To most guys it’s all about the shape…. And a board should be shaped well, though a not so perfectly shaped board still can ride very well.

But take a well shaped board and do a lousy lamination and that nice shaped board is not as nice. It may ride great but the lamination is a distraction. Take a well shaped board and combine it with a killer lamination and you’ve got a really nice surfboard.

Doing something different with the shape of a surfboard is not easy.  Doing something different in the lamination process is not easy either.  Being unique is hard… it takes a fair amount of thought, and work.

So I’m working on a couple boards in the laminating process and I have an idea. I can see what I’d like this one new board to look like, or the way I’d like to color it but the application is tricky.  I’ve spent at least a couple hours trying to figure out how I’m going to get the look I want.

You’d think making my first surfboard 50 years ago and making them ever since I’d not have anything to think about when it comes to the process. Surfing is a never ending search, about finding new places on the wave face or off the wave face or just getting to be a better surfer.  And, for some, crafting surfboards is a never ending process… really the art craft part of it.

Well, I think I’ve figured out how to do what I want to do to make this new board color thing.  I’ll probably be the only guy that knows it’s uniquely different… because it won’t really look like much.  And that really doesn’t matter, because I’ll be content that I’ve done something different… again.

D.R.