Repairs & Maintenance

Regular maintenance keeps your gear performing well and looking sharp. Most equipment failures we see in the shop come down to one of three things: salt or sunscreen never being rinsed off, screws and inserts seizing up, or UV damage from gear stored uncovered. All three are easily prevented.
Here’s the routine we recommend to every customer who buys gear from us.

Rinse and Wash After Every Session
Salt water, river silt, sand and sunscreens are corrosive over time. Rinse all gear in fresh water after every session — boards, skis, bindings, life vests, ropes, handles. A quick hose-down is enough for fresh water; a more thorough rinse is needed after salt or estuary use.
Dry gear in shade before packing it away. Direct sun on damp neoprene speeds up the breakdown of glue and stitching.

Periodic Disassembly and Lubrication
Every few months — at least once mid-season and once at the end of the season — strip down the small assemblies. Remove your boots and bindings, take out the fin screws, separate any quick-release components.
Clean the threads with a soft brush. Apply a mild anti-corrosive lubricant such as lanolin to the threads before reassembly. Lanolin is what watersports techs use because it doesn’t damage rubber, plastic, or carbon components the way petroleum-based lubricants can.
This single habit — disassembling and re-greasing once a season — is the difference between screws that come out easily five years from now and screws you have to drill out.

Inspect Laces, Straps and Hardware
While the gear is disassembled is the time to look for wear:
• Frayed bindings laces and straps — replace before they snap mid-session
• Stretched or cracked rubber on rear toe plates and slalom bindings
• Loose, missing, or stripped screws and washers
• Hairline cracks around insert bolts (the most common failure point on aging boards)
• Vest stitching at high-stress points (under the arms, around buckles)
A 10-minute inspection saves a 200-kilometre tow home with broken gear.

Cover Your Gear
UV is brutal on watersports gear. Polyurethane fades, neoprene cracks, foam yellows, decals peel. A board cover or padded ski bag drastically slows all of this.
A good cover also gives you somewhere to keep a few practical items — a chamois for drying gear before packing it up, a small screwdriver or multi-tool for pre-session checks, and a spare set of laces. Covers also reduce damage during transport, which is when most board edges actually get dinged.

Pre-Session Check (every time)
Before every session — even if you used the gear three days ago — run a quick check:
• All binding screws and fin screws tight
• No new cracks, dings or impact damage
• Laces and straps in good condition
• Rope and handle showing no fraying or hardened sections
• Life vest buckles all functional
Skipping this step is the most common cause of avoidable equipment failure (and the injuries that follow).