Two from Holland

 Simon from the Netherlands wanted to share his first two wooden boards with you.I believe they are of hollow framed construction.

The Italian Lis Fish

Silvio Arveda from Nord on the East coast of Italy has just built a hollow wood Steve Lis fish. He has sent these pics to share with you.

For all the details on the complete build process then check it out here.bonsai-lisfish.blogspot.it

Toothpick in the UK from Australia

 I often get sent some interesting questions and sometimes they are of a historical nature and that is not really my area.Here is an email from thae UK....

Hi Grant,

Just thought you might be interested in a board that I picked up last week in Mylor, Nr Falmouth,Cornwall UK. It was supposed to have been bought back to Cornwall after the second world war from Australia by a families Great Grandfather, this info is second hand, so I am trying to get more concert info to be sure.
It is 11ft 7 1/2ins x 21ins  4 1/2ins thick. The forward few feet of the deck has been replaced but poorly! and is delaminating.The bottom is one piece of ply but with the top veneer joined mid way, I presume the deck was the same originally. I was told that ply was standardised by 1952 so presume it was made before then.
I would be interested in any information on this type of board. history that you might know about? Craig Baird of Surf World commented on FB that it was interesting in that it was under 12ft and quote I saw by Matt Warshaw that Toothpicks under 12ft where considered surfboards.
Any thoughts info would be great to here,

Alex Williams

So if you can help Alex send him an email - alexcam1@btinternet.com

Rasta on the Byron Bay Surf Festival

www.byronbaysurffestival.com/program

Traditional wooden canoe demo

Going back to the roots of surfing, even further back than the ancient 16th century Hawaiian Olo surfboard, this year we’ll be showing you a replica of a traditional ‘dugout’ Polynesian Surf Canoe. History that Tom Wegener brought to light with Dave Rastovich and talented wood craftsman Andy Ceglinski.

After a massive undertaking of sourcing the right tree, transporting it to a place where it can be worked at and then realising that it was a huge mission to shape a traditional canoe with only hand tools…it took Tom Wegener, Dave Rastovich and finally Andy Ceglinski almost 1 year to finish off this traditional surf canoe replica.

 

Wategos Beach, Sun 26th Oct, 9 am – 2 pm

(specific demo time dependent on conditions – check on the day)

Don’t miss this one of a kind Traditional Polynesian Surf Canoe Demo at Wategos surfed by some who may dare.

Sergi heads to Roti

Sergi from Flama surfboards in Spain came out to Australia for a month and was my guest speaker at the surf museum for the Wooden Surfboard Day. On his way home he headed through Bali and hopped over to Roti where he had some uncrowded fun on two of his wooden boards and one I gave him.

The Slimmons , The Simmons and The Single fin got a workout. These were quite possibly the first wooden boards surfed there.

www.flamasurfboards.com

Grown hand plane workshop at this years Byron Bay Surf Festival

An expert in sustainable hollow timber surfboards, hand planes and wooden craft that are both functional and beautiful Andrew Wells from Grown Surfboards will host a dedicated hand plane workshop and wooden surf craft exhibit.
 Andrew has been making surfboards under his label Grown Surfboards for the past 8 years over which time he has developed a reputation for creating surfboards that are renowned for their beauty, quality and craftsmanship.

Sign up for Andrew’s workshop on Sat 25th Oct at the Surf Art Market Grown Surfboards stall and for a demo on Sun 26th Oct at Wategos Beach. Make sure to be there early to secure your spot and avoid disappointment.

Grown Surfboards evolved from Andrew’s desire to produce surfboards that are more sustainable and he has worked to combine his love of woodworking and passion for surfing into an ethical and sustainable business.

Every Grown Surfboard is individually hand crafted by Andrew from plantation grown and recycled timbers to produce surfboards that are both functional and beautiful.

More about Grown Surfboards – www.grownsurfboards.com.au

Sliver Paddle Boards

Sliver Paddle Boards are built by Clayton Sansbury in Vancouver Canada.

www.sliverpaddleboards.com

Nobby's wooden fin workshop at the Byron Bay Surf Festival

Good friend NOBUHITO “Nobby” OHKAWA is a wooden surfcraft master builder and Japanese surf historian, who has perfected his skills over the last decade earning him respect from master shapers all around the world. Join his unique wooden fin workshop !
Besides showcasing some of Japanese items of rich surf history – the wooden belly board ‘Itako’ , Nobby will host a unique wooden fin shaping workshop open for anyone to join and learn about the intrinsic details of fin foils and bevels.

Book your spot at Nobby’s Fin Workshop Sat 25. Oct now – spaces are very limited !  

Contact Nobby to book: nobby_logslider@ybb.ne.jp

For more details on Nobby's class : http://www.byronbaysurffestival.com/nobby-jpn-wooden-fin-workshop/

Wooden works of art

These wonderful looking fins are the work of Roberto Gastelumendi who began working with wood in the 1990s. Over the years he developed and perfected techniques for wood selection, structure, and creative design. He has been fortunate to learn from some of the Bay Area’s most knowledgeable artisans.
At Gastboards, we have always had a profound appreciation of wood and its possibilities, both functional and aesthetic. As part of our commitment to sustainability and good stewardship, we work primarily with recycled woods. With these materials we seek to create objects of value and beauty.

www.gastboards.com

The Byron Bay Surf Festival

Lots of new things being added in the countdown to the festival. 

So check it out : www.byronbaysurffestival.com/program

25 DAYS AND COUNTING - BYRON BAY SURF FESTIVAL 

The Byron Bay Surf Festival looms near. With less than a month until the opening, the full program is online, locked in and bursting with good cheer. Many new events and festival trimmings have been added this year, especially in the realm of music, art and exhibition.

Big music news to announce this week is that our favorite surf-muso Donavon Frankenreiter will be lifting the new Seaview Stage (at Main Beach). Festival partner Sanuk and Low Pressure Sound System present "A Collective of Life Minded Musicians", spearheaded by Donavon and special guests with a one off jam session by Ash Grunwald, Shannon Sol Carol & Oj Newcomb (Band of Frequencies), Dave Rastovich, Scotty Owen (The Living End), Terepai Richmond (The Whitlams), Vinnie LaDuce (Mt. Warning). These legendary musos are playing to raise awareness, inspiration and continued support for local environmental and educational not-for-profit organizations Take 3, Seabird Rescue Centre, and the Burra Jurra Indigenous Surf Program. This comes as an incredibly rare occasion; a colourful mix of surf culture icons and musical talents performing at a FREE family friendly open-air venue surrounded by sustainable brands like Banks in the Tipi Pop-Up Block, next to gourmet food partners Santos Organics, Loving Earth, Chia Co and Allpress Espresso. Across the road, long time sponsors the Beach Hotel and Corona Extra will continue musical entertainment throughout the festival nights.

More big announcements this week include the much-anticipated Australian premiere of the Californian produced 'Expencive Porno Movie' shot entirely on 16mm film in true 70's retro style, showing at the local Community Centre during the festival. This will be an exciting fringe venue, which also hosts a 'GoPro tech-tips' seminar by GoPro guru Nigel Raynard of Unique Images Australia as well as the GoPro photo comp final presented by pro photographer Willem Ungermann who will also host a GoPro beach day for the grommets.

On the crafty side of the spectrum, the festival is hosting a variety of special workshops; Handplane Shaping by Grown Surfboards, Board Bag Making and Indigo Dye by Byron Bay Board Bags and a very exclusive Wooden Fin Shaping workshop by master craftsman and Itako historian Nobuhito 'Nobby' Ohkawa who is travelling all the way from Japan for this event. In fact, this year the festival hosts quite a large contingent from Japan, as well as from the USA.

 This is obvious also within the infamous Art Photography Show with well-known Japanese artists Iki Yasuo, Hi-Dutch, Kei Otsuka, Kuni Takanami and Yoge Kensuke Yoshida featuring alongside Australian up and coming artists Kasper Raglus, Kye D'arcy, Josh Rufford and renowned American artists Andy Davis, Heather Brown, Matthew Allen and The Captain Surfs of Hawaii. The stART-me-up youth art show and sustainable craft workshops by Meet Make Create is open for kids to do their own recycled/up-cycled art and includes awesome fun prizes donated by local businesses such as a Hot Air Balloon ride up for grabs and groovy surf gear. Local youth are also represented on the music stage. Nearby, major sponsors Golden Breed and Uppercut Deluxe will also be putting on special displays with plenty of historical, vintage surfboards, 50's cars and bikes. Exhibits well worth spending time with!

With so much choice and variety of things to do, feel, smell, see, surf and create; the Byron Bay Surf Festival plans to keep you busy and entertained all weekend. The Friday night opening film 'Beyond the Surface', the Saturday markets with Tipi Pop-Up Block and infamous Corona Party Wave dash for cash at Wategos Beach, besides surfing and demo events on Sunday will be full of sunny merriment. Almost everything is free, outdoors and fun. For the few ticketed events at the Byron Community Centre and Beach Hotel, get in quickly because they will sure sell fast.

Keep an eye on the ever-mounting program at www.byronbaysurffestival.com, be sure to lock in any flights, friends or accommodations soon and we look forward to sea-ing you there!

Eco Challenge 2014

"At this years event there will be a Wooden Surfboard Challenge (WSC), sponsored by Tom Wegener Surfboards. This is one of the most primitive and one of the most natural experiences any person can have surfing. Not too mention one of the fastest.

WSC will primarily be an experiment session. This format is open to all people irrespective of age or gender on all styles of timber boards in any format; stand up or prone. The winner of this session will be judged by the amount of "stoke" they display in the ocean and from their surfing experience."

Register Now and Secure Your Place!

www.surfriderecochallenge.com