papakaiboards

I’ve had this board for about three years.  Haven’t used it as much lately because I knew it was in poor shape.  That’s mostly due to neglect as I left it outside in the sun for long period of time so the wood actually warped and pulled back from the glue joints exposing little cracks […]

Brandan is from the Big Island and ordered some blanks not too long ago.  Luckily, he sent me pics of the boards he made as well as him riding them.  This guy is killing it!  Pics were taken by his friends, Jensen Young Sik / @jys_cd and Tara Binek / @ladyslider.  Awesome pics so enjoy.

I had the privilege recently of shaping a board for a retiring military officer. Ismael, a soldiers serving under this officer called me up with the request. He wanted a decorative bored with a symbol of the company he was in burned into it. The catch was that they needed the board on in a

I met with Leslie about a year ago and she just got her alaia done. Better late than never! It’s looking great though, hope she has fun with it.

A couple of months ago I found myself with a couple 24″ wide sheet of Paulownia.  I’d always wanted to try shaping a double thick board (usually use 3/4″ thick pieces so this would be 1 1/2″ thick) so I glued them together.  Then three months passed…and the wood sat in the rain. Luckily, a

I’ve had a few really fun sessions out at Turtle Bay lately. My favorite is a slightly sloped, waist to chest high wave and that’s how it’s been on the higher tide over there lately. While I wouldn’t mind some bigger swells coming through, while it’s small I’ll just keep plugin away with the Alaia.

A little while ago my friend Carlos Mozo (www.theartofcarlosmozo.com), who is an awesome photographer, asked if we could do a quick shoot with the alaia on the North Shore.  He’s mostly a black and white photographer and does more landscape shots than action/surfing shots. There were practically no waves this day anyway so no action

I’ve been working on these handplanes for a longggg time.  Admittedly, it’s been a little work here and there over a long time though.  Anyway, these things definitely increase my enjoyment whenever I’m bodysurfing.  They let you stall when you need to by propping yourself up on the handplane and then gain speed by laying down

My friend John and I had an alaia weekend last week.  He made one with slightly parabolic rails while I made a traditional shape.  Surprisingly, it's the first new board I've made for myself in about 10 months.  So far I've ridden it at Puena Point, Pupukea, and Turtle Bay…and I like it.  Next project:

Aloha, It's been a while since I've posted anything on here…and it's not that I haven't had time.  In the past month or so I've been lucky enough to move back to Hawaii.  The most beautiful place in world!  I say that pretty confidently knowing that I've only been to a few scattered corners of