What does my husband and my new surfboard shaper have in common?

Give up? They're both astrophysicists. Easy guess, right?

I've been looking for a new longboard for ages, mainly as I want something more suitable to surf a particular break I often surf - it's a long ride, and a beautiful spot, but it can be a bit gutless or weak in the summer. I wanted soemthing a bit longer that I could practice nose riding on, perhaps a 9'6.

Honestly, it's a bit of a deep dive when you start looking at surf board shapes. Rocker and vee and rails and wide points and so on. It's a whole technical language. Somehow I had to communicate to Luca from Babel Surfboards what I wanted - a bit of a goldilocks board, I suppose. I didn't want anything too fast, but not too slow. I didn't want to just noseride, as I also like turning from the tail. If you're interested in design and a little about how a longboard might work, watch this animated video.

I went to Babel Surfboards with my Uncle George. George has always shaped his own boards, and he'd got boards glassed from Luca before. We quite liked the idea of getting a board from a local shaper. I liked Luca a lot. He was - is - Italian, having moved here from his native Italy 11 years ago to do a doctorate in astrophysics, and instead somehow becoming a surfboard shaper, as you do. I liked how he was super attentive to me - I mean, as a woman my age, I can walk into a surfshop and be completely invisible and no one will come and ask if I need a hand. Plus, he has a dog in his logo, which is pretty cool imo.

I learnt a lot as I went - I mean, I did know a bit, but Luca helped me understand why you'd need more rounded rails as opposed to more modern ones (eventually we decided round toward the front, more sharp toward the back - basically easier to turn but still sticking to the wave to trim and noseride) and we even got down to particular choices like cedar stringers versus ply ones and different grades of foam. He's going to draw me up a CAD design of the board and a quote and we'll go from there. I'll also have to choose a colour. Here's an example of one of his shapes - I'll be getting a 9'5 very similiar to this.

It was really good going through this whole process, as if somehow I'm keeping Dad's spark alive. I have a whole heap of photos in my archives of my boards over the years, either custom or store bought with my Dad and uncle, and there's a heap of photos of Dads with various boards as well. It's a thing. This photo is Dad with the last board he bought, which I inherited - a 9'1 retro Modern board. He's looking a bit chubby in the face here after that years round of chemo. Remember Dad was ill for seven years but still managed to get excited about a new board. I don't think he ever stood up on this - he just paddled around on it, as he was too weak. But look at the excitement on his face.

This morning I went surfing in the fog with Jamie. It was small and super clean and lovely. I had a go of Dad's old SUP, an 8'8, and got a cracking wave on it. My first thought was, oh, gotta talk to Dad about that! Then it passes, as it does, when I remember. I think how many conversations I had about Dad and surfing, and that makes me feel not-so-sad.

With Love,

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