I finally had a chance to ride my newly completed Grain Waterlog. We took a trip down to San Diego to visit with family and friends last week. Our first day down there, the surf was completely blown out and there wasn't a surfer in the water anywhere. The second day, my daughter, Malia, and I went down to La Jolla Shores and caught some nice small waves. We both had fun and I'm so glad I was able to share the experience with Malia.
So how did it ride? The board is heavier than any of my other boards. I think I added too much reinforcement throughout the board, which added the extra weight. I doubt the board needed all that reinforcement in retrospect. Once I put the board in the water, the nose felt particularly heavy. It took me a few minutes to find the fulcrum point on the board. It takes a bit more effort to paddle the board, but it gains incredible momentum. I placed the fin all the way back in the box and the tip of the fin extended to just beyond the end of the board. This made for a stiffer and slower turning, but really stabilized the board. Overall, I loved the ride and feel of the board. The Shores were pretty crowded on this day and Malia and I only caught a few waves.
I went out the next day with my cousin, Frank, and brother-in-law, Jason at 15th Street in Del Mar. Malia came with us, but there was a little swell in the water and she decided to stay on the beach. Frank, Jason and I caught a handful of chest-to-head high waves. I felt more comfortable on the board this day but still need some time to get really familiar with it.
Later in the day, Frank and I went to the Sacred Craft Expo at the Del Mar Fair Grounds. Very cool experience. I saw so many legends, shapers, and cool boards. One of the highlights was meeting Mike from Grain. We stopped by his booth, introduced ourselves and chatted for a bit. Mike is a gracious person and passionate about Grain. Just to name drop for a minute, I also met Mike Hynson and got his autograph. I saw Wingnut, Mickey Munoz, Gene Cooper, Matt Calvani, Sam George, John Cherry (with the Simmons Spoon replica and his agave board), Ryan Lovelace, and John Wesley. The latter two are young, talented shapers.
I saw a pretty cool board that someone brought for appraisal. It was a Dave Sweet board from the late 1950s. According to Sam George, who was appraising the board, it was a particularly historically significant board, because it was one of the first foam boards manufactured. Sam determined this based on the fact that the board didn't have a stringer, which was something that was introduced a little later. The guy that brought the board in said he received it as trade for some work he did for a guy. Sam estimated that this particular board might be worth as much as $10,000 - $15,000 at auction.
One other unique board I saw at the SC was made out of recycled aluminum cans. The board had a rudimentary wood frame (rails, nose block and tail block) and aluminum cans laid lengthwise within the frame. The person then fiber glassed the structure. The cans made natural channels on the deck and bottom of the board. There was worn wax on the deck, so it looked like it had been surfed. It was probably the most creative and original crafts I saw at the entire show.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Stop the Clock...I'm Finally Finished
After 886 days, I finally finished my Grain Waterlog kit. In that time, we had a child (Charlie), I found a new position, and we moved closer to the ocean.
Some observations and lessons learned....
* If I can build a Grain kit (albeit slowly), anyone can.
* If there was a way to make a mistake, I found it. Several small, less obvious mistakes and a few that were more obvious.
* You may never have enough clamps; seriously, I now own 60 3" clamps, 40 2" clamps, 6 bar clamps, 8 feet of PVC clamps, and several others. Does anyone need clamps?
* The manual is surprisingly helpful and clearly explains the process as well as potential pitfalls - kudos to the author(s).
* Mike LaVecchia at Grain is awesome - he answered numerous questions via email and bailed me out of a couple tight spots with his helpful advice. He always had time for my questions and responded really quickly.
* Take it easy when removing wood from your board, whether that be with a spoke shave, hand plane or sanding - once it's gone, you can't replace it. I ended up adding a nose block because I took off too much wood where the deck met the rails near the nose.
* Glassing the board was easier than I thought; sanding it was not. I eventually broke down and bought a sander/polisher. Of all the steps in the process, I was most anxious about glassing the board. Again, great directions in the manual, and once it was done, you could really see what the board was going to look like.
* Be as neat as possible as you build your board, it will save you time and aggravation in the end.
* When it's all said and done, you'll spend way more than the cost a new board (maybe even two), but the satisfaction of making your own can't be measured in money.
* Be careful, these things are addictive. Half way through the Waterlog, I bought a Sapling kit.
* There are quite a few other Grain build blogs out there and they're all helpful and inspiring.
* One unexpected benefit of the project was that many of my neighbors, whom I did not previously know, stopped by my garage as I was building the board to check it out. I got to know them all much better thanks to the project.
I included a few pictures of the finished board and my family. Each of them helped in their own way and I'm thankful for their contributions, support and patience.
There are only two things left to do: wax it and ride it.
If anyone building a Grain kit has questions about my project, I would be happy to answer them.
Some observations and lessons learned....
* If I can build a Grain kit (albeit slowly), anyone can.
* If there was a way to make a mistake, I found it. Several small, less obvious mistakes and a few that were more obvious.
* You may never have enough clamps; seriously, I now own 60 3" clamps, 40 2" clamps, 6 bar clamps, 8 feet of PVC clamps, and several others. Does anyone need clamps?
* The manual is surprisingly helpful and clearly explains the process as well as potential pitfalls - kudos to the author(s).
* Mike LaVecchia at Grain is awesome - he answered numerous questions via email and bailed me out of a couple tight spots with his helpful advice. He always had time for my questions and responded really quickly.
* Take it easy when removing wood from your board, whether that be with a spoke shave, hand plane or sanding - once it's gone, you can't replace it. I ended up adding a nose block because I took off too much wood where the deck met the rails near the nose.
* Glassing the board was easier than I thought; sanding it was not. I eventually broke down and bought a sander/polisher. Of all the steps in the process, I was most anxious about glassing the board. Again, great directions in the manual, and once it was done, you could really see what the board was going to look like.
* Be as neat as possible as you build your board, it will save you time and aggravation in the end.
* When it's all said and done, you'll spend way more than the cost a new board (maybe even two), but the satisfaction of making your own can't be measured in money.
* Be careful, these things are addictive. Half way through the Waterlog, I bought a Sapling kit.
* There are quite a few other Grain build blogs out there and they're all helpful and inspiring.
* One unexpected benefit of the project was that many of my neighbors, whom I did not previously know, stopped by my garage as I was building the board to check it out. I got to know them all much better thanks to the project.
I included a few pictures of the finished board and my family. Each of them helped in their own way and I'm thankful for their contributions, support and patience.
 |
| The deck |
 |
| The bottom |
 |
| The bottom again |
 |
| The deck again |
 |
| Malia helped with the polishing |
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| Charlie |
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| Charlie sitting on the board |
 |
| Vanessa with Charlie |
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| Vanessa showing Charlie how to walk to the nose |
 |
| Malia still polishing |
If anyone building a Grain kit has questions about my project, I would be happy to answer them.
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