Icedvolvo,
Where are you surfing? Your board looks quite thick or is the deck scooped - how bouyant is the board?
Bob
Hi Bob
Mostly surf around back beaches of NSW north coast in Oz, Tweed to Byron or Snapper, Burleigh or Lennox when it gets a bit bigger (or less crowded).
Yes boards are very thick; 3 1/2 in the deck, Burfords make the only blank which will fit it in. Rail is stepped to allow the rail to get bite into face, board volume is ~36litres. I am 110kg and it floats me fine. The deck is scooped but only a little, the pad fits into the scoop (and are scooped themselves) otherwise you couldn’t hang on, these things do not slide like a booger, they will hold uintil you free fall out of the face. Have been out in overhead+ and they tend to get a little bit twitchy as you would expect for a 4’10" board but have sorta solved that with MUCH bigger fins but then they get a little harder to turn. Have used 4 Ways so I can adjust fin angles for bigger days and working with lots of different fin shapes to find best solution for bigger waves.
They do have some drawbacks:
- they don't paddle real well as you would expect
- unlike a booger you can't just go into big closeouts with abandon; glass and fins are less forgiving
- need to take off fairly late .... probably because you can't paddle very fast :-)
- don't handle chop very well, tend to get pitched about, again as you would expect, working on a double V bottom for choppy water
- you are going head first at speed, probably should wear helmet but I don't like the feel of them
- can get pitched head first, particualrly in small shories, have to learn how to exit gracefully but fast :-)
Have attached a pic to show riding style: forward with feet up.
Iced
Hello Iced,
The name Icedvolvo had me wondering if you were in Australia. I surf much the same stomping ground as you - except the more crowded points that you mentioned. A while back I can remember going to backside cabarita and seeing a guy with a board that vaguely looked like yours leaving the surf. I was with my wife and was carrying an alaia and a paipo.
One day out at hastings a bloke asked me what I was riding and said there was a guy (who I think he said had back problems) who made boards out of broken boards. Is there someone else down that way who fits that bill?
I’m in Brisbane so don’t surf as much as I like but have a variety of prone surfcraft that I try to get wet. After surfing at the alley I had a few at Kingscliff last saturday which were a lot of fun .
Bob
That was probably me 
That was probably Jeff, another guy who rides “laydowns” from Pottsville. He has gone in another direction from me, he rides them more like traditional bodyboards, spins, rolls etc. His boards are much flatter (in both directions) with almost no rocker and not much action underneath, tiny fins etc. Have seen him in front of Hasto headland pulling into 8’+ freight trains on his board
Send me a PM if you are coming down Caba way
Iced
Iced,
Good to hear there is a ‘thriving’ scene in northern NSW - two guys going in completely different directions. Sounds great. Ideas for a board are swirling in my head - little rocker and thin is what I am thinking. Something for pure speed based on a wooden board I made.
On a different note, I just spoke to a guy called Leigh Tingle who has been riding the same paipo for 51 years (he’s 72 and still surfing) . He surfed hawaii in the 60s and has some old footage of these days I’m hoping to see.
Is the fishing any good at either hastings or Pottsville creeks? I often take my son and drop him off somewhere to fish while I go surfing. The better the fishing the longer I can surf. There is a river just south of these spots I get to a bit. I’m not a fan of crowds. I’ll drop you a pm if I’m heading south of the border. I may get down that way before I go away for 6 weeks in late June.
Bob
Bob
I have been using a standard surfboard leash plug for about 30 years, centered at about 3 inches below the tip of the nose. I leash around my wrist using a 6’ or 7’ surfing leash. The boards are around 50 x 20.5 x 2.5 inches. It has worked out very well for me. Some may think the leash length to be long but remember this is a hard board, not a sponge board and the sling-shot effect is more prevalent with a board somewhat heavier than a bodyboard so a 4’ leash is out of the question. The 7’ leash isn’t used until the surf is 8’ and up.
Update, i just got back from a trip down the coast, and i saw one ( i think! ). 3'9'', wide round nose, forward widepoint, round tail, and a thruster/quad setup. The rider was very happy with it in very hollow waves, and reckons it turns like a surfboard with the fins.
Looked like soooo much fun!
hello Beerfan,
How far are you from Ulladulla? I may get down that way late September -early October. Did you happen to see who made the guy’s board or get his name?
regards
Bob
Im a few hours north of there, i went there on my holiday. Look around the phonebook there for "Malaroo", that's the brand that makes them, i think they're made in ulladulla. Look like a tonne of fun, wish i got a pic, but i was a complete stranger hah, might've been a bit weird for him!
I think a guy in the surf one day metioned malaroos to be - I looked into it & got a mobile number but it was not operational. I guess I could try Ulladulla + malaroo and see what happens.
regards
Bob
Beerfan,
Not sure if this is the same malaroo - http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=32077540
Rod Rodgers sent an e-mail to him asking about bellyboards. Also e-mailed Southern Man surfshop at Ulladulla. Southern Man is a great place - loaned me a wetsuit free of charge once. The zip on mine broke and I was passing through. No money etc - just trust. Very old style.
Bob
wandering into this one quite late myself....
Once opon a time I had a G&S Waterskate kneeboard, single fin in what was then called a Bahne box, 5' x 20-something" - first custom board I ever ordered and naturally I screwed up a few things, like having it made in Navy Blue, which meant it started to delam the first clear, hot day.
First board I ever really dinged myself with - tried the first ( and last) Flyaway Kneeboard Kickout - and the board went right around with the lip and the nose caught me in the cheekbone. Good glassing on it, as when they were pulling chunks of it out of my face there was foam still attached. Navy blue, white foam and blood-soaked foam and meat, and it was pretty close to the 4th of July, so that it seemed very appropriate.
Came with a Great Big glass fin, which meant it turned like a dog, A smaller, Greenough Stage IV looking fin made that improve. It was fast enough, but floated a lot more ( and much thicker rails ) than I was used to. As I recall, about the only way to stay high on a wall was ....kinda transient, keeping it moving.
Leashes: when I was mostly a paipo guy, leashes weren't around, and I was using a Newport Paipo Concave Vector as my weapon of choice. Not much float, so getting under waves on the way out wasn't a big deal and hanging onto it in the washing machine wasn't either. Now, I'm mostly a kneelo, so an 8' leash mounted on the tail and my ankle seem like a good way to go.
The longer leash has a lot less tendancy to get tangled up with the feet and legs while using fins. On a kneeboard, you can't jump away from the thing as you can with a surfboard, so extra distance is a good thing. Been thumped by my own board more than once, such that getting well clear of it strikes me as a good thing.
I tried a forward mounted leash, back in the day when they were made of surgical rubber ( slingshot) tubing with nylon cord inside as a buffer, caught it in the right forearm and ...well, damned if I know why they call it a funny bone, as I couldn't see the humor in getting well and truly whacked there.
Ah- funny, how pain at a distance seems almost amusing. Wasn't then.....
doc...
Nah, the board i saw was definately for prone riding, it was 3'9'', though it did have fins. I cut down my 5'11'' single fin, so when i get some spare cash i'll glass it. Sure doesnt look like a belly board though haha, its 5'0 x 20.5 x 3'', with a 16.5 nose, and a 19'' square tail. I'll post a pic for you guys to all laugh at haha. Rocker is 3 1/2nose, and 1'' in the tail. No real idea if it will work, but i'll try it when i get some glassing money.
I'll put my probox keels on it, with a trailing fin.
Beerfan,
I’d take some of the hip out and aim for slightly more parallel rails. See the Larry Goddard interview for some outlines. How flat is the bottom?
http://mypaipoboards.org/interviews/Paipo_Interviews.shtml#Larry_Goddard
regards
Bob
Sweet read there mate, that site's gone to my favourites haha. After reading it, im gunna keep it as is, it'll only be surfed in small, junky waves, and at 20.5 wide, i don't want to lose anymore width. Im not sure how yet, but i'll try to put a shallow single through the bottom, just for lift. I might even put a 10'' box in the middle too, so i can try single fin, or twin fin.
Think it'll be fun.
That Goddard link was a great read.
Makes me really want to try something different to re-ignite my passion for riding waves after 2 weeks of Noosa and the hordes that bugger up the experience there.
Ok, the more i look at these, the more keen i get. This one isn't quite as wide as i'd like, but i figure if it goes ok, i'll definately make another one.
I chopped it down to 4'8'', as i figure 5' was a bit long. Rails are upturned/chine in the nose, and first 1/3, and transition to down and hard. Flting blind here, but im excited!!.
Outline
Tail rail
Nose rail
Oh, and excuse the mess in the shed!!
Beerfan,
Malaroo may hail from Bawley Pt.
Give it a punt - if it doesn't go, consider flat bottom, more parallel rails. Design is a bit different to standup surfboards.
Cuttlefish - goodto hear you enjoyed the read, More to come. Noosa crowds would drive me mad. A Bay is my escape up that way.
Bob
Beerfan,
Malaroo may hail from Bawley Pt.
Give it a punt - if it doesn't go, consider flat bottom, more parallel rails. Design is a bit different to standup surfboards.
Cuttlefish - goodto hear you enjoyed the read, More to come. Noosa crowds would drive me mad. A Bay is my escape up that way.
Bob