Chapter 01
Why we moved the boards outside
Boards were taking over the living space
Living and traveling with surfboards inside the van meant they were always in the way and easier to ding. We wanted them outside without committing to a huge, hard-to-replace rack shipment while traveling.
The commercial option was difficult to justify
We were quoted roughly $940 shipped to Mexico for a commercial rack: about $600 for the rack and $340 for shipping. Beyond the price, receiving a large international package while moving around was impractical.
The DIY direction
The crossbars were easy to find. The real problem was the connection between generic surfboard bars and the rail system already on our van. That led us to a modular approach rather than a vehicle-specific rack.