Homemade boards ready for days when Surf's up at Port

The next time someone tries to hang ten along the coast of Port Washington, they could be doing it on a surfboard made by a city resident.

Believe it or not, Port is a good spot for the sport most often associated with warm and sunny California and Hawaii, and someone here has taken to building boards suited to freshwater.

Chris Maciejewski learned to love surfing in Costa Rica nearly 20 years ago, and now the 40-year-old’s passion is sharing that love through his one-man operation, SweetWtR Surf.

“I want people to know there’s surfing in your backyard here,” he said.

Like most surfers, it was love at first wave.

“When you catch your first wave, it’s like a religious experience and when you get bit by the bug, there’s no way out,” he said. “I get goosebumps talking about it. It’s like a dance with Mother Nature.  It’s God’s energy. It’s a feeling everyone should experience.” 

Maciejewski can give surfers that feeling on a board made just for Lake Michigan surfing conditions.

He started making surfboards a few years ago, trying to mimic the patterns of some of the legends in surfboard making, such as the late Ben Aipa and his son Duke.

“Their outlines are tried and true. Ben introduced a lot of cool things that are copied around the world,” Maciejewski said.

Aipa boards, however, are made for the oceans, with their saltwater, tides and waves that come from thousands of miles away.

“Those are elements that make it much easier to surf. We have freshwater so you sink,” he said.

But Maciejewski has a solution. He makes boards of EPS (expanded polystyrene) boards that are coated with epoxy resin.

He starts by shaping blank EPS cores that can be 4 inches thick. “These cores start as bricks,” he said.

He cuts the core to shape a concave design that at one point shifts to a double concave, then a V shape at the tail.

Different shapes and lengths cater to different skill levels. Some are better for speed, some for maneuverability.

“There’s a board for everything,” Maciejewski said.

After shaping the board, he applies layers of fiberglass cloth on the top and bottom, and then hot coats the board with epoxy resin. Decked out in a mask and medical-like scrubs, he has 17 minutes to work before it hardens.

Then it takes seven days to cure. After that, he flips the board and coats the other side.

Maciejewski has made seven boards so far.  

Custom designs that take into account the surfer’s height, weight and skill level, he said, are important to enjoying the sport.

“A board specially made for you will be more fun and you’ll progress faster,” he said.

When surfing on Lake Michigan, Maciejewski uses a wind finder app. “Here we have to look for the wind,” he said. “Wintertime is so much better. The cold fronts push the water.”

Bitter cold doesn’t stop Maciejewski. He once surfed in minus 15 degrees and icicles hung from his wetsuit. 

He has learned the currents of Lake Michigan. While some windy days are good for surfing, some are not. Rip currents are good for taking him back out into the water, but he has to know when to get out of them to start surfing again before being carried too far out in the lake.

“There’s always a slight risk of danger in anything. I guess that’s what gives it its luster,” he said.

Maciejewski got first taste of the hobby in Costa Rica, but he lived there to pursue a different sport. He was a soccer star at Grafton High School, earning all-conference and all-state honors. His mother’s side of the family is from Costa Rica, and he went to live with them and try out for the professional team AD Sarchi.

The town was empty and the stadium lit up at night. While on the way to what was just a scrimmage, Maciejewski slowly comprehended that everyone wanted to see the “gringo” try to play against their homegrown pros. This was his official tryout. His uncle told him just to have fun.

As a center midfielder, the team member who controls much of the action in soccer, Maciejewski got the ball and promptly slipped and fell. Another player booted it right into the American’s inner thigh. The crowd and the players chided him.

He got up, shook it off and ended up scoring twice. He passed the test.

But a hip injury ended a chance at a pro career. To this day, soccer is mentally hard to be around.

“You think about what could have been,” Maciejewski said.

He came back to America and held factory and construction jobs before landing as an accountant manager with Combat Corner, founded and owned by former MMA fighter Dan LaSavage. Maciejewski helps people set up revenue streams and gear for their academies.

Maciejewski has been into martial arts himself and is a brown belt in jujitsu.

He watched the documentary “Unsalted” on Great Lakes surfing, and he was amazed to learn Sheboygan is called the Malibu of the Midwest. That reignited his interest in the hobby.

“Out of every sport I’ve done, surfing is by far the hardest to learn and progress,” he said.

Maciejewski is a member of the Port Washington Surf Club, which helps with beach cleanups and donated money for beach boxes filled  with toys to use in the sand. Surfers have the reputation of being party animals, but that is not the case, Maciejewski said.

He would someday love to make surfboards for a living, but he has another priority.

“It’s more about getting the word out that you can surf here,” he said. “Among the big name brands, there’s a local doing it.”