This is the profile of our very own Greg Frost; better known as "Frosty".
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To interview Greg was an eye-opener, to say the least. I had no idea what to expect.
Here is Frosty's story in his perspective.
Frosty's story
My dad won the "Opera House" lottery in 1959 and bought me my first board when I was 14.
It was called a Jackson at Caringbah; it was a nine-foot, six-inch Balsa board. Shortly after, my family moved to South Australia (SA) where I won numerous junior titles.
When I was 18 years old, I visited Crescent Head, and my surfboard shaping career was born.
When I found a stolen board on the beach, I remodelled it into a six-foot-two board, so no one would recognise it.
This started my board shaping adventures.
Back in SA, I got a job with "Berfords boards". I was still surfing as a teen rider, and I wasn't happy with the shapes of the boards.
So, I decided to launch my very own label and go out on my own.
The smallest shape board I did was 3-foot-11, which resembled a modern-day body board.
I had shaped more than 20 thousand boards in SA. It was an easy lifestyle in the 60s. In the early 80s, I moved to Kiama and worked with Phil Burns, shaping "Burns Boards". This is when my lifelong dream came true.
I was given the task to shape and glass legendary, Tom Carroll's board for the 1987 pipeline series, which he won!
In 1997, I moved to Port Macquarie where I started "SFD" boards, which means Spirit Filled Designs.
The boards are created in all shapes and sizes, but the underlying factor is always the customer. It's their ability and what they want that produces their special board.
Ken's experience with Frosty
About 16 years ago, I changed my lifestyle. All work and no play was making me a cranky old man.
I decided to get back into surfing. I took my original 6-foot-2, single-fin board from the 70s and asked Frosty to make me the same board.
To my surprise, Frosty said he had not made a single-fin board in 15 years.
He made two boards the same, so someone, somewhere, has my identical board on the wall as a collector.
But, surprisingly, guess what! Frosty had an entire range of single fins within six months, ranging from 6 to 10 foot.
Also, Frosty made me a special fin for my single-fin board.
Frosty kept surfing until about eight years ago when he developed prostate cancer, then secondary cancer which had spread to his hip that needed replacing.
Recently, he has started paddling out again and has shaped a few new boards that have given him back the love of surfing.
Two years ago, he sold the business to Paul and now fills in his time as a Pastor for the church, as well as fishing and popping into the shed to share his expertise.
Next time you paddle out, have a look around. The person next to you could be riding a Frosty creation, and it might just be a single-fin board like mine.
Conditions
Conditions this week look good. Southerly change will swell to match up to 2.5m. The water temp will improve to 20 degrees, and the tide will be coming in over the weekend. Then, by Tuesday, the tide will be lower in the morning and late afternoon.
Also, it was great to see the Bodyboarding last Sunday. It was a great turnout, with a lot of junior surfers in the water.