G’day I haven’t used this forum before so I’m not sure if I’m in the right place, but I’ll fire away anyway. I’ve got a Channel Islands/Al Merrick 6’6" square-tail thruster (one of those magic favourite boards). It’s a good few years old now, and the glass underneath has discoloured a lot - it’s gone that browny waterlogged looking colour, but there aren’t any major dings or fractures that could’ve let a lot of water in. I’m interested to know if water has soaked into the blank and increased the board’s weight. I thought if someone out there could give me some idea of what this board would have, or should have, weighed when it was brand new, I might be able to compare its current weight to see if it has taken on water. Thanks
That’s impossible to know unless you knew the original density of the blank. Was it green, superblue, superlight, or ultralight? How old is the board? Sometimes they can get really brown from the sun. The blank is polyurethane, and yellows when exposed to sunlight. It’s the same stuff as that expanding foam you spray under you sink in the holes to keep out those damn bugs and mice. You are better off asking the guys at Channel Island Surf Shop. Does your board have a serial number? That’s a place to start. Some of my best boards were yellow.
They all begin to leak from the smallest of un-noticeable cracks, whities, spiders etc. But if the browning is even over the whole board, it’s probably just been cooked in the heat. Story: I had just finished a new longboard last Winter, took it out for it’s maiden voyage, put it in one of those heat reflective shiny surfboard bags when i was done. Well i layed the board in shiny bag on top of my trucks shiny diamond plate tool box. I was thinking the bag was plenty of protection, hell it’s made of shiny stuff, it’s got to be safe!! Well where it layed on top of the tool box the reflection from the Sun got so hot that it browned out the board. Sort of like Shake & Bake. Moral to the story, beware of shiny objects.
Thanks for your comments guys. It’s food for thought …