There are a thousand and one ways to destroy your surfboard… and a few effective ways to protect it. Unfortunately, most of the time, you learn your lesson by destroying your board.
The classic: you get out of the water with your two pieces of broken board and meet a friend who gives you the precious advice that would have made it easy to avoid the mishap… Because in life, as in surfing, it’s more often after the accident than before that you’re warned how to avoid it!
Barely unpacked, your board is already in danger! As soon as you start preparing your board at home, in the car, in the parking lot, on the beach and even in the water, a number of strategic errors can make the difference between a board that’s wrecked in a few hours and one that lasts a few years, pampered and happy.
Mistake 1: attaching a leach rope that’s too long
If the rope connecting the leach to the board is too long, its friction can cut deep into the board’s tail. See Edensurf.com ‘s detailed article on this subject.
Mistake 2: Leaving your board in the car in the heat of the day
If you do, you risk the board fabric peeling away from the foam pad, with air bubbles sometimes forming all over the board surface.
Mistake 3: Placing your board vertically
The laws of gravity mean that a board placed against a wall or a car will invariably end up falling, either because of a gust of wind or because someone brushes against it. A standing plank is just waiting to smash into the ground! Placed flat on the ground, it can’t go any lower and will be safe, unless…
Mistake 4: Trusting parked drivers
Sometimes you’ll leave your board on the ground next to your car for just 2 minutes, just long enough to open the trunk. That’s more than enough time for a dazed beachgoer, with second-degree burns and on the verge of dehydration, to step back onto your board as you leave the parking lot.
A parked motorist is even more dangerous than an approaching one, because he or she can more easily escape your attention.
Mistake 5: Leaving your board on the beach in direct sunlight
The board will yellow in record time, and may also delaminate, like when you leave it in a car for too long.
Mistake 6: Letting a dog or child near the board
If the board is placed on the beach, with the centreboards up, the child risks at best impaling himself on it, and at worst sinking the board by jumping on it with both feet.
If a Labrador comes along, he may have fun nibbling the board or ploughing it with his claws as he runs over it. He may also urinate on your board or personal belongings, because on a deserted beach, the slightest relief in the sand becomes a canine urinal. Don’t count too much on the master, who nonchalantly walks twenty meters backwards, full of love for his four-legged companion, to put the kibosh on this.
Mistake 6: Not trimming your toenails
If you’re using a foam board and your toenails are long enough to play guitar, you’ll probably be ploughing the top of the board. At the end of the session, the soft surface of the brand-new board will be marked with some fifty half-moon-shaped cuts, leaving little doubt as to the origin of the scarifications. If you’re taking a surf lesson, the instructor will probably not say anything, but will be a little saddened by the state of his board.
What’s more, it’s easy to turn over a toenail when you get on your board, especially in the learning phase when you don’t rotate your pelvis enough. What’s more, sand will accumulate under your nails, risking skin irritation. So it’s best to keep your nails short, both hands and feet.
Mistake 7: Dropping your board perpendicular to a big wave
Indeed, if the wave is too powerful to attempt the ducking technique, which sinks the board, and you prefer to let go and swim underwater, it would be wise to position the board parallel to the swell line beforehand. This will prevent the lip of the wave from exerting too much pressure on the middle of the board, causing it to bend or break in two.
Mistake 8: Running into other surfers
A very common mistake, of course, is to collide with another surfer. By respecting the rules of priority and not putting your own pleasure before the safety of others, it’s perfectly possible to surf without colliding with another board or its owner.
Mistake 9: Forgetting to store or secure your board after the session
Fatigue and the bliss of surfing are the cause of small careless errors that can lead you to back up on your own board that you’ve forgotten to stow; or to lose it in a bend, because you’ve neglected to strap it to your vehicle’s roof rack.
By avoiding these 9 classic mistakes, your board will avoid most dangers and live a happy life in the shade of pines or coconut palms.
