3-15

Swell: West 8’ @ 10 sec.

Wind: First day in months that the wind went offshore…

Water Temp: Nice

Air Temp: Is it about to snow…???...

My new  7’11” was done, except for the final glossy finish…In the past, I had my nephew spray on a clear two-part urethane auto clear coat…He’s one of the best in town…But he was swamped and couldn’t get to it for weeks…So I bought a quart of clear Imron, and did it myself…I sprayed on two coats, top and bottom, sanding the first coat…It turned out great, not as perfect as my nephew could do, but more than good enough…I shot the last coat on Wednesday night…

I got up on Thursday morning expecting to go to work…I checked the weather forecast and saw the prediction for East winds starting mid-morning, increasing to 20 kts. Then swinging South by dark…The swell was reasonable, west in direction, 8’@ 10 sec…Real good for our beaches…My plans for the day just changed…

I would have preferred to wait a day more for the clear coat to cure, but the forecast showed endless South winds after today…So I loaded the Benz, put the 7’11” on the shaping stands and waxed it up…The first stroke of the wax always is somewhat of a milestone, when the board has been taken from the idea-design-construction phase to the “this is what you were built for” stage…An authentification of design…A commitment to be ridden…Reality check…

I drove to the beach in daylight, a rarity for me…The winds were showing along the way…Tree tops leaned West, the smoke from the chimneys leaned hard towards the ocean…Things I can’t see during my usual pre-dawn drives…So far so good…

When I finally got to the beach, and climbed to the top of the dune to see the ocean, I knew that passing on work was the right decision…Six to eight foot waves, offshore winds, two guys out…I’m out there…!!!...

So I suited up in winter rubber, picked up the “seems too light” 7’11”, and jogged to the waters edge…I slipped into the rip, waded out a bit, then hopped on and paddled out…The 7’11” felt as I expected as I made my way to the lineup…Floats great, feels stable, balanced…Once I was at the peak next to the jetty is wasn’t long until the first wave came through…A solid right, walled up with a tapering shoulder…I committed, paddled a few strokes, got under the lip, penetrated the offshores and had it…I dropped straight, eased a backside bottom turn, leaned towards the hollowing wall, adjusted my trim line and went 50 to 75 yards locked into a great first wave…As I kicked out a smile crept over my face, a validation of the design and build…Subsequent waves were all minor epiphanies, revelations of the quad fin design…I rode almost all rights, backside to me, without any regrets of the boards dimensions or bottom set-up…It worked great…Surprisingly I built the boards as a summer board, not for waves with this size or power, yet the design had no drawbacks…That, was a pleasant surprise…

The rides revealed a few things…The firmness of the all balsa hollow design is strong…Very little board flex…Yet the Basswood fins do have flex, which rode comfortably…The 12.5# all hollow balsa feels a lot lighter when paddling and during the ride…I still see the need for weight in big waves, but this board will be well suited for average conditions…Finally the quad set-up is PREDICTABLE…a very good thing…

I stayed out for three hours, snagging a bunch of waves, getting and giving hoots, just having a super fun day…!!!...Life is good…

Paul

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