Wednesday, January 27, 2010

[Blog] Sam Busts Into iPad Launch: Okay, not really, but it looks like him. http://ping.fm/E4Wjw
[Blog] Sam Busts Into iPad Launch: Okay, not really, but it looks like him. http://ping.fm/MIIyw

Sam Busts Into iPad Launch

(My Original Blog Post: http://ping.fm/QsRv8)
Okay, not really, but it looks like him.

Monday, January 25, 2010

The Low Buck Option

(My Original Blog Post: http://ping.fm/xtjFi)

How about this board and paddle for $250? You could actually do it for less.

New Standup Paddle Surf boards are undeniably expensive compared to standard surfboards. There are several reasons for this--first, they have a lot more material in them. Not just foam, but all the expensive chemicals that go into building a board. And since they are large they need better and more expensive materials to make them both light and strong. They also need a paddle, and good ones are expensive. We'll give you options for this later, first let's talk boards.

Another reason SUP boards are expensive is that not everyone can build them. You need a large area and a lot of experience to shape a big board like a SUP. If you're going to build a custom one you probably need vacuum bagging equipment and the know-how to use it. Vacuum bagging uses fairly expensive consumables. Most likely boards will be shipped into your area, and that means a lot of freight cost for the big boxes. Manufacturers have to plan on some shipping loss because boards this big and fragile are going to take some whacks.

So it's justified--so what. It's still a lot of money. What's a low buck dude or dudette going to do? There are many options. Especially now that we're well into the fourth generation of SUP boards. There's some decent boards hitting the secondhand market. Craigslist works fine for finding a used SUP, you can expect to find older boards for sale frequently. Most are in the $500-700 range. If this is your route, have some caution. SUP boards are a good target for thieves since they bring a nicer buck than a longboard. You don't want to buy stolen property, not just because of the legal issues but because it's a good way to find a large angry guy shaking his fist in your face. A cop friend of mine once told me that the reason people don't protest much when they are found with stolen property is that everyone either knows or suspects the item was stolen when they bought it. So trust your gut. Ask some basic questions over the phone to your potential seller. Like "where did you buy this board, how long have you had it, what other SUP boards do you have." It doesn't take much to make a thief get defensive.

But the most effective way to find a used SUP is to take an active approach. It has the added benefit that you'll be pretty certain the board isn't stolen. Simply ask all the SUP paddlers you can find if they know anyone with an old board they'd like to sell. SUP is one of those sports that causes rapid accumulation of gear, even though it's pretty simple. My brother is on a tight budget and I think he has six boards. Almost anyone that's been doing SUP for any length of time has boards they've outgrown. They'll almost always be what you want--a beginner board. With a little luck the seller can show you some of the ropes as well.

You might also take a look at the classified sections of SUP forums. We don't have a classified section on Ke Nalu, but we probably should. In the meantime, the Standup Zone has one that's pretty active.

One very cheap way to get into Stand Up Paddle Surfing--especially the flatwater paddling--is to dig up an old windsurfing board. Back in the early days of windsurfing a lot of boards were big and floaty. You had to stand on them to uphaul the sail. !0 foot boards were common and some reached over 12 feet. Their hull design isn't usually good for surfing, but they're fine for flatwater and some are really fast.

Here's a pretty remarkable project that John Watkins (Mindtripped on the Standup Zone) undertook to make a nice flatwater SUP from an old windsurfer:

So I was browsing craigslist for months trying to find a cheap SUP to get into the sport when I came upon this black 10' 6" windsurfing board. I checked it out and scored it for 120 bucks with a 9" Curtis Fin.


Then came the long process of sanding down the black spray paint that these punk kids put on and discovered graphics that said 1986 F2 comet! I couldn't believe how old it was (only 3 years younger than me) but in great condition minus the black spray paint. I pad sanded and polished the board back to its original white finish and then filled in the mast box, binding brackets and dagger board slot with foam and sealed it with marine-tex.
I purchased an OAM traction pad and converted a kayak paddle into a stand up paddle that my friend found floating in our canal.
The boards dimensions are 10'6"X26"X5" with the tail tapering out pretty freakin thin. The board is pretty tippy in the chop and I haven't had a chance to surf it, but am getting used to it. I'm 6'4" and 165 and I've been using it in the canals around Pompano Beach, FL and it has worked great in the calm stuff.


For $120 for the board, $100 for the traction, about $30 for material, and a free paddle, I got into the sport for about 250 bucks with a board that looks and paddles pretty sweet.













The tip is hard rubber that F2 built into the board, it works really well to protect the nose. The quiksilver logo I made out of traction material because I have a crate with rod holders that I put on the board and the traction makes it stay put and not slide around. We have a straight SUP/Longboard fishing tournament coming up that has already been postponed twice due to nasty weather just south of Hillsboro Inlet in Pompano Beach,FL. http://ping.fm/Rid5L Should be the first of its kind! I just need time to practice on my new board. --John


Actually John, paying $150 for that board is pretty high--it all came out great, but sometimes you can get old windsurfers like that for free.

DavidJohn responded on the zone with these pictures of his windsurfer conversion that he now loans to a friend:

I also have a Cobra windurfing board that works great as a flat water SUP. My friend has been using it until he can afford to buy his own... It goes great.. and very fast. I've been thinking about doing what you have done to it.







Paddles
New, high quality SUP paddles cost $200-500. That can break the bank right there. A used paddle is another easy way to go, and if you've take the active approach your new SUP owning friend might have or know of a paddle for sale. One thing to be sure to ask about is broken paddles. People who can afford a new paddle after breaking one usually just buy it, and the broken one languishes in the garage. They aren't hard to fix. Broken shafts can be repaired with an internal sleeve and some fiberglass wrap on the outside. There will be an article on paddle repair in Ke Nalu soon.

The easiest way to get a cheap paddle is to visit your local sporting goods store or Marine supply store. They sell adjustable paddles for as little as twenty bucks. All you need is a way to extend the shaft, and there are some paddles that have long enough shafts for short people to begin with. The lifeguards at Kahana beach park in Maui did SUP paddling on their rescue board with a paddle made from a broken windsurf mast top section they salvaged and a paddle blade from a ten buck plastic paddle they bought at Walmart. And of course they rip. Lately they're using a better paddle but they're surfing the rescue board.


You can certainly modify this paddle to work easily


This telescoping paddle from West Marine can be easily modified into a SUP paddle


West Marine also sells an $89 SUP paddle for the Seyvlor inflatable SUP they sell. At 80" maximum extension they are a little short for tall SUPers, but the price is right and they are adjustable. The Seyvlor Samoa SUP at $700 is a possible choice for the cash strapped Stand Up Paddle wannabe, but some reviewers had a problem with it's quality. Still, for a board you can take anywhere and carry on a scooter or bicycle, it's a darned good price.

My friend Sol Morey makes great paddles from salvaged materials. If you can find a windsurfing mast or broken carbon fiber windsurfing boom you have most of what you need to make a cool paddle. You can lay up the blade in fiberglass on a sheet of window glass and attach it to your handle. I've tried Sol's paddles--a little heavy but they work fine. Of course Sol can make anything look good.

There's really not that much of a financial barrier to getting into SUP. Once you have the gear it's basically free except for time and transport to the water. A bike works fine for that:


This is my  17'6" F18 attached to a mountain bike. I trailered this ten miles though heavy traffic. Not the safest thing I've done recently, but it works.
[Blog] The Low Buck Option: How about this board and paddle for $250? You could actually do it for less.

New St... http://ping.fm/ugVgM
[Blog] The Low Buck Option: How about this board and paddle for $250? You could actually do it for less.

New Standup Paddle Surf boards are undeniably expensive compared t... http://ping.fm/qvsZy

Friday, January 15, 2010

Revitalizing Board and Paddle Reviews

(My Original Blog Post: http://ping.fm/PTYpp)
One of the most popular elements of Ke Nalu is the Stand Up Paddle Board reviews, followed closely by the Paddle reviews. They are woefully out of date and not very accessible. That's mostly because they were initially done as part of a big Stand Up Paddle Board showcase event we held on Maui two years ago.

Since Stand Up Paddle surfing has exploded in popularity and the number of boards has increased hugely, we don't think we're likely to have another all-encompassing event. For that matter it's not really feasible for us to directly review boards--they are made in so many different locales now that it's simply not cost effective. So instead we are going to rely on you readers and on the manufacturers.

There are easy-to-use review forms for both SUP boards and SUP Paddles in the REPORT tab in the green bar at the top of the page. Of just click this link for the SUP Board Review or this link for the SUP Paddle Review

Thanks for your help with this project. Feel free to review any board you have access to. We welcome board reviews submitted by manufacturers as well.
[Blog] Revitalizing Board and Paddle Reviews: One of the most popular elements of Ke Nalu is the Stand Up Paddle Bo... http://ping.fm/MnqWn
[Blog] Revitalizing Board and Paddle Reviews: One of the most popular elements of Ke Nalu is the Stand Up Paddle Board reviews, followed closely by the Paddle reviews. They ar... http://ping.fm/JXGaO

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

test post

(My Original Blog Post: http://ping.fm/lfpBd)
Enter your board description here

test

IMG_9409.jpg (76 KB)

[Blog] test post: Enter your board description here

test IMG_9409.jpg (76 KB) http://ping.fm/k2eVZ
[Blog] test post: Enter your board description here

test IMG_9409.jpg (76 KB) http://ping.fm/YoDVV

test

(My Original Blog Post: http://ping.fm/Sr177)
Enter your board description here

test

IMG_9409.jpg (76 KB)

[Blog] test: Enter your board description here

test IMG_9409.jpg (76 KB) http://ping.fm/GHKTk
[Blog] test: Enter your board description here

test IMG_9409.jpg (76 KB) http://ping.fm/Wg3f8

test board review form

(My Original Blog Post: http://ping.fm/Mti7s)
Enter your board description here Here is the description including an img tag

http://ping.fm/UMEQN

test end

IMG_9409.jpg (76 KB)

[Blog] test board review form: Enter your board description here Here is the description including an img tag

ht... http://ping.fm/YTNIM
[Blog] test board review form: Enter your board description here Here is the description including an img tag

http://ping.fm/wpINw

te... http://ping.fm/Obs3s

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Back At It

(My Original Blog Post: http://ping.fm/cht8G)
I've been slacking off terribly. No Ke Nalu articles, features, or even blog posts for ages. I've had good reason for that, the best in fact, the surf and downwind paddling on Maui has been just too good to do anything but play in the water. But after a month back on the island I'm settled back in and it's time to work a bit. Here's what I have planned:

Board Reviews: One of the most popular segments of Ke Nalu is board reviews, but ours have become very out of date. I'm reorganizing the review section to reflect the yearly release of new equipment. To aid that I'm adding several ways to search for boards. More important is how new boards will get reviewed--the majority of the information will come from readers. I simply can't access enough boards to keep this part of Ke Nalu relevant, so I'm setting up a review system that any and all of you can access. It's wiki-like in that anyone's comments and information can be added, but I will review the information as time permits to ensure some measure of quality. I'll keep you posted on the launch of the new system.

I'm also considering a redesign of Ke Nalu. I did this last year, and it was a major effort, but it helps me to keep my skills updated. There are some new themes that I like the looks of. I have to do a fair amount of manual work to make Ke Nalu look good. It would be nice to have more of it automated.

Broader Scope: I built Ke Nalu as a marketing experiment. I'm writing a book on new marketing concepts, and Ke Nalu is intended to form a large number of the examples in the book. I'm at the point in the book where the examples need to become significantly more complex in scope, and so I'm going to have to invest some time in events, other media (podcasts, video, audio) and other delivery mechanisms. So you'll be hearing more of my somewhat grating nasal voice.

More external content: I'm going to bug everyone I know to write articles. There's a great deal of information out on the web, but it disappears quickly. forums like The Standup Zone (http://ping.fm/oG2Xt) have great content that disappears down the threadline much too quickly. I'll be bugging the people who write these fine and detailed posts to turn into articles.

So we're back in biz. I have a lot of articles that I've been collecting bits for. I'll be releasing at least three per week as soon as I get the review system up and debugged.
[Blog] Back At It: I've been slacking off terribly. No Ke Nalu articles, features, or even blog posts for ages. I'v... http://ping.fm/o79HG
[Blog] Back At It: I've been slacking off terribly. No Ke Nalu articles, features, or even blog posts for ages. I've had good reason for that, the best in fact, the surf and d... http://ping.fm/YITZK
[Blog] Back At It: I've been slacking off terribly. No Ke Nalu articles, features, or even blog posts for ages. I've had good reason for that, the best in fact, the surf and d... http://ping.fm/QwDxa

Back At It

(My Original Blog Post: http://ping.fm/gzjB1)
I've been slacking off terribly. No Ke Nalu articles, features, or even blog posts for ages. I've had good reason for that, the best in fact, the surf and downwind paddling on Maui has been just too good to do anything but play in the water. But after a month back on the island I'm settled back in and it's time to work a bit. Here's what I have planned:

Board Reviews: One of the most popular segments of Ke Nalu is board reviews, but ours have become very out of date. I'm reorganizing the review section to reflect the yearly release of new equipment. To aid that I'm adding several ways to search for boards. More important is how new boards will get reviewed--the majority of the information will come from readers. I simply can't access enough boards to keep this part of Ke Nalu relevant, so I'm setting up a review system that any and all of you can access. It's wiki-like in that anyone's comments and information can be added, but I will review the information as time permits to ensure some measure of quality. I'll keep you posted on the launch of the new system.

I'm also considering a redesign of Ke Nalu. I did this last year, and it was a major effort, but it helps me to keep my skills updated. There are some new themes that I like the looks of. I have to do a fair amount of manual work to make Ke Nalu look good. It would be nice to have more of it automated.

Broader Scope: I built Ke Nalu as a marketing experiment. I'm writing a book on new marketing concepts, and Ke Nalu is intended to form a large number of the examples in the book. I'm at the point in the book where the examples need to become significantly more complex in scope, and so I'm going to have to invest some time in events, other media (podcasts, video, audio) and other delivery mechanisms. So you'll be hearing more of my somewhat grating nasal voice.

More external content: I'm going to bug everyone I know to write articles. There's a great deal of information out on the web, but it disappears quickly. forums like The Standup Zone (http://ping.fm/UpI5u) have great content that disappears down the threadline much too quickly. I'll be bugging the people who write these fine and detailed posts to turn into articles.

So we're back in biz. I have a lot of articles that I've been collecting bits for. I'll be releasing at least three per week as soon as I get the review system up and debugged.
[Blog] Back At It: I've been slacking off terribly. No Ke Nalu articles, features, or even blog posts for ages. I'v... http://ping.fm/KGHqK