My brother and I have come up with two good ideas to do this summer: 1. Go on a surf road trip. 2. Shape our own boards. What would you do? Can't decide on a north or south trip so any input there is good. Our road trip would be in like late June early July so the surf conditions could be sub-par. Also I checked out Greenlight Surf Supply and saw that a shaping kit costed around $400. I was wondering if it was cheaper to buy a blank and the glassing stuff. Rather than the whole kit. Are the tools the kit provide that hard to find at Home Depot? Also my teacher could lend me tools from the Woodshop room at my highschool. So is it worth it to buy the whole kit?
That would be the best possibility, but we don't have the time or the money for both. Why do you say north?
More variety of breaks if you head north, especially if your heading into the Eastern Canada area. I would think the crowds wouldn't be as heavy if you head north rather then heading south. I can only imagine the crowd factor at Hatteras or S-Turns in June/July. Not saying that you couldn't find a little gem somewhere that's uncrowded, just seems less likely if you head south. My 2 cents, either way shaping / traveling your going to have a blast enjoy it.
Since it's your first board it'll be expensive. If you wanna do it right without spending a ton of money, rent the space from Brian at Greenlight. Use his tools and his space so you don't have to spend a small fortune at Home Depot. What if it's not your thing and now your stuck with a ton of tools and debt. Once you have everything it's about $200 per board. Go North!!
Better quality of waves north and it would be cheaper then going south. U could rent a Van from Enterprise and live in that or rent a RV if you can swing it.
Both. Do both. Don't pay $400 for all the equip. Just look all over craigslist, buy a couple blanks for $50 bucks. Continue looks on craigslist for the smaller shaping tools you will need. U should be able to get everything you need for 2 board for around $200 if you can be ghetto enough... Then use some money and do a road trip for a week or so. Just camp. Find the best surf spots, used canned food and survival kind of thinking and you can swing a surf camping trip for cheap... And the amount of money you have left over from your shaping adventure will dictate how long you can stay on the road for... Im all about road trips, but the shaping is something that you and your brother can share together for a long time. Each day. As a hobby. Its a better investment than a road trip with potentially flatness. YOu never know.
You can get a planer for cheap on Ebay . also look at Harbor frieght. It may not be the best but it will get the job done
Yeah i probably should have mentioned that we have about a week or so for the road trip. So going all they way to Canada would waste alot of valuable time. Our main concern with the road trip is to plan it and everything and then just hit a flat spell For the shaping thing what would the most expensive tool be? Just from looking around it doesn't seem that the tools would cost that much
You should start a thread to the shapers. Something like: "Minimum tool and material requirements for shaping my first board" But as far as the trip goes, im not sure how you figure that driving north would be a waste of time. Because once you get south of Jersey, every beach is VERY difficult to access from the major highways. From DE, all the way through MD and Northern VA, you will have to drive 2 hours+ inland off the freeways and interstates to even access delmarva. Then you could drive south to VB, check that out, but then you gotta hop back inland again down to OBX, then back out and down to Wilmington... So my point is: Go all the way down to Wilmington NC, surf there and do a mini trip all the way down to central florida. There is pretty easy beach access along that path... ut my point is that it is probably more difficult to access multiple breaks and spots as you head southbound.... I know this because I am contemplating moving back east, and Virginia Beach and Jersey Shore are teh ONLY places on the entire east coast that are anywhere near cities and freeways. Everything else is way off the beaten path. As you head north, at least you have reefs, points and a more rustic environement. In the summer, I would have to say North is better... But the swells wont be too much different, since most swell that time of year will be coming up from the carribean. You at least have warm water and flatness down south... But the potential for better, uncharted surf for you and your bro is up north.... Sounds crazy, but its true....
If you go on a road trip, you don't know what you're gonna get in terms of surf... UNLESS you have some flexibility and can time it for a swell, either north or south. If you know there's going to be waves, you can make the decision at the last minute, and certainly do some exploring and score. If you love just traveling for the sake of traveling, and waves are just a bonus, hit the road. New England is beautiful, but the water will be cold, and although there appears to be a lot of coastline, much of it has limited swell windows and access can be an issue. Going further north, into Canada, is an option and NS is loaded with potential, but again, plan on roughing it. I go north every summer for a week or two, and if I had to move, that's where I'd go. As for building your own board... you can get away with minimal tools for your first board. You can rent space at Greenlight, use his tools, and get some advice as you go, and your chances of coming out with a decent board are much, much higher. If you want to do it on your own, here's my advice: Build a set of racks in your woodshop, and buy minimal tools for your first board... you can get them all from Brian, along with blank, cloth, resin, and hardware. PM me if you need a quick list of the minimum tools required.
A week is pleanty to do a road trip north. Go to montunk for a cpl days and do a cpl days in RH or maine. Odds of finding surf up there in the spring or fall are good . I am planing a trip like this in May if I can get off from work If you rent a van from enterprise from saturday threw the week til satuday it would cost around 419 unlimited milege east of the missisippi. Hey it a cargo van but you can find places to park and camp close to the beach and most places up that was you can cook out on grill and it would save you some cash
What I meant by "it would be a waste of time to drive up north" is that going all the way up to Canada is a waste of time in that its a day of travel in itself. I'm open to going all the way up to Maine, just not Canada. For the people who have road tripped up North. Are there alot of campgrounds with good beach access and where else did you guys stay? I've heard of people sleeping in their cars in surf shop parking lots and Walmart parking lots...anyone know anything about that?
I know if you have a RV you can stay at any walmart parking lot for I thing 25 bucks a day but I be they wouldnt even notice a van there overnight or for a week. I am sure there are places in NY and Maine to camp at close to the beach . I am still planing and gathering intel for my trip I will pass and info along
I'm planning something similar in April. A lot of campsites by the beach I have come across are for RVs ONLY which is kind of annoying. Keep us updated on what you find and I'll do the same...
I've been able to score in NE in all four states... MA, RI, NH and ME. But I've never done it in June or July. Late summer and early fall, when tropical systems start to fire, are good... as well as spring, when the winter storm patterns are still in effect. June and July are the worst time to travel north, statistically speaking.
Yeah thats why I was thining May not all the summer crowds but still not super hot out yet aswell Odds are getting waves are still good also
My problem is I have school and with all this snow it looks like my spring break may be gone also. But my brother wouldn't be home from college anyway. I think I'm leaning with the road trip and maybe shape a board next spring/summer when I have some more money. I have been up North mainly in MA and RI over the past few summers. Don't remember coming across that many beach camp areas, but I also wasn't looking. I'll let you know if I find anything
Walmart RV parking is free and permitted, Cracker Barrel too. I do it often, however, most Florida towns have laws against staying overnight in parking lots. Only state I know of that restricts, I've done it in just about every eastern state.
Found this one in Montunk http://www.lirv.com/camps/hither.htm I am waiting to here from my friend who spends alot of time up there to ask him
