Ghost 11

[Trev]

^^^^

Excellent resin job there.
Got some sanding to do?

[Roy_Stewart]

^^^^

Excellent resin job there.

Got some sanding to do?

Of course Trev, excess resin is left deliberately and then sanded off.

[offshore1]

Ok heres the deal. If no one else will do it, I will.
Heading to Oahu in Feb. Roy can you hook me up with 'that board' and I will take it out for a test ride? I will then post a report on realsurf for all to see with photos and all. Now don't tell me how I should surf it, or what state of mind I should be in to surf the fkrn thing. I will just ride it and then report back on my thoughts (not yours). Wadya think?

PS. you will need to organise a semi, air lift, crane or whatever is needed to get the thing down the beach coz I aint fkrn carrying it. But I will ride it for ya (as long as it floats/ paddles).

onya natho!
Fair enough request from roy too, as long as he isn't asking for your banking details I reckon he just wants to know who's got the quarter million dollar stick in the event it isn't returned.

Roy, a mate of mine and his girl are going to Hawaii for a month in Jan. He's a "Morning of the Earth " type; loves the history of the sport , and alternative designs -- has built a few boards of his own.
Alright if I ask him if he wants to give it a go?
Sounds like he'd dig going to the bloke's place where you're keeping it too.
cheers.

[Roy_Stewart]

Hi Offshore yes go for it and thanks for the suggestion.

[offshore1]

Thanks Roy, that's very generous of you.
I'll see him tomorrow. Wish I was going. They'll be staying with friends on Oahu for two weeks and friends in Maui for two.

[diggerdickson]

props to ya roy, fair enough asking for simple details mate, if natho is keen he will supply the details requested. Cant wait for a ride report from natho and one from the other guy as well, natho hopefully will give a balanced report on the board. I just hope preconcieved ideas dont cloud judgement over what he is riding.

Talk about putting your money where your mouth is, great stuff mate

[Cuttlefish]

A goretex vent is certainly inadequate in terms of capacity for a board like the 13 footer, they are also insufficiently durable or reliable for a long term board tour in my opinion.

Use two or three. And I wouldn't be surprised if Mr Gore had some sort of guarantee on their vents. Their outerwear does - lifetime guarantee against delamination. It delams, you send it back, Gore pays for a new jacket (independent of the outerwear manufacturer's guarantee).

Saying that everyone else has been using them is also incorrect, many other vent options are used.

Thanks for the correction to my generalisation. I'll be sure in future to vet all my offhand forum comments for absolute precision. Dickhead. I'd say it's a fair comment to say "the vast majority use GoreTex vents". I haven't even seen a manual vent offered for years. Who would choose a manual vent over an auto vent? The manual ones are a PITA, and promote more water being sucked in if you ding it.

My last two carbon fibre/eps Dick Van Straalen boards have both had manually operated vent plugs.
Twist out the plug when out of the water and do it up before surfing.
Too easy and no worries about goretex plugs becoming clogged.
Eliminates the K mart mentality and puts the onus squarely back on the operator.

[offshore1]

He's keen Roy. I was trying to explain this whole innernet thingy that is realsurf to him, how this arrangement came together, without a whole lot of success -- until I mentioned your boards, that you're a kiwi that gandolf emulates, have made some vids, etc. --

"Is he the guy in the red wetsuit?" my friend queried.

Yep, you're known far and wide Roy.

I'll email you soon with details, and have Taylor get up with you too.
Thanks again , can't wait to hear his feedback.

PS his friend that's he'll be staying with is a lifeguard on the south side. I reckon your 11 footer would go great in the easy combers of Waikiki?

[Roy_Stewart]

Howzit Offshore that's all good thanks, the boards 13 feet long by the way but rides and feels smaller than that. The volume is around 90 litres from memory and has proven to be ok for all but the largest of people in small surf, although competing with super thick Waikiki tandem boards might be interesting. Donald has ridden her at White Cliffs beach which is apparently laid back and offers some long rides.

[carpet]

i have recently bought a van straalen carbon board and have noticed when i loosen the valve after a surf water runs out,is this a major drama as my understanding is the eps blanks dont soak up water like a pu blank?

[Cuttlefish]

How much water are we talking about?
I'm assuming you have the black screw in valve cap. Does it have an o-ring on the cap?
If it doesn't you should get one pronto.
You can check the board for water-tightness (not related to the valve) by taking it out into the sun with the valve done up and having a look to see if there's any water bubbling out of any fractures it may have.
Don't of course leave the board out longer than necessary with the valve done up as it can delam.
All my carbon/eps Van Straalen's didn't have a fused eps so needed to be kept water-tight.
Call Dick and ask him if he's used fused cell eps on yours.

[carpet]

thanks cuttlefish,i,ll ring Dick.Yes it does have an o ring ,water drips out when i remove the valve,i spoke to a mate and he has the same problem,but what i have noticed is the whole valve is loose and it came out so i,ll araldite it in and seal it around the outside,thanks for the advice,want to say how good this board goes,i used to ride Dicks boards back in the 80s and to get back on one is amazingly FUN

[offshore1]

Ok heres the deal. If no one else will do it, I will.
Heading to Oahu in Feb. Roy can you hook me up with 'that board' and I will take it out for a test ride? I will then post a report on realsurf for all to see with photos and all. Now don't tell me how I should surf it, or what state of mind I should be in to surf the fkrn thing. I will just ride it and then report back on my thoughts (not yours). Wadya think?

PS. you will need to organise a semi, air lift, crane or whatever is needed to get the thing down the beach coz I aint fkrn carrying it. But I will ride it for ya (as long as it floats/ paddles).

onya natho!
Fair enough request from roy too, as long as he isn't asking for your banking details I reckon he just wants to know who's got the quarter million dollar stick in the event it isn't returned.

Roy, a mate of mine and his girl are going to Hawaii for a month in Jan. He's a "Morning of the Earth " type; loves the history of the sport , and alternative designs -- has built a few boards of his own.
Alright if I ask him if he wants to give it a go?
Sounds like he'd dig going to the bloke's place where you're keeping it too.
cheers.

Well, my mate and his girl got back yesterday. They had an absolutely tip top time -- surfed thirty different breaks on Oahu and Maui; one session just him and Ken Bradshaw for a few hours;

another time, on Maui, it was just him, his girl, and Bethany Hamilton -- it was just him and his girl at first, he was starting to get sketched out about tiger sharks and who paddles out?... Bethany ..can't be a pussy and paddle in then;

surfed Himalayas --third reef -- when it was going off;

surfed Sunset , but was dominated by old farts on 11 foot guns, hard to get a wave:

Pipe, saw it absolutely off its tits, saw Nathan Fletcher paddle out into the ridiculously crowded pack and snag two bombs within two minutes -- how does he do dat? --; my mate rode it uncrowded with just a few others on a smaller day;

Jocko's, rifling left and heaps of current;

Laniakea; and on and on -- his lifeguard friend guided him to dozens of great little out of the way spots.

Even saw Tommy Carroll in the Foodland parking lot with his SUP:


And how did Roy's board perform? Fcuker didnt even give it a go. Never went by to look at it or pick it up...
Sorry Roy :?

[Roy_Stewart]

All good.

[Roy_Stewart]

http://youtu.be/YDQ0dOT8Cs4

[Grooter]

[ric_vidal]

inside!

[Roy_Stewart]

http://youtu.be/aJruFyZcAHg