Aloha Sways:
Okay CarveNalu turned me on and I had to jump on the SUP bandwagon. I wanted make a board that was reasonably light and yet be strong enough to endure my trials and tribulations learning how to do the SUP thang. I also wanted a board to serve as a diving platform for my granddaughter and little nieces and nephews. We will keep this board in the family!
Oneula turned me on to CMP Hawaii (Charlie) who got Dave Parmenter to shape the board from 1# EPS. It came out 12’3” x 30” x 4 7/8”. Charlie did a great job putting on the balsa skin and fin boxes. I did the glass work with 7.5 oz. bottom and the deck with 7.5 and 6 oz. e-glass epoxy lamination. The epoxy was Fiberglass Hawaii (FGH) 2 to 1 clear with slow cure hardener. The fill/sand coat was also epoxy with FRH’s epoxy surfacing agent. The gloss coat was good old fashion FGH PE finish resin.
The fins pictured on the board were whatever I had available in the fin drawer. I am thinking about putting on an 8” cut away center fin or going with the Proteck 7” 2+1 system.
What’s a SUP without a paddle? After getting sticker stock at $325 plus a paddle I decided to make my own with ideas from Benny 1 and the rest of the paddle builders on Swaylocks. I picked CarveNalu’s brain on suggestions on paddle designs. The key points to keep it light, 10 – 14 degree blade angle, oval shaped shaft for hand comfort, make it float, and keep the length about 4-9 inches above your height. CaveNalu suggested that the shorter paddle can generate more power but not too short. A paddle too tall can burn out your shoulders and a paddle to short can cause back pains and make the paddling unstable.
I spent hours staring at all my outrigger paddles and getting ideas from each one. I love the feel of a good light wooden paddle but also like the durability of a carbon hybrid paddle. I bought a book from Amazon.com titled: Canoe Paddles: A Complete Guide to Making Your Own. I found source of Basswood in Honolulu and bought Balsa wood from EBAY. Manoa milled the basswood on his brand new thickness planer. That was fast and fun!
I glued up the paddle with a Basswood shaft with a Balsa wood blade. I used a disc sander, planer, sanding blocks of 60 grit, soft pad 100 grit and my favorite most utilized tool was a Stringer Hand Plane (razor planer) I got from Clark Foam. (You guys still remember Clark Foam?)
I used the power tools to shape the wood as close to what I wanted and dared to go. Balsa and Basswood are pretty easy to shape. The razor planer did the rest of the shaping. The shaping of the shaft was more like whittling. It reminded me of some of the things I did to earn a Boy Scout merit badge. It was fun and I did manage to get that oval shaped shaft I was going for.
I glassed the blade with epoxy and the front face of the blade with 4 oz. S-glass and the back of the blade with 5.7oz carbon fiber and capped with 4 oz. S-glass. I coated the shaft with epoxy. Of course in true Uncle D style, I laminated a black Honu to match the board. I hope this paddle works well.
Thanks for all the help and ideas from Swaylocks. Most of all mahalo to CMP Hawaii, Manoa and CarveNalu for your expertise, ideas, motivation and inspiration!
