So I am from Haleiwa on oahu and me and my girlfriend are moving to Spain in about 5 months. I am 20 years old but I have a relatively extensive background In building surfboards. I was hoping that I could show up there and find a job with a local factory as a sander or something. I am also asking where the best area to live would be. I don’t know anything about the surf there but I want to live somewhere that goes off. Especially lefts. I was thinking somewhere in the basque, near mundaka which I have always wanted to surf. Any recommendations? And obviously work would have to be nearby. As far as my experience in building surfboards, I started around 15, rented a shaping room where I slowly learned how to shape, fix boards, glass, etc… I then started working with Otis Schaeper whom has a pretty high board output on the north shore. Here I was one of the sanders. I then started working for Ron Roush, and did approximately 40-50 boards every step except the shape. He didn’t pay me so now I’m at Glenn Minami, mainly as the hot coater, but I do a little of just about everything there. I know how to put a board together clean and tight enough for most I would think. If anybody has any tips, any references, anything, please let me know.
Currently the economy is bad in both Spain and Portugal. There are a plentiful amount of guys that do very good work for cheap.
Good luck, and I don’ t mean that in a negative way, the reality is you will be competing with local guys that also need to make a buck.
I agree with whats said above, you could try emailing endeavour surf,i think they have a factory in spain.
If you come to Ireland give me a shout I need a good worker!
Hope you find a good fit for work in your travels… right now I’m in Paris and it is unseasonablly cold! Instead of the humid 90 degree August where so many take vacation to escape the heat, it has been raining off and on every day with a mx high of 70 and 56 to 58 at night! Go figure…
Gotta say, I still prefer it resembling San Francisco over that high humdity aand heat so typical in August.
A Bientot,
BF aka ds
Sorry for the hijack, but… DS - if you make it towards the Southwest, we’re having the first decent surf (and good weather to go with it) in quite a long while. A few days this week were good, and the beginning of next is looking really nice as well. Lacking the size for classic Fall surf, but still in the very fun range and the sand bars in Gironde have formed up nicely this year.
My own timing’s lousy - I start teaching up at Polytechnique (not that that is a bad thing!) next week so I’ll be in Paris half the week through Christmas.
Enjoy the stay on this side of the Atlantic.
To the OP - you can always try at Pukas as well, which may be pretty open to international help, though there are plenty of local guys and the poor economy doesn’t help. I know that they are gearing up for a Gary Linden visit in about a month or so. I’ll ask around.
Just got back to this… a year later. Never made it to Spain but im in Bali now looking for somewhere, something. Ireland?? fuck yeah ill go there and work. what would be the technicalities? email me at condor.oahu@gmail.com if someone somewhere has some kind of oppurtunity, ill go there in a heartbeat. A year later, I have tons more experience. I can glass and sand a board very professionally.