You might think
that a guy that makes surfboards would be making a board for himself on a
regular basis. That might be true for someone else. Me? Not so much.
Earlier this year I sold a few boards I had. Two reasons for that…. I was thinking of making a couple new boards for myself so room was needed in my board locker. And those few boards were sold for the room and the extra bucks to pay for the new boards I wanted. Believe it or not guys that make boards have to pay for the materials and any labor that goes into making the boards… they aren’t free. I really didn’t want to unload any boards but a guy’s got to do what a guy’s got to do.
Even though I sold the boards earlier in the year I didn’t get to make my new boards until later in the summer. I put together a 8’0 Gadget … quad, and a 10’6 T & G, the longest board I’ve ever had.
The Gadget was very familiar, I’ve had one before and has been one of my favorites. The T & G I’ve never had. I’ve surfed a couple different ones but not had one of my own. The Gadget is very maneuverable, fast, paddles well, easy wave entry and is good for waves chest high to overhead. The T & G is a guilder. Great for really small stuff or bigger waves too. I like it for the smaller waves. Sit a little outside paddle in early and coast into the wave, get to your feet and cruise. It’s all about “relax”.
Got to thinking how long it had been since I had a new board. So, I checked when the last 2 new boards I’d made were done. The first…My Dream Cycle was made in November 2015 and then a 70’s Single fin was made in October 2016.
Time flies yeah? I didn’t realize it had been some 5 and 6 years ago. No wonder I wanted something new. Now the Dream Cycle I surf all the time and will continue that. The 70’s Single is one I let go. It was 7’8, didn’t get surfed that much so made the determination the Gadget would replace it.
It’s hard to let go of a surfboard. Well… if you don’t particularly like a certain board ok but I really haven’t had that problem. Imagine if you kept all the boards you had over the years…. For me like 60. You’d need a pretty good size warehouse for sure. So many surfboards and so many stories they could tell.
If your surfboards could talk, what would it say?
D.R.
