Some of us open up the garage door in the early morning hours and smell the fresh sea air as we line up our stands and place blanks on the rack. Others of us may walk the long maze of surfboards and clothes only to find ourselves in room in the back of a warehouse painted blue and filled with dust. Some may drive hours to the nearest storage unit and open it up only to find that we have just opened up the gates of our own heaven. We few, we happy few, we band of brothers, are Surfboard Shapers.
In the year that I have begun shaping surfboards as a beginner, I have learned a lot of valuable lessons. Cut once, measure twice. Never have a “practice board”, put everything you have into making it the best possible surf craft, take your time. Some of these sayings have come from shapers who have been doing this longer than I have been alive. I trust these gentleman and ladies because they know what is right.
But the questions I often ask myself is why I do it? What keeps us going back to that shaping rack and putting foam blank after foam blank on it and creating something so wonderful out of something so boring? I do it because it’s an escape. I started shaping, after being shot in the line of duty. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I knew I loved surfing and everything about it. I knew that I was “okay” at building things with my hands. But what I did not know was that when I turned the radio on and strapped on that dust mask, I was in my own world. I never once thought about bills, the kids bath time, what was going on at work, I just escaped into my clutter filled garage and attempted to construct something out of nothing, without having a clue in the world on how to do it. I just trusted my hands, heart and soul and hopefully the rest would follow into my creation.
I’m not a great craftsman, or a great surfer, but I know that when I step foot in my garage and walk up to the shaping stand, I know for that instant, I’m a surfboard shaper and that’s all that matters.
Shaping surfboards changes people; it allows people to appreciate what we take for granted in life. Shaping surfboards brings families closer together in that a father can teach his son how to read a rule, and what grit sand paper he needs to use. Shaping surfboards was and is my rehabilitation. Shaping surfboards is my escape from reality. I look at a blank and envision the top surfers in the world riding my creations, it’s about hand work, not computer generated boards because you own a “shaping business” it’s about the craft of seeing what your heart, soul and hands can create. I’m just learning and have a long way to go, but shaping surfboards is who I am.
The next time you’re in your sanctuary, ask yourself; why do I shape surfboards?
