How to look after your skimboard
Skimboards aren’t indestructible, if they were, they would be too heavy to ride! Your board can last anything from 6 months to 3 years depending how you ride it.
It is common for riders who are just starting out to be quite hard on boards while they are learning. As you get better, and perfect your technique and wave/water judgement, you will find you won’t get so many dings.
So to help you get the best out of your board we have compiled some tips that we use all the time to make sure the boards we use last a long time.
Dings
Skimboards need to be looked after. Get in the habit of checking your board after every session. Look for cracks or dings, (especially around the nose & rails) and if you find them, patch them before you use the board again.
If you don’t repair the dings as they happen, then water can get in and de-laminate the fibreglass away from the foam. The result will be a seriously weakened skimboard which will snap easily.
If you get a ding in the nose, remember to patch it early, before the water peels the entire bottom off. If you just aren’t sure about doing a repair, then give us a call, email us.
Sunlight
Skimboards hate the heat of direct sunlight or being in the boot of a car. The polyester or epoxy resin will get so hot that it softens, and the board can change shape.
When you want to take a break from skimming, stick the tail in the sand and point the nose towards the sun so that as little of the board as possible is directly facing the sun. Alternatively put it away inside your board sock or bag.
A white board is not that much of a problem, but any dark coloured boards (like carbon skimboards) are very vulnerable.
Tail Wear
After a lot of use, you may notice the tail of your skimboard is starting to wear down. The easiest way to repair it is to follow the instructions posted on Skim Online’s Message board from pro skimboarder Brad Evers:
To smooth a rough tail that’s been worn by sand: lay the board flat, bottom up. Drip superglue all over the area to be smoothed.
Use the wide edge of a credit or calling card and smear the glue all around. Squeegee the glue away from the centre, towards the rail. Wipe up any spillage.
Let the glue dry all the way and in a few hours you will have a new smooth tail on your skimboard.
Stones & Shells
The curse of every skimboarder!
If you don’t want stones to wear down and possibly rip open the bottom of the board, then the advice is simple: don’t skim in stony areas, but we all know that is easier said than done! ;)
You can never really stop stone dings, its going happen at some point, but you can reduce the possibility of it happening.
Here’s some more tips that we have used over the years to help prevent stone dings:
If the tide is going out, move the stones up the beach, if the tide is coming in then throw them out to sea! (Just make sure nobody is around you or in the water when throwing the stones into the sea)
By doing it this way will mean you don’t have to move the same stones over and over again as the tide rises or falls.
Your timing and smoothness is critical if you are going to keep your speed when dropping the board in deeper water. If you drop your board on water that is a couple of millimetres deep in a stoney area, you are just asking for trouble!
So if you can get on your board in water that is over 6 inches deep, then stones aren’t going to be that much of a problem, and you’ll have an advantage over other skimboarders when the waves are breaking a bit further out!
Instead, just as you are slowing down, you want to kick the board out from underneath you. This way you can just walk up to your board and pick it up as normal, without the worry of stones wrecking the bottom of your sled!
So that just about brings to an end our little guide on caring for your skimboard. If you have any questions or comments, be sure to post them below, and we’ll do our best to answer them for you!
Look, I have a Jason Wilson pro model, and i dinged the bottom right in the middle from a shell, or stone, and I didn’t notice until after many sessions of using it. If I patch it up now will my board still work as good as it should? Thanks.
Assuming it hasnt delaminated theres a good chance. But theres only one way to find out. I’d personaly fix it and learn for next time.
Hey, I just bought a new board, a DC-T90,I think, but after 6 or 7 days I noticed it has a crack in the side, as if the board is two separate peices and there coming apart.
I wondered if superglue might work, but I wasn’t sure.
Thanks.
Sun cure it, that works 1000x better than superglue