A nice tribute

Rick Malwitz of Malwitz Custom Surfboards began in 2004, from a dusty basement in landlocked Philadelphia and was sixty miles from the ocean. In 2006, MCS became Brooklyn-based where he got to know and love the NY coast. He was the only shaper to be working in a dedicated commercial shaping room in Brooklyn and gained plenty of recognition and press. Since then, an emergence of the craft has started to spread through the city with people shaping boards in tiny backrooms and guest bedrooms. Then in 2010, he relocated to South Jersey. Rick like many of us has family who have introduced us to wood working and building things.

Rick sent me this to share as I think it will be relevant to many of us. "Here's a simple tribute to my grandfather. He was a master woodworker who would make me beautiful fin blanks regularly. The day of his funeral I was going through his workshop and found a large bin of precut wood strips planed to size, all his templates, drawings, and clamps. He knew his time was coming soon and had it all ready for me. Pretty awesome."
malwitzsurfboards.com

Never forget the people who have contributed to your journey as you build wooden boards and learn skills that make it possible to build boards you are proud of. Family are special and will be proud of what you achieve. Thanks Rick.

The Munich woody

 Florian Rothmoser has emailed me the following... "I've been following your blog about wooden surfboards for some years now. It's really a great source of inspiration for me. Since a few years I also build wooden surfboards, now I finished number six. Living near Munich in Bavaria, the atlantic ocean is more than 10 hours drive away. But as you probably know, there's a riverwave at the Eisbach in the center of Munich. I build a wooden surfboard especially designed for this wave."

" I use a EPS core, hotwire it to shape and glue 3mm poplar ply on it. On nose and tail I use several layers of birch ply for protection."

" The rails are hollow and made of pinewood. The board is not glassed, only some epoxy to protect it from the water."

Thanks Florian for sharing your great looking board and your river surfing. Very interesting for those of us who have never tried. Check out his blog and other projects. fonasurf.wordpress.com

In the local

Gold Coast Bulletin page 2 - click to read

Tom and his Paipo

What a magic day we had on Sunday for the wooden surfboard day. Sean Scott got out there with his camera and this is looking back at the Currumbin Rock at the Alley.

 If you know Tom Wegener , he is like a big kid when he hits the water. And Sunday he was having fun on a little bank at the river mouth.

 How clear has the water been , 20c in and 24c out and this is winter.

 Great day and great shots thanks Sean :www.seanscottphotography.com.au

Tom Wegener and the Paipo

A special simmons

 Velerio Gennari from Lugo in Italy has just finished his first wooden board and dedicated to his father. So a very special board for him.

 Like a message in a bottle , his dedication to his father.

 Check out his blog to see his building process : minisimmons-greenburrito.blogspot.it

Thanks Valerio for sharing you project and passion.

Wooden Board Day 2012

We had a classic winters day for this years wooden board day. 20c water and sun out all day with clear skies and a falling swell. Here Simon from Hokitika on the wild West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand inspects a board built by Nathanial Grey from Bondi Beach in Sydney. And this was typical of the day , people who build wooden boards from all over checking out each others efforts and sharing in the experience of building wooden boards.

 A couple of locals catching up on a great day in the park.

 Local shaper , Richard Harvey catching up with a long time mate

 Board slayed out by proud owners for all to see and ask questions

 Micky from Riley Balsa boards from Sydney up for the weekend. Here Micky holds a Balas board built out of a Balsa tree that blew down in cyclone Yasi. The owner gave the tree to Mark Riley to build some boards from if Mark built him one. Micky was off to North Queensland to deliver the board in the next few days.

 Boards of all sorts of construction and design

 First time board builder from the Sunshine Coast , built this board from solid Paulownia

 A nice spread of board by Geoff and Jack from Dovetail wooden surfboards here in Burleigh.

 Peter McIntosh from Brisbane with his first wooden board.

 Greg Wheeldon with his latest board prior to glassing

 Stuart Bywater and his mate from Brisbane with some of their first wooden boards

 Jacko with his first wooden board. He had just been out catching a few.

 

 Proud owner with his first wooden board.

 Matt Foy with his Tom Wegener wooden board

 South Australian shaper Ben Wallbridge with a solid Balsa blank and a finished board

 A couple of very tidy boards

 Simon from Hokitika in New Zealand with his Danny Hess inspired board

Zinny flew out from Dunsborough Western Australia for the weekend. He flew in Friday morning and is on a flight back tonight landing at midnight , 2 hour drive south of Perth and off to work Monday morning. Now this is the sort of spirit of camaraderie that exists among people who build wooden boards. A passion for the efforts that have been put into their projects that is appreciated by others and worth sharing. This is what the wooden board day is about. Thanks guys for your support once again and lets do it again next year.

If there are any names or shots of boards I missed please send them to me. I know I didn't get them all. grantnewby@bigpond.com

Last night at the Gold Coast Surf Museum.

Last night at Surf World Gold Coast we had a nice turnout to listen to our guest speakers Peter Walker , Tony Crimmins and Peter Mo. Peter is a very interesting and talent designer and craftsman who gave us an insight into his background and his process. Peter is based in South Australia and exhibits his boards in galleries nationally as well as having one our national parliament.They are truly works of art and he collaborates with various artists to work on his boards.

 Tony Crimmins is a senior policeman from Brisbane and enjoys his escape to the shed where he has honed his skills to build beautiful wooden boards. He explained his progressions in building boards and some of his experiences along the way.

 Peter "Mo" Moschogianis is a glassing craftsman here on the Gold Coast who has over 40 years of experience building boards. He has worked with many great shapers along the way. Starting back with the original Wilderness Surfboards in Santa Barbara with George Greenough and Michael Cundith. Where he first met Bob McTavish and Nat Young on their first trips to the States. He has spent a lifetime laminating , sanding and polishing boards for all sorts of people , but has a genuine love of working on wooden boards. They are a nice departure from the many thousands of foam boards he has worked on , some of which are in the museum. ( He wasn't really this animated )

Left to right Tony Crimmins, Peter Mo and Peter Walker. Thanks guys for your time and sharing your stories with us.