this is the first board i’ve made for a long while. i’ve just been too busy with seaworthy. so it was nice to get my hands working again.
i was holidaying on the mid north coast & tom wegener generously sent me a blank & a couple of templates down.
just working that timber all morning out in my mate’s shed felt like therapy. it soothed my very soul. & it was such a buzz to make a board in a day & ride it that same afternoon.
i first rode it at a long lined up pointbreak. about four or five rides into that session, i got one of the best waves of my life.
i can’t begin to describe the sense of speed & trim & enchantment. i was blessed by a week of swell & i surfed myself silly on this board.
stoked is too small a word to describe the joy i have found sliding on the sea with this homemade wavecraft. at the moment, it’s all i’m interested in riding. i feel like a little kid again.
i called her ‘aukai’. which is hawai’ian for ‘seafarer’.
Hi Nathatn, I 've just been looking at some youtube clips of Tom Wegener talking about the alaias, I really want to try something now.
What you’ve made there, and your feelings about riding it have convinced me that this is a necessary step in my life. Just need to finish my current hollow.
Not sure how the worlds most inept surfer is going to get on riding it though.
Still haven’t gotten to starting my alia yet, still trying to find some decent timber thats not too expensive, getting good quality timber here can be very hard and the cheapest quote for cedar has been £70, so I think I will have a hunt for some good spruce with not too may knotts.
BTW I finally found the time to watch seaworthy last night, congratulations I really enjoied it.
thanks for the kind words gentlemen, & thanks for the seaworthy feedback. it’s great to hear people as far away as scotland are watching it. this alaia 's made from paulownia. tom is selling blanks here in oz & john wegener is selling them in the states.
thanks swerfle. i haven’t had wainani in the same quality surf yet as i’ve done with aukai but i can summarise so far as follows:
aukai: 6’8", parabolic rails, long single concave through last two thirds of board, can’t really laydown for long as it kinda drags &/or drifts, need to spring to your feet straight away, easier to turn, loves to cling to a steep face, tends to bog down in fatter waves, a perfect-down-the-line pointbreak board.
wainani: 7’0", fuller outline, i made it a touch thinner so it flexes more, similar bottom contour, can laydown or standup, handles fatter waves better (can plane across dead spots), more of an all rounder but less trustworthy in steep waves, which we tend to get a lot around where i live.
i might be able to give more feedback once i get the chance to ride them both in similar conditions.
hey eef. paulownia’s pretty light, lighter i imagine than the ply you’re using for your boards. but alaias are difficult to paddle, there’s no denying it. still, you can get used to it. my laydown alaia that tom made me is about 5’ long, i’ve managed to stand up on it a few times but it’s hard to catch waves on without swimfins. with swimfins, it’s really easy. my perfect stand up length is about 6’6" to 7’, that’s enough volume for me to paddle with. the parabolic rail template is a bit more of a progressive design, it’s easier to turn, & it bites into a steep face more than non-parabolic boards. i hope that helps explain things eef, but i’m no alaia expert, just enthusiastic.
helps me quite a bit! i going to get started on a bigger board pretty soon, can’t wait!!
I ordered Tom’s alaia dvd some time ago and they are having so much fun on loads of little waves, really blending bellyboarding, standing up, all on the same board on the same wave. Really stokes me out!
