the surfboard

so luke's summer project was to build a surfboard and i documented nearly every step!
one of our favorite surf shops here in santa cruz had all of the equipment... the foam blank, the fiberglass cloth, laminating resin, sanding resin, fin boxes, etc. so, we picked up all of the stuff and luke researched techniques and made some measurements and calculations and he started on the adventure.


then he had to sand it all down and make it really smooth


then he used this razor tool to shave the stringer to the right height and shape


he then carved out the places for the side fins to lay them in the foam


after this point, luke laid the fiberglass cloth and made the mixture of the laminating resin and put it on and wrapped the edges... this was probably the hardest part because it was difficult to lay the cloth flat, get it to fit right, and the laminating resin had a very short time period of usability before it gelled up and then hardened, so it was stressful. i helped out with this whole part, so there are no pictures, sorry! :)
luke did a great job with it all though and it all turned out okay.
at this point, i also missed the laying of the center fin. he had to router out the notch for it and place it in the laminated board.

after all of that, he applied the first of 2 coats of sanding coat. this is the part that gets really hard and glassed on.


after letting it dry, he had to wet sand it between the coats to even out the glass and smooth out any imperfections.


at the finish line, here is luke with his new creation. it is awesome!!!


luke decided that i could do the art on his board, so i thought up the idea, picked the colors, and taped out the lines for the pictures. we spray painted over the tape, peeled it off, and then i added accents with a paint marker.


and finally..... here is the end product!


and tomorrow he will test it out and see how it rides!
:)

things we've been doing...

so, since i last posted, the following has happened/been done:
~branden came to visit, which was awesome. we surfed, made jokes, all kinds of good stuff. :)
~luke has started to make his surfboard (his summer project). he got the foam blank, measured it all out, shaped it, laminated the fiberglass on, cut out the fin boxes, sanded, shaved, and is now in the process of glassing it. it is pretty awesome... pics to follow.
~a deer got stuck in the gate in the house across the way, and was yelping all sad like. it was so cute and then jim and luke went over and helped push it out backwards and freed it. what heroes!
~jim and jackie are here visiting this weekend, which is nice for luke and i to be able to spend time with his parentals. they also brought their new VERY CUTE puppy with them and i want to keep her. she is so sweet and precious and just a spunky little pupster!!!
~other than that, its been the usual routine... surfing, hanging out, chilling. :)
~next week, we go camping again! yay!!!
~and then liane and carl come here next friday!!! it will be awesome and we cannot wait to show carl all around santa cruz and have good sisterly love time too!!!

okay, thats it so far... i'll post some good pics eventually.
see ya later, alligators!!!

and we're back....

from a week of camping near the beach, it was so fun! we had campfires, smores, hamburgers, all the good stuff! and it is right around the corner from our favorite surf spot, so we were so close everyday.
the surfing has been really fun and luke and i have been catching some fun waves.
we celebrated our 4 year anniversary yesterday, which was also very cool, and today we're hoping to see some good fireworks, but most of california is burning so there might not be too many allowed. ;)
alrighty... gotta go, but i'll post some pictures soon!!!
:)