At one point or another, most surfers feel inclined to try a hand at shaping a surfboard.  And I’d wager that most of us have never actually shaped a board because getting all the supplies and equipment together just isn’t economical.

Well, some folks in Huntington Beach, CA are making it fairly easy to realize the dream of crafting your own board.  Pravda Surf will sell you a blank and everything else you need to make your own board.  The rates are pretty attractive, too.  Say, for example that you can live no longer without that whacked-out, quad-wing, 5-fin, modified-tri-pin fish that incorporates your revolutionary "Amazon Basin" channel design.  Pravda’s pricing would break down roughly as follows:

• 6’2" EPS Blank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $70
• 3 hrs in the shaping bay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $75 ($25/h4)
• Glassing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $175
• Epoxy costs extra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $60
• Fins (Future or FCS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  $15 (includes fins)
• 1 hour in the painting bay (optional)  . . . . . . . . . . . . $25 ($15 each add’l hour)
• Satisfaction of charging your home break on your kooked-out dream rocket . . .
• (Sometimes less is more, so it might be better if I don’t actually write the price of satisfaction out for you.)
• Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $420

Pravda offers other options like tinting, polyester resin (for that added sheen), etc. all at additional costs.  And they claim to have some professional shapers on hand to assist if necessary.  All told, it doesn’t sound like too bad of a deal.

You can check them out at www.pravdasurf.com and read more about them in OC Weekly.