Mikey's Board Room - Lighted SUP Project

Going to the Plus One factory is like a kid going to Disneyland. From the rack of expermental boards, customer rides, and the killer shaping machine, these guys have it down. Everything stays in house, from the day the blank arrives to the day it leaves in your ride.


One of the many Plus one Projects, this one here is an experimental Asymm surfboard. These guys are always down to experiment with new technology, reinvent old designs, and really like to push the limit to see where they can go next.


The crew are definately stepping it up this time with their latest out of the box project.

When George told me what the plan was for this board, I knew this was going to be my first Board Room write up. Lights in a SUP? If anyone would be willing to do it, it would be George and Joe. The customer wanted to use this board off his dock in San Diego Bay at night. The lights are capable of 7 hours at full intensity on a single battery charge and will be set up to flash at I believe 3 flashes a second to attract night life. To keep from overheating, the lights are set to turn of when they reach 130 degrees to keep bad things from happening.


That's the light housing, mocked up in scrap divinycell. The lighting system is custom, from the same manufacturer who built the lights for the underwater vehicles that explored the Titanic. The lights are capable of lighting up 15' of water.


Pre-glassing. You can see the three divinycell inserts in the board. Divinycell is the trademark name of PVC foam. PVC foam doesn't soak up water like EPS and is stronger. George and Joe used the divinycell to reinforce the area where the lights are being installed for strength and to keep water from being absorbed into the EPS foam core of the board if damage to the glass around the lights were to occur.


Post glassing, definately a work of art...


You have to be nuts to want to take a router to a board like that...


The light holes drilled out.


The light housings getting mocked up.


Test fitting the light housing.


Glued up and ready for glassing.


First layer of carbon laid up.


The hatch opening that will house all the components.


The hardware: More about this later.



I can't wait to see the end results. Still much more to do with the wiring and reinforcement of the light housings. Keep checking in for more updates and its first ride in the water!

Mike P - mike@surfcraftint.com

Mikey's Board Room: The Stand Up Experience

Back in 2006 I was living on the Big Island of Hawaii, Kona to be exact, and there wasn’t much surf while I was there. I was cruising around checking the surf at Banyans and that is where I saw stand up paddling for the first time. I introduced myself to the paddler after watching him on a the board for almost an hour and found out that he owned an SUP board company, Hypr Nalu. They were some of the first production boards back then, complete with flashy graphics, shiny paint and what I thought to be some pretty aggressive designs.

Hoping on for the first time was a challenge, it wasn't very wide, under 29” for sure, but I was determined to get the hang of it. I didn’t do much surfing while I was there but I did a ton of distance paddling. If you haven’t been to the islands, the underwater sights are amazing, I was paddling with everything from little brightly colored fish to sea turtles. I fell in love with Stand Up.

When I got back to San Diego 6 months after my first SUP experience, I did my research and found THE SUP guy at the time, Steve Boehne of Infinity Surfboards. Steve had experience building big boards from his days building tandem surf boards and had a great transition into Stand Up in the early years becuase of it. A deal was struck and I came home with a 10’6 Infinity Ku Ku Hoe Nose rider and an Infinity Ottertail paddle. I wish I had pictures of the thing, it was heavy for today’s standards, no handle, constructed bomb proof, and was a tank on the waves, but it was a blast!!! It still lives on at a local lifeguard station as physical training equipment.

Fast forward to 2012, I’ve been on more boards than I can count, seen a ton of different constructions, built boards, been to overseas factories, paddled in amazing places and worked with some great people in the industry. The experiences I’ve had and the contacts I’ve made over the years has turned me on to builders doing great things for the sport of SUP. So I asked John if I could do write ups on all the different boards, designs, and creations I’ve run across over the years, SUP or not, and with his blessing Mikey’s Board Room has been created!

Stay tuned for the next installment of Mikey’s Board Room!

Wow- haven't seen this one in a long time...

Interesting to look back at the posts and see what we were riding and how we were surfing two, three even four or five years ago. Check out this video- I think it's "old school" already. But it's still cool:

Works Over: PauHana Paddles (and surfs)!

One of the great things about having this site is getting to meet the site sponsors. Especially, when the guys are surf-crazy, like me. Todd and Royce, the owner/founders of PauHana Surf Supply definitely have their priorities straight when it comes to water time. Here's how it went with these guys: 

Email from me: "Hey guys, I'm going to be in L.A. tomorrow do you think we could meet- maybe go for a surf." 

PauHana: "Yep, we'll bring all the boards and paddles- see you there!"

Wow, that was easy. Pau hana means, "after work" but for these guys- testing their boards and paddles in the surf is all part of it- so "work" includes surfing. Genius.

PauHana: Royce Hanamaikai (Left) and Todd Caranto (Right). We met up at a surf spot close to PauHana headquarters. The surf was small and fairly clean- perfect to try out a bunch of their boards.

One thing I quickly learned about these two guys is that they're always working on improving their product line. I was really blown away by the paddles they're developing with German kayak manufacturer Robson. Check this one out:

These paddles are going to be sweet. They are just as light as carbon without the brittleness of the material or the clunkiness of fiberglass. Todd was wacking the thing on the rocks and basically shoveling gravel with it- laughing the whole time and telling me how the material was some space age impregnated foam. Kayak stuff. I've seen the damage that a race paddle can go through when you're clacking blades with a bunch of stock-class racers right next to you- this may be a solution. The colors were pretty damn cool too. The guys are hoping to bring out this PauHana/Robson paddle this year- I'm hoping I'm in line to test one out.

At PauHana, Todd started designing boards back in 2007 when they were stuck with a couple of one-off stand up designs that basically sucked. After paddling the noodle thin stand ups and falling all over the place it became obvious that the boards could be designed better. The shortcomings of those first boards led to their best selling model, The Big EZ. This thing is giant... and wide. The Big EZ is perfect for learning to stand up paddle, for rentals or for just goofing around on. The board was a hit and was swooped up by Sandals Resorts as their go-to rental board. It's cool that PauHana can legitimately claim that their boards are all over the Caribbean with every Sandals Resort holding at least two or three of these big boys. 

The Big EZ Hawaiian- a great board to have around for when your linebacker cousin shows up from Idaho.

The two boards I enjoyed the most that day were their trainer/racers. The CrossFit and their smaller trainer. The CrossFit would be a great board for a weekend warrior racer who was also doing some coastal cruising or adventure paddling (did I just make up a new paddling niche?). I zipped around on the CrossFit and found it to be very stable and quick, especially coming downwind. The smaller version is more suited to a smaller paddler and would be perfect for somebody who didn't have the room or desire to transport and store a full, stock class race board.

The boys brought out a full quiver of PauHana shapes, the two I enjoyed the most were the CrossFit and the small trainer board in the background. Check out Royce- he's stoked! How sweet is that die-cut deckpad that will be available on all PauHana boards- pretty darn cool looking.

I really got a kick out of all the ideas that the PauHana crew was hatching/scheming. These guys are definitely innovators. I'm sworn to secrecy, so I can't mention all of the projects and products that are going to be brought to market but I can say that for PauHana stand up paddling goes way beyond designing boards and paddles. A big push for the company will be into the realm of river paddling. Their two riders, Nick Troutman and Emily Jackson are dyed in the wool freestyle kayaking super heroes- they are both World Champions! Todd has designed specialized boards for these two to compete on this season- the designs are the reverse of what you'd expect in a surfboard. Kind of hard for me to understand- but hey, if you've got two of the best in the world willing to help you out, you don't turn it down. 

Like I said before, a highlight of this whole internet/blog site deal is getting to meet the living humans behind the keyboards and computers. And when I get a chance to actually surf with people like Todd and Royce and see how passionate they are about our sport, I feel really good about having them as a site sponsor. With guys like this, paddlesurfing is in good hands... now go back to work!

Paddling and Surfing with the Boga Boys and Gals (in the land of the great white toothy guy)

Got a chance to snag a few bumpy ones with the Boga crew up in Nor Cal. We've been having our own white shark problems here in Southern San Diego- these guys live with it on a day-to-day basis. The spot we paddled felt sharky (oh, that's right there've been confirmed shark attacks there) but that didn't stop the gnarly water filmer from hopping right in and swimming around in that living pot of seafood stew. Anyways, I am amazed at the what the put together here- I mean I really dig the vibe of this clip. Pretty rad what real pro video guys can do- damn cool. Check it out:

Ummm- whoa.

Check out what my friend Jeff Wallis photographed yesterday:

Jeff snapped this guy lurking right outside the break at my home beach... a few local guys in the water saw it too.

This was posted on the beach today... made me think twice about paddling out. Did anybody hear the dinner bell ring?

Kelly Kraus King of the Cobbles

Poached this shot of Kelly Kraus- northern Baja spot we call Cobbles...

It's cold...

I live in San Diego, land of palm trees, golden sand beaches and girls in bikinis. Well, not lately. Yesterday, I got into my truck, 5:30am, frickin' sheet of ice on the windshield. I hit the wipers and they just shushhed and grated across the thing. WTF- am in Fargo for god's sake? There's good surf in the winter but it ain't easy.

That J.O.B....

Anybody else get the Solspot So-Cal short range forecast for tomorrow (Friday, 13th)? I'm getting the feeling that it's going to be FIRING at the beach... sounds like a crossed up swell, the right tide, low wind... hmmmm.... sometimes you just get that feeling.

Solspot's a great, free, surf forecast site... check it out.

Problem is always the J.O.B., fortunately I live and work about four blocks from the beach so when I've got a little sneak away time I always make a run down to the beach to check it out. Yesterday, I scored four super fun, head high, beach break grinders... had to wait a bit for a corner among all the closed out walls coming through but I got those waves and that made my day a winner. I think it's going to happen tomorrow- if you've got a little window of opportunity to sneak away... do it and don't tell me how it was, I don't want to know!

All is not quite lost... (but most of it is!)

First of all, thank you everybody for the tips, offers of help and sympathetic thoughts about my hard drive disaster. Yep- I'm the bonehead who will now go right out and buy a back up drive for everything on the thing once I get it back. Promise. 

But in the spirit of the New Year (you know, a fresh start and all...) I'm just gonna get over it and move on. On the bright side, I did find that I had a couple of photos still on SD cards that I hadn't downloaded yet. And, I'm going to take my GoPro SD card and see if they can pull any of the clips off of it. I mounted up the good ol' paddle cam (remember that from way back when?) and shot some cool clips of the wave at the Point. You'd laugh at how long of a ride that wave offers up. So we'll keep fingers crossed and see what happens. 

A lonely left and right. We actually bypassed this spot on our way to the main event peak (this is a mainland Mex wave)- in retrospect, I think we should have charged it. Damn, that wave looks fun.

On the paddle surfing side of things: Damn, did everybody score waves these last ten days? My email and phone were popping with reports of giant bluebird swoopers all up and down the coast. At our own  big wave spot, I was told that Kelly Kraus was killing it on his custom Rusty stand up paddle gun. Local boys Kiwi and Stuki reported that Kelly was waaaay out the back hunting down the biggest, nasty ones and then legitimately tearing them apart with surgical slices and gashes, Hannibal Lecter style. Steve King had his fingers humming, texting me like a madman about how good the Cliffs have been and with reports of all the phantom, Northern Baja reefs coming to life. That was a good run- can't wait for a bit more... anybody got their crystal ball warmed up?

Ah! Meltdown... !

Well it happened- lost all of my photos (and some damn cool writing projects I had partially completed) to a hard drive melt down on my MacBook Pro. Thing just stopped working- now all I get is the little, spinning thing with a prohibited sign above it on start up. SUCKS! I ran the diagnostics/start up disc that came with it and it says there's a hardware problem so I'm off to an appointment at the local Apple store to see what can be done (it's not even a year old). 

Really hope I don't lose everything off the drive. What? Of course not. Who backs things up these days? Oh, yeah... everybody does. Someday I'll learn. Some great stuff could be lost: photos, go-pro footage and a play-by-play guide I'd been working on for surfing mainland Mex. We'll see what happens- keep your fingers crossed for me.

On the plus side, I found my new favorite fin set up for head high and under surf: Nectar Thruster set from Futures. It's in their 2012 line and I'm fired up on it. As you know each board and each wave has their own set of demands- for the 8'4 I'm on now in fun, little waves- this set is it. More to come. I hope.

Merry Christmas... 2011!

Go to the beach, surf, boogey board, body surf or just build sand castles...

Christmas Morning

Fun surf today

Check it out:

Long, long rides...

Surf holding in the waist/chest high range... waiting for more

Nothing spectacular today but still damn fun. There's surf- nothing over chest high but it's just been so glassy and nice. This is a different time of year for me to be here, typically I'm down in summer or spring this is my first winter trip. The water's mellower- not as stormy/crazy as the summer and the evenings are comfortably cooler. Different weather but same mosquitoes!

Surf spot up the road... fun but a little too high tide. We'll try it again later in the week.

It's kind of like coming home...

I love coming down here. I've been down enough times that I've made friends with some of the local people and I have to tell you, it makes a huge difference. When you pull up and you see a familiar smiling face and you're greeted with, "I was wondering when you'd be back... Merry Christmas!", it just feels good. The wave may not be the greatest but when you can come back to a place that you feel good about- when you see people that truly make you feel happy- it's worth it. I love this place.

It doesn't hurt when there's waves... first day, fun lefts and super, super glassy.

Always the same... the night before is a pain in the ass!

I'm always up way too late the night before a trip. No matter how much I plan and coordinate there's always a million things to be done and the list doesn't seem to get shorter. Here's a big one- fins. When you know you're going to ride lots of waves (for long distances) you start getting ideas. You decide you're finally going to try out all the different fin combos you've been holding all year. 

At least that's me- I have all these beautiful fins I've been dying to let run and damn if I'm going to leave any of 'em at home. So a biggy on the list is to narrow down the fin quiver- I really, really can't bring them all (my bags too heavy already). Check the shot below, that's my short list- tell me who you'd cut. You see it's a pain in the ass- it really is (BTW: thank you Future Fins for making this conundrum possible): 

Okay- remember this is the short list so who gets the cut from these guys? The Laird Thruster set? The Nectars? The tried and true Gerry set, the Jamie Mitchell quads, the one-of-a-kind buttery smooth G10 keels or the crazy hatchet, the Albacore or the 6 and 7" surf fins... Give me you best shot and I'll tell you who I really did leave behind.

Christmas Break? Go south...

Every year it's the same thing here in Southern California: The surf get's good but everything else get's cold. I know we're soft compared to you guys who are paddling and surfing in the ice and snow, dodging mini icebergs and cracking icicles off your nose hairs but, shoot, cold is cold and when it's 40 degrees on the beach here in San Diego, the best thing to do is head south. 

Does it look warm, fun and inviting? That's what happens if you go far enough down...

We're fortunate to have a couple escape valves. The biggest one is our southern neighbor. For me, Baja is just three exits down the freeway, cross the border and you are basically on another planet. The rules are different, the language is different and everything is just a touch more wild- I actually feel a little more free down there than I do here in our good old United States of America (don't get me wrong I love this country and would never trade residency. I'm just saying that all the rules, regulations, codes, paddling zones, lawsuits, nanny-state bureaucratic nonsense has really taken away some freedom from us. You don't know that until you hit a spot like deep Baja where the thinking is that if you're dumb enough to try riding a motorcycle drunker than a skunk and you run into a cow and kill yourself- it's your own damn fault. Don't even consider trying to sue the rancher.... wow, I think I just got off on a little rant). The feeling of loading up the 4x4 for a three week surf mission down past the Tropic of Cancer never get's old for me. The surf gets cleaner, the water gets clearer and, almost magically, you're back into an average daily temperature somewhere in the mid-seventies. Warm is good, and you get that in southern Baja. 

This year, I'm trying something a little different. I'm heading even further south down into mainland Mexico to my little surf hidey hole. The spot is one I've written about before- it's basically a goofy foot fantasy land. The wave isn't exactly a high performance dredger but it's such a long, fun ride that you don't exactly care if you're battling grannies on long boards for a couple runners. I've surfed it Spring, Summer and Fall but not in December so I'm excited to see how it looks this time of the year. The only thing cold down there are the margaritas other that it's a big, warm surf playground a few quick hours (by jet) to the south.

I don't know how you guys and gals in the really cold regions stay sane- maybe you just dream and plan for the summer. For me, I look forward to Christmas Break and when that last Friday bell rings, I know what I do, I head south- maybe you should too.

La Ventana Classic: Candice Appleby/Anthony Vela scheduled to compete!

Last year, Tim Hatler's La Ventana Classic pulled in close to 18k dollars for the Southern Baja community of La Ventana/El Sargento. The money (click here for more info on where the money goes) funded projects like extra bathroom facilities for the elementary school, a shade structure for another primary school, air conditioning for the students as well as new infrastructure for the local clinic, trees and paint for a local playground and a foundation for the new police station. This year, Tim's shooting for even more money- hoping to bring improvements to even more parts of this Sea of Cortez fishing community. 

Here's the website for the Classic- want more information? Click here.

If you've got the opportunity and you'd like to race your stand up board in a beautiful setting for a great cause (and get in some kite or windsurfing) you've got to get down there for the Classic! This year the 11 mile Isla Cerralvo to La Ventana Crossing- the main event for the contest- is drawing some serious competitors. There's rumors of a Vela/Appleby two pronged attack- which will undoubtedly present a major problem for the three time crossing champion, Mark Field (aka Kiwi) of Imperial Beach. Click here for specifics about the races.

Too much of a skin flint to help out the kids and want everything free, eh? Well get oot and aboot and do this free race... part of the classic... the Chop Hop!

Regardless of the level of competion, there's always loads of fun planned for the whole three day event. This year Tim told me he's going to bring back the Lucha Libre wrestlers with an appearance by the small people wrestlers... what??? There will also be reggae bands, high level kiteboarding competitions, food, dance presentations, sunshine, sand... and plenty of cold beer. Sign me up.

There are still secrets out there...

And I'm going to make it my job to figure them out. On moto, stand up board or 4x4- one way or another I'm going to get there. Here's a couple shots to fire you up too:

Nope- not Tahoe. No reservations required, no campsites... in fact, nobody around. Hoping to paddle this one in the Spring or early summer.

More hidden flatwater... wave spots too. Gathering data, preparing gear- getting ready for a Spring time combo trip.

Offshore, cold and clean... California winter paddle surf wonderland

Woke up this morning to clear skies and cold water. The wind was out of the north east which means it's offshore- pretty typical for us here in the winter time. Offshore winds clean up the surf and usually make it hollow- so if you're a tube rider, you get fired up on these kind of days. I'm a little out of commission with a screwed up left hand but that didn't stop me from checking out the clean surf at the end of the road. It looked so fun- too bad I had to head home, tail between my legs and roll out the lawnmower. Next time.