Help Morin Surfboards build our shop!!

Hi y'all. If you're meeting us for the first time, we are Josiah & Crista Morris of Morin Surfboards. We have been married for almost 20 years and have had the rare privilege of building a small business together, alongside our four children, doing something we love...handcrafting surfboards for family, friends, and strangers alike.

Being in the industry for over 15 years has given me (Josiah) the honor of working alongside some of the industry's greats...Channel Islands, Campbell Brothers, Wayne Rich, Ryan Lovelace and Shawn Stussy, to name a few. Over recent years, our business has grown at a steady pace, but with the cost of living rising to unprecedented levels in Southern California, we had to make the hard, yet exciting decision to leave the community we love so much and venture halfway across the US to the Gulf Coast of Texas. It is here that we have found our new home and a welcoming tribe of kind, fun-loving Gulf Coast surfers and watermen. Though the community here is eager to get us back to building surfboards, as are we, the process of securing a shop space has proven much more difficult than we were prepared for.

As you can imagine, starting over somewhere new comes with lots of unforeseen financial challenges. We depleted our savings account to purchase a home in the heart of the community of Flour Bluff, minutes away from the local surf spot, down the street from our kids' school, and just a couple of miles away from the legendary Wind & Wave surf shop where our oldest son works. We thought we would have enough left over to get a shop up and running, but without the right space available, we ended up living off of our "cushion" while on the hunt for a job. I (Josiah) ended up taking a day job to make ends meet while Crista works at a local brewery, serving beer and event coordinating, all while homeschooling our two girls and trying to figure out what's next for Morin Surfboards.

After 9 months of looking, we finally found a space that fits our needs and is within our monthly budget. So, here's where you...our community, tribe, friends, family, and surf industry...come in. We are asking for your help in raising the funds to purchase materials for the build-out. The shop is a blank canvas, ready to be the new home of Morin Manufacturing. After measuring, calculating, and dreaming, we have come up with a rough number on what it will cost to build a shaping bay, sanding room, lamination room, board storage space, and add climate control to each room to ensure the best atmosphere for perfect surfboards. It is our hope that we will not only get our own boards under the feet of the locals but that we will also create an opportunity for the other brands I (Josiah) have ghost-shaped for and worked alongside to find their way to being built on the Gulf Coast of Texas as well.

If this is something you or someone you know would be willing to help us do, please donate to our little business, share the link, and help Morin Surfboards get back to doing what gives us so much joy...making people surfboards and spreading the stoke!

If you'd like to see our work, check out our Instagram page. To hear how we got started, check out our chats with friends on The Small Podcast and New Legend 4x4 (both are also available on Spotify).

We also want to take the time to say a few thank yous:

To Dathan Graham at Signpost Films for your incredible ability to capture what we do in a one-minute snippet of our life. You and Korene's friendship and belief in us have been life-giving in ways you will never know.

Thank you to Thom Hill for giving us the courage to "burn the boat" and showing us that dirt roads are way more fun than the paved ones.

Thank you to Mike "Hendo" Henderson for all the fire-side chats and for helping us not take ourselves too seriously. Thanks for bringing us into the Prolite family and teaching Hudson the value of good work ethic.

To Brooke Johnson for your friendship, driving materials 1600 miles, constantly reminding us that we have what it takes, and for being the badass board builder keeping Morin alive in Ventura!

Thank you to two of our best friends, Mo and Tyrell, who don't surf but buy our hats anyway and have stood by us for 25 years.

To Dylan Gordon for all the photos over the years, encouraging us along the way, and teaching us the value of being relational in the outdoor industry.

Thank you to Ted Good for renting us our first shop and teaching us how to make a small space productive. And to Michael Arenal for your craftsmanship and gracious character.

Thank you to Casey, Taylor, Sage, Jodi, Rika, Mary, Lucy, Mikaela, Jackie, Aubree and Sarah for being steadfast friends through your encouragement, tears and laughter. I (Crista) don't know how I would have done this without you.

Thank you to all the Brothers, Uncles, and Senseis that have given me (Josiah) your time and attention...Britt Merrick, Malcom Campbell, Wayne Rich, Devon Howard, Fynn Wilson, Scott Larese, Jeff Hull, Mikey Walter, Aaron Smith and probably more that I'm not remembering right now.

Thank you to JR Watson for believing we can make it in Corpus Christi! And to The Fraziers, The Floyds, The Michaels, and all of the incredible people who have welcomed us into life on the Gulf Coast.

And finally, thank you to all our California friends and especially our family who have supported us over the years...We love ya!! Low and slow...the Underground lives!