Surfboard Maintenance

So you bought a new or used surfboard, its sweet right. You will want to take extra good care of it. I know I do. When I ask my shaper and glasser what are the extra things I can do so my surfboard will last longer, they laugh. Certainly they want me to come back in a few months and buy another new board from them. Well thats all fine but I still take extra care of my stick. I normally buy fiberglass surfboards. The first thing I do if it is a used surfboard is remove all the surfboard wax from the surfboard. If you have a new surfboard of course you can skip the wax removal steps.

I take an old credit card and scrape it all off. Yes it can help if you are in a warm climate and the board is in the sun for a few moments the wax becomes soft and it scrapes right off. It makes a mess so do it out side or in the garage. Surf wax can be hard to get off of the furniture. It seems to soak into wood and stain it so be careful with it. Don't start cleaning your stick on your new girl friend's favorite sofa. Just a warning.

After you remove all the wax, sometimes I also remove the stickers. lots of surfers put them on to hide the dings. Be careful doing this also, If the sticker seems to hard to get off leave it. Some surfers apply the stickers to the holes in the boards before the repair is dry. Just a warning. Now after you get all the stickers off its time to wash your surfboard. I use regular dish soap to get the rest of the dirt and surf wax off. Most surfers will say that I am wasting my time doing this but I surf more than the average weekend surfer and my boards take a lot of punishment . Usually when I find a board that works for me I want to keep it for a while.

By the way when you do find that board take the measurements and a few pictures of it so if you really think that you would want the same surfboard again you can have a shaper duplicate it for you. Yes I have done it many times. OK back to maintaining your surfboard. I use car wax, I know that doesn't sound right but I have done it for years my boards last a long time. Its like a Corvette fiberglass so use car wax on the bottom and the top.

Even more than one coat of it. This will make the bottom and top real slippery. This will also seal it. Now why would you want to seal a surfboard. I want to seal mine so the water pressure doesn't destroy my board. I also want to bottom to be super slippery. One of my trade secrets that helps me catch more waves. There is a little less drag. some boards I tested had less drag and some I didn't notice. When I allowed a few friends to ride my stick they noticed that it was easier to catch a wave . Hmmm? Must be the shape Huh?

I never tell them my secrets they wouldn't appreciate it anyways and besides I want to catch more waves than they do. So now you know clean your surfboard and use car wax on the whole thing. Reapply surfboard wax to the top of the surfboard and you are set to go. I do this every few months when there are no waves. Your stick will last longer and you will catch more waves.