Fix Your Own Damn Dings!

Dings happen. Half of them you don't even remember, but there they are. The other ones are like bad memories: the time that guy dropped in on your wave, the time your buddy dropped your board, the time your leash broke. I can't think of any "good" dings. But when I look at the dings on my board, I feel proud. They may not be the prettiest repair jobs, but they're mine.

Surfboards, in case you don't know, are basically composed of a foam core with a fiberglass coating. The foam makes the board float, while the fiberglass gives it strength and keeps the water away from the foam. A ding occurs when the fiberglass shell becomes cracked or chipped, allowing water to leak into your board's foam core. This effect will eventually water-log and ultimately ruin your board.

You shouldn't surf a board with a ding. However, if the surf is going off, and your only board has a ding, well fuck it, go surfing anyway. That's why you have the board, and a little water isn't going to kill it. The best "quick fix" you can do is to slap a piece of duct tape over the ding. The only problem with the duct tape solution is that it "seems" to solve the problem, and slowly, you forget about the ding. Soon enough, the duct tape falls off and your board is taking on water again.
Fix your dings. It's easy. Here's how:

Go to your local surf shop (or hardware store, if you don't have one), and buy a fiberglass repair kit. You should be able to find this for under $20, and you'll be able to re-use it many times over.

If you've surfed your board recently, let the foam dry out for at least 24 hours. Go over your entire board with your hands looking for dings. If you're going to fix one, you might as well fix them all.

Take a razor blade and carefully remove all the cracked or damaged fiberglass from the board. Be careful not to peel away pieces of fiberglass or gouge into your foam. Take your time and proceed slowly until you are used to the way the blade cuts the fiberglass. Try to make the area of removal as smooth and rounded as possible.

Use sandpaper to thoroughly smooth the area around which you have removed the fiberglass. Don't sand away too much fiberglass, just sand so that the fiberglass meet the foam in a fairly smooth seam. Use heavy sand paper and leave the surface somewhat rough.

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