Magic Board Essay

[AustinKelley]

Hey folks, I've been lurking on this forum for years, learning a lot from everyone. I wanted to share a little essay I wrote on the Modern Spectator about shopping for used boards over the years.

Hope you enjoy. I'd also be curious to hear another people's stories about buying used boards.

[oldmansurfer]

Interesting read.

Some sellers say they feel bad for their boards, sitting there unridden while waves crash somewhere in the distance.

I know exactly that feeling. I quit surfing for 12 years and after leaving my board sitting in a storage shed and it getting dinged during a hurricane without ever going near the ocean I felt so guilty. This wonderful board deserved to be in the ocean getting dinged.

[oldmansurfer]

I quit surfing around the age of 40. I had been bodysurfing or paipo boarding or knee boarding or surfing since I was 8. It was for work and unlike I guess the sterotypical surfer, I put my job first. Anyway I found that I got really out of shape not surfing and it was difficult for me to stick to an exercise program to try to get back into shape so 12 years later I decided to start surfing. First I got some dumbbells and started exercising my shoulders and going hiking to get cardio workout.. After 6 months I decided it was time to give it a go so I started looking in the newspaper for a used surfboard. The first one I saw that might be good for me was a 9'6" gun or an 8' funboard from the same owner. I figured the gun might be good and went to check it out. It was an unusual board 9'6" but narrow and thin but I figure the length would be good so I bought it. It was made by a local shaper Eric Strada who may have also made the first board I ever owned which was given to me but custom made and brand new. I went out with the plan to ride a wave the first day. I succeeded after numerous attempts and actually caught a couple before I was too tired. Turned out this board was not bad for me to start on even though it was a big wave gun. I could duck dive it better than the last board I had.

After a while of learning o the 9'6" board I ran into the wife of my previous shaper. I asked her if he was still shaping but he had retired due to health concerns. However she said she knew a perfect board for me which was a used longboard made by her husband (my shaper). So I bought that board. It was a 9'6" board with decent nose and tail rocker and lots of flotation relative to the other 9'6". I didn't feel like it helped me catch more waves with the additional flotation but after a while I realized I could catch waves from a more out of position location than the 9'6" board. Eventually it became the board I rode most of the time. It worked well on waves of all sizes from knee high to triple overhead. I was surprised how well it worked on big steep waves because I had always heard longboards aren't good for bigger or steeper waves. Truthfully though I kind of surfed it like a shortboard

[oldmansurfer]

A little more about my 9'6"longboard. I really enjoyed that board and learned a new maneuver on it that I had never done on any board before. I would turn at the bottom below the curl and go up onto the lip in front of the breaking portion of the wave. the board was right on the lip pointed down the line and it just moved along at a slow pace and the wave broke below it then the nose of the board fell over the edge and I dropped down. Quite often the entire board would be under the whitewater/lip as it went down the wave. Then it would magically come out of the water on the bottom as I started to turn. Sometimes it would be on top of the whitewater so I called it a stall to floater maneuver. I have never heard of anyone else doing this maneuver. The only guy who I know of who saw me do it said to me "Oh my gosh. I was so worried when I saw.........what.... the....huh? thought you were going to wipe out. I was praying for you." or something like that. I got a custom made 8 foot funboard which I still use once I started to feel the weight of the longboard as I flung it around doing turns. I told the shaper to make it so it didn't pearl so easy but after I said that I realized I hadn't been pearling just worrying about pearling but had actually figured out how to avoid pearling except on vertical drops where the board loses contact with the water and I pearl in that situation regardless of board. Those two boards are the only used boards I have ever bought or owned. Prior I had 6 or 8 boards all custom made for me by Joe Kuala who was one of the best shapers around and since then I have had boards made by Topper who specializes in old man boards.

[dtc]

i really enjoyed your essay and have been reading through a few of the others and impressed with your writing (even if I dont follow US sports particularly closely). For what that compliment is worth

[RinkyDink]

Good essay, I enjoyed it. The website has really interesting content as well.

[AustinKelley]

Thanks so much, RinkyDink and dtc. I'm glad you liked it.

oldmansurfer, do you ride that 9'6" as 2+1? Sounds great. I'm about to have a new board shaped, my first custom board, and am considering all my options.

[oldmansurfer]

I rode it as a 2+1. I no longer ride it and use my custom made boards now which I mostly ride quads. But I may use it at some point in the future. It was a good board for me at the time and may be one for me in the future.

[oldmansurfer]

I was looking through your stuff and found Stoked Again. Chowder and Neptune cocktail I have not heard of before. I surfed when I was younger and quit for 12 years and restarted. I think my experiences are quite different from yours. It was interesting reading. Boy you have a lot of interest in a variety of sports. Do you get paid for writing there?

[oldmansurfer]

Woa. Just snooped around a bit more and realized that TMS is your baby ! Wow! I don't see adds, and I'm guessing this is a labor of love or obsession and not a job?

[saltydog]

Very nice read. I was going to say, "the article has the quality of the New Yorker," then I realized you do write for them! Thanks for the link.

[GoofyJess]

Great read! Thanks for sharing! No used board stories from me though yet. I'm an almost 40 newbie surf - learner (can't go so far as to call myself a surfer yet!) just using rental boards and considering the unpoetic purchase of a foam board to keep on learning with less likelihood of serious bodily damage.

[Oldie]

Great read indeed, many thanks for sharing!