Featured Image: Enjoying the North Swell at Monaliza Point, November 2016. Picture by Surfing San Juan / Rey Bonifacio.

​I love my red board. It’s my favourite. The again, all my boards become my favourite at some point but this one, this one feels like it’s gonna be one of the special ones – my magic red board. 

I got it in Hawaii for my birthday this year. I was actually dead set on finding a specific T&C longboard but it was all out of stock. Luckily, my friend (my crazy rippah shaper friend), Kalua, agreed to make me a board and now I can’t imagine ever getting anything better than this one. 

Honestly, it wasn’t perfect on our first day out and it took me a while to adjust to it. I couldn’t catch any and ate it a lot for a couple of weeks – Oh, I can still hear Kalua laugh soooooo loud each time I’d wipe out at Pops.  I’d laugh at myself too and was just being patient with my progress. As I clocked in more water time, I started to become more comfortable with it and soon followed more confidence in catching bigger waves. 

Even after six months, I’m still learning how to use it on different kinds of waves. I realize it’s easier on bigger ones, works well with critical drops but can catch even the small peelers. Each time I paddle out, I always learn something new – it’s as if the board reveals a little more about itself to me. I can only hope that I am able to unlock and use its full potential someday.