Surfing Waves

Hi, so I have bought a secondhand board, and it has come to my attention that there are two weird lines on the bottom of the board. At first I thought they were stress cracks, but they seem a bit too straight and perfect to be buckles, and the epoxy doesn’t look like it is cracked. There is also no yellowing/visible water damage to the board. I have attached two pictures of the lines. Can anyone tell me what they are/if I should get the board repaired?

Is there a bump on those lines? Or is it smooth and straight? It looks like the board was broke or most likely bent on those places, but if the resin is leveled then it was probably fixed and what you're seeing is the mark left on the block. If there's no water going in, then I don't see much advantage in opening the board again to fix something aesthetical.

Those would definitely bring the board price down, so hopefully it was a good deal and you didn't pay much on the board. It's not a rule, but a board that was bent or broke not often stays the same after a repair in terms of weight and flotation. Still, if you tested it and it feels fine it should give you plenty of happy days.

Is this your first board though? The size might not be the best for someone who's just starting to learn.

could be from being stored on something for a long time with something like a cord over the board that blocked out the sun and made areas of lighter color from lack of sunshine

The first line goes straight through the dims and signature, so if it was creased or otherwise affected the foam, I think you should see a change in the ink line where it goes through that area. It was hard to tell from the pictures, but i couldn't see any change in the writing. That would make me think it might just be discoloration etc like OMS was saying.

It is a flex stress mark, the board has not been broken but a sometime the tail has been flexed enough to crack resin above the glass mat.
More flex marks can develop if the resin coat is too thin!
Water may be able to get into the foam eventually, it is a weakness but many boards survive with many flex marks!

Question: Are the lines exactly 3 feet apart ?

IanCaio wrote:Is there a bump on those lines? Or is it smooth and straight? It looks like the board was broke or most likely bent on those places, but if the resin is leveled then it was probably fixed and what you're seeing is the mark left on the block. If there's no water going in, then I don't see much advantage in opening the board again to fix something aesthetical.

Those would definitely bring the board price down, so hopefully it was a good deal and you didn't pay much on the board. It's not a rule, but a board that was bent or broke not often stays the same after a repair in terms of weight and flotation. Still, if you tested it and it feels fine it should give you plenty of happy days.

Is this your first board though? The size might not be the best for someone who's just starting to learn.

The lines are smooth (they aren't bumps). My biggest worry is that the nose of the board (exactly at one of the lines in question) is yellowing whereas the rest of the board is still white. This makes me think that somehow the line isn't watertight and water is getting into the board. It is my first board that I own, but it isn't my first time surfing. I usually use boards from friends (they have multiple spares). Have been mostly surfing on a 7'2 board which is going well and I wanted to make the jump to a shortboard.

The lines look watertight post oa picture of where the board is yellowing and the rails and nose nearby!

jaffa1949 wrote:The lines look watertight post oa picture of where the board is yellowing and the rails and nose nearby!

Sorry for the low quality image, but I don't have any better ones on my pc right now.

From what I can see, it is a Rusty surfboard made with Surftech ( molded epoxy ) technology. The "stringer" is actually a painted on line. So there shouldn't be any yellowing of the foam, since what you are seeing is paint and a top coat.