“The surfboard market is saturated with the same unsustainable oil-derived product. People are taking notice of this and there are lots of new eco-friendly materials that guys are shaping nowadays. There is a slow but steady movement away from foam core boards.”
Ben Gagnon started surfing the summer after he finished high school. Upon receiving an
One day Ben found an old, beat-up, 7’0″, egg-shaped, surfboard in the alley behind his apartment and decided he’d try to give this dead board new life. He took the surfboard into his garage and stripped away the fiberglass cloth and resin from the outside of the board. Using the “recycled” foam from the 7’0″ egg, Ben drew the template of the shape he wanted then carefully cut away the excess foam with his jigsaw. Using an electric planer at first, then a hand planer later for precision, he delicately began to shave down the foam until his new creation emerged: a 5’6″ Retro Fish with wood keels.
Ben is a self-taught woodworker and craftsman. He used to build skate ramps (quarter pipes and half pipes) when he was younger so he and his buddies could skate on them.
The wooden board surfed different than a foam board. No better. No worse. “It’s just a different ride,” Ben explains. “You’re not going to surf it like any kind of high-performance
“I’d shape foam boards any day but I like the process of doing wood. Building wood boards is fun. More rewarding when you finish it,” Ben says. “The process that goes into it…I see anyone on a wood board I think, ‘someone poured their heart and soul into that thing’. Riding something like that is a really cool experience.”
In the future, Ben Gagnon of Deadboard Co. has plans for several new redwood shapes. He is also experimenting with building boards from light-weight agave.
If you’d like to experience the ride for yourself, email: Bengagnon760@gmail.com
Or message Deadboard Co. on Instagram: @deadboardco