Materials Revealed

One of the first questions I am asked about the boards is always "what kind of wood do you use?"  For the sake of full company transparency, I'm going to delve into the materials and wood types I use and even their current and future sources.  My first board was made of Spanish Cedar, which i found out later is a hardwood from Central America usually used in cigar humidors.  It is heavy and does not float the best, especially compared to Western Red Cedar, but has a gorgeous finish.  With the shipping and the slow growth and high CO2 absorption that is more typical to hardwoods, this is not a sustainable source of wood and I doubt I'll use it again.  I worked a board in Sitka Spruce, which is a lovely shade of white and very strong and flexible.  Although Spruce is traditionally used in boat building (and instrument making), it comes out on the heavy side and is difficult to work with a hand plane.  Native stands in the Northwest have been thoroughly affected by logging, so this wood type will more likely be used sparingly.  I have not yet used Fir, though it is native.  I can't comment on it thus far except to say that it is supposed to be workable if not the lightest option.  Finally, we come to our northwest champion of board material: Western Red Cedar.  Native, relatively abundant, light, super flexible while maintaining its strength, this wood type is praised for its rot resistance and has a long lush history with Northwest tribes and was the material of choice for their canoes, homes and fibers.  The majority of my boards are and probably will continue to be made of Cedar.  The only health risk I know of is that sanding Cedar produces extraordinarily fine dust particles, linked to emphysema-like symptoms, so breathing protection is definitely a must.  Thus far, I have sourced my wood from local lumber and tool specialists Woodcrafters, using some FSC timber, but am locating greener, guaranteed local sources.  A friend of mine runs a sawmill on sustainably managed forest land about an hour from my shop and will likely be the future source of wood for Selkie.  There is a possibility that sustainable wood may increase the cost of surfboard construction.  So far, the boards I have produced have been priced under four hundred dollars, making them very cost competitive with a new foam/glass board, especially considering their durability.  I believe increased sustainability can still be competitive and is an absolute duty to the future of our planet and industry, and I don't want to be doing business any other way.  Look forward to future blogs about sustainable wood sources in Oregon and the northwest, hopefully some of my readers will be able to patronize our local green loggers!  To lay up my blanks, I use Titebond 3, the best wood glue you can buy, it is waterproof and retains flex when dry.  You can find the product information and MSDS here.  Titebond claims to be non-toxic and solvent-free.  The company also has a line of green products, mostly for industrial uses, some of which may be applicable to future products.  I seal the boards with linseed oil and a layer of beeswax thinned with turpenoid.  I am using boiled linseed oil but will probably switched to raw linseed oil, as it has less chemical additives (the additives give off fumes for a few days while drying, leading to headaches and nausea, as I learned the hard way).  I get the beeswax from art stores and use Turpenoid Natural, a turpentine substitute that is non-toxic, safer (non-flammable), has less (or no?) fumes and even claims to not harm the ozone layer.  In hopes of providing color tinting to my boards, I have experimented some with artists waxes but this process is unfinished and involves subjecting my lungs to more fumes.  My tools are mostly inherited or bought used and i try to do as much hand work as possible to lower energy consumption and keep me in touch with the board as it takes shape.  Woodburning and small amounts of standard woodstain (currently being saved from becoming trash) round out the process by adding decoration.  My goal is to soon make the greenest boards on the planet, nothing less.  Please share your comments, ideas and resources as you feel compelled.  If you have any questions about materials, construction or would like to stop by my woodshop/shaping bay, please contact me at thegreatselkie@gmail.com
-All the Best

The Ride

In the late afternoon breeze, I try to coax a few more rides from small surf and the reluctant Oregon sunhine.  I am only 40 feet from shore.  My arms are almost too tired to paddle after two days chasing some fickle breaks and stroking out of the way of the weathered locals.  I relegate myself to the shorebreak and my first Alaia.  Accidentally made my first board hardwood, and being a skinny spectacle, I lack some float here.  My noodled arms won't paddle this thin, chestnut-brown art piece very far.  Not now, in the heat of exhaustion.  Reluctantly, I crouch in the shallows, ready to pounce on any tiny reform with the vaguaries of shape.  My eyes at waterline, I scan the (nearby) horizon.  My board is so thin it lurks next to me, just under the surface, holding in place effortlessly, knifing through the whitewash so easily, I almost forget what I'm waiting for.  Suddenly, a line appears; just fifteen feet away the remnants of swell have given me a short window.  Just enough time to push my board and paddle.  From my drowning-ants-eye view, the wave seemed like any: a monster, ready to crush me in sandy humiliation or thrust me on in the glory of whitewash victory.  Belly first i lunge and leap onto my board, preparing to paddle to slides worth envying.  Alas, I sink inches into the water, feeling a hopeless grip of water around my flailing arms.  I hear the tiny roar of the now-whitewash approach.  My nose sinks.  I'm done for.  I give one last stroke as I prepare to meet near-shore mayhem and fill my wetsuit with sandcrabs.  With my eyes closed for impact, I am so shocked when the board rockets off I pee my suit. again.  The long, sharp edge of my board bites the wave with a vengance for the quickest takeoff I've ever had.  I'm not sure the ride is as fast as I've been told to expect, but that takeoff was sure hyper and the ride is like nothing else.  Totally different, new.  Even from my midriff-bound view, these tiny waves are insanely fun.  I sit up in inches of water with a grin any sponger would envy and go back for more.  The long, dead-flat planing surface goes from drowning to a slick ride in the blink of an eye.  Think Boogie board on speed.  I quickly find out what Weggie is talking about when he says you can manipulate the rocker on these boards.  As my waves shrink to truly dismal sizes, I reach out and push down on the nose to find myself sucked back into the ripple.  A surfer in a green trucker hat does a double-take as I zoom past his ankles and ride the wave into one inch of water.  One inch wave, one inch of water, now rideable.  I roll off my board and stand on the dry shore, smiling at the new possibilities and challenges.  I'm not Rob Machado and I'll be dead before I can surf like him.  This is a new way to surf, and I might look weird to some people, but with a new ride to get wired and new waves to ride, I no longer care.

Selkie visits Zena (roadtrip)!

After a few weeks in the workshop, the urge to wash off in the mighty Pacific and visit friends became overwhelming.  So I loaded the long board and Lala and headed coastward to do some product testing.  Conveniently on my way toward a favorite small point wave (which ended up not working on the too-south south swell), I swung into visit my friend Ben at Zena Forest Products.  Zena Forest is 1,300 acres of White Oak and Fir stands, sustainably managed by Ben's mother outside of Salem, OR.  Ben also spent most of his childhood here, growing up with the trees he now turns to beautiful timber.  The land is considered a model forest by the Forest Stewards Guild and all Ben's lumber is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, an international leader in sustainable forestry policy and business.  Having spent a new years eve on this land some while back, I was excited to return and talk projects and wood properties with my knowledgeable friend.  Oregon forests are world renown for their beauty and Zena is no exception, having its sawmill located right amidst the Oak groves.  Zena has many products which may appear in future Selkie projects: Douglas fir for a hull material, Oregon White Oak (traditional in boat building as it possesses one of the highest tensile strengths of wood in the world) for stringers, some very unique Oak verneer and possibly green White Oak for use as rib stock in a secret-for-now board.  Ben also has connections with FSC certified Cedar sawmills as well as forestry groups and green builders in the northwest, many of which are linked to at his website above.  Please check out Zena Forest Products if you have need of local sustainable timber.  Thats all for now, and thanks Ben!

-All the Best-

In the Beginning...

Welcome.  As this is the inaugural post to the Selkie blog, I guess I should try to explain who I am and what this business and blog are going to be about.  The photos that follow to keep you entertained through my rambling monologue are of me building my first board, lala, in my apartment kitchen.  I'm Matt, I'm a 20-something who is overly proud to be from magnificent Portland, OR, and am the shaper and founder/owner of Selkie.  Environmental responsibility and a strong DIY culture are inherent to the northwest and i grew up embracing both of these values, hiking and sailing from a young age and always helping with whatever crazy home improvement project my Dad and I could find an excuse to tackle.  I have only been a true surfer for a few years and will be the first to admit I am no expert, but surfing has been part of my life for as long as I can remember.  During my youth, family vacations were often taken to the paradise of Hawaii, where I first talked my way onto a local's surfboard at the age of 5 and later surfed the long rides of Waikiki and the harbor at Lahaina.  I'm not sure exactly when, but probably when I was a teenager, I became fascinated with boat design and building and by extension surfboard shaping, spending countless hours haunting boatyards and surf shops simply staring down the shapes and running my hands over any fiberglass curves i could touch.  The burgeoning environmental movement in surfing has been a big interest of mine and I have followed developments in bio-foam, recyclable blanks, hemp glassing, bamboo sheathing, surf-NGO's and now wooden boards in many forms.  Being somewhat of a traditionalist, Tom Wegener's re-discovery of the Alaia struck a chord with me; my "want-to-build-it" brain said "I can do that," so I gave it a shot.  Seeing as the board came out pretty well, I really enjoyed the project and my head just started exploding with ideas for eco-friendly products and surfboards, I formed a business and this blog to take a stab at being part of this attempt to improve our impact on the earth and find better ways to enjoy our environment.  My goal for the business is that I may be able to expand from one product to making several types of more-sustainable surfcraft and recycled products.  Plans are already in their infancy for Alaias with better float and ways to bring Alaia technology and green-ness to a lighter stand up paddleboard.  My hope for the blog is that it may be a platform to distribute information on the Alaia, green surf tech, surf organizations making a difference, inspiring individuals and stories of note on travel and adventure both within and outside of my life and company.  I am very open to hearing comments, feedback and arguments about my boards and any issues I bring up so please comment or email me with your thoughts.  Thats all for now... away we go.

-All the Best-