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[Editor: And now for something completely
different... Surf Ski represents different
things to different people: some guys get passionate about going out through
surf  ; some just love the ocean and paddling; some - as you'll read here -
also love their skis. Kelvin Ho just
spent some time customizing his ski and wrote to tell us about it. (And don't you just love our new image gallery component?)]
 Kelvin Ho's customised ski (Pic: Kelvin Ho)
Aloha Alain
and Rob
Greetings
from Kaua'i! I am a recent and enthusiastic
convert to surfski after paddling OC-1 for years and have been enjoying and
learning a lot from your great website. Through your articles, I see globally
how many passionately embrace this sport, developing and cultivating a
relationship with the ocean, wind and waves. Here in Polynesia everything is
believed to possess "mana" (a spiritual presence or soul), especially one's
cherished tools or vehicles. In the past one would carve, stamp or paint
designs to reflect or bring out and express this essence.
My friends
are graphic artists who focus mostly on sign making and offered me the birthday
gift of customizing my ski. Thought I would share the process as an easy and
relatively inexpensive way to create designs that can be anything you imagine.
I began by
using a roll of newsprint, cut and taped to areas on the ski to draw out the
designs I envisioned. My friends, the Cooks at Gizmo Grafix (Anita is
originally from Cape Town) then digitally photographed the designs and
transferred it into Adobe Illustrator and fine-tuned the lines and curves.
You could
also have any design drawn in Illustrator or any similar vector based drawing
program and used the same way. The equipment that makes this whole process
possible is a vinyl plotter, widely used by sign makers. The vinyl comes in a
wide array of colors, is extremely durable in weather, and thinner than decals
or stickers.
The rolls
are up to 60 centimeters wide so your finished designs could be double that
width if you do mirrored halves and up to any length. The plotter is like a
printer but uses a blade to cut the material and is capable of extremely fine
detail. He actually switched a pencil for the blade the first run and printed
it on paper to do a test lay-up on the ski before committing to the cut. Once
satisfied he cut the vinyl and we then cleaned the surface well. They then
applied the vinyl, misting the surface with water first to allow for some
adjustments in placement. I am enclosing some images of the process to give you
a better visual sense. I am extremely pleased with the results and feel this is
an easily accessible way for many to customize and give soul to our vessels.
Virtually anything you can imagine and have drawn up can be applied in a way
that adds almost no weight and is very durable to the elements. Shared designs
by groups or clubs are as easily reproduced as printing from the same file.
Once again,
just want to commend you on your site and its inspiring influence in the
sharing of news, skills, knowledge and tips. All of which allows so many of us
across the planet to feel a little closer and more connected.
Please feel
free to share this info with any of your readers in whatever way fits best for
you. Now and always wishing you both the very best and wildest conditions at
your backs and bright and open horizons ahead.
Mahalo nui,
Kelvin Ho
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