'Every town in New Zealand deserves a surfboard library'

New Zealand's first surfboard library is putting out the call for your munted old board.

The Goat Shed - a non-profit run by volunteers in the seaside suburb of Sumner in Christchurch - reshapes and fixes the boards so they are good as new.

Surfers with any level of experience are then allowed to borrow the boards for free, as long as they are returned.

In a converted backyard garage, secured with a rusted corrugated iron door, The Goat Shed is dusted with sand, fibreglass and surfboard wax.

Boards of all shapes, sizes and colours fill the shed, along with the musty smell of damp wetsuits.

"One of the biggest missions from the surfboard library, is actually just to bring more stoke into surfing. Stop surfing, just enjoy, have fun instead of creating a competition," says co-founder Lucas Sampaio.

Sampaio and Carlos Alonso built the library during the 2020 lockdown, and later opened it up to their community in Sumner.

With an average cost of $1000-$1500, most boards are placed in cardboard boxes before they are sold, so people do not have the opportunity to feel their shape first.

But The Goat Shed offers a range of different boards so surfers can try before they buy, which Sampaio said was a huge help to surfers.

"Do you need an extra board for bigger waves? Just come and grab one for the week, or do you need a board just for small waves or a long board? Come and grab one.

"There are different styles of surfing that maybe most people can't try. They need to buy one or buy five different boards to experience five different waves or five different styles."

Sustainability was also important to Sampaio and the team.

"The surf industry is built like any other big industry corporation - products break, they go to the rubbish and nobody repairs them.

"But the way we're doing it, we're actually building stronger surfboards, which hopefully any individual can use and we repair them as well."

The Sumner Community Residents Association helped the project to get off the ground with financial support. However, the majority of funding has come from Sampaio and Alonso's own pockets.

But Sampaio said it was worth it.

"I think every town in New Zealand deserves a surfboard library. There is a lot of people who don't have the capacity to have surfboards and ability to to go in the water.

"It's definitely something that anybody benefits from mentally and physically, the water washes everything away.

"There are a lot of people that possibly would like to try this sport, which is an amazing way to get with nature, and they can't."

The Goat Shed also offers custom board shaping and surfboard repairs for a small donation.

Liam Coleman volunteers his time to shape boards at the shed, which he reckoned was bringing the surfing community closer together.

"The thing I see for The Goat Shed is about bringing in more of the community - the kids, the surf team, the local surfers - into this space."

The shed also offered potential board shapers an oppotunity to learn the craft.

"It's all about the community side of engaging people, giving them a hobby, giving them something to do."

Surfing New Zealand chief executive Ben Kennings said surf breaks across the country have never been busier.

He said libraries like The Goat Shed allowed people of different demographics to be able to surf.

"Anytime you can upcycle a surfboard or pass it down to a younger surfer and get it re-used is an awesome initiative, one for the environment and two, just to provide equipment.

"Something which can be quite expensive to someone can then give surfing a go at a much cheaper price or free, if its a surfboard library."

The Goat Shed is open Wednesdays and Thursdays from 4-6pm.

Anyone with a dusty old board under the house is invited to take it along to The Goat Shed where it will be given a second life.