Finally got around to making my alaia! Was such a satisfying process from ordering the blank through to (eventually) finding trim on a knee high left. Grant from surfinggreen.com.au supplied me with the blank and a 'how to' manual which was super helpful. I went for a 6'8 parabolic outline and put a deep single concave through the tail. After a solid 7 hours of sanding, a sore back and a house filled with the sweet aroma of gum turps and linseed oil I emerged triumphantly with this great new edition to the quiver.
First attempt out at little Wategoes on a head high afternoon saw me slipping and sliding all over the shop just trying to paddle the thing as the oil hadn't completely absorbed. Second attempt on a smaller high tide shorey and I found my feet and straight lined to the beach spinning out onto the sand. Finally just yesterday I had another go and managed to get a few beautiful little left sliders and perform a few friction free spins across my best one. the waves were small but the board was flying and I came home stoked!
Such a fun project that I'd highly recommend to anyone wanting to give it a go.
