Behind the Scenes at Alan Davis Surfboards.

Alan Davis is one of Trinidad's few surfboard producers actually operating locally. Even more amazing is that, in his youth he has been able to turn his hobby into a source of employment. The now 31 year old athletic six-footer certainly does not look like the business type in his baggies and T-shirt and he assures that making boards is really just a profitable hobby.
    Davis started in the surfboard business ten years ago, repairing boards for some of the 500 surfers that flock to Trinidad's north-eastern beaches. However, Davis had to leave the local scene and went to a Florida college in 1989 to study. He did not allow his passion for surfing to die, though, and he got a job repairing boards in a surfboard factory where he was first exposed to actual surfboard production.
    "Just hanging around in the factory, I eventually got into the making of the boards," says Davis.
    Alan then went to Venezuela in 1992 where he worked in another surfboard factory. It was here that he really learnt first-hand how to make the boards.
    "I barely knew any Spanish, but I had to learn," says Davis, who stayed in Venezuela for a year, gaining experience in his new field. He did not return home until just before the summer of 1993 when he made his first boards, and it wasn't till the end of that year that he really got serious about his hobby.
    He quit his job in a Port-of-Spain travel agency after only a short time to devote himself completely to making surfboards.
    "They didn't allow me to surf when I wanted to," jokes Davis, "And I never had time for my hobby, so I left."
    Davis explains that the surfboards are made out of polyurethane foam which is shaped into the desired length, thickness and width. They are then covered with fiberglass, laminated with resin and are finished with different types of grinders before being polished.
    "It's a lot of long, hard, dirty work, but I love it!" says a dust-covered Davis. Alan gets orders from local surfers but has also started selling his boards in Martinique. He visited that country with Che Lovelace, a top local surfer who helped him in making connections with the surfers there. He also has a few customers from Barbados.
    One of the boards takes Davis a day to make if he really rushes, and usually sells for US$ 300. This is much cheaper than other boards which cost upwards of US$ 350. He works on the boards by himself but also has a friend, Vishnu Lalla, who works with him in board repair.