subject: School Your Self About Skimboards [print this page] Maybe you want to be a surfer, but you have no beach nearby. Maybe you want to be a snow boarder, but you have no snowy mountains. Well, can you find a wet spot somewhere? Can you find a decent mud puddle or something? Because the thing for you to try is skimboards.
So what exactly is one? It could not be simpler. It is a dish of plywood at the very simplest, even though they can be fiber-glassed and painted and totally tricked out. What you do is toss it out in front of you on a bit of shallow water, like the edge of a lake, the beach shore line, or even a good sized rain puddle, then run up to it and jump on for a skim across the surface.
It really is a rush, and really could not be simpler. These are perfect at the beach when the waves are flat, or on the lake when the boat is low on gas. If you trucks are wasted on the skate, toss the wood instead. Low tech can make for some high times, all right?
To make your own, just root around and find an old piece of plywood. Cut it into a two or three foot circle, or big enough to stand on with both feel firmly planted. That is the whole of it. If you have the stuff, fiberglass it or seal it with urethane or shellac it. You can even wax if it that pops your cork.
After it is covered, you can customize the thing to your liking. You can put stickers on it, draw cartoon faces or give it a flame job. Just make sure that it looks like something that will be used fro fun or someone might take the wood to fix the roof or patch the porch.
Now that your deck is decked out, it is time to take it out and get it wet. Find a patch of water, after a heavy rain is an excellent time to go looking, and get ready for a blast. Toss the thing down on the wet spot, run up to it, hop on, and see how long you can stay on. It will probably not be too long, but you will definitely want to get right back on.
