August 30, 2012

Sand and Surf

September is closing in fast. I'm enjoying the last couple weeks of warm air and sea. Soon I'll have to "bundle up" in a full wettie.  



This sky last night was amazing. Dark blue sea, light blue sky, purple and cream clouds and  white moon. Totally majestic view while floating in the ocean.  



August 5, 2012

My New-Old Surf Board!




This weekend I was given my new-old surf board. It originally belonged to a friend who has been surfing for many years. This was the board he learned on. It is exactlly 7 feet long, which is perfect for me to learn on. Since the board is old it has been through quite a few swells and has visible repairs and a few dings and cracks. 

There were two dings in the fiberglass that went all the way through to the foam. Ideally I would have had replacement foam but the fiberglass resin and cloth I had worked just as well. In addition to the dings that were not repaired there were old cracks and dings that had been repaired but were in need of being mended again. 


This morning I cut out the damaged fiberglass and foam, sanded the areas around them and sanded the old-repaired dings that needed mending. I used fiberglass resin and patches of fiberglass cloth to fill and cover all damaged areas of the sides and bottom of the board. Once the resin dried (after about 4 hours) I sanded, shaped and polished the resin. I used 60, 80, 150 and 600 grit sandpaper with an electric sander. The patched areas are almost perfectly smooth. Tomorrow I will work on the most damaged areas....the tip and tail.