I saw the sign

Getting a new sign made. The wood is a massive piece of drift wood white oak from an old boat. Found it last Winter and it has been drying off in the shop all year. Now that it is dry it got a quick sanding to make a flat spot and then lettered up for a epic hand painted sign.

Snow away

Went wave hunting today since the wind was raging and side shore. After hours of hiking through snow and over icy rocks I found a few potential spots for different swell/wind combos. Getting back to my car is was quickly informed by a plow truck that this few mile stretch of peninsula is private and no access is allowed by car or foot. This area has become quite frustrating the few waves are so fickle and crowded but soon as you look elsewhere everything is private no access even in the middle of Winter when no one is around.

Salt water does freeze and it sucks. If you think not putting fresh wax on makes for a slippery board wait till you get a coat of ice on it with a big dark heaving closeout at your back as you try to stand up.

GoProStick Promo

GoPro Stick from Neto Nomads on Vimeo.

Little video filmed with and about the GoPro stick. Gave away one this week in the contest on FB. 
Each one handmade a designed to be simple and practical. Attach you GoPro via the surf adapter in the FCS plug secured in the end of the stick. Sticks come in a variety of sizes to fit your particular need. All sticks are constructed with high quality stainless steel components and wood finished with marine grade protection. Start shooting some new shots today!

Another Picture Show

Seasons Creep from Neto Nomads on Vimeo.

Some random shots from last Winter. Crazy how fast the season creep up on you.

Tail Feather

Finally a little post about the interchangeable tails. Did it work? Yes. Would I make more? Up for debate it was a lot of work to make one offs. I did take the board out in some good waves from Blacks in CA to Scarborough in ME with no breaks which even surprised me. Pretty much I got to try out three different boards before choosing what I really liked. Had a super squash with no tail I would ride with a quad or as a twin, a normal squash with double channel I rode mostly as a quad and a pin tail I rode as a quad also.

This is the layup of a tail I glued left over cut offs of EPS and use a mahogany stringer. This was then shaped down to the tail I wanted. Think of it as a large fin, I used a white oak tenon piece to slot into the board and secured it with two set screws. The board had an adjustable length of 5'3" - 5'6" and 5'9".

After two months of use I have decided to glass the squash tail on permanently this will reduce a bit of weight and limit the chance of breaking. This is really what shaping is all about for me the abilty to try out new ideas that you can't go get from a store. 

Big Board

The 11'4" SUP is been getting some use keeping me in shape when the waves are flat.

The nose got good V in it to help cut down on negotiating chop in the harbor.

40 min paddle out to an island for the test run. 

Wood

Tree's are cool:

Log ride on a flat day out in the island of Maine. Whole different kind of heavy this thing weighed a good 600 lbs and was very precariously balanced.

Even after they are dead tree's keep on giving. Pine hand board mid drying its marine coat.

Back

Got super busy shaping up boards with deadlines then off to California to surf until it felt like I broke all my ribs. Back now and with Fall approaching expect lots of new things.

Tool or toy

While it looks a lot like a sex toy and even has a name of Silky PocketBoy this little saw is amazing. Since most of my work is done by hand I have been looking for the best saw to cut out outlines. This Japanese pull saw is the answer. So sharp it is ridiculous how easy it cuts foam or stringers and the blade is the perfect flex to cut a tight curve but not flimsy that it will waver when trying to cut straight. Folds up nice and small into its super comfy handle so the blade stays sharp from lack of abuse. Every time I use it I am extremely happy and highly recommend getting one if you need to make quality cuts.

New video

24th of August from Neto Nomads on Vimeo.

Video I shot on the GoPro stick of an average weekend. Yes an average weekend has no surf but don't have much control over that. Filmed and edited in one day.

Wave fish?

Paint job on a fish that has been hanging around. This board was in the move of shops and wasn't finished during it so unfortunately it has some cosmetic throughout. So decided to use it as a test piece for some painting. Turned out looking pretty good. 

Tailfeather

Been kicking around the idea of a modular board for a long time. Finally bit the bullet and went for it. Who knows if it will be a waste of a blank and time or a start to something great. This one is going simple as I can with an option of two tails depending on your mood. Idea being you can vary the ride by different tails and different fin combos. If it work would like to add in a way to cut the board in half to travel with so you can avoid airline fees and have one board with a very wide range of options. Only one way to find out so cross your fingers I am on to something.

Five feet seven

Couple of shots of the new 5'7" getting shaped up. Pretty excited for this one got to use a few new tools finally and they helped a lot. Fun slightly center forward shape with a quad set up. More pics and info when its done.

Shop

You buy now!

Shopnetoshapes.wordpress.com

Getting old

Some pics that have been hanging around and getting musty so time to post them up.

Things to do on a SUP

Testing out the new 10'4" x 30" SUP. Pretty fun stuff little paddling and little yoga, not a bad way to spend the heat wave.

Where do GoPro sticks come from?

The Oak sticks available are made the hardest way we could think of. We actually cut down the tree and took it to our mill.

 Then the log was milled to specs and the lumber was set aside to dry.

After a ridiculous amount of carving and planing by hand we turn the square lumber into amazing unique GoPro sticks that hold you camera secure and look great.

All of that work so you can go out and get shots like this to show off to friends!

Pow pow

Highs in the mid 90's today but plenty of fresh pow in the shop!

 New batch of  gopro sticks and hand planes. As promised they will be for sale soon.

Finally to add to the Winter theme it was like Christmas today when the black smith stopped by the farm and gave me a handful of files. New tools are always appreciated.

More sun makes for less posts

Couldn't decide on a tail for a new shape so guess we will have to wait an see what happens. In the mean time finished up a new SUP and it has been getting a lot of use. More info on the SUP coming soon.

Summer

Summer is here boards are being made. Get some.

Stand Up

Started up a 10'4" which is maxing out the shop working area. Pretty happy with it so far got a little more clean up to do but the shape is roughed out.

Surf More

Testing products

Finished up the first gopro stick prototype and will be making more soon. Worked out great when shooting some snowboarding over the past weekend and was sturdy enough to survive some crashes. Hopefully no more snow laden surf shots any more!