I've been having a hull of a time lately. 

I do a number of hulls throughout the year but it could be a couple months between orders and I'm always amazed how second nature it is for me to shape them. Hulls are a very different surfboard and have a pretty complex design aspect. The bottoms aren't flat, they have "S" decks and heavy crown as well as a soft rail with a variable apex line.

For some reason these shapes are really etched into my memory, which is great because I don't have to think about how I'm going to go about getting them out of a blank. It's the same way with the classic reissues I do.  Aside from the enjoyment of shaping them I seem to know exactly how I'm going to get them out of a blank. 

I didn't do any classic reissues for some 12 years and hulls for maybe 20 years but for both there was no trouble shaping them after all those years. It was like riding a bicycle... something you just don't forget.

Was it because I was young when I first did them, or because I did so many of them back in the day? 

I've got no idea... it's curious how our minds work.

D.R. 

What things in life do you buy hand made? What do you get hand made and customized to your interests?

Reality... the custom hand made things we might use for what ever reason stopped being hand made years and years ago.  But the surfboard???? different story.

Most surfboards are made by hand. Even the ones that are pre shaped or cut with a machine still get finished shaped by hand, laminated by hand, sanded by hand and polished by hand if that's part of the process.

The skilled and semi skilled processes of making a surfboard are specialized and unique. When you order a surfboard made to your liking or even buy one off the rack at a surf shop you are getting something made by hand... a very rare thing in today's world. And that's what makes the surfboard such a special thing to the surfer. 

If and when you buy a custom surfboard you are getting something made by just a few people that work at the particular facility that the shaper works with and that's it. Or, in my case only my hands work through the process... even more rare.

Think about it... what else is like that? what else does anyone get like that these days? I mean besides nothing...

D.R.

 The hand made process

The hand made process complete