Underwater fin surfing...

[wardiew]

Hi all- I am new to this forum and in particular to this thread. I came to check out what Noa was telling me in his email regarding contacting George. I will try to go to George's house in the next day or two with my laptop and show him this discussion and see if he wants to add any comments. He is deeply into swimfin design and currently rides an air mattress in the surf. For info on the mat he rides go to Neumatic Surf Craft. I am sure George will be able to add comment to this subsurface surfing discussion- I'll just hope to catch him in a chatty mood.

Cheers

Harold Ward
aka Wardie

 

[noa]

Hey, Tom, Tim, Connor, Pete and all the rest, where are you guys ? just spoke to Wardie (who just posted here) and he's gonna try and get in touch with George Greenough to have him read this thread. cross your fingers. i don't know how you guys feel about it but i believe George can be a huge help to our development, especialy in filming us and creating some sort of film where dolphins and humans share waves subsurfing. talk about an interspecies game !
delphicly,
Noa

 

[wardiew]

Well, I talked to George for quite a while and he was more interested in swim fin design than surfing with the dolphins. He says as soon as he befriended a pod of Dolphins and they would show up regularly at the same surf spot to surf with him, the tourists went nuts and the publicity machine started rolling- something he avoids totally these days. He showed me a variety of flippers that he had modified and he basically concluded that there is really no-one who knows how to make a good flipper for surfing purposes. He has settled on the UDT brand, but by the time he finishes modifying them, they are 1/2 the weight and completely changed from the originals.
As far as Dolphin Glide the movie goes, he is releasing it in Europe, the US and Japan and once he sees how it does, he will decide on when to produce the DVD version.
So that's about all from the man up on the hill in Byron Bay- sorry I couldn't get more on the underwater surfing- he's a very private individual, and I guess he wants to stya that way.
Cheers all


Wardie

 

[pheydebreck]

Sounds interesting... a small stiff mono seems to be the best, since you need a short acceleration phase and not too much resistance once you are in the wave. Unfortunately I have a soft large mono, with the risk of breaking or losing it in a large wave...

 

[noa]

Hey Wardie, sorry for the late reply mate. listen you've been absolutely great and without you it would have been much harder to get in touch with George and see if he's interested. so, again thanks a million. is there going to be info for the Euro releases on the movie's site ?
delphicly,
Noa

 

[noa]

Boys, where are you (yeah, you know who you are) ? join back in, we got things to work on...
delphicly,
Noa

 

[hteas]

Is there any chance that George will bypass the release and give us a DVD first?
I'm ready to buy!
I first noticed Greenough (like everyone else in the surfing world) in the late 60s, when he and Terry (??) revolutionized surfing with designs using aspect ratios and foils, and proving their designs with awesome tube rides on outrageous kneeboards.
Howard

 

[cdavis]

Still here Noa, wish I had more to report, surf is going down in Florida, won't be much till hurricane season. My thanks as well to Wardie and Solo. Amazing info. I wish George would talk to us, but I understand his position. It must have been really upseting when the media went crazy.

I'd buy that dvd in a heartbeat, whenever it is available.

Connor

 

[ADR]

Damn the orpheum cinema is around the corner from me and I didn't know "dolphin glide" was playing there.....it isnt anymore :waterwork

 

[noa]

Andy, you must be pissed off about that one, hope the dvd's out soon. funny how George is running from the media (full respect to that) but how i eventually want all the media attention i will be able to get. i want this to reach mass audiences and grow. next step is to contact Jyri from Special fins, have him read read as much of this thread as he has the patience to and see if he would be interested in designing some subsurfing monos for us to test in Hawaii. there could potentially be a whole new market there and as everything new, the first one in, grabs the lions share. plus i think it's always benefitial for one's image to be involved in new progressive concepts. what do you guys think ?
delphicly,
Noa

 

[noa]

Just contacted Jyri, now waiting for his comments. still no comments or opinions from you guys who have deserted me lately...
delphicly,
Noa

 

[cdavis]

Noa, I didn't think there was much potential for wide popularity of subsurfing, but on reflection, you might be on to something. Everybody I've mentioned the concept to was fascinated. Mostly that was people who don't surf. Mention dolphins and I get an immediate and pretty intense interest. Maybe with some publicity and good pictures, vids, this thing might just take off.

Connor

 

[laminar]

Hi Noa,

Great ideas, although I think we do a lot of this ourselves.

1. Design our own monofins. As this is a subset of freediving, and on the fringe for now, what incentive does Jyri have for custom monofins for free? I'll betwith the people on this thread and elsewhere we can design and test monofins. I have a design concept that I will build and test this summer, once that should work especially well for subsurfing, and also for constant weight. That's plenty of time to work out something before we meet.

2. It would outstanding if George could film us in Hawaii. We should also put the word out to experienced uw photographers for still photos.

3. Most of all, it shouldn't be too hard for us to assemble a videographer, even one of us, to capture our meeting and adventures and put together a short highlight/narrative video. I know someone who might be up for it if there was something financial in it for him. I don't think he has the equipment for underwater footage but he is an excellent producer/editor and has already done some great freediving work.

4. Most important of all is to do this thing.

I'm swamped with work these days, so that's where I've gone! :duh

Still subSurfing in my mind's eye....

Pete

 

[noa]

Good to have you back boys and thanks for the encouragment. very true Pete, we can make our own gear but if Specialfins could produce something it would have a much better finish than anything i've ever made. it's also true that at this point in time there would be no financial benefit (although i would expect to pay for my fin) for them to make these fins. however there are some other benefits. first is image, as it's always good for a company to be associated with new and progressive concepts. second, is being the first company to work on something that might become important. the pioneer always gets the lions share when the ball starts rolling. there is not much to loose but potentialy much to gain by making a few fins and having them used by some pioneering mermen...
delphicly,
Noa
ps. where have Tom and Tim gone ?

 

[bluh2o]

Is this important? Mothers day saw myself and me family down at Middles parking lot, Hanalei Bay with our closest friends. It was a blazing blue day and we waited untill well past siesta time to unload the kitchen and it's sink. We even had a generator in the truck to run the Margarita blender.
I put the Crab tamales on to steam, set me lovely wife up in a beach chair, propped a Margy in her hand, grabbed my fins and headed across the scorched sands to the water. Our kids were already longboarding, laughing loudly as they tried to tandem. I located the optimal sandbar action and dove in. It may have been the Margaritas I tested earlier or the tomale tasting I was obligated to do as head chef but I was unusually tubby in the water. It was fun never the less and more joyful when I snuck up under the kids boards and grabbed and shook their legs like a shark. Another swim later as the afterglow of sunset lit the clouds and reflected into the clear water was even better but still very Manatee like from a surfing stand point. The additional shots of tequila and four of five lobster tacos definetly added to the lack of hull speed.

The importance of marketing never crossed my mind, thank god.

 

[noa]

i like the story mate, it's got a good feel to it. happy to see you're still at it too. so, what's your opinion on what we've been discussing lattely ?
delphicly,
Noa

 

[bluh2o]

The importance of marketing or promoting this strange activity never crossed my mind. It's a ridiculous thought. Give it up! Just get in the water.

 

[noa]

I appreciate your opinion but have a different one. so i guess we'll have to agree to disagree on that one. ridiculous thought ? maybe you're right (although you had a different stance in past posts). i'm gonna give it a try and find out, or i'll die wondering. plus the feedback from this thread alone, suggests quite the opposite. yeah being in the water and doing it is the most important part, sharing it with others is the second most important. got a reply from Jyri (Specialfins) who says he'll design whatever we want, so if there are ideas anyone wants to share, go ahead. encouragement gives me wings and discouragement makes me stronger, it's all positive.
delphicly,
Noa

 

[waveken]

Hi all and Noa . My name is Ken Eichenberg.
1. I have been Dolfining for many years now in West Australia

2. The footage you have been talking about of Laird and Rasta has been a direct result of my collaboration with my friend Jack Mcoy .

3. All this footage and more will be realeased in my upcoming movie Out of the Blue.

4.I am sponsored bye US Divers and have been testing fins masks and other associated things in realation to the sport for them.

5. I have given there products to George Grenough ,Rick Jackovich,Jack Mcoy and other water Photographers that have been contributing to the Movie

6.I am happy to share my knowledge and teqniques with anyone interested

7. To my knowledge no one has Advanced the sport to my level

8.I am happy to e mail a quicktime promo of the movie to anyone that sends there e mail address (I cant figure out how to do it on this site)

9.My most memorable Dolfining experiences to date are doing it with a pod of Dolphins .And sea turtles off the coast of Exmouth

Regards all love the thread Ken

 

[noa]

Ken, you are again proof that this thread is doing wonders in slowly bringing our dispersed pod of subsurfers together. great to see that you have all this experience as i personally want someone exactly like you to aid me in progressing. we'll discuss technique in another post as i'd really like you to give me more info on your movie first. i'd love to view the promo, so yes do send that if possible, my e-mail is noamarkou@yahoo.com. what's your opinion on the subject we've been discusing lattely, does subsurfing have a potential for development or is it an excentric activity for a few people only. thanks again for joining us mate, hope we can good things all together.
delphicly,
Noa