My story and the surfboards I ride.

Today I pulled out the board I rode my last five years while on Kauai. It doesn’t have a date on it but I made it my first year at Hawaiian Blades. So sometime in ’97…. Which makes this board 12 years old. I rode it until I returned to Ventura in ’02 and haven’t ridden it since. My son has and likes it very much though.

The board is a 6’10 tri fin, 20” wide and 2 ¼ thick. I surfed it for all surf in Hawaii up to 6 to 8 foot…. And it worked really well for me. A great all around board.

The bottom has a single concave that graduates in just back of center and through the front fins. This straightens the rocker curve into the fins and gives me a nice planning surface for speed. The bottom flattens back out at the back fin and then I’ve accelerated the rocker out the back to loosen the board up.

The tail is 13 7/8 wide so not too narrow but with a nice sharp edge, all good for holding in the wave face. As well, I’ve got the fins set a bit more forward than what you’d see in other boards. I’ve also always ridden wider boards so hence the width dimension and the nose is 13”… a little wider too. But the outline curve works well with all the dimensions. I’ve had this outline in a 7’2 and 7’0 but this 6’10 has been my favorite of them all.

The board has the FCS fin system. At time we had just started using FCS stuff at Hawaiian Blades and the only fins we got in were the nylon sets. As I remember when I first started surfing the board I felt the fins were to slow. Because of the soft material turning seemed to lack the quick snap that I was used to with glass on fiberglass fins… what I always had before this board. I really wanted to get a set of FCS fiberglass fins but never did. Eventually I got used to the slower feel out of turns and just left the fins the way they were… most everyone that had FCS back then had the same fins so that was that.

The board is made of Walker foam with a 4oz bottom and double 4oz deck. I did a white foam stain on it so that’s why it still looks pretty clean… even though it’s been in the Hawaiian sun every time I took it to the beach for some 5 years straight. And believe it or not the ding in the rail that is covered with cellophane tape is from my thumb. Yeah, attempting to jump over some shore pound that caught me just right and gave me one good whacking…. I held onto the board but the power of the wave pushed my thumb right through the rail. Never underestimate the power of the ocean.

D.R.