November 2022 - Lualemba Bungalow Resort - Nemberala Rote Island - Newsletter
Hi Guys and Gals
November the wet season has come early with more prominent south west winds and of cause rain. Great for the gardens, surfs were very far and in between though Boa had some good days. This month’s newsletter I’ll have about spill about asymmetric surfboards I have ridden for years now at Besialu Reef (Tland ) and designing one purposely for this wave to suit specifically for me on my backhand. Are they myth or magic. Enjoy this month’s newsletter and hopefully it will inspire you over for a 2023 season holiday in Rote.
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After the rain Nemberala beach harbour.
The start of the wet season
When it hasn’t rained for months I must admit it does look beautiful. Lualemba Bungalows believe or not actually looks greener than ever and many of our guests are probably asking how is this possible. We are for sure the greenest oasis on the island without a doubt. November is not just all rain though it is known as the build up period and the humidity can be rive. That’s where our natural style swimming pool is great and some years the waves all around the island can turn on with light variable winds local developed swells as well as long range south west and west swells.
ASYMMETRICAL surfboards Myth or Magic
Ryan Burch asymmetrical surfboards is where it started for me.
Probably every surfer who’s be around the traps has seen or heard about asymmetrical surfboards with their weird shapes and funky designs with odd fins on either side of the board. A far cry from your traditional shaped surfboard that you buy off the rack at your local surfboard outlet. The Californian surfboard industry has always intrigued me in the direction of surf craft whether be short board or longboard compared to Hawaii and Australia. Is it the people or the type of surf over there or both. My first taste of riding one of these asymmetrical boards came from a regular guest to Lualemba Bungalows Chris Wilder from Santa Monica, California. Chris is an artist who loves to see objects living and nonliving from a different angle to the norm that has made him well known around the world. When Chris arrived at Lualemba Bungalows I was like a kid hanging around Chris’s surfboard bag to see what kind of boards he had brought to Rote this time. Quite often he would leave with one less surfboard. Back in 2016 he rocked up with a Ryan Burch asymmetrical design that was 6ft and very out there pictured here. I instantly loved the feel of that board under my feet and sadly after a few years I had rode it to death. Ryan Burch has been known to ride his shapes at Gland, Pipeline and Teahupoo so he seriously believes in his boards. Check out this YouTube film https://youtu.be/JHWTNQz1ZWI giving an understanding from his concept of asymmetric surfing.
Taking it to the next level: My Tland surfboard
I’ve decided to do a spill about my Wave Graffiti Asymmetrical surfboards shaped by good friend in Rote here Bruce Heggie from Ulladulla NSW Australia. After Killing my Ryan Burch Surfboard ( article above ) from having too much fun I was left thinking what is the theory behind these type of surfboards compared to the standard symmetrical surfboards most surfers commonly ride.
The first thing I realized after riding an asymmetrical surfboard is was I was thinking more about the way I was surfing more freely on some particular waves and the restrictions symmetrical surfboards had surfing the same waves. Different rails, fin shapes, sizes and even the amount on one side of the board to the other. Different shape tails, tail widths and even rail to stringer widths on either side to the nose.
Deciding on how i wanted to design your first asymmetrical board I was considering the type of wave ( mainly Tland ) as in my case prometly left, the context of the wave being more of a racey wave even though it does have barrel sections it is fuller walls being more of a fun wave for re-entries, cut backs, round houses and taking on sections. Breaking all this down and my preference of symmetrical surfboards were more of a fish shape rather than a performance shape or the longer fun shape boards even though there is no perfect board in the world by no means.
So I got talking to Bruce about asymmetrical surfboards and showing him my Ryan Burch model and his thoughts of shaping one for me. He said he shaped a couple in the mid 70’s and thought it would be cool to shape one again. So basically I was thinking a long the lines of a fish shape looking from the rear of the surfboard a MR twinie shape to the left to be more radical on the wall side of the wave on my backhand and a keel fin fish shape board to the right side for drawing good lines for cutbacks and racing sections. The MR side I was thinking a traditional twin fin or a quad fin set up for more radical turns and a single keel fin on the other side to stiffen up the board more.
I discussed with Bruce the underside of the board such as vees and concaves. I was wanting to have the straight fairly deep concave at least a 1 cm deep at least going mid field of the board through to the tail. This was to benefit as much speed as possible out of the board and having very minimal rocker in the front and rear of the board as you do on most fishes. Bruce strongly advised best having a vee in the front of the board with a slight double concave going into the straight through concave to the rear. The idea was to stable and control the board during wind chop paddling on to and riding the wave surface.
The deck of the board I had these radical ideas for years as the only solution for older guys with bigger bellies and delayed ability was longer thicker boards that pretty much meant doom and gloom of just roller coasting down the wave and doing lame cutbacks as you wait for the pit of the wave to catch up to you. As myself shy of 60 I want to keep surfing like a youngster for ever. I asked Bruce to keep the board reasonably thick for a 6ft 4” board around 3 1/4” to 3 1/2” thick then the front third of the board spooning it out at least 1/2” they’re abouts keep the rail area untouched all the way to the nose similar to the Ryan Burch surfboard. The idea with this is to keep the main body of the board buoyancy when paddling and at stance. The final request was to remove the top 3-4” of the nose off as it has absolutely no beneficial use to the performance of a surfboard just looks nice like symmetrical surfboard looks a lot nicer than an asymmetrical surfboard.
Bruce went back to Australia with sketches and notes from what we had discussed after both bouncing back and forth with ideas and he said it will be awesome to shape something out of the box for a change and at the end of the day he was the shaper with the end result totally in his control and expertise. The end result is the surfboard above and performing earlier this season below and there is no denying I’m not having fun for an old fart of the surfing world. The board doesn’t perform going right it is too stiff and all wrong. It doesn’t suit a goofy footer as the heel to toe feel of this board is also all wrong. A year later I had Bruce shape another with all the same dimensions but taking out more foam when spooning out the front deck of the board which fine tuned the board better. Unfortunately that’s probably floating in the great Southern Ocean now as my leggie broke on a big day and was swept out to sea.
Personally I love riding these boards at Tland for what they were designed for. I think my surfing even at my age had improved by no doubt. Jumping on other surfboards such as performance boards I feel a far greater ability in my surfing than I did before even at other breaks beside Tland. There are thousands of asymmetrical shapes and designs that can be developed for particular styles of waves and I doubt there could be an all rounder for types of waves. So if you are a shaper or have a good friend who is a shaper and will listen to your crazy ideas of surf craft try it and take your surfing to another level.
Take your memories home with you
The surfing photos this year in monthly newsletters and my Instagram and Facebook site have all been taken by local photographer here Danny Tat2 who spend endless hour on the reef and at home sorting photos of people surfing Tland to have the opportunity to take home memories of their trip in Rote. If you have surfed Rote in the past or intend coming to Rote to surf Tland be sure to check his photos out. He has a second hand surfboard shop right at the phone tower in Nemberala with accessories for surfing and does a pretty good job with ding repairs. He is the man in Rote for surfing out of the surf.
2023 Season will be here soon.
Give us an email if you are thinking of coming during season 2023. Something to consider that at present without flights Kupang to Rote means it is a little more inconvenient to get here which means the possibility of less surfers making the effort to travel to Rote. We can pretty much get you here to Lualemba Bungalows the same day as your flight bali to Kupang it just going to take a little longer. Once you are here the holiday begins.