Its been a while since last posted, have many photos to add. Will try to add them soon. Life is bloody great I tell ya
Ive got so many photos that cant decide which ones to put up, so I just shoved two up here of our travels, been travelling for a while now. My wife is now nearly 14 weeks pregnant so we have just completed a refit of the bus. At the front of the bus we have a lounge and a long change table for the baby. We got the car back on the road as we will need a car as well when the baby is born. Just left the sunshine coast agian and am heading down the coast to nsw to sort out where tracy will have the baby and to set up base at cresent for a while. Will try to find time to post some more pics but its difficult, got so much better things to do than go on the internet these days… Dont shape no more as dont have the time but im thinking of getting aku pro to muck around with since I cant have a bay…
ive started writting a book. Im 18000 words in and am loving it, so enjoyable.
Stay well everyone and hope to see ya in the surf. If you see a bus heading down the coast towards cresent and its blue and white, please say gday… Were not really dirty hippies, though Im beginning to suspect that people think we are. Ive found that backpackers have really destroyed the australia coastline for a lot of us travelling surfers. The angst of locals and councils towards travellers is sometimes quite heavy, but understandable as well. I try to pay respect to the locals, give then the waves they want, hoot when the make a awesome drop and generally its okay. Though this does not work on the sunshine coast, the backpackers have destroyed any hope of anyone travelling this part of the coast by car. Ahh, but thats another story…
this is epic!
you guys are living the dream!
stoked for you and yours Digger…
Congrats on the new baby coming soon.
here's for Mom and baby staying healthy.
final photos of the last build coming up, included is the change table, my mate who helped out so much, the bus is half his sorta, without my mate this would not have been possible. Also the lounge and extra led lights we installed. At the moment im at sleepy hollow rest area and not sure where I will get to tommorow, will make up our mind in the morning where we will go.
Ive also included the base for the lounge we built. It goes over the wheel arch, has a couple of draws for storage. We added the push to open sliders, pain in the arse to install but so worth it once it was completed.
Hows hueis logo on his boards, burnt into the cork, bloody good hey. Im gonna take a pic of the board and post as well, will give ride report once in decent surf.
Last photo was after the job was completed, finished late at night. It was a bloody relief and to celebrate went fishing the next day. My boy caught a grunter 3/4 the length of his arm, took him 20 minutes to fight it to the boat. We had 6lb line so had the drag on so line wouldnt snap. Such a good fight. As we were lifting it up without net the line snapped due to the weight of the fish. Biggest fish I have seen caught on a 6lb line so far. My boy was so proud.
ride report once ive had it in good surf… as that is what its all about, yeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwww
nice board and bus. good luck with the bureaucrats and wardens and dickhead locals.
just drop in on the cockiest local (not biggest) A few times and then move to the next town
sweet
that's what it's about right there Di99er! you're stoked! board looks good too
its been a while now since ive posted, sorry I take so long between posts.
Board report- fu$k me huei nailed it. Bahaha.
The first time I picked the board up I thought the rails were way to low, I was worried and thought what he hell did ya do that for huei. Then I took it out in gutless sunshine coast waves and the verdict was still out as didnt have a great surf. My next surf was out a Cresent Head in the national park in some good waves. Oh my goodness it came alive. The rails are so perfect, I will never have big boxy rails again, thankyou huei for changing the way I view rails on a surfboard, it has only taken me 30 years to see the light on how a rail should be. They did in beautifully when taking off on steep walls and I have found I can begin turning the bottom turn so much earlier and it projects so much further than I have experienced before. Im sure those who surf low rails know what Im talking about. You must remember that due to age and bad back I aint a world beater in surf and its not till its 3 to 4 foot that my surfing starts to come alive. But these rails have improved my surfing and have let me do things that I use to do years ago.
The tail was a problem to start with as I was use to a round tail and I swear by them… I found on take off the tail would hang in the lip sorta drifting around the place before dropping down the face and gripping in. I rang huei and we decided to try a small moon fin as a fifth fin and the problem for me was solved. For some I dont think the feeling of a drifting tail is a bad thing, even on takeoff as when critical it still didnt make me loose it, but im old school, dont have great flex in me no more, and I dont drift my tail so Im glad the moon fin solved that problem.
The fins.
I have the board set up as a quad running the 4s system with hand foiled fins from huei. They are set on 6 degree cant.
I found when the surf started getting hollow the board felt a bit wobbly in the tail, cant explain it any other way. So I swapped the plugs to 4 degree for the cant. I cant believe how much difference this made for me. I dont think its mind over matter as I have found more drive in my bottom turn and cutbacks, it surfs more like a thruster now than a quad.
The big stuff.
I havent had it out in big stuff yet. I have a set of thruster fins handshaped by huei that are set on the template of garcia fins. Will try these on the red plugs which are 6 degree, cant wait to try it but I dont think I will be surfing agian till april and thats a fair way away.
Overall feeling
Best board I have had, no crap here. I love the cork feel and the board takes a pounding thats for sure. I have had to do one running repair on the cork top and its as simple as slicing some cork to go in area and setting it with araldite, hey presto, its fixed… Could do with a bit more volume but that is my fault for putting on weight after I gave up the smokes. Im now hooked on coke a cola, from one addiction to another, thats me. So ive put on wieght, hopefully will lose it. I have total confidence in this board to handle anything I want to throw at it so Huei thanks mate. Cant wait to do a step up board next year mate
We have travelled to so many places now. We have set aside 1800 for water tanks to go under the bus and once that is done its across the nullabour to surf WA.
My wife is due in March so we have settled down in blackmans point port macquarie till then. Tracy needs to stop travelling as she is sore and bloody huge. Once baby born back up to queensland, then off to canberra, then nullabour and WA.
We plan to travel for years. Once our travelling days are over will stop and drive a school bus somewhere in australia, dont care where.
I have completed one short book of 54000 words and am working on second book, up to 40000 words and climbing, will combine them into one book and will look at self publishing with amazon. My daughter is writing her first novel as well, she is 21000 words in and she is only 12, she is working on a second novel at the same time and is 4000 words into that. I will seek a publishing house for rose as she has a real talent, not like my hack. I just do it to encourage rose. I love writing but dont think I can make a career, but I know my daughter can.
Some more pics of our travels below
If anyone wants to put in their two cents worth on cant on fins would love to hear what you guys think by the way, but I feel the 4 degree give more drive to the board and gave me more confidence in laying her over off the bottom.
As for low rails vs mid, well the debat I suppose has been going on for longer than I can imagine.
I cant wait to talk to huei in depth about a step up, Im sure he dont want to go channels though, bahaha. Huei probably wants to drag me into the future as what he has got going on in the engine room on this board is something else. Im thinking quad set up though.
the last shot is of noah standing in the middle of the creek in jericho, the last rain season skiped jericho, cant quote how long its been since its rained there but bloody hell the farmers have got it tuff in outback queensland, its hell on earth
…I WAS beginning to wonder if you had gone feral and become lost in the ether / ? mushieland ?
great to hear from you digs !
no plans to head south of sydney , and into vicco ??
there are plenty of sways crew that you could catch up with, from newcastle to vicco , you know…
cheers
ben , south gippsland , vicco
yer fins, I wanna do the great ocean road again, this time with kids in a bus. Let the kids walk on gibsons, see the apostles, go to the lighthouse and shipwreck coast. I aim to stay at joanna but remember the road in use to be dirt, very narrow, so not sure if a 40 foot school bus can get down there. IF anyone can give me info on that road you can send me a pm if you dont wanna post it here. It would really be appreciated. I havent been there for nearly 20 years.
Also there is a free camp somewhere on 90 mile beach vic so will be staying there as well. But thats next year sometime… No plans on when, here till baby is born.
My missus had her first false contraction last night so I wont be going surfing for at least 2 months. Im here to be a husband first, dad next, then a surfer after all that stuff is dealt with.
Ok,lots changed. Jethro Douglas Dickson was born on the 25th feb at 8.30 in morning. He was 8lb 4 and 50.2 long. Tracy has gone through a fair bit with this one so Im getting myself cut as soon as I can. We will stay here for another 3 to 4 weeks as recovery will be a bitch for her. Both coming home tommorow so cant wait to see em. Will post pics over the next few days.
Lots has gone wrong and write for us during this period at blackmans point. We all hate sitting still and the nomadic lifestyle suits us more than anything else.
Ive decided when I stop travelling to truly get stuck into shaping and learning it all over again. Will do it properly this time as im more than motivated to pass knowledge of the old school way down to both my boys. Want them to have the choice to take it up if they want to instead of just wishing they did in the first place…Want to see handshaping the proper way survive even if it means staying underground and making very little. One thing Ive learnt is that money doesnt bring happiness, more often than not it just brings bloody misery and I want my boys to be happy, not rich, just happy with there lot.
I will be heading up coast to hopefully see huei and fong. Then down great ocean, joanna, yorks, throw in canberra somewhere there for floriade in september then off to see the nullabour.
Pics soon
CONGRATULATIONS!!! ** :- )**
Can you show a picture of the rail, like with your fingers wrapped around? Curious to see what exactly the rail shape is you’re describing. In my mind’s eye I see something like this…
totally rad!
A guy at my local surfshop does this in a smaller bus. Hes got shaping stands, electricity, running water, the whole shabang. Took it down to central america for the whole winter for the surf. Livin’ the dream
thats a lot of miles for that tranny and engine! Do you plan on doing a engine and tranny swap at anytime?
