The Bouvier Keel Fish

1. Your Name: Mark Bouvier

2. Your Brand name: None of that nonsense

3. How did you hear about us? I saw your booth at the sacred craft tradeshow.

4. How was your initial experience at Foam E-Z? Great, the crew is very helpful, and full of knowledge.

5. Why did you want to build your own board? It seems as though when you go to the surf shops these days all of the boards are built to be an “every-man’s” board. To me that means they do all the basic things a boards should do, without actually doing anything well. So to find that diversity it’s best to look at your own style of surfing and try to make something that will work well for you as an individual. And if it doesn’t work like you thought, then you’ve learned something new because you’re riding something that isn’t just a basic all-arounder type shape.

6. Shape of finished board? 5’11 Fish. Thick with thin pulled down rails with belly in the belly and "V" in the tail.

7. Size of finished board: Length 5’11 Nose 16 ½ Width 21 ½ Tail 17 Thickness 2 ¾

8. What blank did you use? 6’5 A. I picked this blank so that I could pull the template back a few inches and cut some of the rocker out of the nose giving me a flatter entry rocker.

9. How was your board building experience? Great. I used the E-Z Shaping Box at the shop for the second time. I love the Shaping Box, it’s totally set up, I can get in there, shape, rent whatever tools I don’t have, and then just sweep up and walk out. Way better than having a shaping room in my garage.

10. Did you use videos, books, web, other? I did not. This one came entirely out of my head. Because it was such a funky design, I tried not to pull ideas from other shapers, otherwise it would be that much less unique.

11. Do you recommend these resources? I recommend trying new things with your surfing and board building. It helps you put things in perspective and look at what you love from another point of view.

12. What do you wish you knew going into this project? How to better do a fabric inlay. I get the feeling that my fabric didn’t lam up too well, and am kind of afraid of the board delaminating in the future. But I’ll just deal with that when and if it comes along.

13. What would you recommend to someone else for their first time? Know what you want to shape before you even buy your blank. Know exactly what you want, because if you go into a project like this with an uncertain idea of what you want to end up with, even if you’re just torn between two designs it will never come out quite right.

14. What tools did you find most useful? TAPE!!!! I know I’m getting ahead of myself, but doing a cut-lap on the rail, using tape actually takes just a short time to set up, but saves a lot of time in sanding. Tape is your friend.

15. Where did you run into trouble? This board actually went very smoothly. The only thing that kinda bummed me out was when I built up my hotcoat on the tail so I could get a nice down rail, I built it up too thick, and it cracked. No biggie…it kinda gives it character. But next time I’ll know not to kick it so hot if I’m going to pool it so deep.

16. What kind of fin system did you use? I glassed on a pair of custom keels that I made.

17. Did you glass the board and what was that experience like? I did. It was messy, stinky, and left my patio looking like an abused armadillo dying in a pile of tape, resin covered brushes and fiberglass dust.

18. What supplies were purchased from Foam E-Z? all of them. Everything from the blank to the armadillo! Ok, except the razor blades and the fabric. I got those from JoAnn’s fabric right down the street.