My new plywood paipo

Today (Wednesday) I created my new paipo from a scrap piece of plywood I've had lying around.
Dimensions: 95 x 50 x 7mm.

Tool Man

Went to Bunnings Hardware on Tuesday and bought some new tools.
A belt sander $49
Orbital sander $109
and a solid folding workbench $99.

On Monday i got a free recycled desk for my art studio. I went to SuperShed on a whim and discovered on Monday desks were free and I found the perfect sized one (4'x2') to fit the space. Mostly they are too big. It was ugly dark varnished wood so I sanded it down and painted it bright colours. The top is formica so that will be perfect. That was after I already had a really great early morning surf session, so yes, Monday was a fantastic day.

My Paulownia Alaia

Last Saturday I finished shaping my first alaia board and applied the first coating of linseed oil. I got the paulownia blank last week from Roy Stewart. I'm going to apply another coat of oil today then maybe another two. I'm looking forward to trying it out.


In the meantime i have been excited by the amazing monsterboards.org and will be building some paipo and alaia from salvaged plywood. Thanks, Lueke, for the inspiration!

MONSTERBOARDS

a few days ago I discovered this blog of a Dutch artist/surfer building amazing alaia and paipo boards from salvaged plywood. Check it out here

hawaiian paipos, alaias and olos

See slide show here

"Ocean's Gem"

"Ocean's Gem" a painting by Aotearoa artist Peta Dowle that I added to my collection in November 2007. The painting is of a Maui dolphin which is native to the North Island of New Zealand and is of the same species as the Hector's dolphin found in the South Island coastal waters - both are rare and endangered.





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Taiji Pilot Whale Massacre

Please watch this video of a protest lead by Dave Rastovich of Surfers for Cetaceans at the annual Pilot Whale massacre at Taiji, Japan. Join the VisualPetition against the slaughter of dolphins and whales.




I have been a surfer and ocean swimmer all my life. With spending so much time in and on the ocean I have been honoured with many close encounters with dolphins and I cherish the memory of every occassion.

The number of encounters locally has decreased as the population of Hectors dolphins has been decimated due to entrapments in fishing nets. The North Island native, Maui dolphin, is also threatened with extinction due to set-netting.

Seeing the horrible fate dealt out to dolphins and pilot whales in Japan has prompted me to get more heavily involved in the protest action against the slaughter of these wonderful highly-intelligent and fun-loving creatures.

http://surfersforcetaceans.com
http://www.seashepherd.org