What was your first surfboard?
I have to admit I had to stop and think about it.
I started surfing during a time of extreme change in surfboard design
Literally overnight the standard 9 foot 6 inch nose rider was out and 6 foot 9 inch plastic fantastic machines were the rage.
I grew up in Huntington Beach California with an older brother that was already well into the surf scene. I had already started surfing but I had to go through that first winter riding borrowed boards without the benefit of a wet suit to convince my parents that I was serious about, what was to them, just another passing teenage impulse. Which of course it probably was.
I had apparently passed that first test and got the go ahead to get a board. I did what everyone else was doing. I bought a cheap long board, suddenly rendered passe, stripped the glass off and shaped a new one out of the blank
What a mess!
Somewhere in the shaping process I bought a used short board (which I promptly cut the tail off of but that's another story). That delayed the shaping long enough for the blank to be repurposed into two belly boards. My brother (always the leading edge one of the family) took the nose section (it had more rocker), removed the foam from most of the middle section making a spoon bellyboard with a square tail and twin fins. I really wished I had that today. I think it would still be a fun ride. As for me I shaped (and I use the term very loosely) a tear drop with a single fin. Not only did the board surf poorly but I made such a mess in the garage my Mom forbid any further such work. My resin and glass work was limited to ding repair from then on.
Two things to take away from my story.
First off never back away from taking a perfectly good object and ruin it in the name of progress. The worst that could happen is the initial object is gone forever, you have made an incredible mess, and you may very well burn the house down with the toxic and oh so flammable ingredients.
Second, never underestimate the value of a friend with a shed.
As a post script to the story I did go on the shape several more boards, complete with semi-decent glass jobs. I even went into the multi colored glass work so popular during the time. I was known for producing color combinations that had never been scene outside of a diaper.
And my first board?
It was a mat
I started surfing during a time of extreme change in surfboard design
Literally overnight the standard 9 foot 6 inch nose rider was out and 6 foot 9 inch plastic fantastic machines were the rage.
I grew up in Huntington Beach California with an older brother that was already well into the surf scene. I had already started surfing but I had to go through that first winter riding borrowed boards without the benefit of a wet suit to convince my parents that I was serious about, what was to them, just another passing teenage impulse. Which of course it probably was.
What a mess!
Somewhere in the shaping process I bought a used short board (which I promptly cut the tail off of but that's another story). That delayed the shaping long enough for the blank to be repurposed into two belly boards. My brother (always the leading edge one of the family) took the nose section (it had more rocker), removed the foam from most of the middle section making a spoon bellyboard with a square tail and twin fins. I really wished I had that today. I think it would still be a fun ride. As for me I shaped (and I use the term very loosely) a tear drop with a single fin. Not only did the board surf poorly but I made such a mess in the garage my Mom forbid any further such work. My resin and glass work was limited to ding repair from then on.
Two things to take away from my story.
First off never back away from taking a perfectly good object and ruin it in the name of progress. The worst that could happen is the initial object is gone forever, you have made an incredible mess, and you may very well burn the house down with the toxic and oh so flammable ingredients.
Second, never underestimate the value of a friend with a shed.
As a post script to the story I did go on the shape several more boards, complete with semi-decent glass jobs. I even went into the multi colored glass work so popular during the time. I was known for producing color combinations that had never been scene outside of a diaper.
And my first board?
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