My name is Jim Stephens and I am the owner, shaper, glasser, ding repairman, shop keeper, etc. at Underground Boardworks . I have been a surfer for over 45 years. For thirty two years I worked as a customer service agent for a major airline. Besides being able to support my family, my chief motivation for working such a stressful job was free travel. This free travel coupled with lots of time off allowed me to surf breaks around the world. I started shaping surfboards in the 1970's making boards for myself and a few friends. As an underground shaper I spent time helping friends who made surfboards commercially. In 2001 I rented a workshop on Tybee Island and started making surfboard commercially on a part time basis. When the airlines offered me a buyout in 2004 I began shaping full time, and opened my retail store. I still love to travel, and offer surf trips a couple times a year. If your ever in Georgia, stop by Tybee Island and say hey! Click here for Jim's MySpace page

During a Hawaiian surf trip in the early 1980's I came upon a book about surfboard design. The book was written in English and Japanese. On the back cover was a Japanese symbol. I liked the look of this symbol and began putting it on the boards that I built. Years later a friend of mine, who flies for FedEx, took a copy of the symbol with him on a trip to Japan. He found the symbol that I had been using is very old and means "good riding." Today I still put it on every board as a blessing and a hope that the rider will find good waves and "good riding."