Love At First Stroke

I wrote this as a first impression a few days ago, expecting to finish it when we get some better waves. But wind and waves are conspiring to keep me from having a big wave experience. I’ve had it out in waist high surf now, and it’s an order of magnitude more exciting. There’s a swell coming, but I decided it time to tell this story:

So I’m sitting here feeling like Aladdin might have felt–looking at the carpet thinking “Looks like any other carpet, so how come this one can fly”. Only what I’m looking at is one of Dave Kalama’s new boards, the first big boy version he’s built. And I’m trying to understand how I just did the best turns I’ve ever done, the first time I ever used it, in totally, absolutely, completely crap conditions.

Let’s back up a little. I’ve been interested in trying the boards Dave Kalama is building since I first heard about them, but they’ve all been for lighter guys. I mentioned that to Dave and he said he was working on one that might be OK for me. A 10.0′ X 30.5″ with a fairly thick center. Sounded good to me, probably a minimum for my 246 pounds, but I expected any board from Dave to be a challenge. So this morning I got a text from Dave–”at Ho’kipa with the board”. Didn’t take me long to hat up and head out. In fact I pretty much just stood up, grabbed my keys and the camera, and beat feet.

So I got to Ho’okipa and realized there was a SUP surf contest going on. In pretty poor conditions–a little wind and very small waves. Pavillions, like most of Ho’okipa, focuses waves nicely and sets them up for good riding in moderate swell conditions, but this was really small. But I digress. I found Dave, looked over the board, shot a few pictures, talked awhile and I took off.

I didn’t want to go out at Ho’okipa for a number of reasons–contest going on, choppy, crappy conditions, and if I had problems with the board getting my sea legs I didn’t want Dave to see it. He’s too nice a guy to say “Ah, Bill, I have to have someone who can actually surf try this board”. But I didn’t want him to think it either.

So I went down to Tavares bay to get it wet. No surf to speak of, and pretty chopped up, but at least it was water. I paddled out to the outer reef without problems. The board is more stable than I expected. I’m too heavy for it–my weight takes up all the rocker, the nose is about 2 inches clear of the water and my feet are awash. When you’ve squashed all the rocker out of any board the sweet spot gets critical–you don’t get a little more secondary floatation stability by shifting your weight forward or back and putting more board in contact with the water–it’s already all in contact, you’ve got all it’s got to give. But I made the outer reef without drama. Unfortunately the tiny waves were refracting all over the place and I couldn’t chase any down. Oh, well, says I, tomorrow’s another day. So I paddled back in, ride-less.

I decided to look at Kanaha to see if the wind had come in so we could do a downwinder. While I was looking for wind I noticed a little knee-high peeling right. Well gee, I’m here, lets do it. So I paddled the quarter mile out to the reef with surprising ease considering the wind chop and the cross swells. Got into the right spot and caught the first weenie little swell. Did my usual “back foot to the inside rail turn” and the board corkscrewed right out of the wave.

Hmm, a little subtlety might be required.

Paddled back, turned into another knee-slapper and kept my foot planted and just bent my knee. The board pivoted like it was on a turntable and slid along the face. I thought about cutting back and the mere thought coupled with a gentle pressure on the outside rail spun the board with a little tail slide and a tiny spray of water. In a fricken’ baby wave! I’ve never, ever sprayed water off the rail of a board before. Ever.

I was out for about an hour before the wind came up in earnest. So here’s my first impression. I love this board. To a sick degree. Understand, I love my Bill Foote gecko board, it suits me very well. It’s fast, loose-ish, and does the kind of swoop-y turns that I enjoy and feel comfortable with.

But I’ve been wanting to up my game, and do turns with more power. This is the power tool. As regular Ke Nalu readers know, between our own Ke Nalu showcases, BOP demos over the past four years, and numerous other occasions I’ve demo’ed a lot more board than most people–literally hundreds. I have never turned a board with this much authority before. No board, ever.

And I guarantee you, it’s 100 percent the board.

I’ve never cranked turns like this before, in even the best conditions. I can’t WAIT to get this thing on a real wave.

There’s been a few people riding Dave’s boards on the island. Chris P., Junya, probably others. They’ve all been kind of quiet about the performance. I have to wonder if they’re feeling what I’m feeling and just don’t want to come across like they’re shilling for Dave? How would you tell people “yeah, I know he hasn’t been making boards long, but they’re amazing”. Well, this one is.

I know Dave is trying to make arrangements with a manufacturer to build and distribute his new boards. It would be a solid idea even if the boards were ordinary. Dave has so much credibility in the Stand Up World, he’s really the perfect brand ambassador. And I know how solid he is about supporting his sponsors. One of the reasons I’ve never approached him about our Ke Nalu Stand Up Paddles. He’s Quickblade through and through. But he’s also an extremely analytical guy that pays attention to every aspect of his equipment. He has that sensitivity to his equipment performance that people who are not at the top of the game simply lack. And he has it for surfboards as well as race/downwind boards. That’s a critical aspect of achieving performance. You simply HAVE to have someone who can push the gear to the edge to understand what makes a difference. To have that knowledge directly applied to the gear is the optimal solution. Nothing is lost in translation.

I assumed he could make a board that worked perfectly for himself. I wasn’t sure he could make one that would work for me. If I weighed twenty pounds less this board would be ideal. So yeah, I skipped lunch. I want one of these.

***Post Script–It’s been a week and I’ve lost four pounds–the Kalama diet. Every time I think of straying I visualize that board. I’m greedier for that board than I am for a macadamia nut smoked brisket sandwich.