I love to surf. I also have been blessed with the opportunity to travel to some great locations both for business and for pleasure. Naturally I try my best to take advantage of the situation and rent a board, so I can experience the local water first hand. What I have come to learn is that many times finding a board, at the right time, close to my location has been a challenge. Adding to the dilemma is that I prefer long boards, and also have taken a liking to SUP sessions as well, so many times, getting the board from the shop to the water is no easy task. My friend Bob, told me a story of a trip to Florida where he had his rental board sticking out of the windows of his cab! The shop he rented from advertised a "close to the water" location that in reality was a good 2 miles away and the board he ended up with was sketchy at best. Don't get me wrong, I've also had some great rental experiences, with friendly owners, convenient locations and great equipment, but there are 3 ways that the experience can be made better:
1. Dawn patrol does not start at 10:00AM! Allow me to get a board really early in the morning and return it later in the day, especially in the summer when days are long.
2. Offer a wider selection and better boards, not just "soft tops" - I'll pay more and I'm much more apt to buy a board from you if I'm a local and the board I rented was the one I enjoyed! This is especially relevant for SUP, as the variety and selection of boards to choose from is growing every day.
3. Make it easier and faster for me to get in the water. I'd gladly use an App to reserve a board, sign a rental agreement and give you my credit card all ahead of time, so I don't have to hassle with the process of doing paperwork or paying.
As you might have guessed these are the main reasons I decided to start Surfitlocker. I wanted to create a fun way to make the rental process simpler and more convenient. Stay tuned as we build out the service. We're starting in Santa Cruz, CA and expanding from there. We really want to hear your thoughts, please feel free to share your ideas and comments below.
Thanks,
Bill
Founder, Surfitlocker