A Practical Short Guide to Buying a Surfboard

Cutback, aerial, leggie, wipeout… these are some of the terms you would be familiar with if you love surfing. Even if you don’t, anytime is good to start. It’s enjoyable, gives you a great workout, and lets you appreciate the beauty of the ocean. Some say riding the waves is akin to deep meditation. This exhilarating sport is enjoyed with a surfboard, which comes in all shapes and sizes. Selecting the right one is crucial. Pick the wrong one, and you might injure yourself. While valuable information is available on sites like the Outdoor Life Cafe, you should know how to buy the best surfboards and things to check while doing so.

What is a Surfboard?

A surfboard is a long plank that lets you ride an ocean wave while standing on them. Its main parts are the nose, stringer, rocker, leash, concaves, fins, leash plug, fin plugs, rail, tail, bottom, and outline. They are made of different materials like epoxy, wood, and polyurethane. Boards are of three types: shortboard, fish, and longboard, with subtypes like foam boards, guns, grovelers, egg, and malibu.

Your Surfing Experience

Choosing the right board depends on the years of surfing experience you have. If you are a beginner, go with one that will provide plenty of stability and volume. Try to buy one that is at least seven feet long, three inches thick, and twenty-three inches wide. Longboards are suitable for amateurs because they let you catch waves, offer significant stability, and are easily handled. Funboards, foam boards, and fish are other options for starters. Shortboards, which are underseven feet in length, are perfect for advanced riders.

Type of Wave You would Enjoy Surfing

Minute details matter a lot in surfing, although it may not appear so to an outsider. There are seven wave types: point, beach and reef breaks and crumbly, reform, double mouth, and river up. The kind of board you buy will depend on the type of wave you enjoy surfing. For example, high-volume boards with gentle hips are best for beach breaks, while those with thin rails and tails and medium-to-low rockers are perfect for reef breaks.

Deciding the Proper Fin Configuration

A fin is placed at the foot of a board to provide stability. It also helps in turning and going straight. Its size has a direct effect on the performance. There are five types of fins in all: single, twin, thruster, 2+1, and quad. If you are new to surfing, go for one with a five-fin box, two on the outside, and one in the center. The advantage of a five-fin configuration is that you can use a single one while leaving the other four empty. The size of the fin is also crucial. While a bigger one offers lots of control and hold, the smaller one won’t give you the drive and control in bigger surfs.

Your Height and Weight

Physical measurements like your height and weight will play a role in deciding the right board for you. For example, surfers who weigh more than 200 pounds should go for boards more than seven feet in length. Heavier people will always prefer planks with plenty of volumes to minimize paddling, while excellent paddlers will want less volume. Experience also plays a role here and the number of days in a week you will be surfing.

The information mentioned above and found on sites like Outdoor Life Cafe will help you choose the right surfboard for your adventures with the waves. Surfing is a thrilling sport, and a significant part of it depends on a soundboard.

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DIY Valentine’s Day Glitter Wine Glasses

DIY Valentines Day Glitter Wine Glasses

Here is a fun project for Valentine’s Day.  They would be the perfect addition to your holiday meal !  These DIY Valentine’s Day Glitter Wine Glasses are very simple to make and if you don’t have a silhouette machine, you can just do the glitter stems without the heart decals.

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What You Need:

Directions:

  1. Wipe down the wine glass stem with alcohol to clean off anything greasy
  2. Apply duct tape or masking tape to cover the round portion of the glass so that you get a clean line of glitter
  3. Paint on a layer of Mod Podge onto the stem and base of the glasses
  4. Sprinkle (or pour) glitter over the mod podge
  5. Allow to dry for an hour
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  6. Repeat steps 2 and 3 and allow to dry for another hour
  7. Repeat steps 2 and 3 once again and carefully remove the tape making sure you don’t peel up glitter from the stem.  Push down any glitter that has lifted up.
  8. Allow to dry overnight
  9. Paint on a coat of Triple Thick to seal the glitter and allow to dry for several hours.
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  10. Find a cute heart shape design and cut it out of red vinyl using your silhouette or cricut machine
  11. Wipe your glass down with alcohol in the area you want the decal to be placed.  Once it dries, apply the heart decals (if you use permanent vinyl, it will be waterproof so you can hand wash your glasses with no problems).
  12. Make sure you allow everything to completely dry for about a week before you try to hand wash these wine glasses.

And that’s it !  You can make these for just about every holiday by changing the glitter color and the vinyl design.  I think they turned out pretty cute, how about you?

If you like this project, please pin it to Pinterest

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DIY Valentine’s Glass Block with Lights

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I am in LOVE with this new glass block that I made using my Silhouette. It will be added to my fireplace mantle along with other valentine’s Day décor.

What You Will Need:

 Directions:

  1. Prep your glass block by wiping it down with alcohol
  2. Download the Scalloped heart cute kiss design from the Silhouette store (#24908) and pull it up into your software
  3. Cut the design out from your red permanent vinyl
  4. Place transfer paper over the design and lift it off the vinyl backing
  5. Decide which side of the block you want your hole to be on (I chose the side this time so I can run a plug-in light strand out it if I get tired of replacing batteries in my battery operated one)
  6. Place the design onto your glass block making sure you center it correctly
  7. Spray your block with Rustoleum frost spray (if you want it to have a border like mine does, tape around the edges with duct tape before spraying)
  8. Remove duct tape if you did that step and place a light strand inside the block
  9. Hot glue a pretty bow on the top and enjoy !

If you like this project, please pin it to Pinterest

 

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DIY Kids Butterfly Valentines Using a Silhouette Machine

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This project could not be any easier and all you need is your Silhouette machine, colored cardstock and Smarties candy.  I just love how it came out !!!

What You Need:

  • Cardstock (any color you want)
  • Smarties candy
  • Xyron Mega Adhesive Runner (or hot glue)
  • Design #2647 from Silhouette Store (this was actually one of the free designs in December 2014)

Directions:

  1. Purchase and upload the butterfly design into your software
  2. Size the butterfly so the center of the body is about 2 inches long
  3. Cut the design out of your card stock using your Silhouette machine
  4. Crease the top layer so that it will stick up from the bottom layer
  5. Using your Xyron Mega Adhesive Runner, attach the top layer to the bottom layer in the center
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  6. Add more adhesive to the center of the top layer and lay on your roll of Smarties

**Note, before adding the Smarties, you could write a message on the back of the butterfly saying something like “Valentine, you make my heart flutter”

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If you like this project, please pin it to Pinterest

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Super Easy DIY New Years Champagne Flutes

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Here is a fun and easy DIY project to help toast in the New Year with flare….

Using a Silhouette machine or Cricut machine, cut out the number 2015 and some small circles for polka dots out of gold and silver permanent adhesive vinyl.  Then place them on champagne flutes (I got mine at the Dollar Tree and they seem to be pretty nice quality).

Now you are ready to kick off 2015 in style !!!

**sadly I think we will still be in the hospital for New Years Eve so I won’t be able to use my glasses — guess I will have to change the 5 to a 6 and use it next year 😉

 

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