MyPaipoBoards Forums

Hi there,

Last summer a group of wooden surfboard shapers gathered at Berria Beach, Cantabria (Spain) at the European Wooden Surfboard Meetup [1] to share our passion on wooden boards building. Some of us brought paipos and alaias. I brought mine and took pictures of the boards and from the water [3], you can find them on my blog at [2]. The posts are in spanish, so if you want to understand the text, probably google translate is a good option.

There are not that many people riding paipos, we're two or three guys that bring our paipos, and I'd like to see that change.
So if you live near by or can get to Cantabria this summer, have a look. Waves are good, and weather is warm!

Best! and good rides!
--
salva

[1] https://www.facebook.com/euro.woodsurfmeet/
[2] http://medswells.appspot.com/category/blog/
[3] http://medswells.appspot.com/european-w ... day-1.html

Nice selection of boards at http://medswells.appspot.com/european-w ... day-1.html

Does surfing the Mediterranean require a different board?

Riding paipos prone works fine wherever I've tried them. So I'd say that for riding paipos on the Mediterranean does not require a different board.
However, when leaving prone position and trying to stand, as for example on alaias, then it's more difficult to maintain balance. I attribute this to Mediterranean waves don't have that much force, and, swells are not that strong compared to the Cantabric, so for riding alaias you have to look for good and clean swell conditions.
So as most of the time swell conditions are not that good and clean, surfing with a paipo on the Mediterranean ensures you a good share of waves that you wouldn't otherwise get.

Just to ilustrate it see the video below getting a small wave on the Mediterranean during summer:

https://www.facebook.com/medswells.surf ... 728948703/

The wave is not that steep, or strong, in fact, sometimes it looks almost flat, and still you can get a ride on the paipo

I call it the Med (mediterranean) Madness its a fickle enclosed sea
The waves can get oceanic quality in locations like Sardenia -- probably the best and most consistent place for waves in this enclosed sea
Israel seems to be classified as having good med madness
North Africa must have its share of spots but the geo political scene does not make it advisable to travel to Lybia Algeria etc
I've been living and surfing in Italy for the past 23yrs, since my job transferred me here from Texas, and I do surf Paipo's & Kneeboards
Gave up stand up long boarding because the boards are not practical to travel with (air, car, trains, and ferries) and I can not ask my
60 yr old girlfriend to sit in the back seat of the car because I have a surfboard spanning from the dashboard all the way to the back window of the car

Belly rider--bonus points for not strapping girlfriend to the roof on racks while board rides inside!

Geoffrey that was a good one got to admit but my hot tempered Italian girlfriend would make me pay a high price for that one
Thomas Nomas knows her and can testify to these words

belly rider wrote: ↑Thu Mar 05, 2020 1:51 pm Geoffrey that was a good one got to admit but my hot tempered Italian girlfriend would make me pay a high price for that one
Thomas Nomas knows her and can testify to these words

Then you get double points for wisdom and survival!