Here's something you might be interested in.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Tiny surfboards
Alaias are paipos’ bigger brothers
Wegener uses paulownia wood because “its density makes the boards waterproof.”
Paipo boards are small wooden surf craft made to be ridden prone. Alaia boards are paipos’ bigger brothers and can be surfed while standing. While known in Encinitas for building and riding both traditional-style paipos and alaias, Jon Wegener was not the first to do so. That name pre-dates Captain Cook’s visit to the Hawaiian Islands in 1778. While those boards were originally made of ulu, koa, or wiliwili wood, Wegener shapes his from paulownia wood because “its density makes them waterproof.”
Wegener’s love of wooden surf craft began after his older brother, Tom, moved to Australia more than a decade ago. While riding Alaias is beyond the ability of the average surfer, Jon and Tom’s skills are far above average. Encinitas 20-something rippers Ryan Burch and Eric Snortum jumped on those primitive vehicles.
Video:
Burch and Snortum on alaia
Local 20-year-olds try the small wood boards
Realizing my limited abilities were no match for an Alaia, Jon offered to loan me a Paipo. To my untrained eye it looked like little more than a plumped out Popsicle stick, but it fit easily into the trunk of my car.
Later that week, while driving past Torrey Pines Beach, I decided to take the Paipo, still in my trunk, for a spin. That four-foot long, 18-inch wide, three-quarter- inch thick sliver of wood turned an uninspiring shore break into an hour of speedy joy.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Tiny surfboards
Alaias are paipos’ bigger brothers
Tiny surfboards
Alaias are paipos’ bigger brothers
Wegener uses paulownia wood because “its density makes the boards waterproof.”
Paipo boards are small wooden surf craft made to be ridden prone. Alaia boards are paipos’ bigger brothers and can be surfed while standing. While known in Encinitas for building and riding both traditional-style paipos and alaias, Jon Wegener was not the first to do so. That name pre-dates Captain Cook’s visit to the Hawaiian Islands in 1778. While those boards were originally made of ulu, koa, or wiliwili wood, Wegener shapes his from paulownia wood because “its density makes them waterproof.”
Wegener’s love of wooden surf craft began after his older brother, Tom, moved to Australia more than a decade ago. While riding Alaias is beyond the ability of the average surfer, Jon and Tom’s skills are far above average. Encinitas 20-something rippers Ryan Burch and Eric Snortum jumped on those primitive vehicles.
Video:
Burch and Snortum on alaia
Local 20-year-olds try the small wood boards
Realizing my limited abilities were no match for an Alaia, Jon offered to loan me a Paipo. To my untrained eye it looked like little more than a plumped out Popsicle stick, but it fit easily into the trunk of my car.
Later that week, while driving past Torrey Pines Beach, I decided to take the Paipo, still in my trunk, for a spin. That four-foot long, 18-inch wide, three-quarter- inch thick sliver of wood turned an uninspiring shore break into an hour of speedy joy.
Comments