I’ve been a professional surfer for over 15 years now, but even after all this time I still had this childhood dream of owning the most perfect diverse quiver. In my head, it appeared as a wall stacked with boards — so many boards that they didn’t all fit on one wall. Finally, at the age of 33, that dream came true.
It was completely unexpected. I was just hanging out one day in California pre-Indo season and my phone rang. It was my Australian shaper and good friend Nigel Annesley, and he sounded pretty excited.
“When you come to Indo, don’t bring any boards,” Nigel said. “I’m gonna shape you 16 boards, mate.”
What? I was so confused. I never imagined traveling as a professional surfer empty-handed, without over excess baggage fees. Was this really happening?
When I got to Indonesia, I saw the excitement in Nigel’s eyes as we drove to pick up the boards. As we opened the boxes, I could barely believe what I was seeing. It wasn’t just any quiver, it was the most diverse and complex quiver I could have ever asked for: single fins, twin fins, five fins, my fun model, quads, thrusters… boards I had never seen before — I was ecstatic.
We then set out on a two-month journey to test ride all of the boards and give Nigel feedback on the shapes. It was a dream come true, but it was a hard dream to accomplish; surfing new boards is a challenge, especially in varying wave conditions. Sometimes you get get along with the board on the first ride, other times you feel as if you are struggling to just barely get by. You question your surfing in every which way possible.
I think it was a huge learning experience for both me and Nigel. As a shaper, Nigel got to exercise his creative side and just go crazy with the shapes he had long dreamed of making. For me as a surfer, I feel like it just tested everything I ever knew about boards and really encouraged me to evolve my approach.
The final cost of the trip didn’t rear its head until the the end, though, when the Airline company tried to charge me $150 per board. I got insanely mad and made a little bit of a scene at the front counter and after some tough arguing we got it down to $900 for the four board bags. But let me tell you: it was well worth the hassle!
