Quivers: Kamalei Alexander

Kamalei Alexander’s Hawaii Quiver

Height: 5’11”

Weight: 185 lbs

Photo: Checkwood

Photo: Checkwood

*From left to right (all boards by Channel Islands)

1. 7’3” x 18 5/8” x 2 7/8” Pintail

2. 6’8” x 2 7/8” x 18 7/8” Pintail

3. 6’10″ x 18 3/4” x 2 5/8” Proton Pintail Step Up

4. 6’6” x 18 3/4” x 2 1/4” Proton Swallowtail Step Up

5.  5’11” x 18 3/4” x 2 1/4” Deep Six

Board 2

This thing is kinda beefy, but the waves in Hawaii are beefy. Getting out of trouble is valuable to me. It’s a quad with a single channel on the bottom; the thinking is that it’ll help the water move through the bottom and make it more maneuverable and fast.

Board 4

The Proton is super concaved and fits on a wave and has lots of hold, but it’s also very responsive.

Board 5

This is something that Kelly Slater came up with. He wanted the control of a bigger board but the length of a 5’11”, so he put the back end of a 6’10 on to a 5’11”.

Board Banter

What size surf do you ride the Deep Six in?

It’s for really barreling waves with tight arcs. Anywhere from three to five foot it works really good in. It’s so stable in the pocket and in the barrel, and you don’t have to worry about the nose catching or chandelier sections falling on it. You can do a lot with it.

It’s probably not a board for everyone though, right?

You’d be surprised, it’s pretty user friendly. I can ride it in mushy, semi-good waves as well as in good waves, which is saying something. If it works in junk waves, then it can work for anybody.

Most of your boards have the little grooves in the top of the rails, what’s that about?

This is how I explain it: If you have a 9 mm pistol and it had round PVC pipe for the grip, it wouldn’t be that comfortable to hold as if it had nice grooves to fit your fingers. So the grooves are comfortable and make the board stronger. Plus they’re good for grabbing rail and doing aerials. I love them, I get them on every board I can.

How do they make it stronger?

Think about a tin roof. If that was flat, it would be structurally weak, but since it has all those ridge lines, it gains strength both directions.

What’s your take on guys trying to ride super short boards in big waves?

I like to ride what the wave asks for. If it asks for something that you need to paddle really hard to get into, then ride a board for that. But it’s good, it opens people’s eyes to what can and can’t be done.