I am posting #6 because I finally got a chance to ride it this past weekend, and it made me think of a couple things that I wanted to throw out there. I finished this board a few months ago, and I took it out at the Cape on some glassy little waist highs this past weekend in between reroofing my Dad’s house there. With my 4/3, the water was quite bearable for for an hourand a half. I have a good girl and a baby and I found myself stuck in CT where I grew up, don’t ask how! The days of surf trips to Costa and Mexico are over for the time being, and even my old stomping grounds, the outer banx NC which I know and surfed all up and down hundreds times when I lived there, I can’t even take the time or afford to go there any more. Never surfed west, even though I lived in Portland OR awhile, it was bad times. Only FL, SC, NC, RI, MA, mex and costa. My fam is worth it though, so I take what I can get. PT Judith is only a few hrs away, my favorite accessible break, and sometimes it fires! Nobody out west would believe. Even if it’s chest high though, thass all I need to get my fix. Whenever I post something on Sway’s I have a nagging sensation that this forum is out of my league, but I see enough postings from both ends of the spectrum to feel aright: what a cool blend of space age boardmakers and first timers! I love surfing, passionately. I only started surfing 11 yrs ago, and I have owned only 15 or 16 bought boards, new and used, and now I only have one WRV, (the rest snapped/sold/traded/burnt in a fire/ pawned) and my handful of bizzarre, homemade jimmyjobs. But they are FUN!! Hahaha…[img_assist|nid=1042457|title=wrapping corecell over eps|desc=|link=none|align=none|width=640|height=478]I wrapped 3/8" corecell over 1 lb eps. This is one issue I want to put forth; I either read it here or on the ‘build yer first board’ site: rider weight plus board weight=total weight. I wieghed this board when all said and dun and it was 10.5 lbs. I thought goddammit, this is gonna be a log, but it turned out to be wicked fun in waist high waves- can’t wait to try it in bigger. I try to keep the weight of my boards down, but if I weigh 185 one month on a 7 lb board, and if I weigh 182 another month on a 10 lb board…but who’s counting? I would have used thinner corecell, but where I went this is what they had that was scored, and I wanted that to make the compound curves cuz I’m not yet gonna try to heat-form this stuff which you can at 220 degrees. What is all the hype about ultra-light boards when you have to consider your body weight as a part of the whole?[img_assist|nid=1042458|title=I know, use a vacbag|desc=|link=none|align=none|width=75|height=100]Here I am recapturing the rocker on my table before the epoxy kicks. I have explained myself on other posts…this was before the dirtbagging of #7…these methods are what I do for now; no thanks with any vacbag comments, we all know that’s the right way to do it. The next pic just shows corecell ‘railbands’ for lack of a better word, going around the outline.[img_assist|nid=1042459|title=blankety|desc=|link=none|align=none|width=640|height=478]This picand the next show my confused homemade outline. I should have known I was basically trying to make a fish. I know what I want for [img_assist|nid=1042460|title=odd tail|desc=|link=none|align=none|width=640|height=478]thickness, about 3 inches. Width-21 or 22. length, between 6 and 7’. So I make this outline that looks cool but it’s basically a fish that I threw the whole kitchen sink at- so it has a bump and a diamond tail. Don’t ask me why. There is a current thread on tail dimensions/effects…makes me wonder why I didnt just give this mother a swallow tail! But it is perfectly fun how it is, believe me.[img_assist|nid=1042461|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=478][img_assist|nid=1042462|title=|desc=|link=none|align=none|width=640|height=478]The corecell drinks quite a bit of resin…has anyone tried sealing it with spackle? I didn’t. One 6oz top and bottom, it’s rock solid. [img_assist|nid=1042463|title=|desc=|link=none|align=none|width=473|height=640]I read Bert’s thread on ply fins, and this was my first go at glass ons and shaping my own. They do feel a little ‘fat’ somehow, but not in a bad way. Foiled out of 1/2" plywood to probably 5/16" total thickness after 2 layers of 6 oz on each side.[img_assist|nid=1042465|title=plywood fins|desc=|link=none|align=none|width=640|height=478]T[img_assist|nid=1042466|title=glossin'|desc=|link=none|align=none|width=640|height=478]gloss coat looked nice, I had to go and sand it, though…The fins…yeah, so I painted them allover, then I had a change of heart and wanted to be able to see some of the core material, so I met myself halfway and sanded some of it off. I like it juss fine.
[img_assist|nid=1042467|title=oh sho shiny befoh shanding|desc=|link=none|align=none|width=473|height=640][img_assist|nid=1042468|title=***|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=478][img_assist|nid=1042469|title=halfbacks. what they call yankees gone to florida and move halfway back and stop in North Cack…|desc=|link=none|align=none|width=473|height=640][img_assist|nid=1042470|title=Hamanahamana|desc=|link=none|align=none|width=473|height=640][img_assist|nid=1042471|title=ye who posteth|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]ILeftover paint when fuking around with the fins, put a little color on the deck. Mek me warm an fuzzy. Thanks fer lookin. Spark any thoughtful ponderings, gimee a holler!