Bamboo Board

   In the name of green building and not adding to the land fill space I have had the intention of making a strapless kiteboard out of  an old sailboard I had in the garage. Since the lakes have all been closed off  due to heavy rains it gave me plenty of free time to finally do something about it.
   It is an old clarkfoam blank but I decided to put a layer of bamboo over it for durability. It is not the lightest configuration but a vacuum bagged deck and bottom with wet layup of epoxy and glass seems to have created a solid board. I used Futures fin boxes for strength so hopefully all those groundings will not do too much damage.
  One quick, light wind session gives me enough confidence in it that I can say it rides quite well, now to get some stronger winds and see how well it takes landings.
  Kino is pretty impressed that his profile gets to go kiteboarding too.

A Little Tired

   July for most people is the real start to summer but in Texas summer seems to start in May and be the time it gets to July survival seems to be the main goal. The heat and humidity starts beating you down and everything starts to look a little wilted. I found a perfect example in the yard this morning with a Black wing Swallowtail butterfly missing his tails, landing on an echinacea bloom that has some frazzled edges and a bit faded color. We are all a little haggard after a few hot summer days.

A tired Black wing Swallowtail lands on a faded Echinacea bloom.