Riding and Sliding - Alaia's coming soon

I just had an amazing lunch hour session on the alaia. For those of you who are unfamiliar with these weird looking ironing boards, the alaia is a flat wooden board rediscovered by Tom Wegener and based on the ancient Hawaiian boards. These boards are challenging to ride at first, but are well worth the wipe outs. Once you have them wired, I can honestly say they are the funnest boards for those small clean days. Super smooth and fast, you carve on your rail, pull 360’s at will (and sometimes even when you don’t mean it!) and generally surf waves that not even the Mals can. Check out this clip for some ideas (http://vimeo.com/15613970)

They are pretty thin (normally under 1.5 inches thick), about 5-7ft long, and around 17-19 inches wide. They are commonly built with a rolled nose through to a tri-planning hull with a single or double concave through back third of the board. With a fairly straight outline and knife sharp rails they are total speed machines.

I made from Paulownia with red wood stringers. It has been snapped three times, glued back together and re-shaped twice, and it is a blast to ride!

They are simply oiled and are totally eco-friendly. Give me a bell if you are interested – I’ll be building some new alaias when I place the next timber order, prices will start at about $250.

5'8 Chambered timber fish - make an offer!

5'8 by 20 & 1/2' by 2 & 1/3' Chambered Timber Twin Keel Fish with 4oz glass top and bottom.
SOLD To make an offer  - Leave a comment for JAMES on this page or call 0417 106 480

Up for grabs is the original Kiri Surfcraft. This board was made a few years ago and has been surfed regularily since then, its been such a great board and has drawn so much attention from other surfers that it inspired me to start Kiri Surfcrafts. Now it is up for sale to make way for new and innovative models.

This is a chambered surfboard, each of piece of timber that make this board have been painstakingly hollowed out. The brass vent is to allow the board to breath, unscrew it when you are not in the water and screw it in tight just before a surf (a 5c coin works well in place of a screw driver(!)).

The light coloured timber is Paulownia – an amazing, fast growing timber originating in South East Asia and now sustainably grown and harvested in plantations throughout eastern Australia. The Japanese word for Paulownia is KIRI, which is where the brand name comes from. The unique thing about this wood is that it is almost as light as balsa wood, but it is much more durable and is resistant to water logging. This board is lightly glassed with 4oz cloth by Jade from DSN Surfboards in Gerringong, NSW (Jade has glassed a few woodies in his time and did a really good job with this one).

 The low entry rocker, planning hull and sharp rails are also all designed to give the board more speed down the line. You will also notice the rails of this board are quite sharp, combine this with small timber twin keel fins and the board’s responsiveness is greatly improved. A chambered timber board is much more lively underfoot than foam and fiberglass boards (especially when the surf has a bit of power), it will flex a bit and bounce in and out of turns, the resonance of timber means you will “feel” the way the wave and the board interact. The feeling is hard to explain, suffice to say it’s a great ride!

This board surfs great off the front foot, is super fast and as with most hollow timber boards, it lends itself to huge arcing cut backs, super human floaters and drawn out top-to -bottom ‘figure 8’ turns. This board feels a little slow to paddle, but due to the simmons planning hull design as soon as you catch the wave this board will have almost instant speed, you can relax and just enjoy the speed and energy of the surf and I'm sure you will be able to make sections that you once thought were impossible.

This board is made to bring the fun back into your surfing, no matter what the conditions are like. I've surfed this board comfortably in anything from knee high to well overhead, the bigger the surf gets the livelier the board feels.

The ideal wave for this board is a long peeling break with a variety of fast hollow sections and slow shoulders that break anywhere from knee high to a couple of feet overhead. Since surfing this, my first timber surfboard, I have only gone back to my regular foam and glass thruster for two sessions (when the swell was 6-8ft+).

Surfing wood is addictive!

yeeoow Kiri Surfcraft a finalist - check it out page 105 (issue 10 Free in good surf stores now).

http://www.smorgasboarder.com.au/

Keeping the dream alive

Keeping the dream alive – the lunch hour surf

I check the time as I swing out of my chair, its 12:18 and lunch hour the clock starts. I walk briskly down the corridor towards the beckoning exit sign, I’m trying not to look like I’m rushing. I don’t want to raise suspicion.

The cool easterly hits me as I escape out of the backdoor into the carpark, its definitely picked up since this morning, but still looks almost offshore, I stay positive.

Past the city green and I’m out of eyeshot of the office, I start to jog.

12:22, I reach the backdoor. My wife has taken the boys out to lunch at a friend’s place, and I struggle with the stubborn lock on the back door before racing inside to get changed. I contemplate pulling on my wetsuit, the water is getting cold its probably about 15-16 degrees maybe, but a wetsuit will steal precious minutes or potential surf time. I tell myself to suck it up and I don the boardies and thongs.

12:24, I struggle to ride my bike through the narrow side gate with my board under my arm. Its my latest wooden mini simmons, its not glassed, and almost completely solid, its not light and I’m barely managing to balance on the bike with the 8kgs of wood under one arm.  

12:26, I’m on my way cruising down the shared footpath dodging an elderly couple walking their little dog, I’m hoping that there are no chance encounters with anyone from work on the way.

12:32, I pull up at the beach, the surf club is the closest access and the wind is straight cross shore. The swell is solid, about a foot overhead on the sets, there are some good peaks, but its choppy. Normally I’d keep looking but after the craziest morning at work, and only 46 minutes left of my lunch hour I head straight out. I lock up the bike and I’m running through the shallows by 12:34.

12:58, I check my watch and this wave will have to be last. It shaping up to be a good left, I drop down a lumpy 7ft face, the sharp rails and momentum of the timber board cut through the water like a knife. Easing into a long bottom turn, I then set a high line racing under the lip as the wave starts to peel. All of a sudden I’m way out on the shoulder, burying my trailing hand in the wave I rip this freight train of a surfboard back toward the pocket. I bounce off the foam and by dragging one arm in the wave I lock into the little pocket. I make a quick shuffle down the board and attempt to hang five, I hold it for a second too long and the nose begins to dive. I dive off the back into waist deep water only meters from the beach. Adrenaline pumping, water up my nose and sand in my hair, the craving is sedated for now.

1:07, I know I’m out of shape and I’m stuffed after riding up the hill, my back tyre is really flat and I feel the rim bounce over every bump in the path. Pushing hard for last few hundred meters I make it home by 1:09.

1:12, I’m still tucking in my shirt as I lock the back door heading back to work. I finger comb my damp and possibly still sandy hair as I hurry down the street back towards the office.

1:15, I bite into my apple that I grabbed on the way out of the house as I swipe my card and walk back through the back door.

1:16 I’m consciously trying to keep my breathing normal as I sit back down at my desk, no one has said anything and no out of the ordinary weird looks. I’ve done it! I can’t help the silly grin that spreads across my face. Only my second lunch hour surf for the year and its saved me from the brink of the 8 to 5 oblivion. The dream lives on.