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Maintenance and care of equipment is generally a top priority of all sports people – look after your kit and it lasts longer and performs better. Where surf boards are concerned it is inevitable that sooner or later (and often with annoying regularity) they will require some repair. It can be so tempting to ignore a small ding if the swell rolls in and the ocean calls but we all know that even the smallest of cracks can lead to big problems or even a ruined board. Luckily there are a host of ding repair solutions on the market which range from quick fix, temporary stop-gaps to more complex kits which require a bit of practice to perfect the repair process.

PHOTO CREDIT MARKFIVE

There are three basic options all of which are explained here in a little more detail.

Repair Putty

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Rip currents, which are present to some degree at every beach in the world where there is wave action, are the experienced surfers best friend, allowing him to quickly gain his position out back with minimal effort. However, rips are an extreme danger to the unwary and, although posing the greatest hazard to swimmers, need to be understood by all who intend to use the ocean as a playground, including surfers.

PHOTO CREDIT - ROBYNE JAY

Obviously all the water that is pushed towards the shore must flow back out again but in neither direction does this do so in regular or even patterns. Water will find the quickest route to flow back out to sea and thus low lying, narrow channels of high velocity water known as rips develop, flowing from the shoreline and out to sea. The speed of water-flow in a rip channel will vary considerably, in some cases so that it is barely discernible while in the most ferocious of rips the water can race at 8 feet per second.

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In the earliest days of my surfing my only goal was to overcome the crippling water phobia which stood between me and any chance of success. I had no idea what style I was going for and no aspirations beyond being in the water without hyperventilating. That is until I saw a photograph of Kassia Meador in a surfing magazine and from that moment on I had absolutely no doubts what my ultimate goal was. The photograph depicted this graceful, elf like women standing at the end of a surf board as casually as if she was waiting in a shopping queue. The elegance and beauty appealed so strongly to my appreciation of the aesthetic that I still, to this day, have a copy of that picture with me wherever I travel in the world.

CREDIT - DANE PETERSON

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