I'm in!

So I’m part of the surf industry now?  Maybe, sort of, but I’m bloody stoked whatever! I have a new job. It involves surfing and I am obsessed by surfing, this is a win win.  

Upon arriving on the Sunshine Coast 18 months ago I started getting together a quiver and my second purchase was a used board made by a local shaper called Bart, the template was taken from a Neal Purchase Jnr “sweet pea” and on its first outing I fell in love with it. On its second outing I snapped it. I got hold of the guy I bought it off just to get Bart’s number and took it down to his shed.

That’s how I met my new boss.  Since that first meeting I’ve been plying my normal trade which is painting and decorating and popping in to see Bart only when I needed boards fixed and for him to shape me (another) copy of the sweet pea.  Then he asked if I could do some painting at his house. It was here that I made up my mind to ask him for a job. He was flat out trying to keep with all the repairs from a recent run of good swell and was rueing the fact that he didn’t have time to do any shaping. Serendipitously the day I went to his shed to ask him, the bloke (Josh) who I bought that first board off was there. I hadn’t seen him since the day I picked it up. I took this as a good sign.

Well obviously he took me on. I have no knowledge whatsoever of ding repairs so a two day a week training period has been agreed on meaning I can do some painting for my old boss too. In the four days I’ve done so far I’ve learnt heaps. Bart’s not afraid to let me cock things up and is patient and subtle when I have. Without planning we’ve already fallen into a bit of routine. I de-wax, he preps the ding, I fill, he sands, I glass and apply filler coat, he sands to a finish and I clean them ready to go back in the rack. It works and we’re clearing a back log which means more time for him to shape and more opportunities for me to learn are on the horizon. 

Things I have learnt already;  Buy from your local shaper. He will generally be a smaller operation and will oversee the quality of his finished product even if he does not glass it himself. Big brands equals big staff working fast to maximise margin which inevitably leads to quality issues. Boards from Asia can be good but it’s a bit like Russian roulette, unless you can spot the inadequacies (and I can’t yet) you could be getting the bullet. Carbon strips are generally cosmetic and make a repairer’s job harder, and in some instances actually make the board weaker by poor placement. 

As my knowledge progresses I’ll add bits on here. Bart happily confesses to knowing bugger all about social media but we can learn from each other and hopefully before long we can have a blog direct from the workshop. Watch this space.