Hi Jim,

Thanks for sending those ULI boards for us to Hawaii. I had a wonderful time using them. I was able to stand up on almost every wave I caught, which is really cool considering it was my first time surfing.  I am really excited about going about again this summer!

Thanks, Lisa

Fritz Chess
Columbus, Ohio

Jim,

The UliBoard is great! Used it on three sessions so far. Still can't believe that I'm making rides in 1 to 2 foot lake surf on Lake Huron! But I did. Getting more rides on the Uli than my longboard. Still working on making a rocker shape that works well for me.

Letting you know that I really enjoy the Uli, it fits perfect in the back of the Jeep, no more loading & lugging around the logs.

Thanks,

Jim Fraties
GREAT LAKES

My 12 year old son is having a great time on his ULI board.  He is new to surfing but has a natural athletic ability and it didn't take him long to get the hang of it.  He loves how his ULI handles, I love it's portability and the fact that I don't have to worry about him getting hurt by being hit by the board since he is still a novice.  He looks forward to being a real ULI expert.

Jan

Hey there Jim,

Thought I would drop you a line and let you know about how the board held up and if it were successful.
We took the board out before we left and looked it over.  We were psyched to see how it would work.  We put it in a bag and headed off to Costa Rica.

First let me say that it was much easier and cheaper to carry as we also had two full sized board bags and two boogie board bags that we had to pay extra to get on the plane. We opened it up and wanted to test the time it had on the directions of 1 minute 30 seconds to inflate.  We had 2 guys tag teaming because they are a bit older and it really did take the time it said it would. 

We took it to the beach and the men tried it and thought it was fun but I  think the kids had the best time with it.  They really learned how to surf with it and started to catch waves.  It was also a big success in the pool as a run-from-the-side and see who can make it to the other side of the pool.  We had one guy break his board on the last day we were there and he mentioned that he should have been riding the ULI.

It was fun and easy to travel with and we really had a good time. Thanks for the fun gift and I hope more people can enjoy it.
Sincerely,

Heidi Lucas

Hey Jim! Just wanted to get back to you about my latest trip using the ULI. I hit the break at Montauk/East Hampton, NY. It was great! The waves pummeled me and broke pretty hard. The ULI performed like a champ. The trip from Colorado across the country was really easy. I simply threw the board in my suitcase and pumped it up when I got to the beach. No problem!

I'm attending a wedding in Jacksonville, Florida next week and bringing my ULI. Wouldn't think of going without it.

Hope all is well with you and the company is doing well. Thanks again.

Hey Jim,

Just wanted to report back to you on the use of the boards during our vacation. First let me say that they packed very easily. I appreciated the pump that you sent but was able to find a smaller one to pack that worked, though I know I'll use yours for our trips to our local beaches. The boards held the air extremely well and we only needed to fill them initially and never had to give them a boost.

I do have to say that we had very little opportunity to fully test them on some decent sized waves. The Caribbean beaches that we experienced were extremely mellow while we were there. But I want you to know that I'm very glad that I purchased them and expect to get many years of pleasure from them.

Thanks again for the great customer service. Have a great day.

Sandy Vischer

Hi Jim:  Well, we're back from our trip to TN where we used the Uli board for the first time.  What fun my son and I had.  He got the hang of it quickly and was able to stand up for a minute.  It took me a lot longer and my record is 10 seconds.  We had a great time trying to get up on it and ride the wake.  Just wanted you to know what a fun little board it is. 

Thanks.

Chris Davis

Jim -

Your ULI boards were a hit on Cape Cod!  Now you have exposure coast-to-coast. Our boys, Eric (age 9) and Nicholas (age 7), had never surfed before and yet were standing on the boards in less than 10 minutes. The boards got a lot of attention and  I could have sold dozens - we let everyone who asked try them out and gave them your website.

We were at the Cape Cod National Seashore and the very tip of the Cape Cod, MA peninsula with your boards. A number of the guards, several who were surfers, were very impressed with the boards and commented what a great idea. They ended up being so enthused about them they stayed and gave the boys a few pointers regarding body position, popping up and timing the anatomy of waves. We were also able to use them in areas where surf boards typically were not allowed - a score all around.

The stability of the ULI makes it easier for kids to learn and develop confidence - by seeing these results sooner, kids don't get discouraged. Nicholas was so sure footed on the 5 foot fish you recommended that he (a gymnast) was also doing hand stands on the ULI while afloat. Both boys were challenging each other for how long they could stand before losing their balance and went over a minute. At 225, the same board supported me body surfing with no problems.

We first tried the boards in the pool to get the boys accustomed to the boards and standing up. That afternoon we went to Race Point Beach and later that week to Long Nook and Calhoun Hollow Beaches (known for surfing) and had a blast.

Thanks again for sending the 2nd board which I will purchase on account of your superior service and enthusiasm for the sport.  We went to a surf shop to buy leashed for the boards and told the sales staff about the ULI. They too were very interested in the board and I was sorry I didn't have it in the car with me at the time. With their entry level board selling at $350, I told them the ULI would be an ideal board to carry in the product line.

Jim, while I'm impressed with your product, I'm even more impressed with your response in getting us the boards. You're a class act and I sincerely appreciate the effort you made, above and beyond, to make surfing a reality for our kids. I wish you success beyond your wildest dreams in this venture. You deserve the best!

Respectfully,

Jack Malinowski
Georgia

Jim,

Thanks for shipping my board so quickly. I got to use it in Vero Beach over the 4th weekend. The waves were small (as usual) and breaking very close to the beach. I was able to get up sooner than others on hard boards and get some decent rides. The board is a lot of fun.

A lot of people were asking me about it. I told them to look you up on the internet. Hopefully you'll get a few sales from it.

Thanks again for the quick delivery!

Best wishes,

Mike Grenci
Apopka FL

Hey,
Sorry, I forgot your name.  I'm the gringo from Tijuana that came in at the end of June and got an ULI for my birthday.  My parents called in the credit card from back east.  Anyway, I have inflated and deflated the board frequently and the pump is still functioning fine.  It took a few session, but I got used to the board and really like it.  I had to mess around with the rocker a bit and I am usually by myself so I find that setting the nose and tail on some logs and putting some weight such as a rock in the middle of the board while pumping works well.  I have used the board in some super fast lefts at the Tijuana River mouth and it seams that the board is even faster down the line than a fiberglass board, or maybe I just go for some faster walls than I would attempt on a fiberglass board since I know the ULI won't hurt me. 

Well, some friends of mine were heading down to San Felipe, Baja California (120 miles south of El Centro,
CA on the Sea of Cortez) 4th of July weekend and invited me along, so I figured I'd go and if there were any waves, I had my ULI and I wasn't afraid to use it. Well, we arrived early on Friday, July 4th and it was pretty flat. The wind started kicking out of the east (onshore) about 11 a.m. By noon there were whitecaps and by 1 p.m. the waves had reached knee high. The tide was super low and I could walk out about 200 feet and the water was waist deep. The shoaling was so gradual that the waves were mushing out and hardly rideable. The water temperature was in the low 90s and the air well into the 100s. The tropical wax was melting right off. I went in for an hour and came back out. The tide had come in and the waves were breaking closer to the beach, but with more force due to the increased water and more abrupt shoaling. I went out and got some rides, some of which allowed for some down the line action. The waves kept breaking closer to shore as the tide came up and after and hour they were breaking right on shore and no longer surfable.

The next day, the wind came up a little harder, and I knew the effect of the tide, so I went out and hit it perfectly. I started out at low tide with the mushy waves and taught a few of my friends kids to surf. They were like 50lbs, so the mushy waves pushed them fine. As the tide reached the appropriate level I started catching a few. The waves were thigh high and the water was still hot, and the air even hotter in the low 110s. The waves were allowing for a lot of down the line action. It was great. It felt just like I was surfing San Onofre, except I wasn't, I was surfing San Felipe. Actually it was better than San Onofre, because it never gets this hot there.  The only problem with the intense heat was that I had to get some water and I left the ULI on the beach for three minutes and it popped, due to the air expansion.  It was about a 4 inch section of the seam on the rail.  I used the patch kit and the board has remained air tight since then, so I am not too concerned about it, but I'll have to remember to deflate it a little even for a short time out of the water in that intense of heat.  Oh well, at least I got to see the internal structure of the board.

I posted a postive review of the ULI on the forum at www.lakesurf.com and a guy name Jim Fraties ordered
one.  He likes the ULI board better than a fiberglass board.  I know the ULI is ideal for the lakes. I imagine you will get more orders from that region once people see Jim's out in the lineup and witness how well it handles the conditions.

Stay Stoked,
Drew

ANOTHER E-MAIL FROM DREW

Hey Jim,
This is Drew, the gringo from Tijuana.  I have moved south again to Ahome, Sinaloa Mexico about a 5 hour drive north of Mazatlan on the Sea of Cortez.  I live about 20 miles from the coast and have been getting over there about twice a week or so.  The wind always blows out of the NW in the afternoon at about 15-25
knots and kicks up some choppy waves.  The winds then die from about 4:00 a.m. to about 10:00 a.m. so in the morning the choppy waves clean up into small clean lines about knee to waist high and occasionally the wind goes offshore in the morning and they are pretty hollow.  The water feels like at least upper 60s. The low temperatures are usually mid 50s with the highs in the low 70s and really intense sun.  It feels like a small day at San Onofre in June or July.  I haven't even thought about putting on the wetsuit. 

The round tail ULI is way more maneuverable and I have found that I have the ability to hit the lip and crank
harder turn on smaller waves than I could with a fiberglass board without killing my momentum and losing the wave.  I think the dual action pump helps me get more pressure in the board, because I seam to have less flex.  Locals are telling me that in April through October there are waves on the south facing beaches even when there is no wind which I imagine is south swells from the Pacific entering the Sea.  I will have to wait and see.  Right now the south facing beaches are as calm as ponds.  I am fortunate to be near one of the few WNW facing beaches on the east side of the sea to pick up these NW wind waves.

Stay warm up there,
Drew

Dear Jim,