HOW DID YOU
GET INTO SURFBOARD
SHAPING?
I started surfing in the early 70s in Brazil with my school friends. I loved it, but I was a teenager, and I could not afford surfboards. I met an American who had a big surfboard factory near my city, who had left the USA so he wouldn’t have to serve in the army, and I started working for him. I knew nothing about surfboards but did whatever he told me to do, and started to learn. This guy had some of the best Brazilian shapers at the time working with him, and they taught me and gave me an opportunity. I learnt how to make resin fins, repair dings, and how to make shapes. They made my first surfboard, a green and red single fin, and I observed and learnt from every step of the process.
Not long after this, the factory closed, and that’s when I started making my own boards. It was 1975. I needed a job and my friends and I wanted surfboards, and while we didn’t have money, I had a good skill. That’s when I created ‘Harmony’, my first surfboard brand. Through surfing, board testing, surfers’ feedback etc… I kept improving my boards, we started doing contests, and created a team, which started winning some of the bigger national contests in the 80s.
While things were starting to go well in business, and I was creating a name for myself in the industry, I never had peace. I would reach goals and have fame but had no peace and felt frustrated and I didn’t know why.
HOW DID YOU MEET JESUS?
I met my wife, Tania, whose aunt was a Christian. I was going through some crises and she shared with me how Jesus had set her free and been her rock through the hardest of times, and this really spoke to me. I also started meeting other believers who had been praying for me, and I had a radical experience with Jesus where I saw who He really was/is - God of all. It was 1987. I felt Gods forgiveness through him and finally found peace, His peace. A peace I had never experienced before. As a result of this experience with Christ, resurrected, I started doing what he would ask me to do. I got married, started to dive into the word and put it into practice, and to live obedient to Him.
Col3:23 became my reminder and motivation in my work.”Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” And also, Hebrews 12:2 - “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
HOW DID HE CHANGE YOUR LIFE?
Through Him, my work led my family and I to fantastic places and people. As a family, we had started praying for where to go next, looking for a country with more opportunities and a place where we could share the Gospel. God opened a door to go to Spain. It was always our plan to only spend a short time abroad, but God had other plans. He also opened doors for me to work around the world, making boards for WCT surfers.
WHEN DID CHRISTIAN SURFERS COME INTO THE PICTURE?
I had heard about CS when I became a Christian in Brazil. When I moved to Spain, Brett Davis got in touch, as I was one of the very few (if not the only!) Christian surfers in Spain. We started thinking about CS Spain and Brett was a great support and encouragement. With Bretts, other CS missionaries, and the local church’s help, CS Spain was created. Over the years, I was blessed to be part of European and international CS conferences, connect with our wider CS family around the world and see many Spanish surfers come to Jesus.
- Story by Hamish McKie -
