i am looking for help on mounting a seat onto a surfboard. what works and what doesnt work … have seen Ride A Wave have mounted seats on longboards for the kids and some adults … am looking to do this for a Wake Surf Board … any suggestions help ideas would be greatly appreciated
Got my starting setup … plastic jeggs go kart hi back seat and a 8’ wave storm from costco … have some other hard board ideas also and still would like any and all suggestions!!
I have always thought a longboard with good floatation and a kayak seak (with kayak paddle) could be a nice lightweight, shallow draft paddler.
You will need to the find the sweet spot for seat position/weight distribution – 60:40.50:50, 40:60.
Set up like a john boat:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Attwood-Single-Piece-Molded-Boat-Seat-Gray/16203731
https://www.amazon.com/SeaLux-Universal-Heavy-degree-Swivel/dp/B01028H548
Or more lightweight kayak seats:
https://www.globosurfer.com/best-kayak-seat/
what would hector valarde do?
do it without a paddle.
…ambrose…
I’ve watched a few videos where surfers mount a seat or a chair and easily surf on shore. I wonder how can they do that! Once I’ve asked my pro trainer for suggestions to do so. His response was this require a higher skill and ability to balance. Mounting a seat on a surfboard is not a big deal but riding on it is. Well, as a beginner or an intermediate, my dreams have nipped in the bud. It may seem funny that I ended up with a fishing float tube.
There’s really nothing new under the sun. Well, there is, but in surfing most tends to be what was old is new again.
Back when, there was Merv Larson. He rocked with something called a surf ski, which was a finless board with interesting rails, square nose, foot straps and something akin to a tractor seat. Not, I assure you, some sort of beach chair hot glued to a random slab of a surfboard but a pretty refined, evolved set of kit.
https://www.surfer.com/blogs/eos/merv-larsons-strange-trip/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcIqmxj0jXk and lots more.
and there’s more. A friend of mine had one here, before he bagged it all and took himself and the ski to Costa Rica some decades back. Highly respected waterman. And there was nothing bad you could say about his surfing, no excuses to be made, he got in as tight and as vertical as anybody, took off as late, cranked turns as hard. Pleasure to watch. I’ll bet he’s still there, still impressing people who never saw a ski used properly.
Some things to note-
The seat is backless, albeit elevated on a hump in the back of the deck to ssave the back a bit. That backless seat allows weight and balance to be shifted fore and aft, trim and turns and more.
The paddle is shortened, a lot. Blades might be cut down too. Makes paddling a skosh less efficient, maybe, but allows it to be used as a fin or a pivot point. As well, you were less likely to eat the thing paddling out and punching through.
StUPes, they get old, Wave hogs, many of them, with little or no redeeming value. But the surf ski deserves another look, in my far from humble opinion.
doc…
Check out Macskisurfgear Waveski. There seems to be a resurgence on the way. Ian McCleod - master craftsmen.
Forget about it. Go home and sit on the couch. Pop a Corona and put “Siestas and Olas” in the DVD player. That’s as close as anyone who wants to sit in a chair and surf should be allowed by law to get to any surf break. You’re a menace to surfing.