SurfingSports Standup Paddle Surf & Standup Paddling BLOG

Hey now, we hope to see some of you folks that Eva has touched through her amazing dedication to QUALITY epoxy board/boat restoration projects over the years...over 5796 boards repaired to date...this Saturday, December 20...Noon until 6 PM, at our shop in Santa Barbara (details here) as we...(choke...choke...;-) celebrate and honor, Eva's retirement from epoxy board repairs...and, the passing of the torch to Josh Cohen...



While not a complete retirement...she has some boat inspections and woodworking projects on the books...she will have a bit more time to lay in a hammock and listen to the palm fronds whistle in the wind...



One of the many projects that Eva has undertaken...



She beautifully refinished this vintage 1920's paddleboard...



Her woodworking skills are fantastic...



Mike Colee said it pretty nicely...

"Injured sailboards and surfboards the world over have been made whole again thanks by the amazing talents of Eva "The boardlady" Hollmann but it is the joy she has brought to the owners of these injured watercraft, when they see their loved one made whole again, that must be remembered and appreciated."

As a fellow boardhead, she always understood the affection that we have for our watercraft...and dedicated herself to restoring them the best that she could...more often than not, they ended up better than new...she always wrote up a failure analysis report...fair and accurate...pity the manufacturers that didn't produce to her standards...she showed no mercy towards them...

We have to give major credit to Eva for the assistance and guidance that she has provided us in choosing our board product lines over the last two decades...

It was always comforting knowing that Eva approved of the construction technology of a particular brand before we became invested in it...and added it to our retail offerings and personal quivers...which BTW, are one and the same as we ONLY use products that we believe in...

Even with an engineering background, and a taste for QUALITY boarding products in the first place, it was very helpful to have Eva surgically disect structural damage that occurred when we subjected countless boards to the stresses that Jalama Beach could dish out...it became readily apparent when a product is substandard when tested by walls of moving H20...

Eva was always there to inspect the carnage and provide failure analysis...oftentimes returning the board in "better than new" state...

We can only hope and wish that Josh Cohen is as good as Eva says he is...he has really BEEEEG shoes to fill...

Labels: Eva Hollmann, Santa Barbara standup paddle sports, the Boardlady