This morning I typed up an order for more surfboard blanks. Of all the jobs in this crazy little business of making surfboards, ordering blanks is fun and eagerly anticipated. Every blank is a bet. A gamble. A possibility. A newborn. A rowdy teenager. Wondering what you are going to be. Tall and handsome? Short, but fast?
US Blanks have been great, over the years. Always strong, reliable, and consistent. Their foam recipe is well tested and historical. From the wreckage of legendary Clark Foam, like a phoenix risen, we have US Blanks. Their foam just shaves down so smoothly with a planer. Their shapes and rocker are precisely related to their length and volume. As a hand shaper I do not need all the additional volume necessary for machine cut surfboards. The thicker blanks equal more time to plane and a lot more waste.
Additionally, US Blanks are endlessly creative with their stringer glue ups, offering customizability from stringer wood to colored foam inlays. Multi stringer blanks of various off width; colored T bands for days. Every blank is like a fresh spring. A whisper of hope and a promise of relief. New surfboards are lovely.
In the old days here in Costa Rica, getting blanks used to be very difficult. A small surf shop in Jaco used to put them on a bus for me and send them up to Nosara. One at a time. Like hunting for gold. Treasured. I assume the sender was selling blanks out the back of Carton Surfboards. I did not ask. Paid in cash. Without blanks we don’t get surfboards. Nothing happens fast here, but without blanks nothing happens at all. Blanks are ground zero for surfboard building.
Procuring blanks over the past 5 years here has not been so bad. Post Covid, when the North American expat business boom happened down here, we had a local distributor for US Blanks. They organized shipping containers from the USA, filled their metal bellies with surfboard blanks and other surfboard building materials, and bravely navigated the labyrinth of port logistics and customs agents to be the exclusive retailer here in Costa Rica. They rented a spacious warehouse in Huacas, and on most days one could drive through and purchase a blank directly from their highly stacked scaffolding of US Blanks. It was the absolute dream for a small surfboard builder like myself.
But this business closed down rather unexpectedly. People close down. Over extended, rents go up, customs is a messy bureaucracy. Who knows. From the outside it looked like a great business, and certainly one that supported the small, independent surfboard builder. We finally had a consistent retailer to buy single blanks, gallons of resin, plugs and tools. But the convenience was relatively short-lived. I bought as much of their stock as I could afford when they shuddered the doors. Extended the credit card and hired a truck for delivery.
(By the way, if anyone is looking for a business to start in Costa Rica, I am happy to share the contacts for surfboard building materials. Wholesalers and agents. We could use this sort of retailer again!).
Practically overnight the days of simple blank procurement dried up. If you are a large factory, pumping out surfboards, most often using the CNC surfboard cutting machine, then you are likely organizing containers and filling them with hundreds of blanks and barrels of resin and boxes of cloth. I respect the players who are able to organize and afford and have demand for this type of volume. The surfboard industry here in Costa Rica is evolving greatly, especially post Covid. The birth and evolution of these larger factories here are a testament to the local entrepreneurial spirit. A passion for craft with a deft mind to navigate the tricky nuances of business. Not easy to negotiate.
In the early days of the Costa Rican surfboard industry we mostly just had Carton and Banzaii, truly the pioneer Tico board builders here in Costa Rica. They were nestled in Jaco and San Jose, respectively. Legendary board builders who successfully imbibed and promoted the spirit of local Costa Rican surfing and culture. Straightforward designs, practical and affordable surfboards. These shapers were truly visionaries in Costa Rica.
In about 2012 I began working with Che Boards, hiring them to craft all my glass jobs. Che Boards brought great ambition and skill to the Tamarindo area. They have singularly fostered a legitimate commitment to quality and high end surfboard building in Costa Rica. Their elegant glassing work and uncompromising use of industry standard materials allowed me to receive incredible glass jobs from them for many years. They brought a factory mentality to the area and have done very well, while still remaining committed to excellence. That is very hard to do in surfboard building, or any production based business at scale. We have made hundreds of surfboards together, and I respect and appreciate them greatly.
Annually I hear about larger shops popping up around the country, and smaller surfboard shapers as well. Independent shapers like myself carving out a niche and scrapping out a living in the universe of low margins and particular demands. The cosmos of obsession and salt water dreams. The inches between survival and success. The industry is growing along with this small country. Times are always changing. It is exciting to see the work develop here. More local production and competition theoretically means that board builders must prove their quality of work and materials in order to successfully compete and survive. Ultimately this adherence to better standards benefits the surfers and the clients. Higher quality blanks and resin and cloth means boards break less. They don’t yellow or fade so quickly.
It is exciting to see the surfboard shaper as artist find a legitimate place here in Costa Rica. Tamarindo and Santa Theresa are becoming hubs for this artisan culture. The market grows, the demand aligns, and the quality is high. This was the early dream. To have Costa Rica be a recognized player in the landscape of surfboard building and business. We are perhaps a long ways off from the history of California and Hawaii, but we have some really dedicated professionals here, and some beautiful waves to test and draw inspiration from. As the years pass I do believe that Costa Rica can find a secure place among the small pantheon of countries that have a reputable reputation for surfboard design and building.
But first we need blanks…..
This morning I wrote up an order for US Blanks. A batch of longboard blanks. A batch of mid lengths. Two handfuls of fish and smaller single fin blanks. For myself and a small cadre of hobby shapers in the area. Spread the love. Help each other. Dark wood glue ups and straight balsa wood standards. Like selecting candy on an empty stomach. Viewing the final list on the order form is like dice on the table. Cards fresh out the deck. The possibilities are endless. Walk out a winner. One board at a time.
