The History....
Surfing is not just a sport. It’s a business! Yes, I know the “B” word sends shivers up the spine of every ‘soul surfer.’ (And every surfer, if asked, will tell you he or she is a ‘soul surfer.’) We despise business. We spit at it. We’d blow off a surefire, million dollar deal for a good southwest swell. But you gotta eat, right?This reality has plagued surfers since the Hawaiian Kings first put balsa to water. Over the years, it has led many a grommet to the idea that, perhaps, he or she could somehow combine surfing and working when he or she grows up. A few manage to pull this off, but there are only so many slots on the professional tour, and the tour has only been around for so many years. But there’s always room for another shaper or surf shop, right?
Just about ever young surfer, at some time in his or her career, entertains the idea of shaping boards out of a grass shack on the beach for a living, surrounded by young devotees of the opposite sex. Or, maybe just opening a surf shop where everyone will hang out all day and watch surf videos until the next swell hits and then hang up the “Gone Surfing” sign and lock the door on the way out, if there’s time.
When I was coming up, everyone I knew had shaped at least one board for her or himself, and I remember a time when every city block in Encinitas had a house on it with some kid shaping boards out of the garage, intent on being next up-and-comer. Most of these guys work for Bank of America in Phoenix, Arizona now. And it would take several pages for me to list all of the surf shops in southern California that I’ve watched start and fail over the past twenty years or so that I’ve been paying attention to this kind of thing.
Want to comment?