Worst board damage you ever had?

Snapped a board riding way too deep into a closeout barrel. Busted fins out. Riding leashless on a log I had the nose peel off half way down the board after I lost it... once I went over a jetty taking off super deep and busted a rail... most people ding/snap boards if you surf long enough...

 

many many moons ago this happened: I loaded my car in the garage and was backing out.... CRUNCH. I had it leaning against my back bumper and backed over it. Luckily it was in a bag and the only damage was where it fell on a rock and the rock went through the bag and then the deck. Luckily I was driving a lightweight old Honda Civic or it would have been much worse.

I truly hated myself for doing that. So embarrassing.

 

repairing a board for a friend with same scenario but worse

 

Worse damage was, as a young lad, I peeled all the fiber glass off of a Dewey Weber, and tried to make a shorter board (1968). That was the end of that Weber Performer. It was also the end of the foam blank, and the end resulting board. Had to be discarded. It was also the end of any career I may have had as a shaper. lol

 

I repaired myself with Home Depot Bondo and fiberglass... one of my early repairs (total hackjob haha)

 

Broken a couple and had one go into the rocks. Most upsetting was ripping a fin out of a brand new board on its very first session in the water back in the glassed on fin days.

 

Bought a used 8' Rusty gun and had to ditch it and dive under a sneaker set wave. On the first session with it.
Broke in two pieces without getting it into ONE wave. Just damn!
One more tale of forgetting to tie a board onto the racks, down the big hill to Maria's, friend finally says, "aren't you going to strap your board on?", as it flies off the roof rack. He could have said it earlier...not sure why, though. Almost decked him. (Back when we all had one board only, for all size surf. )

 

I was surfing for a year or so, graduated to a twin fin, and paddled out at a 2 - 3 foot OH offshore day at Blowing Rocks. It was sooo beautiful. Never surfed barrels before. Did not angle correctly, or paddle hard down the face, and got launched over the falls on my first attempt.

I'll never forget the sight of the fat Canadian in his speedo, half my board in one arm, the other half in the other arm, walking up the beach. "Missuer, eeeees theeees your boart?" he asked me. I took it from him and tossed it into a garbage bin.

 

Iv never broke a board. It's bound to happen eventually but not yet after a decade and a half or so. Plenty of dings and what not. Surprisingly though, the worst was from my head. Took my LB to my head. Completely crunched the rail and up on to the deck. Knocked myself out and gave myself stitches. Brought the board to get repaired as i was not feeling like doing it myself with the concussion i was dealing with. Hair from my head was smooshed into the tail/deck.

 

Not the worst, but most memorable: my first board within a few months of purchasing- set the board on top of my car on the roof racks after a good surf. But I didn't strap the board on... and the wind was howling west... I started changing out of my wetsuite and before I know it, wetsuite half off- I'm trying to grab the board as it flies thru the air- and lands on a rock parking lot at island beach state park... both rails totally dinged the whole length! It was a sad day, board was never the same. I started to learn to repair dings at this point...

The worst- paddling out on a big and shallow day. There was a guy on the beach who couldn't make it out... I was kinda friends with the guy but thought he was a kook... I told him-"watch this, just paddle out next to the Jetty, the rip will take you right out" I was a bit cocky at that point, but still pretty much a kook myself!

So I paddle out- get to the tip of the Jetty - big set comes, breaks a few feet in front of me- loose my board, get swept in front of the Jetty, leash gets caught under water on a rock, I could only get one breath of air between each wave since the leash was keeping me under water... thought I was gonna die, board already snapped in two. Thankfully another guy saw it happened and yelled to me to pull my quick release on my leash- yes that's why they make a big loop on the end of the Velcro... I craw up on the Jetty and walk back toward the guy with my tail between my legs- totally humbled and broken board, still missing to this day out at sea...

 

23 foot Belmar, no doubt.

 

I take good care of my boarts these days but I totally f’d my very first boart up pretty bad. I had saved up my little paychecks and got enough money together to go buy my own board, a 6’4” BAT, shaped by Brian A. Tudor.

This was over 20 years ago when I was 15 years old. A HPSB for a beginner, so dumb. I figured out how to surf on that boart but I struggled for a while not having the right equipment for my skill level and wave options, which at that time was WFL on the Gulf, and then Cocoa Beach on occasion.

I surfed the boart for almost a year before I did the dumbest thing ever. I tried to shot the pier and ended up crushing the bottom into barnacles and put 4 big holes in it that I did the worst repair job ever being my first time and was clueless.

I got the boart back into the water but it was never the same again and I also ended up flossing the tail with a leash knot that was tied too long, now it has a chunk of foam missing from the tail, where was Bradpitted when I needed him?

I still have the boart to this day. I keep saying I will repair it and get it surfable but I’m afraid it will be a waste of time. Probably totally dead.

 

This made me LOL

 

I’m good for a laugh every now and then.

 

Yup--that line was funny....

 

Brand new HPLB... thin, light and super rockered, made out of EPS/Epoxy. Didn't let the board properly post-cure (6 weeks at room temp) before taking it out on a day too big for it. Snapped it in half on my first session.

That sucked.

 

#flossingthetail

 

Many years ago I had my soft racks pop off the roof on the interstate and my board went into the grill of a semi behind me, then got sucked under his truck in a cloud of foam and fiberglass. Pulled over, the truck was fine, and the trucker was more amused then pissed. The largest piece I could find was about a 4" chunk.

 

i got a lost motivator, 5'10, and had only about 4 sessions on it
when i was on a wave and making a drawn out cutback-like carve...some kid paddling out thought i was going to hit him but i knew i wasnt going to. he proceeded to ditch off the back of his board and push it forward. the nose of his board put a large gash in the bottom of my Lost as i was carving and i was pretty pissed. i repaired it well and stenciled some stitches on the bottom of it. since then it has been a great board and durable.