
DATE: Sunday, September 28, 1997            TAG: 9709250209

SECTION: CAROLINA COAST          PAGE: 26   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: BEACH PEOPLE 

SOURCE: BY JEWEL BOND, CORRESPONDENT 

                                            LENGTH:  120 lines

WAVE RIDERS CREATE CUSTOM SURFBOARDS IN CURRITUCK

SURFBOARDS, those lacquered beauties of aquatic pleasure, do not roll off an automated assembly line as some may think. They are painstakingly created. And the craftsmen who bring them to life do so with skilled hands, a trained eye, experience on the waters - and an enormous amount of pride.

It's not a glamorous job - it's dirty, messy, hot and itchy.

And no one knows that better than Patrick Herrle, 32, who manages the U.S. Fiber Glass Products Co. in Point Harbor. His Currituck-based business makes surfboards that sell across the world. And he's been in the business for 14 years - almost half his life.

``Crafting a surfboard is a work of art,'' Herrle said recently from his workroom as he simulated the first stage of board shaping. ``Workers have to wear protective gear because of the dust, resin and fiberglass particles. All this safety stuff makes you hot. Eyes, ears and skin have to be covered.''

``It's actually gross,'' Dave Rohde, 45, a laminator employee said as he buttoned up his long-sleeved, white coveralls. ``It's a yucky, good job. It gives you a lot of personal freedom.

``If the surf is up, you can drop everything and head to the beach.''

``Surfing is not a crime here,'' Herrle added with an amused smile. ``There are not many jobs where, when the waves are good, you can take off. It's a surfer's privilege.''

Herrle, who lives in Kill Devil Hills with his wife, Charlotte, went to work for U.S. Fiber Glass in Virginia Beach during his last year of high school. He studied oceanography for two years at Tidewater Community College while learning each facet of board making at the company. When the business relocated to Point Harbor 10 years ago, Herrle, as assistant manager, and the whole crew came, too. Two years ago he became the manager.

The company, owned by Les Shaw of Virginia Beach, employs about 15 workers. You don't have to know how to surf to work here. But it gives you a better appreciation of a quality product, Herrle says.

``Our people are all longtime employees, well-trained and concerned with quality control,'' he said. ``It's not unusual for them to check in on the next process just to make sure their quality of work is being followed through.''

A five- to six-step process by these skilled surfer-workers converts pre-formed polyurethane foam boards into seaworthy pieces of art.

In the Shaping Room, painted a soothing blue to eliminate any distorting shadows, the hardened fiberglass skin is removed from the foam boards with an electric hand planer that takes the 2- to 4-inch thick covering down to the softer core. The shaper works by instinct. There are no specifications for this job. Each board designed by a shaper is his personal creation and is hand-signed by him. An experienced shaper can complete up to eight boards a day.

``Shapers really have to be sculptors. And all these guys are artists,'' Herrle said. ``They have their own individual style. And there are no restrictions. We know what works.''

After the boards are contoured, the graphic artist will air brush the company's logo of five connecting dolphins in the form of the letter ``C'' on the nose of the board. Other colorful designs also are painted at this stage: swirls, stripes or electrical-motion forms.

In the Laminating Room where Rohde, a 16-year company veteran, works, the resin odor can take your breath away. Protective clothing and a respirator are needed. His job is to cover the boards with a shimmering, silky fiberglass material soaked with resin. The boards then are left to dry.

Each workroom carries the name for the individual process that's completed there. The Fin Room is where the fins are tacked on. Melted fiberglass adheres the fins. And a hot-coated layer of fiberglass liquid with wax is applied at this point, making a sandable resin.

Office Manager Susan Gullixson has been with the company for seven years. She is familiar with each step of the process. She says you can't send just anyone in for the next step when electrical sanders are used to smooth the boards to a silken, faultless finish.

``They have to be able to contour,'' Gullixson said. ``The board is just about completed shaping at this point. And the sander has to be able to complete that process.''

The long boards get a glossing at this stage with another layer of resin used to provide extra strength. Short boards don't need the added resin and are completed with a spray of acrylic sealant to finish.

Buffing compounds that look like bowls of liquid mud line the worktable in the Polishing Room. An electrical polisher with changeable brushes of variable sizes are used to produce the board's mirrored gloss.

``The polishing step is like buffing out a car,'' Gullixson said. ``The pots of polish are sort of like a liquid sandpaper. The first tub is gritty. The second not as gritty. And the third container is a smooth liquid that gives the boards that high shine.''

U.S. Fiber Glass Products, with showrooms in Kitty Hawk and Virginia Beach at Wave Riding Vehicles, custom-makes and wholesales surfboards all along the eastern seaboard - ``from Maine to Miami,'' Herrle says. They also sell to Puerto Rico, Spain, the Canary Islands and Japan. Herrle says there is a big market in Japan for American-made boards.

The company, that also does board repairs, makes about nine board models classified for big waves or small waves. The long boards are the easiest to learn on because they have more float, Gullixon says. The longer ones average about 8 to 10 feet by 23 inches and retail between $500 and $600. Smaller boards average 5 to 6 feet by 19 inches and retail for about $350 to $450.

``I've heard some kids say, `I can't believe I have to pay $400 for a board.' Well, I think they should be $800,'' Rohde said, then switched the conversation to a grumble about missing tools.

``Our guys are on piece work. And they don't like spending time looking for tools,'' Herrle said with a laugh.

``We're like children here,'' Rohde said. ``It's like having five or six brothers and sisters when you're fighting over tools.''

The board shops need to be stocked by March or April - in time for the summer season. And these guys let nothing stand in the way of production. Well, almost nothing.

``We complete about 15 boards a day,'' Herrle said. ``But we vary, depending on the surf.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff color photo by DREW WILSON

Dave Rohde, a laminator at U.S Fiberglass Products in Point Harbor,

glasses a longboard with a silky fiberglass material soaked with

resin.

Graphic

WHERE TO BUY THEM

Boards made by U.S. Fiber Glass Products sell on the Outer Banks

at:

Wave Riding Vehicles, milepost 2 on the bypass in Kitty Hawk,

261-7952.

Frisco Beach Surf Shop, N.C. 12 on Hatteras Island, 995-5832.