Wooden Board Day 2017

This years Wooden Board Day was part of the Byron Bay Surf Festival and it was a long hot summers day in the park. But heaps of interest in what we do as a hobby and the quality of boards on display goes up each year. A big thanks to the guys who came along and those that travelled a long way, it was much appreciated. We had people who had flown in for the weekend just to catch up and see what we were doing and ask questions about wooden board building. It was interesting in that I had a number of boat builders and carpenters who surf and yet had not thought of building a wooden board until recently and the weekend was the catalyst for them making a commitment to make a start. Lots of us start with very few wood working skills or tools compared to these guys. As I tell people, if you love your surfing there is no better feeling than paddling in on your first wave on a board you made yourself. And of the millions of people who surf world wide, very few surf on a self made board, letter lone a wooden one. "We are a splinter group".

Amazing art by Gareth Smith from Wollongong

He was at it all day long. Great guy.

Flat bed router work by Mike Grobelny from New Zealand. Inspired by bees and lots of machine time. Hand painted and varnished board by Grant Newby.

A nice lineup of wooden craft

Wooden Anchor stand.

Some nice hand foiled wooden fins

Hollow framed raw wood waiting for rails

Wooden Anchor frame kits on show.

Andy from Wooden Anchor giving all his secrets away.

The talented James Robinson fro Bound By Sea getting quizzed on how an earth he does what he does.

Bound by Sea

The insides of a hollow fish

A lot of skill and hard work

A couple of clean boards by the " Wooden Buddha " Torsen Kofler

A nice selection of chambered boards by Tyron Morgan

Steve Hann from the Sunshine Coast with some very clean modern shapes.

School teacher Trent Palmer from Hillbrook school in Brisbane with a sample of the boards he has taught his students and parents to build. Helping set kids up with a sustainable outlook on life and surfing.

Some of Tom Wegener's Paulownia botton / cork topped ,very flexi boards he has been working on and developing.

Seeking shade on a hot day.

Fin Wegener holding the fort while Tom signs his book at the book launch.

Tom and his wife take sonme time out

Free hand and straight into it on the spot.

A lot of time and detail by Gareth Smith

A nice selection

Some of Tom's "Corkies"

Some very light weight hollow Balsa boards by Nathan Grey from Bondi.

Nice detail by Stuart Bywater

Tyron Morgan looking for shade on a hot day

Great finish on a couple of Stuart Bywater baoards

Here are a couple of great looking boards by Andy Wallace of Freedom Surfboards from Old Bar. 

He selects the wood for each board to give them each a different story and character.

Alaia slayer

Nobby came out from Japan to teach wooden fin making and pass on his skills and knowledge

The history of the belly board.

Nobby and local baord maker / wooden master craftsman Mike Connor

Nobby from Japan is a fine artist in wood craft.

Lots of interest from people from all walks of life and ages all day long.

Jun from Surfers Country had a couple of his new wooden wares on display

All shapes and sizes. Even a Paulownia canoe

Duke replica hand carved from one solid piece of Paulownia

Camphor Laurel board by Stuart Bywater just shone.

A great way to get to the beach

Nice finage

A couple of nice boards by Heath and local board builder

Tom Carroll dropped by to talk to Trent about the program he has created at the school for the kids to learn new skills and set them up for the future. "A huge wrap goes to Gabe Kelly, current year 10 student whose board caught the eye of Tom Carroll. He was impressed with his shaping skills and was wanting permission to take it for a spin at Wategos Beach!"