G-Mat 4 - Ta Daaaaaaaaaaa!!!

All finished. I give you...

G-MAT 4 (AKA "The Flying Banana")
Thanks to my boy Webbo for the name.

Over complicated grip if I'm honest. Much easier to get a good stipple with the two wider stripes. Nonetheless, I'm pretty happy.  Might get a test drive this weekend as the swell might not be quite as pump-a-licious as first expected I suspect.

Anyway, ride reports once ridden.

Cheers

G

G-Mat 4 - YELLOW IS GOOOOOOO!!!

Howdo.

Finished off welding G-Mat 4 and got stuck straight into dying (sorry Cookson).

I opted to go for yellow with this so got the appropriate acid dye.

You need acid dyes for nylon and the general consensus seems to be that Jacquard are the company to use.  I wanted a nice deep mustard yellow and the yellow sun dye looked just right for that.  So, 7 litres of hot water simmering away in a steel bucket and in goes the dye and half a cup of vinegar (the acid) to fix the dye to the fabric.

Not looking too yellow!  Still, in for a penny, in for a pound and in goes the mat. A bit of mixing and....

Looking pretty yellow!  In fact....

It looks REALLY feckin' yellow!!!  No chance of losing this one anyway!  :-D

So then, grip and logo's to do and then my small wave summer mat will be ready, just in time for Autumn!

Cheers

G

G-Mat 4 Mat-build Pt 2

I've got on with the I'beams today.  All went well.

Letting everything press now and will fuse the edges and do the corners when I get a chance. Then it's on to dying.

*GULP*

G

New Mat Build

Right then.  I've got going with my next build. this is gonna be a  leisurely project doing a bit here and there.

No rush... I have mats to ride...

Basically, my plan is to build a mat to the same dimensions at G-Mat 2 (shown below). Prior to its untimely demise, this mat was an absolute delight to ride, particularly in the mush, with a good inch of extra length on G-Mat 3 which is made with chunkier, hollower waves in mind.

So, I've made a start and cut the deck and bottom, both out of 70 denier taffeta weave nylon.  

As you can see, this material is white, however I plan to use acid dyes to give the mat some colour. As of yet, I'm undecided on what colour it will be.  The white is ideal for dying, however I mark up my weld points using masking tape which is later removed. This works well but you go flippin' cross-eyed trying to see where the tape stops and the material starts!

Still, the colour options make it worth while hopefully!

:-)

Onward!!!!

Cheers

G

Brittany Trip... Breaking new ground!

Well, the new surf-o-tastic vehicle is fully loaded, including the tent, etc which was previously in a trailer. Unfortunately, the new wagon doesn't have a towbar meaning everything is in it! Now this in itself isn't actually a massive problem. It does all fit. The problem is, after fitting in my lad's boards, there is no room for my kneeboard.  My quiver for tthe trip is, therefore as follows:

I also have a handplaneand a couple of bellyboards. However, not having a kneeboard to hand is newground for me.  It's interesting as I've not actually ridden it for nearly 6 months but it's still an odd feeling. The fact is, I'm also overcoming an achiles injury agravated by kneeling so my kneeboard would probably be a no-go anyway but it's still a very strange feeling.

What if it's well overhead and going square?!

Perhaps it's time to just go with the mat no matter what. After all, that's what I made G-Mat 3 (middle) for...

Anyway, sailing tomorrow so feel the tingle of anticipation. I'm often cursed on surf trips so fingers crossed not this time. Forecast certainly has some promise.

Cheers

G