For the week of July 2 - 8, 2003

DD is his label

Hailey surfer rides a new wave

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"To get the right dimensions for a board I read some minds.
I get into their head and body and build the perfect board."

— PAUL ROBINSON, Double D Surboards owner

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By MATT FURBER
Express Staff Writer

Smack in the middle of cowboy country, the brand Double D sears an image of dust, cattle and sagebrush in the brain. But, for Hailey resident Paul Robinson the moniker means something other than roping steers. DD is his label and his nickname.

Instead of horseshoes hanging in his shop, he stocks slabs of polystyrene foam. Rather than wear spurs on his heels, he sculpts works of functional art with his hands. Far from any ocean, Robinson is forging custom surfboards.

"I thought about it forever. It didn’t make sense," he said. "It still doesn’t make sense."

Hailey surf board manufacturer and artist Paul Robinson shows off his stock before and after he “puts his eye on the board.” Express photo by Willy Cook

For a survivor like Robinson, life is not about doing what makes sense, however. It’s about finding bliss and helping friends find it too. It’s about paddling out for "dawn patrols" rather than riding into the sunset.

The blond-haired Californian has lived in Idaho since the mid-1970s, but he never quite lost his telltale accent or passion for surf.

"People know I am from the ocean," he said. "People ask ‘what do I need to surf?’"

Working like an old world tailor, Robinson diagnoses an individual’s athletic ability, height, weight and displacement on different types of boards to design one that is just right for his customer.

Ketchum shop owner Kimberley Sesnor heard about Robinson and knew she needed his help.

"Surfing is back in style. I always wanted a surf shop," said Sesnor, who recently opened Room + Board near Atkinsons’ Market in Ketchum.

"Where else would you find a great surf shop but in the middle of Idaho? I heard about this guy from southern California making boards here ... things have a way of coming around."

The truism is not lost on Robinson, who has built six boards for Sesnor’s shop. Some are being reinforced as benches and others will function as signs. Sesnor is the exclusive dealer for Robinson’s boards, but Sturtevant’s and Obstacle in Hailey will display some of his latest batch to get his name out.

In 1989, Robinson was nearly burned to death in an accident involving a fire at a painting site on Saddle Road.

"You are looking at a ghost," he said. "I had third degree burns on 75 percent of my body."

To figure a victim’s mortality rate, burn experts add the percent of third degree burns to the victim’s age.

Robinson was 31 years old. He spent nine months in the ICU of the University of Utah Burn Center in Salt Lake City. His hands were turned into a pair of "clubs," he said

"I have to thank Dr. (Craig) Bass. If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t be doing this today."

Robinson started surfing when he was a tot. He first traveled to the Baja Peninsula when he was 7, and he built his first surfboard at 16. Speeding over the snow in Idaho held Robinson’s attention for many years, but he is inspired by the lure of the ocean again.

"As my recovery progressed, I spent more and more time surfing," he said. "I can still charge 10 feet waves. I’m going to take my beating or I’m going to get a good one."

Needless to say, Robinson’s friends and family had to hold him back during his recuperation.

Robinson is the type of guy who would go out in the eye of a storm to film it for posterity. At one of his haunts in Baja, he did catch a hurricane once that threw him 70 feet through the air. He has the videotape to prove it.

Although he doesn’t easily tell the origins of his nickname, listening to his stories of surfing and the sea one begins to wonder if it’s not short for daredevil.

Robinson is also the type of guy who takes a personal interest in the people for whom he builds his boards.

"To get the right dimensions for a board I read some minds," he said. "I get into their head and body and build the perfect board."

He also asks where people plan to go surfing and what size surf they are looking to try.

"We took long boards to Maui," said Sharma Thornton of Ketchum. "They rocked. It was the biggest surf in Maui since hurricane Iniki in 1992. We had eight to 12 foot waves. (The boards) took a beating, but they came out OK"

Her surf buddy, Shannon Webb, was very pleased with the board Robinson set up for her, too.

"Being a novice surfer and being able to hop up and do it was very gratifying," said Webb. "The employees at Local Motion, a big Maui surf shop were very impressed with Double D’s boards."

The secret to Robinson’s success is that he reads his customers needs, gets them on a board that is right for them and when they arrive at their destination they are ready to go.

"They don’t have to spend a day trying to find the right board," he said. "People around here work hard and play hard. They get there, kill it and get back."

When building, Robinson starts with a "blank" made of polystyrene foam. They come in many outlines and contours. He shapes the mold to the final shape.

Robinson paints most of his boards himself, then he sends them to a fiberglass company where the final resin coat is applied and buffed.

"Surfing is an expanding sport," said Robinson. "People want to be warm on the beach. It’s an adrenaline rush. There is nothing like the first surf ‘stoke.’ I still get stoked seeing that."

 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.