We had a small swell on Saturday, so I oiled her up, attached a leash, and took her for a swim in the Lake. First off, on the bright side, the Alaia remained in one piece. That is to say, the five pieces of wood that comprise her all stayed together and didn't drift off in different directions. Also, although I had just oiled the deck with Linseed Oil, it was not slippery and I didn't need to use any wax. Paddling was another story. Zero floatation means that you are basically swimming out to the line-up on top of a piece of wood that is 1" thick . Once in position, sitting on the board is also a bit of an adventure as the only part of my body out of the water were my head and shoulders. Paddling, or "
Swimming" onto a wave is almost impossible, although I did manage to get two rides almost all the way into the shore by lying prone on the Alaia and pushing off from the bottom of the Lake with my feet. I will have to
persevere with this, as the waves were far too small and did not have enough power to properly test things out. Also, being almost completely submerged in ice cold water did not help. I think this will be a lot more fun in the summer...
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