code free

6'6" Simmons for Jeff at Haut Surf Shop Santa Cruz 2011

Laminating is one area that most people making boards don't want to do. Polishing is probably up there as well. They're some parts or making boards that are pretty thankless in the overall process. Everyone looks at the shape, or the color, but rarely look past that to appreciate the entire build of the board.

If I was going to give someone advice on how to have job security in the surfboard industry, it would be learn to glass boards, really, really well. Because, even though almost everyone can be replaced with a computer, doing super Gucci, clean glassing will be hard to replicate.

No one who hasn't put in the time will ever be able to replace those hand skills. It's not just having the tools, or the right idea either. It takes timing, a sensitivity to touch, and how you cut the cloth, or drape it on the blank.

Sure, mass produced boards now come with tints, and dips, and all the other boring techniques. Getting good at really clean cut laps, delicate color patterns, or even a super tight clear 4oz is going to be hard to find.

How it is

5'6" double wing quad Simmons from 2009

I'm not going to claim anything as my own. Nor, am I going to say anything is "new" when it comes to surfboards. If you look around, or study board design, you'll know everything has been done already. Now, all we're doing is mixing ingredients to create a different flavor.  Anyone who claims otherwise is either ignorant,  trying to sell you something, or an egomaniac.

Surfing is fun. Making boards is fun. Ride whatever you like. 

Who knows?

5'6" Asymmetric Twinzer from 2013 in CoreVac construction

This board, like most of my boards on here, is somewhere out there. Hopefully being ridden regularly. That's one of the funny things about making stuff. After the original customer gets it, you never know where it ends up. I'm sure the mass producers don't worry about that too much. But, the small guys probably do. I know I do. 

About once a year, I'll cruise the Surfer Classifieds, or Magic Seaweed, or Craigslist to see if anything turns up. I'm not sure what it means, but I don't find things often. Maybe they're being used, maybe they're hanging on a wall, or maybe just sitting in a garage collecting dust.

I don't know how many thousands of boards I have out there. A few clients kept in touch for a while, stoked out of their minds. I saw some go up for sale months after being bought, the owner never really clicking with it, or getting bored and moving on to something else. I'm sure some have been snapped in half and are dead.

Some of the weirder stuff I made is still out there for better or worse. I came across a really early board from the first few I ever made, that i wish i could have locked away from the light of day. But, the owner was still riding it everyday, and loved it. That's what is is all about.

1

Picking up blanks in Cornwall in 2008ish

Before I get started, check out the "About" page to see more of what this is about.  Basically, it's just a return to a format I think is better than the current social media outlets everyone is now using.

I'm going to upload a bunch of pictures, in no prescribed order, that documents the last 20 years of my journey in the surfboard industry. This will not be only my stuff, but other people, places, and sometimes just something random that inspired me along the way. I hope someone finds it interesting, and may inspire someone somewhere to pick up some tools, and make something.