Alaia surfing on the east coast?

[josh@xylemsurfboards]

Xylem Surfboards specializes in making fine replicas of ancient Hawaiian alaias and paipos. Our Boards are made to surf. We use only sustainable Western Red Cedar.
Xylem Surfboards are all origional Hawaiian designs and are also100% Non-Toxic.
We are located in Wilmington, NC.

http://xylemsurfboards.com/

[adowcett]

Xylem Surfboards specializes in making fine replicas of ancient Hawaiian alaias and paipos. Our Boards are made to surf. We use only sustainable Western Red Cedar.
Xylem Surfboards are all origional Hawaiian designs and are also100% Non-Toxic.
We are located in Wilmington, NC.

http://xylemsurfboards.com/

Neat stuff.

First off, I've heard (and seen) that it's difficult to set a line on an alaias. Theoretically, I thought that some sort of concave would be the norm to improve this problem (with a harder edge biting the water), but I feel like I heard somewhere that roll would actually solve the problem. Did I just imagine this, or is this the case? And if so, why?

Secondly, would it be possible to buy a non-shaped blank from you? And how much would it be if so?

[charlie17]

Hey Adowcett,
Blanks are easy enough to make youself if you are using pine or cedar. Just run to a local lumberyard get some quality planks and use gorilla glue to glue them together. If you are looking for paulownia (the industry standard if you will) there are couple growers in and around the Southeast. Check out the http://www.paulownialumberandsupply.com/, they will sell you alaia blanks, or order a couple 1x8(post dried) from them.

Bottoms, the ever so slightest roll, relatively hard edges, and concove in the back 1/3 of the board works for me. They great thing if you shape it you self, You can stay thick and wide on your first shaping attempt, ride it, shape it some more, ride it, and so on to you find something you like.

Check out the Xylem's site, Wegeners's sites, swaylocks.com or treatosea.org for a variety of info and design.

[adowcett]

Bottoms, the ever so slightest roll, relatively hard edges, and concove in the back 1/3 of the board works for me. They great thing if you shape it you self, You can stay thick and wide on your first shaping attempt, ride it, shape it some more, ride it, and so on to you find something you like.

Thanks for the info. What really appeals to me is the continuous refining aspect. Thats such a problem with surfboards, if you don't like a shape, it will be so much trouble to modify it that you might as well just get a new one, which for many people isn't that financially viable. With the Alaia it seems like you have unlimited potential if you made the first one long enough. Start with an 8fter, and by the end you can have a 4ft paipo with a million boards in between. Now, you mentioned about pine and cedar both being available locally, however, I've heard (from swaylocks and the like) that pine is quite a poor choice for these boards and won't last anywhere near as long as paulownia, I assume that's reflected in the price difference though? And how does cedar factor into this?
Thanks for all the info

One more thing, when you say 1x8 (complete lumber newb here), I'm assuming that means 1 inch thick by 8 inches wide at whatever length you want?

[josh@xylemsurfboards]

I sell Paulownia or Cedar blanks on the site or in person.

[josh@xylemsurfboards]

Cedar and Redwood are very stable and are pretty good, but they need to be shipped from Texas or something. Pine warps and will eventually crack. Paulownia is lighter/better.The Paulownia is right down the road so no shipping either. That's less fuel burned in the process and that's good. A superior wood that's close to home... it's a no-brainer.

A rolled bottom works well for most people. I occasionally do concaves, but I don't think it helps that much... not for the effort involved at least. The ancient Hawaiians didn't use it, I'm sure they tried it, but as far as we know they didn't stick with it.

Experiment:
This sounds stupid but,
Try pushing an empty round or oval shaped shampoo bottle around in your bathtub and you'll notice that it'll tends to go straight. The curve of the bottom has too much drag sideways so it stays pretty much straight.
True?
See for yourself.
Thanks for your input guys!

[josh@xylemsurfboards]

We just got our Paulownia source worked out.

[adowcett]

We just got our Paulownia source worked out.

Would it be considered giving away business secrets to share where this supply is?

[conway]

We just got our Paulownia source worked out.

I'm interested as well, one of those would be so fun on a small summer day

[josh@xylemsurfboards]

Nah, I'm not like that and Xylem will be fine. I'm happy to help you guys out and my new friend Rod would be stoked to get some more orders. He's a really cool guy that knows his stuff.

So here you go:

Rod Mortenson
The Paulownia Barn, LLC
405 Hydrick Rd
Swansea, SC 29160
Ph: 803-568-5145
Cell: 803-381-8735

Now make some sawdust!