SURFERS BUILD THEIR OWN BOARDS

After Old Man Winter dumped a foot of snow and dropped temperatures below zero this past weekend, spending the day at the beach was likely the furthest thing from the minds of most Halifax sufferers.

Not so for Kevin Miller.

The 34-year-old Haligonian was not only focused on getting to the beach, he couldn’t wait to jump in the icy-cold Atlantic and test out the new surfboard he’s been building.

“It looks like what I want. Whether it works, I don’t know,” said Miller, while inspecting his freshly shellacked 5-foot, 8-inch surfing vessel. “It’s on my list to get it out before Christmas. I’m anxious to see if it works.”

Miller, a fitness and sports director at the CFB Shearwater gym, was one of eight – some would say crazy – Maritime surfers who took part in a surfboard building course at the Bloomfield Centre in North-end Halifax the past two weekends.

Surfers came from as far away as Cape Breton and New Brunswick to take part in what is likely the only course of its kind in Canada.

The course was put on by the Nova Scotia Sea School, a non-profit organization that runs sailing and boat-building programs. It was the third time the school has hosted the course, and more are being planned.

The driving force behind the course is Sea School Executive Director Amy Schwartz, an avid surfer who grew up in the Chezzetcook area, near several surf spots.

“I had a friend who was shaping his own board in his basement, and when I saw it I thought, ‘Wow, you can really make beautiful boards pretty affordably,’” said Schwartz, 28. “I was about one year in as Director at the Sea School and I thought, ‘Why not offer it as a Sea School course?’”

In an upstairs classroom at the Bloomfield Centre, eight boards lie on supports, drying in formation like beds in a hospital ward. Course instructor Pat Bannister walks among the boards examining them as if he were a doctor checking on his patients.

A 35-year-old master corporal in the Canadian army, Bannister has been surfing for years and represented Canada at the World Surfing Games in Portugal last month.

“I make all my own boards,” said Bannister, who is also President of the Surfriders Association of Nova Scotia. “I’ve done lots of trial and error.”

Over the years, Bannister has built about a dozen surfboards. Thanks to his experience, Bannister was able to help his students avoid the mistakes he made in the past.

“All the boards turned out a lot better than my first one, that’s for sure,” he said. “You won’t be able to tell whether they were bought in a store or not.”

The board building process starts with choosing a size and shape. There are plenty to choose from, from 10-foot longboards to short and fat ‘fish’, to thin and skinny ‘flyers’. Some students in the Sea School course used Bannister’s templates, others crafted their own.

The students then cut and carved pieces of Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) foam (similar to Styrofoam) into their desired sizes and shapes. Bannister acquired the pieces of foam – referred to as ‘blanks’ – from Truefoam in Dartmouth.

Once shaped, the foam is then ‘glassed’. This is a process where the foam is covered in perforated fiberglass cloth and coated with a sticky caramel-like epoxy resin. When the resin hardens and drys, the boards are then sanded.

It’s during the glassing process when drawings and designs are added to the boards, giving them their distinctive character. Schwartz added some unique fabric to her board while glassing.

“The fabric is a traditional print from Rwanda. My mom works there sometimes. It’s green with black fishies. I was planning on making a dress with it, but I figure I will be able to admire the fabric more if it’s on my board.”

Jeremy Morris is building a 9-foot, 4-inch longboard. The 32-year-old consultant with Cisco Systems  has gone against the grain having moved to Halifax from Calgary a few years ago. Normally a shortboard surfer, Morris has wanted to build a longboard for some time.

“It’s what is missing from my quiver,” he said. “I’m really hoping it will be a good nose-rider.”

During glassing, Morris placed a large Henna tree design on the bottom of his board. On top, he added some black Henna tree flowers, which look kind of paisley-like.

“I like the artwork on the box of tea I drink, so I contacted the artist in Colorado and she put some designs together for me,” said Morris, who’s hoping to christen his vessel sometime in the next couple of weeks.

For the students who took the course, building their surfboards was a labour of love. And while the $695 course fee may seem a bit expensive to non-surfers, it’s a small price to pay for the rush that comes with catching a wave on your own creation.

“How many things in your house are handmade?” said Bannister, who points out that most boards nowadays are factory-made in Asia. “It’s a nice thing to have.”