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Balsa: God's Ultimate
Nurse Tree
The lightest and highest quality balsa wood for crafting fine surfboards is obtained from the female balsa trees that grow along the tropical coasts of Ecuador. The story of the balsa tree, its purpose in the tropical ecosystem, is fascinating. To know how and why balsa grows is to know that God must have created this special tree so that His children could ride the waves.
The balsa tree drops hundreds of thousands of sand grain sized whisper light seeds, which are carried by breezes and spread across the jungle floor. The seeds lie dormant for long periods until an opening in the jungle canopy allows the sun to filter through and light the ground. This might occur, for example, with the event of a tropical storm that blows down the larger trees, or it might be the result of careless clear-cutting. No matter the reason, it is the sun that signals the call for the nurse to spring into action and initiate the healthcare process needed for the jungle plants that desperately need shade for survival. The suns warmth germinates the dormant balsa seeds that begin to shoot up rapidly to protect surrounding plants.
Within 6 months the tree can reach 10 to 12 feet tall with each leaf opening to an astounding several feet in width. In 6 to 10 years the balsa tree can grow to 90 feet tall with a diameter of nearly four feet. By this time the slower growing trees of the jungle become established and rooted, protected by the nurse balsa tree. As if it knows its job is successfully completed, the tree then begins to die slowly. If left alone, the wood will quickly become hard, brittle, and begin to decay in the center as its leaves become small and sparse, until eventually the tree topples over. Is it mere coincidence or divine plan that the lumber, if harvested before this decay begins, is the light cream-colored wood we’ve seen in hobby stores for models, and just also so happens to be the perfect wood for crafting surfboards?
Balsa surfboards are, therefore, a fitting final chapter in the process of God’s divine jungle ecosystem. Because balsa trees do not tend to grow together, but rather are scattered throughout the jungle as random openings of sunlight germinate their initial growth, it has never been practical to use modern equipment and mass production logging procedures to harvest balsa lumber. The best way to log the lumber is ironically the oldest way known. Usually the logging team consists of two native Ecuadorians who hike into the jungle with axe, chop down the mature trees, haul the logs by oxen to the nearest river where they are tied together into rafts, and floated down stream to the saw mill where they are rough-sawn into beams and dried. The balsa logging business is clean, pure, efficient, and aids the local economies.
In the hands of a craftsman, the wood will be shaped and sculpted into a beautiful work of art, eventually to be cherished by someone who respects the Hawaiian heritage of wave riding (he’ e nalu). It is the ultimate perfect paradox – a tree’s life is over, having completed its perfect purpose as a jungle missionary nurse, and now provides its fibers from which a chosen craftsman will carefully and with reverence create new life. If the wood is patiently and carefully sorted, shaped, and sanded just right with pride, and if the glassworker does a masterful job applying the multi-layered high gloss polished finish, the final product will be a treasure. A skillfully crafted solid wood surfboard is an expensive investment. The wood is costly and good craftsmanship is time consuming, so they are just that – an investment. The special bonus is the fact they just look so grand and royal!Table of Contents
