Board art by Roy Ruiz

For the last 6 years I have had the pleasure of collaborating on surfboard art with Roy. We have done approximately 20 boards with art on the deck under the glass off the grid in Puna with mythical themes from the past and present. Roy works with the person the board is being made for to create an image that will resonate with them. These are a sampling of some of the boards we have made together.

The "Fish Tank" it ain't for the weak kneed modern longboarder

The Fish Tank started out with an intentionally wide swallowtail, approximately 16" plus to increase the boards ability to catch waves. It was built originally as an old style single fin, but after getting smashed on the lava shoreline (lent to a novice) it was modified into an extreme twin fin. Since all my shortboarding was strictly on twins it was the next logical step. Instead of making fins from scratch I began to search around the Gary Young bamboo shop (where I was working at the time) for a suitable fin like item. Sure enough in a pile of reject bamboo canoe paddles I could visualize an over sized Bonzer side fin shape by cutting the paddle blade in half. The fin base ended up being nearly 16" at the base with a height of 4" set way back to create a venturi water flow dynamic. To my history of riding heavy old style longboards, I was amazed at the dramatic increase not only in the boards ability to catch waves other longboarders couldn't even touch, but also the overall top end speed increase, making single fins seem ridiculously slow. You don't go fast by accident and it is an economy of movement together with perfect trim lines that show your ability to predict the future flow of the wave you are riding.