Who uses their van for surfing?

ctimrun · 08-15-2010, 02:16 AM

Who has an SMB or van and uses it for surfing? I know vans make great surf wagons, that's why I have mine. Would love to hear about your favorite surfing spots and see photos of how you store your gear inside your van while still being able to use it for camping. Hoping to get some ideas on how to do a conversion to ours.

stiggs · 08-16-2010, 01:02 PM

I don't get in the water as much as I used to, but wet suit and booties remain in the smb closet, and 3 or 4 bricks of wax in the fridge just toss the long board on the roof and away I go. I used to frequent Bolsa Chica, as it is usually easy to get waves even if it is super crowded. The smb makes perfect surf wagon, go out then chill in van, especially nice parked on the side of the road on PCH say at county line, or Sunset break, I like to sit on the goucho with the side doors open make some food stare at the ocean.

SteveInLA · 08-16-2010, 04:31 PM

Take a look at Jayle's gallery here. His interior surfboard rack looks very innovative. My longboard used to wedge perfectly inside my VW Westy. Now I curse the spaciousness of my SMB for requiring me to invent a way to secure it inside

. I have some ideas for installing tie-down anchors inside the van to secure the board to the underside of the penthouse top, but I'll have to wait until I get the rig back from Quadvan to try anything out. Shoot me a PM with your contact info and we can brainstorm together, perhaps while in the water.

Steve in L.A.

stiggs · 08-17-2010, 10:57 AM

wow that counter is sweet, I wish I had some wood working skills damn!!

sdwindansea · 08-19-2010, 12:21 PM

We use the van daily for surfing. We have an RB, aisle layout and I just slide the boards into the aisle (anywhere from 5'8" to 9'0" boards). The long boards basically go all the way to the back of the driver/passenger seats. We also have a space behind the last cabinet on the driver side that we place a large, rubbermaid type tub on top of for wetsuits, wax, booties, etc. We also have the exterior shower which has been a great option. Especially when my wife was hit be a sting ray the other morning and we were able to get her foot soaking in hot water immediately.

On camping trips the boards go on the roof so the dogs don't have to. If we bring a lot of boards, we need to take them off before raising the penthouse since we do not have an electric top.

Before we got the SMB (and one of the reasons we got it), we used to take many trips down to Baja for some remote camping and surfing. Unfortunately, the situation down there is still not at a point where I would feel comfortable spending time there.

surfgeek33 · 08-21-2010, 01:14 PM

We also had in aisle layout on our previous SMB. It was an EB model. I could fit my 11' "section connector, 9'6" all around board and my wife's 9-0, and our 4 y/o daughter's soft top inside the rig with no problem. However, I wanted something more versatile when using the rig around town.

Cheers!

sailquik · 09-02-2010, 02:23 PM

Anything up to about 9' (8'6" for sure) should fit on the rack behind the front seat. I can fit an 11'6" SUP in the aisle on my RB.

I haven't had a chance to try to fit my 9'6" longboard on the upper rack, but it should fit with a 6" or so overhang over the front seatback.

My longest windsurf board is the blue one in the lower rack and it is 8'4" and fits with about 6" to spare behind the front seat.

Check it out in my album.

gallery/album.php?album_id=181&sk=t&sd=d&st=0&start=12

Since those pictures were taken, I have fine tuned the storage to have only two windsurf boards on the racks with their associated booms, one small wave board in the cabinet along with five sails and three masts and either a big formula (light wind) board in the aisle or two standup paddle boards in the aisle. Surfboards are carried on top of the roof, but if I didn't have the windsurfing gear I could EASILY put three surfboards on the racks, the longest one up top and anything under 8'6" below, and maybe a fish or two in the cabinet itself (the windsurf board that currently resides in the cabinet is 7'7" long x 23.4" wide).

sailquik · 10-26-2010, 11:50 AM

I've been asked what the longest surfboard that fits in my racks on an RB van is and I did not have a definitive answer because I usually carry my surfboard in the aisle and keep the racks for windsurf gear, but I'm carrying my longboard on the racks now and have pictures. Check them out in my gallery.

Short answer? My 9'0" fits perfectly, could probably squeeze in a 9'2" without having to move the driver's seat forward. Since the surfboards are thinner, you can fit three height-wise, versus two for windsurf boards.

gnty · 07-22-2011, 09:20 PM

I've got a raised roof/high top. Anyone know where to get side mounting (to the rain gutter) surfboard racks?

ANZAC · 07-22-2011, 09:46 PM

Wouldn't it sink?