Hey Mark,
First off, thanks for the e-mail & your comments about the movie. It made my day mate. Say sorry to your boss for keeping you from doing your work
I can start this off Mark.
I went a little over board with the amount of boards I took but for good reason as we were making a film in a very remote location & some of the equipment I was using was un-tested (board-cam) & had no idea whether it would hold up, so back ups were required.
I brought with me two 6ft boards both being rounded pin thrusters though old & new bottom curves, rockers & thicknesses were incorporated allowing different experiences . One was to be used for board cam & the other being the red & white board that I ride in the Macaronis section.
The red board was perfect for Macca's allowing high performance riding in small waves which normally I would have ridden a 5'10" or less.
Macca's, the wave, is impossible to not attack it as it is just ramped perfectly but delivers that extra power that Indo does so well so I'm sure that all the short boards came out from everyone on board.
I personally found a 6ft board was perfect for the smaller days at Macca's & Telescopes (the first few waves of my section).
I also brought two 6'3" boards, again one for the board cam & the other solely as my mid to large wave board (4-8ft).
This board was built for Indo waves. Still in the range (length) of a high performance board though slightly more drawn out dimensions giving that extra rail track grip allowing full power turns in waves of more consequence with out any doubt in my mind of releasing.
This board was used the most on the trip. Hideaways, Lances left, Ulluwatu, most of helmet cam & board cam.
I also brought a 6'10" which was used partly in the helmet cam footage & as a back up for board cam. The main reason for it coming on the trip was for board cam more so than huge waves which is not what the Mentawaiis is known for. The board cam was something so different than anything ive ever done before so I brought a full range of boards to cover all possible scenarios. (6'0, 6'3", 6'10")
Putting it on a larger board gave me
some piece of mind that it was that little bit further away from my face. As far as the results go, I didn't get what I was after as it was created more so for footage riding inside the tube but I never got a good crack at it in the right conditions to test it out & me
In the end it gave me something I was not expecting, which was a look into body & weight adjustment from feet to shoulders. Though the footage shot is slightly conservative due to me over compensating for the weight of the board cam sitting on the nose. Approx. 8 kilos
It gives a great insight into kneeboardings low centre of gravity combined with body & weight adjustment. It did for me anyway
As far as swapping boards went between one another it did happen & it is in the movie but until now no one has picked up on it
I asked Gigs to ride my red 6ft board out at Telescopes towards the end of the trip. The footage is the underwater shots in the section
"Inside, Outside, Beneath & Behind" Its given away with the last shot of Gigs duck diving in the red tinted ocean
Also the last surfing shot of the opening section as the red board goes flying over the top of the camera & my head
you get a glimpse of a flipper (fins) hanging over the edge of the rail. That's not me
I think the trip was a real experience for every one of us who went on it & one that everyone really wanted to tap into there own equipment some of which was new equipment.
The trip was rewarded with some amazing waves at the first half of the trip but was cut dry the 2nd half. I think if the trip had of kept the same pace up as the 1st half we all would have started experimenting more on other peoples equipment. The only other sharing of equipment was my good friend Barry who stepped up to the plate with the helmet camera & had a go at No Kanduis
I think the surfing gave a good mix of styles & board design especially fin design. I feel the movie showed no matter what the surfer had under their board as far as the number of fins goes everything worked.
I've had enough of typing & hope some of the other lads can jump on & give their input & perspectives