Thread: help with hollow wooden surfboard.

Rick, Rick, Rick, Rick, Hey man try a heavy board. Become a soul surfer. Get a huge, heavy mal, man! You'll luv it!

Seriously Rick a heavier board (preferebly wood although I do still have my very 1st board, a 9'6" Graeme King with 4 lams of glass, 3 huge redwood stringers & a reverse D fin, weighing around 2 & a half ton, purchased on my 16th birthday for $9.00 Aussie dollars from his shop on The Princes Highway, Kirrawee, Sydney) will have more momentum, glide better, catch a wave sooner & stay on it longer, than any lightweight, chattery, flappy, frothy foam stick thats out there just waiting to snap in half on you.
London, (work) yeah well we get out of it down to the coast regularly & back to Oz or Indo a couple of times a year.
Cheers,
Pauly

Dear Z
My first board was a McCoy twin fin, about 5' 8". I did, however, have a Scott Dillon thing that weighed half a ton that I used to take out at Bellambi Pt because it was about the only thing that would catch the pathetic little waves there. I take your point re momentum etc. BUT, this little penguin's just not old enough for `soul' surfing ... yet! Just let me continue the gradual progression of the boards getting slightly larger as the waves and moves get less gradually smaller. By the way, you have much better access to surf there in London than we do here in Hanoi (I work in Hanoi) ... dammit !!

Having said that, last week I was in Da Nang, the surf was clean, offshore, 4', no one out in 5km or so of beach, no board ... even a wooden one would have been good!! Tragedy! Rick

Originally Posted by RFNK

Dear Z
My first board was a McCoy twin fin, about 5' 8". I did, however, have a Scott Dillon thing that weighed half a ton that I used to take out at Bellambi Pt because it was about the only thing that would catch the pathetic little waves there. I take your point re momentum etc. BUT, this little penguin's just not old enough for `soul' surfing ... yet! Just let me continue the gradual progression of the boards getting slightly larger as the waves and moves get less gradually smaller. By the way, you have much better access to surf there in London than we do here in Hanoi (I work in Hanoi) ... dammit !!

Having said that, last week I was in Da Nang, the surf was clean, offshore, 4', no one out in 5km or so of beach, no board ... even a wooden one would have been good!! Tragedy! Rick

I have lived and surfed Bellambi for most of my life. 99% of the time it dribbles in, the 1% of the time when the Moon/Tides & Swell coincide (and my work) it is a good fun hollow Left. It is especially fun when you take off from the Outside Bombie, thru the Suckhole and make it to the Pools. That only happens once every 10 or so years.

On the subject of controlling a board without a Leggie, for an experienced surfer it is a reasonable thing to do, pullouts or kicking off waves at the right time. For an inexperienced surfer, surf small, uncrowded waves and remember to fall away from the board

Thanks for the tip re the leggie Pat! but, er, how did we get on to talking about that? I can't see the connection (if you'll excuse the pun

I used to go out at Bellambi after work when I was working in Wollongong as it was surfable right up to dark because of the lights on the pool and, of course, remained smooth in the SE wind. Late 70s.

By the way, every time I've been injured by surf skis, planks and other objects which are completely unsuitable for the surf, they've either still had the `surfer' riding or at least attached to them. Of course, most of the injuries I've had have really been from my own board but, as mentioning this weakens my argument against all these things in the surf that aren't similar to my own light, manouverable, fibreglass surfboard, I won't mention that again.
Rick

Bellambi Pt!!?? jeeeez why are we talking about Bellambi Pt.??? My wife is a Wollongong girl (long time since she was a girl tho) originally from Fairy Meadow but then her parents moved to Bellambi Pt. which the only good thing about was/is Bellambi Pub. Lets get back to the thread guys and build something brilliant out of wood (& not surf it at Bellambi LOL)

Pauly

Rick you've just proved my point! LOL (The li'l foam stick is out to get you)

Pauly

Pauly
Bellambi Pt came up as an example of a spot where it's possible to have fun on a heavy plank - whatever it's made of. When eveything else is blown out and it's nearly dark, places like this provide a nice end to a working day and you can enjoy waves like this more on a plank. I think big, heavy boards, goat boats and canoes in the surf, in most places, are a bit of a disaster - but that's just my opinion. In crowded beach breaks, they can be dangerous too. Would I ban any of these things? Absolutely not - Australia's already way too much of a nanny state and I think if you go into the surf, you take your chances. The point I made early on was that if someone's going to make a surfboard from wood, then a lot of thought needs to go into ways to make it really light (because, unlike you, I think boards perform better if they're light - my opinion, I also like relatively shorter boards) and waterproof so that it stays light. Various people have pointed out that it's possible to achieve that with a timber board - that's great, all power to them, I do look forward to trying out an example. I can make a really nice board from foam and glass for a few hundred dollars, or buy a much better one for a couple of hundred dollars more, so, personally, that suits me. Will you ever convince me that heavy boards perform better than lighter ones? Not in this lifetime. When the wind is howling, I want to be out there on my 6kg epoxy sailboard for a few hours. On any other day, that's most days, I want to be out there in our timber Folkboat. For me, surfing's still like the days of howling wind - while I can, I still want to rip it up. Let me acknowledge however, that it's increasingly more about the potential to rip it up rather than the actuality (especially the longer I spend in places like Hanoi). Maybe one day I'll actually have more fun on a plank, even on the good days. But not yet, and it won't be heavy! Rick

Hi, i am making a hollow wooden board for my HSC and i am just wondering where i can pick up surfboard plans for somthing along the lines of 5'4 19 1/2' and roughly around 3'. thankyou for your time.

Hi Nelsoh, have a look at Jensen in US - Hollow Surfboards

Someone posted a photo earlier in this thread. That is essentially the skeleton of what you want. Start at the outside with some solid rails and then work your way in towards the centre in strip plank method. Somewhere I read 8mm was the thickness you want but you need to research this. Use cedar and other contrasting (colour) light weight timbers.... Paulownia. One of our members, Whitewood has a plantation up northern NSW. Get in touch with him for timber. This is my first post in a few years so not sure who is still about.

Good luck with your project.