NOTOX Boumga Repair (and Mod... ish)
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I could have made a video on this one but I thought it required a bit more explanations...
First of all, what are we talking about ? My Notox Boumga, custom made in France by NOTOX, a sustainable and eco-responsible board shaping company led by an enthusiast and dedicated team. Check their story @ www.notox.fr or @ www.notoxsurfboards.com.au as they have gone international :-)
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I suppose it is obvious with the french flag: I got mine from France and yes, I requested the flag with the "Made in France" to be added (nothing wrong with feeling a bit patriotic right ? ;-)
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The board is a 6' x 20.5' x 2.75", plenty of volume under the chest for an a very average and ageing surfer like myself. You can see more details on their website but the foam is recycled EPS, the cloth is linen and the epoxy is bio sourced. Overall, it is a tank, solid (a bit on the heavy side compared to a regular fiberglass board), paddles effortlessly (or as close as can be, paddling is never effortless:-) and rides smoothly. The Quad along with the Vee makes it super fast yet very maneuverable (enough for me anyway, you ll never see me do Airs or any of that nonsense, #Imjealous)
However, I also always found it a tad unstable at times during the sprint paddle and the pop up. I think the fact that I'm very average and that all my other short boards have square or fish tails (Vs this one which is a rounded pin tail) is indeed the cause but I thought if I could somehow smooth out or reduce the Vee, it might help so as I had a few dings to repair, I thought I might give it a go. Note that being Epoxy/EPS, the board is waterproof, meaning you can keep surfing with dings, pretty handy.
Let's start with the ding repairs what it looked like initially:
A decent size ding, I would guess from a collision I do not recall
A ten cm slice... how in the hell did I do that?
Some cracks, no biggie, but since I was at it...
Just to be clear, the repair work done here is probably not the best nor the traditional way. I probably should have added a bit of cloth and re-laminate but since it is linen and I only have fiber glass, it would have looked terrible - no way I was going to ruin the good looks of my board.
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Also, it is a quick and easy fix (provided you use UV cure resin, it could be done under 1 hour - in my case I used plain old epoxy so it took a few days) but I believe it works, and so far so good.
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Step 1: Tape of and sand the affected areas.
Very very important to do so in order to remove any lose debris and provide a nice rough surface for the new epoxy to bond over.
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Step 2: Pour the epoxy
That is where the tape comes handy, less of a mess.
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Step 3: Sanding
The never ending task of sanding... Started dry @ 80 grit, then 120, 180 and 250. Then wet sanding from 300 to 1000...
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And "voila"! Done
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What about my attempt to modify the Vee ? well, I ll leave you to judge with this before/after shot... I tried it and thought it was better but honestly, it might just be auto suggestion...
