I'm sitting on the couch in my new apartment in San Jose with a Bicycle magazine on my lap and I find myself repeatedly staring at my newly naked surfboard leaning against the wall in front of me. With the exception of a few stubborn smudges of wax that refused to budge after an hour of scraping and 2 hot water baths, it shines clean in all its glory: a bright sunny yellow lined all around by sky blue.
On Wednesday I plan on waxing her back up and taking her out for her first ride in years. Storage has been hard on her and left behind dings and cracks in the fiberglass and old hardened wax. Freshly repaired and cleaned, she's ready to go.
I had to laugh today when I thought about the first time I waxed her up and took her out- brand new from Rusty Board Shop in La Jolla. I bought a couple bricks of Sticky Bumps and rubbed her down with wax. "Nose to tail and rail to rail" the package instructed me. I didn't like how the coat of wax covered up her beautiful colors, so I skimped. I wanted that bright yellow to shine through in all its sunny splendor...
Everything I know about waxing a surfboard, I learned from not following instructions on how to wax a surfboard.
It's important to note here that I learned to surf on a soft board that required no waxing and was somewhat forgiving in the all too common event of a wipe-out. My new fiberglass board was fairly different.
When they say "Nose to tail and rail to rail", they actually mean it. My first indication that this was important information and not merely a catchy slogan, came as I placed my hands on the (unwaxed) rails and attempted to pop up on a wave. As it turns out, unwaxed surfboards are quite slippery when wet and when you're on your stomach on said board and have transferred your weight to your hands in an attempt to do something of a push-up, the results are tragic.
Imagine, if you will, the beginning of a fast, high powered push-up. Now imagine that due to an unwillingness to follow directions, one hand is very rapidly pulled out from underneath you. Can you imagine what that looks like? Let me tell you, because I know, because I was there. It looks like an extreme close up of your surfboard. ON YOUR FACE.
Noted. Wax the rails. Lesson learned.
Taking great care to pop up with my hands on the deck instead of the rails, I continued on.
Lesson number two. The tail of your surfboard is used for steering. Not so if you have failed to wax it.
I ever so carefully popped up to a standing position and set my left foot back to prepare for a bottom turn down the face of a wave and swing left. The perfect place for my foot was exactly where I had refused to wax it. I very quickly landed in a split position on top of my new, not so soft board.
Hey, look at that! "Nose to tail..." yadda yadda. No joke dude. Wax your board "Nose to tail and rail to rail".
Mind you, I do not wax all the way to the nose, which being a non-nose riding board has yet to become an issue and I've owned this board for about 14 years. I've also noticed that a lot of people stop just short of waxing the nose of the board. My board is not really meant to be ridden with my "toes on the nose" and the times I've gotten my weight too far forward have resulted in an entirely different disaster anyway. So I think I'm good on that one...so far.
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