New Hampshire, Vintage Snowboards, and Surfboards Glassed with Graphite
Posted: Apr 11 2014
My first trip to coastal New Hampshire happened around the same time I began reaching out to shapers for this website. I was getting to know David Murphy of Imaginary Surf Co. and was visiting him at his shaping bay every so often. He happened to be building boards very near my apartment in Brooklyn. This also coincided with one of my coworkers, named Dale, scooping up vintage Burton snowboards on craigslist (this is a multi part story so bear with me). Dale had helped me with some programming related things on the job so I offered to drive him to his next snowboard pickup. He took me up on the offer and we made plans to drive into New Hampshire and pick up two boards he found, both within a half hour of each other, and a half hour from the coast.
I knew there was a little swell the day we were planning to go, so I could choose to wake up early and go to a NYC beach for a bit before making the trek up north, or bring my gear and search for waves in New Hampshire. I chose New Hampshire. I figured it would be a fun experience and make the 5+ hour drive even more worthwhile. To make the situation a little more interesting, I hoped to grab a board from David Murphy, surf it in New Hampshire and use the photos for a sister website I would call "Surfed Once NYC". I would surf it, write up a review, post up some photos, then try to sell it for him. I called up David and asked him if he had any boards he wanted to sell and he sent over some images of two he had in the shop. They looked good so I shot over to try and pull this plan together.
The board I had my eye on had just got back from a DKNY storefront on Madison and 60th in Manhattan, and it was really something different. A cork inlay on the deck, and graphite powder mixed into the resin, making it black and ultra smooth. David told me the powder is used for race boats, and that this board will fly. To make a long story short, my plan came together perfectly except for one small detail: I never sold the board. I had it in hand, I brought it to New Hampshire, we picked up the snowboards for Dale, I found a little swell, I surfed the board, got the photos, and had so much fun I decided to keep it. Business plan off to a great start! My goal is to help hand shapers sell more boards. So far it's sales + 1, my quiver + 1. More to come, I'm sure.
To wrap up this story, I'd like to give a thanks to New Hampshire. It was winter, and cold, but everyone was sharing waves and having fun. I paddled out with excitement, and felt welcomed. The waves were small but I had a great session. Take another look at the photo at the top of this post. I'm not sure if it's high-res enough to tell, but take my word for it-- all the guys on that wave have ear-to-ear grins.
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