plane and simple

Sparked by the flurry of interest in hand planes floating about, I recently carved a quiver of hand held wave sliding apparati myself. Truth be known, I am a little afraid they may clutter the purity of the bodysurfing experience as I know it. The simple pleasure of jumping into the shorebreak with nothing more than swim fins and a big child like grin is unmatched and virtually kook-proof. There are few expectations, tons of barrels, and plenty of sand in the ears. Bringing more equipment into the equation seems a bit antithetical to the experience.

That said, I really enjoyed the process of making these planes. A little templating, some bottom contours, banding and blending the rails, all in all, a quick project to tinker away these cold winter nights. The temps are holding in the teens around here, so for now my new quiver waits in anticipation. In a few weeks I head for warm water with friends. Hopefully between stand up sessions we can pass them around and slip into some thumpy shorebreak barrels at a favorite bodysurfing beach. Until then the jury is still out, hand plane or just plain hand...