It's All Over...

Strange Flora 003 is finally finished. I started it on Nov. 29, and just finished it yesterday. Yikes! That's a long time, but when I think about it, I waited over two weeks between shaping and glassing (something which I'd like to avoid in the future) and the holidays cut into time, plus there was a lot of learning and working things out to do with this board. But yeah, regardless of when the start date was, it's finished now.

I finished the board yesterday at around 8 or so. I spent a long time sanding it, going from 320 to 1000 grit, then I buffed it with a buffing compound, then I polished it with surfboard polish. The gloss came out really nice, and the dark color makes it look like a mirror. Of course, the glossy dark color also makes every bump and wave in the glassing job stick out sorely, but I think on this board it definitely came out nicer than the last. The bottom is very smooth, while the deck has some minor waves and ripples in it, which is really just due to poor sanding, or not enough time spent sanding. But it's not that bad. Es aceptable para mi ahora.

I really love the way the green Volan of the fin looks with the dark, almost eggplant color of the board. I can't wait to see it in the sunlight. Hopefully I'll be testing it out tomorrow, but it's looking like the forecast is a little better for Tuesday now. I'm really excited to try this thing out. If it works, I might bring it to Puerto Rico, along with 002, but I don't know. If the American Airlines luggage fee for surfboards is $100 per board instead of board bag, I might not bring any, and just buy a used one down there or something.

So, it's been quite a journey with this board. Learned a lot, some through trial and some through error, and put a lot of work into it, but in the end it's definitely worth it. One of the nice things about going through all the work to do a board is that when it's over, it's just beginning really, because that's when the real fun begins. Unless the board's a complete dog, but that's neither here nor there. Now to finish the next project....

...a Spitfire-type single-fin to try with the Dewey Weber. Seems like an interesting idea for a fin, and I had all this Baltic Birch plywood sitting around, so a couple weeks ago, at a lull in 003's  construction, I started it. It was pretty fun foiling it out and trying to get both sides even. Now it's just waiting for glass.

Tom Waits - "San Diego Serenade," the second track of his 1974 album The Heart of Saturday Night.