Palu surfboard factory in Legian Bali

After returning to Kuta after the beach picnic at Serangan, Palu and Stewart offered to take me to their shaping room to check out the glassing process as they had a massive order of surfboards to fill.

The factory is located in one of the many small lanes in Legian.

After shaping a ‘blank’ which is a roughly surfboard shaped piece of hardened polystyrene, they wrap it in a thin layer of clear plastic, carefully grinding the edges smooth with an electric sander. They then cover the board in resin which has some wicked fumes (both Palu and Stewart were wearing proper gas masks, myself with a flimsy paper mask).

The finished product looks great and should perform well in the water. It was funny because the local guy who owns the shop next to the factory came over to complain about the fumes and Palu told him it was ‘no problem’. Hard to argue with someone who is 6′3″ when you are 5′2″.

I must say the fumes are strong and Palu takes special care not to touch the resin or breathe the fumes.

From an outsider’s point of view the process seems outdated. Using materials which are toxic and not that sturdy, making each board separately and having the person who’s name is on the board making it seems crazy. A system whereby a pro surfer creates a series of molds, which can be filled thousands on times automatically with a durable plastic material, leaving the pro surfer free to go out and promote would be a better model in my view. Anyway on one hand it is still cool to see a cottage industry that is thriving and surfers still love handmade boards.

Baliblog will be introducing a new line of custom surfboards shortly too for you arriving surfers.