A brand new surfboard. It’s like Christmas isn’t it?! Even though, unless you’re still at school – you paid for the damn thing yourself and it doesn’t need batteries.
Getting a new board is kinda like starting a new relationship. At first you can’t keep your hands off, and everything is all new and exciting and exotic. The board is pristine, untouched, unexplored – and you can’t wait to give it a solid ride. Um. This article seems to be headed in a completely unintended direction.
Anyhow.
“new surfboard” by John and Christina is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Whether it’s a beautiful, custom-designed ordered board, or a brand new stick fresh off the shop’s rack – even a decent second hand board that was previously loved (there’s the relationship analogy again) – perhaps even a beaten-up, yellowed bit of foam that now resembles cheddar cheese well past its expiry date – the thrill of getting a new board will never diminish as long as you’re a surfer.
Trident supposes it’s simply the same thrill one gets when getting a new toy. (Ed’s note: My goodness. We just can’t get our minds out the gutter can we? Author’s note: Ed… truly, only you see whatever you’re seeing in there now.)
Whether it’s an adult with a brand new car, a kid with a new Transformer robot or Barbie doll or videogame – the sheer excitement of enjoying getting something new is probably a basic human trait. It’s therefore more than likely back in the stone ages, cavepeople “ogga-ooga-ed” themselves with joy when presented with a brand new rock or wooden club to moer their mates with.
The pro’s are gifted a quiver of new boards for every event it seems. Along with riding waves for a living, certainly a perk of the job for sure. But do they feel the same excitement when appraising a new surfboard the way most of the rest of us do? Sure, a board is only a tool. We surfers are the craftsmen. A used surfboard is not something that will ever be a family heirloom, although considering how kinda environmentally unfriendly boards kinda are – they may be around long enough to be fossilised and have future archeologists scratching their heads as to what their purpose was.
Unless they’re epoxy or some space age, undiscovered future material, boards have a shelf life. In fact, over and above their limited life span, new surfboards lose their brand new lustre even quicker than a shiny new car leaving the dealer’s lot. Trident has experienced the heartache of damaging new boards during their maiden surfs – and this author suspects we’re not alone in that. So here’s another thing: unlike other new toys, surfboards are frustratingly delicate as we all know only too well. Of course, it’s also possible a brand new Barbie doll won’t last long when Big Sis is using it as a cudgel on her baby brother, or that expensive new mountain bike of yours ends up underneath a taxi after you accidentally took a wrong turn and ended up on the freeway.
The bottom line is, that pristine new surfboard will go from perfect to polluted very quickly – generally after one wax-up and one surf session. There, we said it. The moment you use something for the first time – be it car, toy, surfboard – it is instantly soiled. But surfboards have to be used. Otherwise, you may as well just buy them and put them up for display, like those okes who collect action figures without ever removing them from the packaging. Which is kinda cool, in Trident’s opinion.
