Surfboard Re-Evolution

Words by Damon Bereziat Photography BRP Photography

Surfers appear to live as one with their environment. A reasonably healthy bunch, into self-preservation and fun, in tune with the elements. If human wave-riders could be compared to any saltwater counterpart, it’d be dolphins, no two ways about it. Dolphins don’t need so much as an existential thread whereas the upright wave rider will require at least a pair of shorts, bikini or neoprene wetsuit. A surf-craft of choice or four, with most intermediate surfers requiring a ‘quiver’. Here’s where a contemporary surfer’s clean green free-andeasy image gets a little sideways.

Traditional surfboards are comprised of toxic materials derived largely from petrochemicals. There’s an expanded polystyrene core or equivalent, fibreglass skin, polyurethane and epoxy resins, hardeners, plastics, paints and god knows in the mix. It’s impossible to work with this stuff (for long) without dedicated PPE. Inhaling fumes created when ‘glassing’ a board will shorten a life, and the ultra-lite itchy dust must be contained, bagged and tagged. The process is improving but waste is still an issue. Most of it ends up in landfill or worse.

Whatever surfing means to the individual, it is growing exponentially. Since 2015, nearly 6 million surfboards hit the US market alone. Australian manufacturers contributed 45000 units, Mexico around 300000, but the most mind-bending statistic is a staggering 4.4million originating from China, with other Asian exports making up the numbers. Manufacturing surfboards is much more profitable when labour’s cheap and there’s lax, if any, environmental protection laws.

On the Sunshine Coast it’s estimated around 50000 crew surf. With the population predicted to hit half a million by 2050 the line-up’s going to look a lot more crowded. Not everyone that grew-up or has chosen to settle here is keen on the hypermodern late-capitalist debt-fuelled consumer-culture of all that glistens. The coast isn’t as green as it once was with tall, gentle trees coming off second best in one-punch coward attacks from brutal bulldozers working in packs, remote controlled by the sinister white-shoe brigade.

A small but committed resistance of artists, creatives, fairminded surfing types and-the-like, are rethinking through and ahead. You might not even guess they surf. No pretence. No money. They have Instagram and Facebook accounts, but motives are largely personal. They’re not culty types with grand illusions of mass indoctrination. Owen, Brice, Steve-o and Adam are but a few inspirational blokes, acting on ideas, offering alternatives to a global surfboard industry standard set by corporations sailing under the black cash flag.

Owen Cavanaugh worked on re-fitting yachts in Europe before turning his hand to another type of art. He rethought canvass, drifting into a niche, immortalising vintage surfboards. Making sure beat-up discoloured planks didn’t end up in the tip. Owen is third generation Sunny Coast, and If you live ‘round here or visited you’ll know him. He left his mark in the best possible way, mainly due to his perfect beach-break machinery-shed mural nestled in what was cane-fields, now signposting the western flank of the new airport-expansion runway. The previous landholder stipulated that the mural stayed well and truly put. Since conception Owen has evolved as an artist, exhibiting around Australia and the world.

If there’s a surf art trailblazing type on the coast, it’s Owen, sought-after for his gift in capturing halcyon surf daze. This artisan describes the process as fun but fraught, due to losing sleep about translating the owner’s vision. Tasked with transforming a favourite into a precious beach abode showpiece is a serious responsibility. Owners are always beyond stoked. When he’s off duty as a fireman and not in the water, he couldn’t be more willing to support likeminded souls, such as Brice.

Brice Lowen lived here before the first of his two daughters came along, now fifteen and twelve. The family settled at Warrnambool, Victoria, to be closer to parents. The Southern Ocean is raw, the water’s cold and the biteys are big, but surfing was still a constant. A chef by trade, Brice and his better half got into the restaurant business and made a go of it. If raising kids and running a restaurant wasn’t enough, Brice signed-on for an arts degree, satisfying a creative urge beyond all things culinary. Turns out Brice is as handy with the arts as he is in the kitchen! After three years of critical thinking at uni, the joys of parenthood, and a double decade of watching volumes of broccoli boxes transit the back of a truck, commercial kitchen and industrial bin, Brice put a stop to the insidious waste. He conceived an idea that saves money and helps the environment.

Brice rescued broccoli boxes, repurposed them, cut, smoothed and laminated (glued) into a ‘blank’ then handshaped his first home-made surfboard. It worked. Things escalated ever-so-slowly, refining the board-building process. Others took notice of Brice’s practical, aesthetically pleasing surfboards and wanted one for themselves. The wheel turned once more for the family and a move was on the cards. The wide, open Sunshine Coast beaches called. Brice applied for a chef’s position and nailed it. In the months following, the Lowens purchased a home and Brice is excited about pursuing the thoughtful surfboard ideology, linking with folks like shaper Steve Halpin at Coolum.

Steve-o is inside the surfing vortex so deep that he’s never getting out. Like many in the current economic climate, having a sideline is a thing. It’s more than that for this building contractor. Years of on-the-tools skill is utilised in his latest endeavour. He’s generous with his knowledge but will be the first to tell you that he learns something new each day. What sets him aside from other timber surfboard manufacturers is that wherever possible materials used in his magnificent boards are sourced from demolition and reused.

Nothing is wasted at Steve’s shed. The tiniest shred is incorporated into a deck inlay, fin, nose or tail block. Oh-so out of fashion venetian blinds are treasure, begging to be admired again. The finished product looks almost too good to wax-up, but feedback from those experiencing the sensational glide of wood on water is irrefutable. To value-add, Steve-o holds classes where students can build their own timber board. Testament to the powers of a little Aloha, a special request from a Hawaiian elder made its way across the Pacific. Steve-o designed and built a recycled board that will play a small part in the official history of surfing, to be presented to the winner of the prestigious annual Pipeline competition. Steve-o may still be making ‘Pipe’ trophies when one of the up-and-coming local surfing school kids is the recipient.

One of the most mad-keen surfers around is Adam Baldwin, a maths and science teacher at Coolum Beach High. He’s intelligent and a visionary with a commitment to local youth. Competition, performance and personal improvement is part of what he’s about, and he doesn’t see why that means subscribing to the surf brand superpowers, especially not at such a high cost to the environment. Adam applied the sustainability trend to what he loves most. Rather than buying into the hipster retro demographic, he observed, leading with his heart and head, his hands doing the rest. Adam devised an algorithm.

Knowledge – as we all know – is a wonderful, powerful and positive thing if employed wisely. Adam didn’t see a reason why he couldn’t re-evolve a practical high-performance surfboard equivalent to what the best were riding. The twist was that he’d make it entirely out of materials destined for or directly from refuse. Like all good scientists, he put his theory to the test, beginning with intense research and step-bystep experimentation. He learnt about bio-resins and carbon neutrality. He toiled in private until he got wind that a nuevo US based surf co. had caught-on, actively doing something about the toxicity conundrum.

In surfing as it is in life, it pays to be prepared, but it’s really all about timing. The stars aligned with a global competition running for who might best create the anthesis of toxic surfcraft flooding the west. Adam reached out. His entry won as most functional eco-board, resulting in his status elevated to Environmental Brand Ambassador. A modest prize-purse was donated to the Board Meeting Charity in OZ, again in 2018 when he won another gong for examples of what was doable with absolute rubbish. Adam’s boards are officially ratified with Level 1 Eco-Board accreditation and his energetic enthusiasm has emanated to his students and beyond.

Since conception of the surfboard industry, re motives were based mainly on financial restraints and environmental concerns never got a look-in. When the art of dancing on waves turned pro in the late 70’s the big four surf brands materialised from the ether followed by a minion of copycats. Update to here and now. No one can count how many foam, fibreglass and plastic surfboards there are in the world. Or measure the damage done by producing them. Like the future of wave-riding and the environment, for Owen, Brice, Steve-o and Adam, there’s has already begun. But, if more follow their example that future might well be better for everyone.