After having shaped three SUPs...I had to admit defeat...
I blame on not being able to get accurate templates and dims on the most popular SUPs, ones I have actually ridden.
I shaped one for Spike that was a hybrid longboard/sup, I liked it but felt it was limited by its rocker set up. The template was from an Arrow sup I surfed last year in SC. While the Arrow worked well, it was more in tune with hollower beach break than our local crap waves. I refined it a bit too far for local conditions though, the nose needed an inch more rocker, even a little flip might have helped. It worked but...
My big blue was a great nose rider but didn't like the pocket much, it seemed to drift a bit when forced in to a hollow section but would hold for days when on the front third.
I never got to ride the big green though I did paddle it around. The buyer said he loved it but he isn't much of a surfer yet.
Three years a go, I rode C4 Waterman 10'6" that I really liked. It's too bad they were so pricey and imported...but I really liked the board, it was so versatile and loose yet loved nose riding and was so damn light for its size.
Well..I was in SC a few weeks a go and priced out another blank...280.00, plus 230 for materials (epoxy resin is not cheap)...and then 20 hours of shaping.
Long story even longer...
Ken Wilson went with me to SC and while he had the time and dough, the trip was so last minute it stretched his resources a bit. He decided he might want to sell his C4 10'6"...so I bit...
500.00...its a bit beat, lots of paint needed on the rails and some touch up to some neglected but repaired dings.
I surfed it yesterday in some 8" to 10" bay waves...lolz...
I really like the shape and outline, again, it is so versatile, unreal combination of rocker, rails and float.
So...I am riding an import.
Fuck me.
But still no leash at least.
What can I say but...I now have a SUP I can pull design from and being that the board works in almost all conditions, I should be able to shape some really good SUP's from it.
Why ride a SUP? More options stupid.
Any one who bad mouths them is just being an idiot.
I ride a Morey Boogie too, does it make me less of a Waterman?
No.
Wave hog? Its so empty here we call friends so we don't surf alone.
So there it is.
Can't afford to beat them, might as well join them.
I am shaping Stellas' first personal board right now. 7'2" by 19", 14" nose, 11" tail. Perfectly proportioned longboard for her...wait till you see it.
Crazy.
That's the news from here, no surf, 6' at 6 seconds with 30 knots of onshore wind.
Right...just more nasty Oregon summer crap.
See ya.
