Surfboard Rafter Rack

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After I built my hammerhead shark board – Hammerhead Balance Board, I had several pieces of oak wood leftover.

Now that I was ‘morphing’ from hodad to surfer, I decided that I needed a rack in the garage to store my board.

I framed up a simple rectangle, with a couple of center struts, and assembled with glue, screws and clamps.

I also had several pieces of punched angle iron leftover, from my solar on the go kart project – Solar on the Go Kart.

I cut 4 legs to size and bent over the end to form a corner, and screwed each leg to the rack frame.

Here’s a good view of how the legs looked prior to attaching to the garage rafters.

I screwed the top of the legs directly to the rafters. The rack is now installed, securely holding my custom board.

You can see the unglassed hydrofoil wing just peeking out, resting on top of the board. Or… is it a giant petrified shark’s tooth? I’ll let you decide.

Gotta get going on the hydrofoil wing or I’ll never hit the waves. The surf is always up somewhere!

A Poem For A Pint

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One evening while sitting at a tiny pub, my lovely friend saw a stack of postcards at the bar’s end. She read the card and then said, “Babe, you can do this.”

Well, the ‘this’ was write a poem to the theme of “Guinness… The Perfect Pint” and win a pub in Ireland. Heck, I was all in!

We started writing down ideas while still at the pub. Of course, I was drinking Guinness for inspiration.

Later that night, I finally finished the poem:

I really thought that we had the winner, but alas we did not win.

However, that is not the end of the story. In the bardic tradition, when I travel I take the poem to bars and restaurants. I ask the barkeep if I can trade a poem for a pint of Guinness. More often than not, they like the poem and I receive a free pint!

In a few cases, as in the picture below, the poem gets framed and hung up on the pub’s wall. I found this pic on a pub’s website. Of course, someone put a pint next to the poem and snapped the pic. Love it!

On a wonderful trip to Ireland, I took several copies of the poem. It went over quite well, and yes, I received many free pints!

Here’s a pub in Trim, Ireland, with pints of Guinness lined up. Notice that the pint on the far right was the last pulled. Guinness ‘cascades’ so beautifully… indeed it does! Now look at the pint on the far left – it is ready to be topped off and served. The guy waiting on the left will soon be a ‘happy’ customer.

Guinness truly is… The Perfect Pint!

Don’t forget to share the poem with your friends – maybe you’ll get a ‘free pint.’

Have a Wonderful St. Patrick’s Day!