Miguel Aragão from Portugal

I am fortunate to get some great letters from people from all over the world. Today I have a letter from a very passionate wooden board builder from Lisbon in Portugal that I would like to share with you.

Miguel loves to work with Agave and builds some great looking boards.

"Allo Grant
Thank you very much for the kind answer.
After seeing your blog I could "link" you to the "big moustache man" apeiring on every "Alley fishfry" happenings. About me: I´m 50 years old, was born in Lisbon, Portugal. Living around Lisbon close to Estoril, and the place I surf most is Guincho, a long beatiful sandy beach nearby a not less beatifull green montain called Sintra. Sintra is a world well known exlibris of this area.(http://www.guiadacidade.pt/pt/poi-praia-do-guincho-2279) Here is a link of fotos."

" I started surfing at the age of 13 yo, was Portugal national champ at age of 17yo and started with resins and surf industry at a very young age, but my "soul veign" rulled...
Had my own surfboard factory at age of 19, worked for others. After the army tried  to become a regular sociaty person/worker, among others jobs I became a carpenter with experience on furniture, house building, worked with plastic artists, theatre and cinema, nautic carpentery..."

"About ten years ago a friend invited me for making a surfboard and the "monster" was awakened. Some time after I saw some Gary Linden agave surfboard pictures, a while after was watching Barry Snider agave harvest clip on "youtube" and I recognized those "trees". I could find them on the clifs close to the sea around my place. After building a board for myself I decided to give it a go on a comercial view, and...The thing is happening, slowly. Well everything is happening very slowly in Portugal and Europe."

 "I see it as a labor of love and stoke, a language I know you understand and practice, because is well writen and declare allover your surfboards, blogs and work.(your "waxglassless" surfboards are "starting" my mind!...)
My `boards are solid agave(no chambers) and epoxy. Starting some longer big boards, so I´m thinking of a diferent method(or to chamber it) because of the weight and to save and make the most of each "tree". Im thinking of some two thick planks blended for the foil(sending picture) and some quick easy way for the rails.(have to test how agave thin strips work)."

"I explore more the fun/soul site of surfing in opposition to high profit buisness /competitive, you can call me a "classic"from the twinfin /fish era..
I have been posting at "Swaylock´s"("show your wood" and "tequilha madness") and "facebook" under "miguel aragao" name.
I defenitly will follow articles and others under your name, and probably will annoy you with questions and for advices."

    "Thank you for everything, this was a big pleasure of mine.

     Have fun,                       Miguel Aragão   P.S. Apologise my English"

The blending of board sports and construction

 Kevin Brennan from Decembersnowskates.blogspot.com sent me these shots of his latest project.

"Here's a foam core surf/snowskate board, I pressed in a mold just like a skatedeck, (plenty of nose and tail kick, no rocker) feels pretty bulletproof, and very light..  Went better then expected in the waves, looking foward to testing it in some powder (bindingless) "

 Looking forward to the ride report from the snow test.

Ian's first board

 This is Ian's first wooden board. Pretty nice job and a great looking board. I don't know any more details so Ian if you read this you might like to fill us in. Love what you have done.

Well Ian did get back to me with some details - "The board is about 9'7"x23"x3" and is made predominately from Californian Redwood and Pawlonia. The centre piece on the top and bottom is Blackwood that came from a tree which was cut down from a property in Lorne and a small piece of mahogany (I think) that I got from my father and thought it would be good to add those for sentimental reasons."

"Once I started the process I was hooked. It is a very addictive project to get involved with and I think the reason it took me so much time was that I didn't want to not work on it. Now that I have finished I want to start another.

I haven't tried it out yet but will be very soon. Probably at Lorne."

Thanks for sharing your project and I am sure you will be pretty stoked catching your first wave on it.

Another piece of Japanese surfing history come to light.

 Good friend and wooden board builder Nobby Ohkawa from Chiba has been given another interesting piece of the history of surfing in Japan. He started to look into the background of surfing in Japan as it seemed no one had documented it before. He has found that they were riding Paipo type boards back in the 1800's.

" A fisherman who live in Kamakura gave me 70’s Japanese hollow wooden surfboard, it was called “Float” .
I’m keeping the artifact in my shape room.…it would be my collections for now…

I have never seen before “float surfboard” but according to the fisherman, it was very popular in Kamakura in the 1970’s.
Every local guys surfed with it and a lot of sea bathers rented it.
Some people used paddle when they surfed it as like SUP.

I found the heritage of Japanese surfing and It may be one of the world heritage artifact."

http://www.nobbywoodsurfboards.com/itago.html

Quentin's new board

 Quentin Delion is from the South West of France. After following my blog he decided to make his own wooden surfboard.
 "It's a full paulownia surfboard without resin & fiberglass, it's a 5'8 x 20" 4/5 x 2"1/2 .The weight is about 6 kg. So I'd like to share it with everybody"

He started by gluing up a large panel of paulownia and foiling it to the deck and bottom rocker he was wanting.

 The central core has frames inserted and then the bottom skin is clamped and glued on.

 The excess timber is routed away

 The deck skin is clamped and glued on

 The outline is cut and cleaned up to reveal the true shape of things to come

 Looking good

 The plan of attack on the rails and knowing where you have timber to work with without going into the chamber / core

 The lights help make it way easier to get a neat and tidy finish. You can see your cut lines and the flow of what you are doing.Then you can gradually blend them all together for a clean finish.

 He has done a great job

 Nice ...

He has started with a large amount of timber and then taken plenty away to end up with a very nicely finished board. He must have a large pile of shavings. There are many ways to build a wooden board and there are no wrong ways of doing it. It is a challenge no matter how you go about it and there is no easy way as I have said many times. It is best to start with a method you are comfortable with and as you go you will learn from your experience and fine tune your method or think of new ones. That is the challenge of what we do.

 Nice job Quentin and thanks for sharing it with us. I look forward to future projects.

He has oiled the board for a nice satin finish

Here's his facebook album.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150784763839810.478112.647469809&type=3&l=2ba25d2d22

Peter Walkers new boards

Peter Walker who was a guest speaker at this years wooden board day has just finished a couple of new boards with Stephen Bowers on exhibition at Lauraine Diggins Fine Art Gallery, Melbourne from now until December 8.
http://www.diggins.com.au/

Walker Surfboards

9ft 6" Balsa Cedar longboard

 Jack from Dovetail Wooden Surfboards with the board his dad Geoff built

 Wooden frame and a great combination of timber for the skins

 Geoff built it as a stock board but thought he should give it a run and see how she handled

 Well after the first wave he was comfortable and he has now found a new ride.

 A keeper to add to the quiver

If you are keen for a well built board that weight no more than a foam and glass version , then get hold of Geoff at : dovetailwoodensurfboards.blogspot.com

Hand plane classes at the Byron Bay Surf Festival

Lots of work on this one

 Toru from Japan and a happy girl with her first hand plane

 A great weekend and a great day at Wategos Beach www.byronbaysurffestival.com

 Toru had a great range of tools for people to use

Wooden Boards at Coolum Sunday 18th November

Want a chance to surf and skate alongside amazing athletes? Golden Days Surfrider Eco Challenge offers this opportunity. With the support of local industry giants, Surfing Queensland, Tommy Wegener, Codfish, Surfing Green from the surf side of things to Boardstore and Drawing Boards for skate, this day is an opportunity for the local community to get out and enjoy the coast with a slight twist.

Deviating from the traditional surf competition style, Surfrider Foundation is bringing a surf event to Coolum Beach, as part of Golden Days Surfrider Eco Challenge on Sunday November 18, from 8am-5.30pm. The surf event will be held from 8am-midday. Surfers will be awarded points on the heart that they put into their surf, not on technical expertise.  It’ll open up a whole new ball game.

President of the local Surfrider Foundation branch, Sally Atkinson, feels that this event is both an opportunity to celebrate coastal communities, as well as bringing wooden surfboards out for everyone to enjoy, irrelevant of age or experience.

“It’s not only good for the environment, by promoting a more eco-friendly material, but it’s about people from all walks of life coming together,” Ms Atkinson said.

There are several surf event categories people can enter into. The ‘Beat Fred’ wooden surfboard event is a different way to get your finless fix. The finless Alaia surf event is where the community gets the chance to challenge current Noosa Festival of Surfing champion, Fred Branger for the best wave of the day. Those not versed in the delights of the Alaia can try their hand at the short (including mini-mals) or long board event, aptly named the “Short and The Long Of It.” This is an opportunity for men, women and kids to surf together, as handicap points, depending on experience, will be allotted to each surfer.

For those not brave enough to jump in on the surf action, they can bring down their wooden surfboard and have a yarn or two about the wave that got away. Otherwise, local surfing legend, Tommy Wegener, will have his boards for hire, for a mere gold coin donation.  This “stoke fest” will bring the sheer joy of wooden surfboarding to everyone www.tomwegenersurfboards.com.

The highlight of the surf will be the Guinness World Record attempt for the 'Most Surfers Riding the Same Wave'. Currently the world record goes to Earthwave, in 2009, South Africa, for 110 surfers. Come down and throw yourself and your board into this. All styles welcome. The first attempt will be made at 11:30am, at Coolum Beach, on Sunday November 18.

Codfish http://woodensurfboards.com.au will raffle one of their boards on the day, with all proceeds going to the local Surfrider Foundation. Surfing Green, who has contributed to event organisation, will have a retail stall at the event showing their latest wooden craftsmanship www.surfinggreen.com.au.

Appreciating that the Sunshine Coast has a thriving skate scene, local skate retailers and performers, Boardstore www.boardstore.com.au and Drawing Boards www.drawingboards.com.au will run the skate event associated with the Golden Days Surfrider Eco Challenge. ‘Trix on Stix’ will cater to the under 10’s, that are up-and-coming to the sport (8am-9am). ‘Smash the Wall’ will feature older skaters with aerial displays and feats from 10am-midday. It’ll be stylised skating at its best. Tricks, jams and demos will feature. Boardstore is offering $500 of gifts to local skaters on the day. This will be held at Tickle Park, Coolum Beach, November 18.


The Golden Days Surfrider Eco Challenge is an event of the Golden Days Music Festival www.goldendaysfestival.com.

Pre-entries for all surf and skate events and overall festival
information can be found at www.surfriderecochallenge.com.

For more information on the Surfrider Foundation Sunshine Coast and/or event inquiries visit: www.surfrider.org.au or contact us on 0405 567 930 or surfridersunshine@live.com. Surfrider Foundation Australia is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the protection of waves and beaches. We do this through Conservation, Activism, Research and Education (CARE). The foundation has 29 Branches and Beach Representatives nationwide.

Paulownia for the people

If you are in New Zealand and looking for Paulownia for your projects , then check these guys out : http://www.paulowniaforthepeople.com They can supply you with all your needs.

Whether it be to order some timber or to share your latest project, Call Sean at 09 4356198 or 022 0902 215.

More of a writer? Drop them an email at hello@thesurfemporium.co.nz

"To see us in person. Drop by The Surf Emporium, on the Corner of Kamo and Station Road in Kamo, Whangarei.

Wooden surfboard courses

 Rob and Gary from Tree to Sea Australia had another sold out course in September.

   " Our September Workshop saw a few new models, a couple of retro single fins

     and Old School Retro Pigs. Everybody had a great time and made new friends. "

More Workshops are planned for January and February in 2013 details are on the website www.treetosea.com.au