No need for fins, foam or fiberglass Custom Hawaiian "Alaia's" available to order... Designs completely taylored to you and all designs are based from early alaia/olo shapes. From flex, to rails, to bottom contours these boards are basically what the ancient hawaiians rode back in the old,old school. Top surfers are digging the alaia, guys like Tom Wegener, Rob Machado and Thomas Cambell are especially into them. Just do some youtube searches using "alaia surfing" and you'll see what I'm saying. I have several basic templates that I use, but each board is taylored to the rider considering weight, ability and wave type. Obviously, a 200lb guy is gonna need a different board than a 120lb guy, if the waves you normally ride are mean barrels or more like relaxing waikiki it's important to have the right tool for the job. etc... These boards are made of wood, thin (from 1/2" to 1-1/8" thick), finless, and have knife-edged rails and have barely any float. They take a while to figure out but are a blast to ride. There's nothing out there like it. They are not gonna ride like a thruster or some boogey board or longboard, the alaia is incredibly fast and can slide, cutback, 360, ride the tube, and trim really high on the face and very parallel to the wave. The key to these boards is flex. Boards from the turn of the century were solid wood like these but were pretty stiff and didn't turn well. The flex throughout the board makes it work. The ancient Hawaiians designed theirs with flex cause that's what works. I offer cedar, redwood and pine alaias. I use these types of wood because of their functionality and beauty. The exotic woods the hawaiians used are not easy to get and to me, not worth the high cost. Even though I live in Hawaii, I prefer a more functional wood that's more available. Out of the three types of wood I use, I prefer western red cedar because of its rot resistance and light weight. I don't use Koa or willi-willi or ulu, it's just not worth the cost. My boards could make pretty nice wall hangers but, I make them all to surf first. If you have any questions or want pictures don't hesitate to email me. I'll try my best to get back to you with helpful information as soon as I can. In the mean time check out my blog: http://xylemsurfboards.blogspot.com/ Thanks, Josh Xylem Surfboards Kapa'au, HI 96755 livinattheocean@yahoo.com
