anything under 27" wide gets pretty difficult after awhile. Its just not fun after 2 hours when your concentrating so hard on not falling that you dont get to enjoy the glide. 28" wide isnt a good beginer board, its just a good board. Other aspects of the design more than compensate for the width.

I hope your doing pretty good up there, its been freezing down here (34 degrees in southern california is NOT okay with me)