Building my First Surfboard
During the pandemic our founder Corrie Safris got ‘stuck’ in Nosara for several months. In June of 2020 while other members of Swell Surf Travel headed to the Osa Peninsula to surf Matapalo on an epic swell, Corrie remained in town and did an incredible woodworking workshop with local carpenter Marcelina Craig. With Marcelina’s steady guidance, she took a flat blank from a balsa tree in neighboring Garza and shaped it into a 6’6 board.
SST: How would you describe your experience shaping your own board?
CORRIE: Working with Marcelina was a spiritual experience. Building my own board allowed me to better understand how everything from the board shape to its size to the rocker affects the hydrodynamics of how the board moves on the wave. Using local wood from Garza was both sustainable and made me feel energetically connected to the waves and the ocean in Nosara. It took me a while to actually surf it because I was so precious about it; I almost just wanted to hang it on my wall. But surfboards are meant to be ridden, even though they are often also art.
SST: What was the most surprising thing about the workshop?
CORRIE: How physically challenging it was. This was a truly ‘hands on’ experience – while Marcelina provided plenty of assistance, I was actually shaping and sanding and felt exhausted at the end of each day in the best possible way.
SST: What intangibles did you come away with afterwards? Obviously you got a surfboard out of the deal…
CORRIE: Just a huge sense of accomplishment. I was feeling pretty useless since I didn’t bake even one banana bread during the pandemic. Shaping my own board was both enriching and empowering. I was bummed I missed surfing Matapalo though. Definitely next year 👍🏻🏄♀️
Follow Marcelina @pinasurfboards and let us know if you’d like to add a board shaping workshop to your Costa Rica experience.
