Statistically speaking, few of us are lucky enough to be able to make a living doing what we truly love. And by that math, Danny Hess is doubly lucky, having successfully combined two passions—,woodworking and surfing—into a career. The San-Francisco-based Hess, who was formerly an art teacher and general contractor, eventually decided he'd rather be making boards than remodeling homes. That was over a decade ago; today Hess Surfboards is a sustainable company (and we mean that both ways).
First off here's Hess on his "handplanes," a manual wooden fin surfers can use to dig into the wall of a wave for stability:
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