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One of the great things about surfing in this current era is the wide acceptance of different board designs. Over the last 10 years, it has become acceptable to pretty much ride anything from surfmat to singlefin, fish to longboard. Words: Chris Preston Photo (2): Dan Crockett

The best day ever

July 18, 2009 | Words By:

tom and matt28th March, 2009: today was the greatest day a surfboard maker could imagine. Well, the greatest I could imagine anyway…

I made the ritual Saturday pancakes and had a long nap. Then the kids took off with Marg to a school fund-raising function just as Matt, Christian, Cameron and George bowled up the driveway with a carton of beer. They had come to make alaias.

christian wach at workTheir enthusiasm was a bit overwhelming to be honest, but I love this sort of stuff so we got stuck in. Matt (Williams, my apprentice) really took charge, which is a dream for me because I could basically talk story, drink beer, and take all the credit. It was a real buzz to see the guys take up the tools and charge. I wish I could have done this when I was a kid – I messed up my parents’ garage something awful with foam and resin when I started making boards.

I couldn’t stop myself so I helped (took over) the making of Christian’s board. We started at 11:30am, and at 3:30pm one of the boys asked if we could take the boards out this afternoon. By 4:10pm the boards were finished to a fine surfing standard and we were off to Little Cove.

the finished alaiasThe surf was perfect – it has been perfect a lot lately – and George and Cameron went out on their new boards. I was so stoked when Christian took out the ‘Tuna 4’ first and got a few waves for me to film. He got some long rides in the pocket and he was so stoked. Then he took out his new alaia and was even more stoked.

I drank another beer and filmed from the rock, then I got a few on the Tuna. Gee, I love that board. Actually, the board isn’t perfect, it’s the addicting glide that’s the rush.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     

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