Quiver Shake-Up (Part II)

After trying both Craigslist and eBay without success, I took my Channel Islands MSF to the shop to make a trade. I find it difficult to think clearly when I'm in that shop. My head spins. My eyes dart from one board to another. I won't even go into the heart palpitations and the hyperventilating. It helped that I knew what I went there for. I wanted a performance longboard. But which one to get? Stewart? August? Slick? What? Although I'm no expert on board design (i.e., I cannot always articulate what features a board has), I know what I'm looking for. After looking at a board, I eventually have to fondle it. I know exactly what I want in a board but I'm usually unable to see it. I can feel it. That means I literally put my hands on the board, especially the rails, and feel the angles. After doing this to quite a few boards, I decided on a board that, to be truthful, was visually hideous. It had a white deck with red flames. It also had yellow rails and a yellow bottom. Then (yes, there's more), it had a god awful logo on the nose, the design and colors of which clashed with the rails and deck. Still, the board had perfect lines. So I inquired. I was prepared to take the board I was looking at even though I thought it was going to get me laughed at in the line-up. As it turns out, they had a few more of these boards, but they weren't on the floor. Wanna know how hideous this board was? It was so hideous that I settled for the one with green and white checks on the deck. Green and white checks? Oh my god. What am I thinking? Well, that board looked beautiful compared to the first one.

I didn't have the funds to take the board home. My trade-in was a down payment on the board. Apparently, it's made by an Australian shaper. The only website I could find on the board is in Japanese!!! But there are pictures. You can see for yourself how bad these boards look. I think these folks are trying too hard with their board graphics. I'm willing to overlook that for a board that surfs well.

I was happy to hear that I'm not the only person who disliked my MSF. The guy at the shop said he didn't like his either. In fact, neither one of us knew of anyone who liked that board. I'm feeling a bit vindicated now. It was an aesthetically pleasing board, but surfing it was no fun.