"William, Thanks for writing, its sure nice to know there are other souls being driven by this same compulsion- to make better-shaped boards. To make a long story short, Ive learned NOT to try and make for sale that which I think is a cool design. Rather, do as Einstein says, (paraphrasing) “Get real job, then do these things you really love to do, as a hobby.” However, its taken me far too long to figure this out. Ive also learned not to even think about patenting. Thats a huge waste of time and money. Consider yourself as a musician rather than as a songwriter. That is to say, become excellent at what you do, so good that people want to hire you to hear (or in this case see or ride) what youve done. And, if you have something you think is good, call up a surf magazine and have them get a story out on it. That way, its public domain. The surfers then know who did it and anyone else is just copying. In general, they prefer the original. Besides, you cant avoid being copied anyhow, and who cares? Theres always something else to come up with. Now none of these ideas come from us anyhow, right? Instead, were like guys with window seats on the plane, while others have chosen aisle seats so they can get up to pee easier. The ideas are just coming through us, like messages. Its up to us to pass along what we see. As to surfboard designs of my own, a big part of the future is in disengaging from symmetry. Making one side the same as the other is a great waste of time and money. Remember, even the Creator doesn'tt make anything exactly symmetrical. Another good part of the surfboards future is to make it a little bit lumpy. That way it glasses stronger and goes through the water better. Proof? I have none, only this appeal to reason: I sat in the ocean on a smoothly-contoured modern ocean paddleboard. The surf was quite calm. Even so, as I listened, loud noises developed as the chop would smack up against the long hull. Had the shape been a little bumpy instead of so smoothly faired, far less noise would have occurred. Thus, I extrapolate that the long, smooth surfaces are wrong. Its great for the salesman to be able to show the customer how smoothly faired the hull is, but the ocean doesn’tt know or care. The ocean is not an even playing field. It is lumpy, so for every situation, there is some combination of lumps that makes the best fit, but in all circumstances, a non-lumpy form is the wrong fit. There are those who will pose the obvious argument that smooth offers less surface, therefore less drag. Certainly its a point, but not the only point. As to plan shapes and foiling, the same applies. Waves come in sets, never just one wave. There is always a bit of a preamble… then the wave or waves… then a bit of aftermath. Thus, the changes in shape of a vessel passing through/across such a field could also be better off if its shape progressively thickens and thins, widens and narrows in phases. Todays surfboard, of course, does this in just one phase, that is, its narrow at the front and rear, wider in the middle, thinner at the front and rear, thicker in the middle. But is this ultimate? I think not. Ive been experimenting with two and three phases. Surfboard hulls, as well as canoes, sail and motorboat hulls... in fact, all displacement hulls, should widen and thicken a little, then back off some, then widen and thicken some more, then back off, and so forth, reverse after maximum width is reached. And as stated before, better that these widths and thickness changes are not uniform or symmetric. As to the so-called planing hulls, all this means is that the hull is not so poorly designed that at higher speeds it will suck to the water, rather that it can break free. The best way to accomplish this, I believe, is air lubrication. We used to surf a sheet. Wed have our mothers sew it into a pillowcase shape- it was a large pillowcase. Wed soak this in water, then run with it into the breeze, thereby filling it. Then twist the open end closed and the air would stay in for quite some time. You could run along the beach parallel to the waves, then flop down on this thing and skim across the wet sands for an amazing distance. The air-filled bag adapted gently to every contour. Partially because the air leaking out lubricates the journey. I believe boat, surfboard, sailboard, etc., hulls that are similarly constructed- air-filled bags- with some foam inside for emergency flotation, and perhaps, a small air compressor feeding them, the tops of these bags rubberized to minimize unwanted leakage, constitute something pretty nifty for the future. Bye for now and best wishes, Tom." (from The Surfers Journal, Vol. 12, No.3, Summer 2003, pg. 124, “Epistle to William: An E-Mail Odyssey”, by Y aka Tom Morey)
“We used to surf a sheet. Wed have our mothers sew it into a pillowcase shape- it was a large pillowcase. Wed soak this in water, then run with it into the breeze, thereby filling it. Then twist the open end closed and the air would stay in for quite some time. You could run along the beach parallel to the waves, then flop down on this thing and skim across the wet sands for an amazing distance. The air-filled bag adapted gently to every contour. Partially because the air leaking out lubricates the journey.” Anyone remember Al Santos from Hawaii? He used to surf his giant pillowcase at places like Sandy Beach and Makapuu on the East Shore of Oahu. I didn’t know what to make of it at the time, but now I’m facinated by what he was doing on that big bag of air. I’m off to raid mom’s linen closet!
“To make a long story short” Thanks for the short version.
Good grief!!! Its time to wake up poindexter!!! Why should I wait for your meandering THEORIES about air compressors, rubberized fabric, emergency foam flotation for “air-filled bags”!!! Dude- this equipment aint the future, its REALITY and holy freakin shit- it already works sooooooo damn fine: (by “Mattitude” from http://groups.msn.com/InflateAbleDreamSpeed): Dale, got some insane rides today malibu area 8-10 foot reef peaks rolling to 6-8 foot walled up point lines with a big dead spot to traverse longest one i had was .33 of a mile passed 2 longboarders just incredible full bombing trim speed for around 1.5 mins really leaned over outside hand on the corner inside hand alongside my body was a good position i found myself in a few times flying had one wave that i ended up soooo far over the nose i could not believe the mat never pearled was mid way between belly button and nipples over the nose I love to chase after people seeing the state of s really helped showed me at all cost to get the speed up picked up on this lil mini hopping pump i saw george do i need bigger legs and bigger fins when i kicked mad fury i could catch/stay with almost anything i’m pretty stuck on almost an exact 90 bend when i roll off the mat just have to wait to see how the mat reacts to water temp then re-adjust it good stuff Dale Thanks again James
" longest one i had was .33 of a mile passed 2 longboarders just incredible full bombing trim speed for around 1.5 mins" How can anyone accurately say they`ve surfed one wave for “.33” of a mile? For 1.5 minutes??? J-Bay is in South Africa! Whad you use, buoys and a friggin stop watch? Since when was there a break in that area with rides that long??? No names, no maps. Please explain.
HI , I am Matittude on the inflateable dreams message board Useing a program called usa photomaps i was able to refrence landmarks then useing the create route feature i layed out my longest ride Ill not say where it was but just FYI there are at least 3 breaks in the LA area with potential for rides well over .33 of a mile malibu is over .33 from between 1st and 2nd point and the sand beach before the pier topanga is over .6 of a mile from topanga connecting through to chart house and into sand pretty rare but it does happen the time refrence i got comparing to my longest rides at puerto point i have clicked a stop watch on them from the very tip and clicked again as i flew into close out at beach 1 min 40 seconds was an ave ride puerto point is about a 1/3 mile so i went a lil conservative and called the recent session 1.5 min rides may have been closer to a minute in which case i was going really fast or 2 mins was just estimateing but not bullshooting if you know what i mean if you use the knowledge that LA has a law against riding inflateables simply looking at a map will probably reveal where i rode there were no lifegaurds about obviously James
That`s an impressive effort! Wonder if anyone has ever tried using Global Positioning Systems (GPS ) to meausre speed/distnace while surfing? It should work. There would be commercial value in evaluating maximum trim speeds of some different things. Some relevant side-by-side comparisons could finally be documented. Imagine the advertising power! Why are lifeguards on your case? No offense- how many months have you been surfing? What did you slime on the bottom of that thing to make it go?? If you want to go really fast laying down you should try a boogie sometime, too.
Stinky I have been surfing the mat for about 2 months prior to that booogie boarding since 1978 competed in 1984 morey championships at pipeline Lifegaurds were not on my case becasue i never saw any. I am not sure how strictly the no inflateable rule is enforced in LA county. I wouldent want to base my surf session around testing the law. I feel the mat is at least as fast as the boogie on the top end and much better at crossing flat dead sections. Look for the next issue of Rot magazine for some concrete evidence about mat vrs boogie speeds . James Sowell
Theres been mention here about some Rot Magazine. Never seen a single copy. What exactly is it, where can we get a copy and how much per issue, etc. You work for them? Im almost afraid to ask- what`s “R-O-T” stand for?
R-O-T Ridin Other Things. Got the “Dale Issue.” Interview felt elusive, yet strangely familiar. Chicks in Cabo were nice (faked monologue was not). High gloss. Still hard to adjust to the “bookie” mentality. Right Coral? Or is it Bonta? I forget. Just kidding: Riders of Tubes. (They even had a stand up barrel in there). Where is Bonta?
I remember the story about Coral ordering a custom mat for her father(?)- was Dale “elusive, yet strangely familiar”?
Nope, That was the real me pal! Mr. Solomonson made me a fine inflateable surfcraft, for my father, for Christmas. I overheard my father telling my mom, that it is one of the finest examples of quality workmanship and design, that he has seen in a long time. And one of the best presents that he has ever recieved for Christmas. He found out somehow that it cost me $300.00. But, he told my mom that it is worth every penny. He also said something about wanting another one before Mr. Solomonson got to busy, I got to start saving again. And get a power mower or a goat. Maybe I will win the one in the raffle! I hope my father will take us to the Swaylocks Party. I know, if I make some shirts, I might be able to add to the next fine inflateable surfcraft account for my father. Just think, alternative Swaylock tee shirts, from the little girl that you have all come to love. Maybe we can bring some of the kids from up the street. Thanks again, Mr Solomonson, and keep up all of that fine craftsmanship … have fun! P.S. I’m getting a real kick out of imposters … have fun!
Reading through those old threads in the archives it seems that you and your father were both elusive, yet strangely familiar too! Isn`t he a famous Fish shaper, hmmmm?
They say that only God is the famous Fish shaper. Don’t loose any sleep over those old threads. Great that you have internet access in there! And I’m sure that we’re all happy that your here. You must have been over and over all of those old threads hundreds of times by now. When are you up for parole again? … have fun!