WORKING -- Dan Taylor

Story by Danette Goulet; photo by Sean Hiller

HE IS

Shaping fun

Shaving the most out of life

Dan Taylor spends much of his day in a room that looks like a snow

globe gone awry.

A white mask covers his nose and mouth and safety glasses protect his

eyes as the foam flies. It is foam that is the basis of the surfboards he

shapes.

The 41-year-old Costa Mesa resident has been shaping surfboards for

nearly 30 years, he said.

“I loved surfing, and I just couldn’t afford it back then when I was a

kid,” he said of how he got started. “I’m just kind of self-taught, but

then I had people help me -- I used to work at a surf shop, the Wind and

Sea.”

A Crafty Surfer

A skilled craftsman, Taylor gives the boards a buzz cut, taking a hunk

of foam and creating high performance gear.

He shapes shortboards, longboards, funboards and guns.

“Everything, anything,” he said. “I do display work, anything with

foam.”

While he used to create boards from start to finish by himself, now

all he does is the shaping, and he teaches the guys who work for him the

craft.

He shapes anywhere from 20 to 40 boards a week.

The swells and lulls

It began with a love for surfing and lends itself to the same passion.

The highlight of his job, Taylor said, is the flexibility.

“I can surf in the morning, then go to work,” he said. “I can head out

later in the day and surf -- all I got to do is turn a key.”

Sounds ideal. But as no break is without its lulls, no job is without

its drawbacks.

Taylor didn’t hesitate to name the drawback to his.

“Paperwork, bills,” he said. “There’s hardly any money in this. You do

it for the love of it.”