A surfing enthusiast has turned his love of the sport into a full-time business.

Cullen O'Hara, who has 15 years of surfing experience and has toured around the world from Hawaii to Australia, founded Isolated Surfboards in September 2009 and officially launched the company in April this year. The business, which is the Island's only one-stop shop for surfing and other watersports, covers everything from surfboard design, production and repairs and accessories to surfing classes.

Having learnt his trade from professionals and friends in the industry and by going online, Mr O'Hara is one of the few shapers and glassers who still make surfboards by hand and he can customise designs and fix anything from pinholes and delaminations to completely broken boards.

In his spare time he plays the keyboard and sings for local Indie band 'The Narrows', jamming together at the studio in his house, and skateboards and in the autumn works as a lifeguard in Namotu, Fiji.

And now he is focused on bringing through a new younger generation of surfers as the craze starts to really take off in Bermuda. "It's a good little scene and it's getting bigger with a lot of the younger kids taking it up now," he said.

Mr O'Hara prides himself on offering his own unique brand of surfboards, equipment and clothing, such as hats, T-shirts and sweatshirts and because he ships in the raw materials and builds his boards from scratch is able to provide at a competitive price in line with those in the US stores – all out of his garage in Paget. Starting the business out of a frustration of being unable to find a shop to repair his surfboard, he decided that there was a market out there to service the local surfing community.

"I decided to call it Isolated Surfboard because first of all Bermuda is so isolated as an island and secondly as surfing is just about you and the waves," he said.

Admitting that the job is the perfect fit for his lifestyle, being able to surf when he wants and test out his products in the waves, while getting feedback from his surfing students, Mr O'Hara, who has a degree in Environmental Geology from the University of California and had a stint working for the Bermuda Weather Service, can't think of anything else he would rather be doing.

Starting out small by word of mouth, he has already built up a loyal customer base and his flexible schedule enables him to go out on the water whenever the conditions are favourable – lessons begin at $65 per hour and the only prerequisite is that you can swim.

Specialising in short boards, but catering from almost any style, he has sought to move away from the computer aided design type models and has started to develop his own signature of goods.

"The way the industry is going means that you type a design into a computer and it is pumped out of a machine but there is not much soul to it," he said.

"I am the only shaper in Bermuda and even in the US there are very few who shape and do the glassing and sanding."

Having been around surfing his whole life, growing up with the sport in Bermuda prior to moving to California and spending the past five years teaching it in Fiji, his passion has taken him across the globe to places such as Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and further afield to the likes of the Maldives, Indonesia and New Zealand.

"Pretty much all I want to do is go surfing," he said. "It was hard to find an avenue through which to make a living and I didn't originally think there would be enough demand to turn it into a full-time business, but I have managed to extend it into lessons and to create my own distinct brand.

"It's just amazing that Bermuda has never had this type of business before because it is an ideal place to surf."

And Mr O'Hara has had the full support of his parents, particularly his father Brian, who was previously CEO of XL.

"I think they knew that I wasn't the office job type so so they are pleased that I'm doing something I love that I have turned into a business," he said.

"Plus my sister works in finance so that probably takes some of the pressure of expectation off of me."

For more information about Isolated Surfboards or surfing contact 236-3123, email cullen@isolatedsurfboards.com or visit the website at www.isolatedsurfboards.com