PHOTOS: Route One Shapes Surfboard Fun

The curves have to be precise. The distribution of weight just right. These are things Malachi (Mal-uh-kye) Boyce obsessively thinks about. His love for surfboard shaping gushes from his being and oozes out a trail of epoxy stardust and dreamy waves whenever he speaks. 

Passion is what fuels Boyce with his company Route One Surfboards. 

"Every time someone calls me to tell me their board is magic, that’s the best feeling."

The surfboard shaping process that Boyce undergoes is a wonder to observe. From the conception of an idea to the birth of a board, every step is handled with tender loving care.

He's a computer wiz when it comes to his board-shaping software, where he dials in the foam distribution. Once the dimensions are to his liking, they are sent to the Marko Foam factory, where a machine will cut the shape from a foam block. The "blank" is cut with extra wiggle room, to allow for the hand-shaper to make his magic.

Boyce takes care to manufacture sustainable boards. The bamboo stringer installed at Marko chosen “for its ease as a renewable resource,” says Boyce, with “added bonus of being the highest performing stringer.”

Marko in fact recycles not only the leftover foam dust but can also grind up an old surfboard and reprocess it to create a new one.

Watching the curvy foam go through its metamorphosis to a surfboard is beautiful (see slideshow). The art of extraction is so precise, so mindful. You can't put back what has been eliminated. Like a bad haircut. Except hair grows back, foam does not.

Once the wizard has casted his spells of symmetry and concaves into the board, it is sealed with an epoxy coat, finned and glassed with Resin Research Epoxy resin by Paradise Fiberglass (who has lived in the shared warehouse space since the early '90s). The low VOC epoxy resin that is sourced emit two percent of the vapor traditional resins release. 

From there, the surfer will determine its destiny. In this case, Dane Anderson will test out his "Prom Night" board to make sure it rides smoothly. If Anderson finds magic in his board, it'll make the process worthwhile. 

"When [a surfer] is performing at [their] best, as a shaper that’s the highest form of flattery and reward."

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Learn more at routeonesurfboards.com.