What to do?

[stoneaxe]

When we moved to the new house I noticed that my South County 9-0 was very tail heavy. I realized I must have crunched a fin box last time out which had been months previous. At the time it was stored outside and I assume it sucked water with every rain/snow storm. I drilled a couple of holes in the tail and let it sit to drain. I put it up on the new racks when it had stopped with the intention of fixing it when I had time.......bad move.

I'm planning on giving the board away...looking for a balance challenged big guy that could use some help. With that in mind I pulled it down to fix the fin and found this. Big delam and what looks like mold growing in the board. Now I'm not sure it's worth fixing. I've removed the delam and glass around the left side boxes. Mold is everywhere...even growing up into the rails. I don't want to give someone a board that is going to immediately have problems. What to do...is it worth fixing...or do I strip the glass and shape a new board for my granddaughter with the foam? I don't have a problem routing out the old foam in the tail and replacing and all that usually goes with a big repair but the mold worries me.

[PonoBill]

I doubt the mold will have any effect on the bond of the glass to the foam. Fix the delam and pay it forward. It's organic. People at the Kula Saturday market would approve. You could probably make Kambucha with the foam you dig out.

[SlatchJim]

That tail looked familiar.    Some kid has my old SoCo turtle somewhere along the central coast.

[supuk]

Generally when it gets to that condition it’s a bit of a lots cause. With eps blanks being so cheap it not worth trying to pull the glass off your better starting fresh rather than wasting time and good materials on a shitty bit of old foam

[Bean]

Supuk makes a good point, but I'd be inclined to perform a light resto-mod on that board.

[PDLSFR]

Looks like a nice winter project and then a solid board for a new guy to learn on.

I’m sure you can fix it.

Happy Thanksgiving to you, Sue your family, the CCBC crew,  and everyone on the Zone!

[TallDude]

You know what I'd do

[SlatchJim]

Happy Thanksgiving to you, Sue your family, the CCBC crew,  and everyone on the Zone!

I believe you're missing a comma or there's about to be hell, and lawyers to pay 

Bob, I'd rip out all the skanky foam and redo that whole tail.  At this point, it's just a project for the sake of having a project.  Might as well have some fun along the way. You could say you're "Tall Dude'ing" that board.

[seadart]

Several years ago I looked at an infinity waveski a guy had for sale.  It had been modified for adaptive surfing for someone who does not have use of their arms or legs.  Problem is somebody had stolen this board and thrown it in a canyon in a board bag and it stayed there for a couple of years in the sun and rain.  I bought it for $75 with the aim of getting it back to the owner.  The board bag was toast and their was mold growing in delams like you have now.  I contacted Infinity to find out if they knew who the board belonged to; it ended up the person who had it stolen had it replaced and was not interested in a piece of junk.   I ended up cutting out the glass and foam, filling with new foam, reglassing.  I tried leaving mold at first with a few test spots but it did interfere with the glass job. So I had to cut out all of the moldy spots.   It's actually a pretty nice waveski and I loan it to friends when they visit or take it on trips on my car where I don't care if somebody steals it.   The problem is sitting in the sun even in the board bag made lots of the glass brittle and fragile.  The first time I took it big wave surfing I ended up replacing the glass on most of one rail.  So my take is, if you have time, patience, and lots of cheap glass and resin,  cut the moldy spots out and insert new foam.  It may not be worth the hassle.

[stoneaxe]

This was a great board for me when I bought it and changed what I thought was possible for me. A bit sentimental too. John (South County) and I talked a lot before I bought (and after). He seemed like a great guy and it was sad when I heard that he had lost his fight with cancer. I'm mad at myself that I let this happen to such a fun board that is so well suited to guys my size....John was one of the 1st shapers to go wide.

I hate throwing away stuff that I think i can use. I enjoy the challenge of making something from crap. I just built my wife a kitchen cart from scrap wood I found in the new house...re-use/recycle is a good thing. Not that a kitchen cart is the same as this but can't bring myself to just toss it.

I don't think trying to fix it and passing it along will work. Too much mold way up on the rails, particularly on one side. I think i am going to strip it and reshape for my granddaughter. I think i'll have her help me...she loves doing this kind of stuff with me. Re-shaping will get rid of the worst of the mold and with it stripped I'll even be able to bleach it. It may end up looking like a 1st time builder and his grandkid built it but we'll have some fun trying and i should be able to get a 8-6 x 28 cruiser out of it for her.

Thanks for the input all...we'll see how it comes out...or not.....

[southwesterly]

The fix, s.west style:

I would strap the board face up to a wet and thick piece of plywood. Day by day, keep wetting the plywood and try to mimic the bottom contour and rocker of the board. Once the board is flush with the plywood, set the whole thing (still strapped down) outside in the sun until bone dry. This might take a month or more.

Once both components are completely dry, discard the board and paddle the plywood as best you can.

[Bean]

That's cold SW

[surfcowboy]

SW wins the thread lol.

I say, do it and have some fun.

[stoneaxe]

 

[lopezwill]

  Since it has sentimental value ...make a "Surfboard chair" out of it.  Clean it up a little bit, make it water and element tight, add some wooden legs and make yourself the first ever sup chair.  Great conversation piece.  Shoot...I would purchase it if I saw one at a yard sale.