How To
ORDER YOUR SUMMER STICK
With Dazza McBroady from Euroglass
When some people think of summer surfboards, they automatically think about a fish or a mal, or some weird combination of the two. Whatever kind of board you decide to ride, here are some pointers from an unusual-looking man who’s flogged more summer boards to summer surfers than you could shake a gratos leash at.
- FISHY? The fish for example is fantastic, but it doesn’t suit everyone, it depends on your technique. Borrow a mate’s board or one from a test centre and see if you like it before you order, because they do suit certain surfers more than others.
- PERFORMANCE. Know what you want in your summer board. The board does not have to be surfed in small shitty gutless waves. If you already have a small wave rig then get yourself your favourite board but lighter. Lightness equals speed equals fun.
- SKILL. Rob Machado surfs better than you so if you see him on a 5’2” ripping it doesn’t mean you are going to rip, too. Know your level and act accordingly, Have an honest appraisal of whether paddling power and speed are more important than shred-ability to you in your summer board.
- QUALITY. Buy cheap, buy twice someone once said. Why try and save that extra bit of cash if it means sitting out the back on a dog of a board wishing you hadn’t wasted all your money on shooters at your local pub talking it up about what you would do tomorrow if you weren’t going to be feeling like a dead cow. Good luck!
DE-WAX YOUR BOARD
Yeah, that’s what I thought too. But then recently, a true friend convinced me to try cleaning the wax off my boards once or twice a decade, and guess what, it worked! No more huge, heavy patch of mingin black/ brown slime covering my prized possessions. They looked and felt so lush for nearly a week that now I almost can’t wait until 2015 to clean them again.
1. Warm up your board a little. Cold wax is hard as nails, so stick him by a radiator, in the sunlight by a window for a short while, anywhere that’ll loosen up the muck. Hair dryers can also been used.
2. Get a good wax comb. Not one with the serrated edge opposite to the longest scraping edge, otherwise you put loads of red marks in your palm which can be quite hurty, and in some cases, very hurty. Using wax comb substitutes like credit cards, library cards or kitchen spatulas is a last resort, and certainly not ideal.
3. Go a little dousing with white spirit over your wax before you start. There are less toxic, non-oil derivative natural products you can use like a citrus one, look out for that in your local surf shop.
4. Scrape with your comb in long strokes. At the end of each, gather the lump of waxy slime to avoid making a mess. Getting wax spoil on your patio can stain it for years, so watch out.
5. When it’s all scraped away, wet a cloth with white spirit and wipe the whole board, deck, rails, fins, bottom. Get all the salt and grime off to give her a new lease of life.
6. If you don’t have a cloth/white spirit you can use the soft Velcro bit of an old leash, that works really well for getting wax out of dents, or a rough towel. Bit of a waste of a leash or a towel though, so get a rag.
7. Purchase some Quick Humps from your local irie surf shack and wax him up toute suite. Nothing worse than rocking up to perfect waves and having a shiny, waxless deck and then realizing you gots no wax.
FIX YOUR STICK
What you’ll need
Polyester resin (For standard PU type repairs)
Wax in styrene
Catalyst
Sandpaper
Block of wood
Mas king tape
A paintbr ush
White spirit
Step 1: PRE-OP
a) and b) Let your ding dry out thoroughly, at least 24 hours if possible. If you really don’t have that long, use a hairdryer. It is vital that the ding is completely dry before you start your repair.
Step 2: ROUGHING UP
a) Rough up the dinged area with as coarse sandpaper as possible, say 80 grit. This is done to remove the damaged fibres and resin.
b) Sand roughly 10cm each side of the crease. You’re preparing the area for the new lay-up (cloth & resin) to bond, plus making a dip so that you don’t sand your repair straight off (Common balls up no.1).
Step 3: MASKING OFF
a) Tape up the area around the ding with masking tape to avoid getting excess resin on your stick. Plus, the tape is a really good guide for later when you’re sanding – sand to the inside edge of the tape.
b) If the crease continues around the rail too, sand and mask that shit too.
Step 4: CUTTING CLOTH
4a) Cut your cloth with scissors to the size you want, using four or sixounce cloth. Make sure the first layer overlaps the edge of the masking tape. Then make sure the 2nd layer is smaller (by a couple cms than the first) to avoid having a step – requires more sanding and is harder to blend in.
4b) Same again.
Step 5: LAYING UP
Mix your laminating resin with a couple of drops of catalyst (depending on temperature – if you’re doing this repair in the car park at Thurso in January add another drop or two). Soon as you’ve mixed it apply immediately. Remove your cloth and paint the entire area inside the tape with resin, place on your 1st layer, wet it out thoroughly with your paintbrush, apply 2nd layer, wet it out thoroughly. Next finger it from middle out to remove any air bubbles (Common balls up no.2: leave airbubbles in your repair and you’ll sand thru ‘em and still have a hole – bad news)
5b) Same Leave it for 10-15mins minimum, but it doesn’t matter if it’s the next
day… (If so, clean brush with white spirits, acetone).
Step 6: FILLER COAT (not pictured)
Mix your laminating resin with wax-in-styrene (filler resin – called this coz it fills up all the weaves in the cloth and makes a nice smooth layer for sanding. Common balls up no.3: Trying to sand laminating resin on it’s own clogs up the paper, more work, not as good a finish). Paint on top to masking tape, making sure all of the weave is filled in. Leave your filler coat for a MINIMUM OF AN HOUR AND A HALF, the longer the better. If you want, while you’re waiting, have a little clean up, grab a cold beer and prepare your papers and sanding block, get it all in order for the your next stage, sanding.
ADVANCED TIP
The fingernail test. If you can pick a little crater with a finger, it’s not ready. Do the fingernail test on the lay-up on top of the masking tape, nOT in the actual repair area coz you’ll cause a low spot.
Step 7: SANDING
Ideally, you want to start with 100 grit, then 150 grit, then 240 grit, and if you really want a good finish wet n’ dry 400-800. Sanding is the longest stage of your ding repair. Don’t rush it, take your time and get it right. (Common balls up no.4: Go nose to tail, and keep it always in the same direction so that all the scratches go the same way. If not, the scratches will stand out like dogs balls.) Sanding block can be any type of wood.
ADVANCED LEVEL 9 SANDING BLOCK TIP:
Glue on a bit of wettie neoprene to one flat side of your block (a harder block sands quicker, but to get a better finish you want a bit of softness there too, you don’t want it too hard).
7 a) and b) Use the block on flat, don’t use it on the rail – use your
hand to fit contours of the rail. Always go nose to tail. ALWAYS. After
you’ve gone through your three grades of paper, you’re good.
Depending on how many beers you had waiting, you’re ready to hit the
soup straight away… Get out there!
JUST REMEMBER
• Fix ’em straight away.
• Never put wax in your fargin dings!
• If you want a temporary seal, use sticker or tape.
HOWIE’S OTHER DING REPAIR PITFALLS
Another common error is making your brew too hot, better to go just a few drops – it’s safer than making it too hot and catching fi re. If it’s too hot, it also goes off too quick causing discolouration, and not leaving as long for resin to soak into the cloth properly. ALL laying up should be done outside or in well ventilated area… a mask is a good idea (more important in sanding process). For sanding ALWAYS use a mask, tie an old t-shirt, something so you’re not breathing in the particles, because they’re really, really nasty. Good luck!
- Howie
PACK YOUR BOARD
Before you start, get hold of a good board cover. As the saying goes, “Buy cheap, buy twice…” While we normally shy away from recommending specific brands, when it comes to board covers and general surf acessories, Dakine make the best gear money can buy. This is the 7’0” Dakine World Traveler.
1. Boards. Obviously you want all the rockers going the same way. Put your most precious board in the middle. Some people wrap them in bubble wrap, cardboard, polystyrene and they still get dinged, others sling ’em in as they are and don’t get a scratch. If you do want to wrap them more than the protection provided by the cover, bubble wrap is a good option.
2. Wetsuits, boardies, rashies. Use wetsuits to pad out rails, between fins. Always bring more shorts and rashies than you need (virtually no extra weight), if you’re going to Indo or almost anywhere there’ll always be crew you can buff. Stoke em out with some trucks or lycra if you can.
3. Footwear. Booties, slaps and trainers all make good padding for the sides where the flat sole make a decent barrier against impact.
4. Fins. Take at least one extra set, and several fin keys (stashed in different places). Always keep them in the pockets designated or they can cause dings, all decent boardbags have a designated fins area.
5. T-shirts. Chuck in as many as you can fit to pad out vulnerable areas, as well as to buff out crew. Giving surf tees to a needy local grom is a time-honoured tradition of the surf traveller, and provides an interaction with locals most ‘mainstream’ travellers wouldn’t be part of. In addition, surf tees, boardshorts etc can be used as currency to barter when funds are low.
6. Towels. Lay em flat between boards, or down the sides as padding. Depending on room try to bring two, one for surfing/beach, the other for washing/showers.
7. Duct tape. A universal cure-all for anything from cuts, gashes and dings to broken aeroplane propellers, duct tape has so many useful applications that you’re bonkers not to chuck in a good-sized roll or two.
8. Swim fins. Body whomping is heaps of fun, great exercise and really manly.
9. Wax, leashes, sunblock. Leashes should go in a designated pocket or flap to avoid damaging the boards. Bring at least one leash for every board you take, and a couple of spares if you have em. In times of real need, they can double as roof-rack straps, shark attack wound tourniquets… Bring extra wax but keep it stashed, only bust out one block at a time. As a general rule, clean your boards and re-wax with wax for your destination before you depart so that should it pumping as soon as you arrive you don’t have to fanny about looking for a wax comb and white spirit.
ALSO…
- Get a board bag with wheels. If it’s a triple or more and doesn’t have wheels, you’re only lying to yourself.
- Get the weight fairly even. Expect it to fall from a great height, and if greatly heavier at one end, it will smash into a thousand pieces. Even weight also means less strain on carrying strap attachments prolonging their life, and makes it way easier to lug about.
- ALWAYS stick a pair of boardies in your hand luggage if going somewhere hot. There’s nothing worse than your bags not coming and you being forced to sweat like a large promiscuous lady in a discotheque in your jeans, or trying to surf in ill-fitting borrowed trunks. Don’t forget: when they ask you at check-in, ‘Did you pack this bag yourself, sir?’ Reply, ‘Yes I did, but Surf Europe helped…’
EXPRESS YOURSELF (or, ruin a brand new perfectly good surfboard)
There’s no such thing as bad art… no wait, hang on, actually yes there is. There’s plenty of the stuff, particularly when it comes to surfing. Just pop into your nearest ‘surf art’ gallery and you’ll see what I mean. Anyway, there’s no quicker way to ruin, I mean, improve the look of your beloved surfboard than doing your own custom spray thang.
There are plenty of ways to make your board look shit, such as by painting a giant ganja leaf, the Red Hot Chilli Peppers logo perhaps, Bob Marley’s face, or you could just go for a geometric pattern style design. You can see here that Michel is going for a simple chequers pattern. Mmmm… nice!
Ever wondered how they get all those crazy sexy cool streaky effects in the paint? Washing up liquid. Squirt some Fairy on there, paint over and then wash the Fairy off with a hose. Voila! You can also use tomato ketchup apparently, HP sauce or even mayonnaise for a really great effect.
Just one thing to remember, however awful your board art, it’ll always look OK if you, like Michel, absolutely rip tear. If you don’t, well, it might not.