so I stand on the threshold of this new format .treading lightly on the edge of this abyss, like the platform at Fleischacker pool that I was never to access,with trepidation at the bubble boxes and features waiting to be clicked as well as an unfounded fear of being moderated…wide eyed I stand before the doors of the great OZ,with appologies to L.Frank Baum and a bouquet for mrs paler for letting mike play with us…Over here in my rendition of real life as the former room went dark for a fortnight I embarked on the execution of a planned project 4 years in the offing . When did the 12’8 tandem blank come availiable? thats when I started thimpkin…made one for Big John Kauo the board was huge I milled and milled and it was still thick and massive but then John was to be accomadated…the subsequent blanks I aquired were of the tandem rocker configuration I.E. nose rocker to the extreme…hard if not imppossible to grasp the shaping stoke…so years of scrutinizing on a daiy basis later I turn on the sander to skin and rough these leviathans…
two at once …diligently following through on the shorter of the two with the nose reduced 6’’ allowing rocker reduction and finishing on the 6th day after shaping…rest a day and then the next…and finishing 7 days after…so any how the important part is the riding …over the past two and a half weeks I have had the oppertunity to become aquainted with these entities,and it is slowly coming into focus that each is a different beast entirely the rockered one kicks butt down wind paddling and get trounced paddling against the wind…the flat one to weather is a penetrating machine but down wind that wetted surface just sticks tight and wont particularly fly…then to catch waves… so far about 15 waves per board in obtuse surf, long rides at beyond contemporary criterion spots ,big rolling peaks way offshore hard to line up.currents and fickle take offs…These spots I have been studying for twenty years plus trying to access the satisfaction that the ancient inhabitants of these environs derived while surfing these waves…each attempt has brought me to an understanding wider than before…the width of my understanding on tuesday: the 30 yard deep flat spot between the outside reef and the inside could be bridged this 12’8 with the big rocker made it all the way on three waves whoa! if I’m not mistaken dave was connecting it lastweek when we were riding switched 12’ers ie him on the rockered and me on the flat… hopefully the photo post thing will work its way this week so these missing thousand words from the lack of photos can be ammended…when the wave closed out the turn back was like butter like no edge digging fears … thanks to the respective dieities that no body was out that would have to be dodged in the line up as these boards are heavy as well as massive…no I haven’t done a coffin on either board yet. They still scare me, the raw inertia they possess,to take off with careless abandon is simply not an option…holding on and exploring where these forms wish to go …is…ambrose in waipouli…the reason I made two is so I wont have to go alone on these forays … please come for a paddle… these make the 11’ 37# board feel like a chip
Bien Olas tienden! the sage and poppies sing the melodies ,the Jays enunciate the lyrics, the shorebreak pounds out the back beat as the atmosphere caresses the ocean with the love only a sister can express while tourturing a sibling into producing a perfect curling gestalt scream up the coast to the waiting… depraved of truth and light …only the faithful will be able to see the light as the truth reveals it self…can the collective mind make a swell? with the help of sister atmosphere and a set of 9’1’'Y’s as talisman all we could hope for would be for Renyolds to review the troops…ambrose…do your best work Yater might see it…
Ambrose, I just picked up my new 11’6" nose rider. The one that I asked the people here about nose rocker, and was told not to make a board that big that I did not know what I was talking about. If fact I even ask for help from you on making these people understand, what it was that I was doing. I love the big boards, I surf mostly 11 footers, thou I do have a few 10’6". I love the way the big boards glide. I think I know the spot you are talking about. I would love to see a pic of that 12’8" that you have made. I will send you a pic of my 11’6" nose rider. I know you will love it.
got the pic …its all about the glide …the fixation of the contemporary mind is the infatuation with stationary foot direction changes…to walk is not only out of fashion,it simply is not part of the ciriculum or repetory.the ageing organisms that could once walk no longer can because of arthritus of the body and or mind …this coupled with the stigmata of burn artist wave hogs using the shallow draft vehicles to take more than their rightful share of waves at places like Maliprop , Displeasures Salamis Nestles etc. the plan deliniated by the astute Skip of Frye take two an paddle to the next spot is applied genius… how many spots can you surf in a session?.. sitting on top of the easter basket not letting any one get any eggs is an old big kid nyah Nyah NYAH approach…simply not aceptable…large people ,over 200#, are entitled to a size proportional board an 11’ board is like an 8’6 for a 150#er…the true opening of the door for the boards of enormity depend on accessing waves not ridden by pedestrian sized boards i.e. close quarter high visibility spots close to the beach…I took out the paddle (far from the maddening crowd) and exausted my core muscles opening blood flow to some muscles not accessed for some time …full body twists aching hip to quad conectors … credible training quietly replaces demonstrative antics … ho’e ghee whiz …11’…a step along the way… the simple increase in volume opens possibilities beyond the rabble and squirm of mock dominion over spots so seriously overcrowded by honest enthusiasts trying their best to learn and share . I clearly saw,in 1976 when i first made a board over 11’, that the placement of a twelve foot board in a crowd of surfers could and would have the same adverse effects of giving tchnology to mentally unprepared civilizations … show surfers a paddle and some one will use it like a stick to hit their cousin on the head… protecting the fragile growth of budding awareness is a skill and a high skill at that…trying to convince the ‘’------‘’ of the merits of the Glide will come in its own time…the gaze of the collective mass is still narrowed at the egocentric feet , in time the gaze will lift to see the wave and then beyond to the atmosphere and when completely ready perhaps the stellar regions…this surfing stuff is training…to become voyagers and celestial navigators… is obvious to me now to be the full plan…each person at their own pace.taking each tread and riser at their own speed…you dont need help explaining …some just need more time to understand …ambrose…Thomas from north carolina took some pictures today and he’s gonna post ‘em, once he does I ‘ll write explaination of who’s which and what…aloha bags…the paddle board guys are only doing 18’-24’ Alii surf wasnt necessarily big…but it was long and connected
Ahhh… good things Ambrose. I can remember many a day at the cliffs when Skip would appear out of no where on his 12+ “section connector”. Such grace… wave after wave, from the outside to the inside always ending each ride with an exagerated kickout landing on his knees and back out and south to the next peak. The only man I have ever seen who could (can) consistantly connect from In-Betweens to New Breaks. The board was the key… looking forward to pictures of yours.