Just curious, i am going to make an alaia just for fun but i was just looking for a second opinion one whether i could even ride it here. I am in north texas.
I didn't know there was ocean in North Texas. I'm thinking you wouldn't be able to ride it without some ocean.
+1 They're are a lot harder than youtube has you believe. My friend made one and he hasnt stood up but 3 times in a total of 3 sessions. I think he said you need to learn to bodyboard on it and learn how it catches waves, ect. before you can even attempt to stand on it. But go for it! its a fun project and im sure youll be able to have a few rides.
Go for it. I've made three. I've never stood up on one but have caught a few using it as a bodyboard.....scary fast.
hey steve can you post a couple pics of yours? I'd love to see some homegrown alaia! Which type of wood did you use and how did you seal it?
Here are a couple I built. Sealed with linseed oil. Paulownia is the wood you want to use if you can find it. It really depends how "green" you want to go. A linseed combination is good and will keep the water out especially with paulownia but a thin coat of resin will do the same thing and you won't have to reapply it again.
Wow, you are a witty character. Here is an idea; pull out the good ol' globe, and take a look where TX is located. Surely you already know, but you decided to be "original" and recite the same joke that has been told all too often. Go slap yourself with a soggy pair of pampers, and post some original garbage next time.
I did with my hollow wooden boards. These were the precursors to those builds. I didn't post build threads because i didn't want to have to give the ever elusive ride report afterwards. The ride report and my feelings on alaias in my area is that there are so few days that you can successfully ride an alaia that I don't want to waste a perfect day floundering around on the alaia. With that being said, there is a new jetty that has recently been installed and we're supposed to get a renourishment project this winter. So hopefully the best of a bad thing will happen and we might get a little point break.
We have jetties and have had renourishment and ain't never got no point break up here! You will end up with a nice wave by the jetty, protected from winds on either side and maybe get a bit of refraction, and a gnarly shorebreak from the renourishment.
We just got a shore break with our renourishment Here's a cool Upper gulf coast video. [video=vimeo;23376307]http://vimeo.com/23376307[/video]
Wasn't try to be a total wise arse, and I did consult the globe before replying. I was looking at amarillo scratching my head. North coast...aahhh...that's a lot different. Never been there and never rode an alaia so other than knowing that ocean is a key factor in the equation, I'm of zero use to you. I still say go for it!
I ride alaias all the time in knee high waves and I love it. You may not look cool, but it feels awesome to lock in down the line going super fast. (That's just me)
