Wooden board building classes in Auckland and Wellington New Zealand

A great opportunity to build a wooden board with some great guys who are pushing the boundaries with eco boards. For more info contact them : jack@organicdynamic.com

Wood and Foam

Wooden Surfboard building Classes

Be a part of Brisbane’s only Hollow Wooden Surfboard Making Workshop!
In four days you will go home with your very own timber surfboard that you have made yourself!

Classes with available positions for 2017
One position left! June 29th, 30th July 1st, 2nd
August 24th, 25th, 26th and 27th
September 28th, 29th, 30th, 31st
November 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th

www.bywaterdesign.com.au 

enquiries@bywaterdesign.com.au

Hot Curl and Kelp

This is a great little clip from South Africa via Cobus Joubert of WAWA Wooden Surfboards. Besides this clip they make great wooden boards so check them out below.

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 www.wawawave.com

Hollow Wooden SUP's

If you want to build a wooden SUP or know more about them then I think I have found the the source for you. Randy Bougardus from Jacksonville , Oregon has one of the most comprehensive web sites and information on building hollow wooden SUP's I have come across. He also has some awsome kits and supplies to get you started. He is obviously a craftman with many years under his belt as his own work is beautiful. Check him out.

This is a quote from Randy which I think gives a great insight into the man ...

Why do we build hollow wood surf and paddleboards? I’m sure many would say, "Why bother?" But as a lifelong water-oriented person who has sailed, surfed, and worked with wood for decades, it’s simply something that had to be done. Building these boards has become a passionate statement about the lessons and skills attained over a lifetime. Sharing our ideas and commitment to this process and creating a bit of personal history is what motivates us every day. This is not work, this is life!

 

 https://www.instagram.com/randybogardus/

 

Check out his site for great kits and a load of experience...

 http://clearwoodpaddleboards.com/

European Wooden Surfboard Meet 2017

After 9 editions in Australia, the Wooden Surfboard Meet lands in Europe

August 25th-26th. Playa de Berria, Cantabria, Spain

If you make wooden surfboards yourself; if you’re one of those self taught artisans who like to lock in the garage to experiment with materials and different building methods; if you’re in pursuit of a greener and a more environmentally friendly surfboard, this international meet is made for you!

The Wooden Surfboard Meet is a non-commercial and non-competitive get together. Come along for a couple days to the beautiful beach of Berria (Cantabria, Spain) and meet boardbuilders from all over Europe and the world.

Bring your boards, alaia’s, hand planes, bodyboards, surfies or what ever you have been building and having fun on as long as it is made of wood or with eco friendly materials. Just lay them out in the park, find a spot to have a picnic lunch and meet other like-minded wooden board builders, craftsmen and enthusiasts. There will be people from all walks of life just stoked to be riding something they have designed and built themselves, plenty of people who have lots of questions, stories and ideas to share just like you. Check out what others are up to, swap boards and go for a surf

Where and When

August 25th-26th. Playa de Berria, Cantabria, Spain

Playa de Berria is a 2.2km long beach, exposed to most swells with quite reliable surf and works in most tides. It’s a 30 minutes drive from Santander Airport and 1 hour from Bilbao Airport.

We’ll meet at Berria Surf School, which has a beautiful garden area next to the beach with plenty of space. Just lay your boards out in the park, bring and umbrella or a little tent to have some shade, and may be a picnic lunch to spend a great day meeting and sharing experiences with open minded people.

There are some bars and restaurants along the beach, and supermarkets, surfshops and all kinds of accommodation in the nearby towns of Argoños and Santoña. There is also a good amount of campsites in the area.

Berria Beach

The Plan

Friday 25th  night meeting: we’ll figure out soon the specific details, but we want to meet on friday night at Berria Surf School to introduce all the participants and share some beers and music under the stars.

Saturday 26th, day at the beach: there is no better plan than not having a plan. We figure out everyone will be surfing early in the morning before meeting at the beach park in Berria Surf School. Find a spot and enjoy the day!

Finally, the European Wooden Surfboard Meet is on!!
You can share and post in your blog or pass it to whoever you think might be interested.

We’ve created a Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/287720925001867/

And a page where everyone can post whatever they like:

 https://www.facebook.com/euro.woodsurfmeet/

We hope you can join us and we can meet to spend a day by the sea!
Please, feel free to share the event with friends and anyone you think might be interested.
We will provide some further info in the upcoming weeks, but feel free to ask any quastions you have.

Salud y olas!

Sergi Galanó
European Wooden Surfboard Meet

Bound By Sea - Pure Talent with wood

Grain are moving and would like you help

(YORK, MAINE) Grain Surfboards HQ has had perhaps the best location that owners Mike LaVecchia and Brad Anderson could ever imagine - a sweet, eighteen-acre farm owned and operated by a friendly family that loved to see the young company coming of age in one of their barns.  After more than ten years renting from the farmers, Grain's recently been told that their shop and offices are needed for other purposes.  Grain's being forced to vacate in only a few months.

Uprooted and with few other choices, LaVecchia and Anderson are reaching out to the thousands of friends, fans and followers that have been drawn to the brand's unique and earnest ethos built on community, sustainability, and fun.  An Indiegogo campaign launched today is asking to raise $200,000 towards the purchase and renovation of a site that LaVecchia says is "the perfect spot".   "We realized that - in order to continue to be the Grain Surfboards that people have come to love, renting would never work.  We need a location that we can own so we can have the latitude to support the Grain community's unique needs." said LaVecchia.

The balance of funds required for the property will be obtained from investors.  In the event that Grain Surfboards exceeds its funding targets, alternative energy and other sustainability features are planned.  Grain's hope is that an event that at first felt wrenching and disastrous can be turned into an opportunity for the entire Grain community to share a future that includes more surfboard-building classes, more events, and more opportunities to build products sustainably.

Details:

Indiegogo campaign page:  http://igg.me/at/helpGrain

More Information:

Mike LaVecchia, co-owner: pr@grainsurfboards.com   207-457-5313

Staff Bios: grainsurfboards.com/staff-bios
Photo Gallery: grainsurfboards.com/gallery
Grain Surfboards:  grainsurfboards.com
Grain--NY:  grainsurfboards.com/ny

About Grain Surfboards    
Grain Surfboards is committed to promoting the benefits of building and surfing wooden surfboards and believes that wooden surfboards can have more impact on the surfing experience and less impact on the environment. All of the wood products used in Grain surfboards and kits are sourced from local mills and forestlands in Maine that practice sustainable harvesting. All wood waste from the production of Grain's boards and kits is actively reduced and creatively recycled. Grain ships surfboards and complete surfboard kits worldwide and hosts workshops in which anyone can learn to handcraft their own wood surfboard.   Maintaining personal connections with their customers has kept workshops a very personal experience for both instructors and students as is evidenced by the intentional eschewing of certifications or any "professional" training focus in their offerings as well as the frequency of returning students and a steady flow of unsolicited warm testimonials.

Grain is co-owned and managed by Mike LaVecchia and Brad Anderson.  For more information, please visit grainsurfboards.com.

Alaia by Felipe Siebert from Brazil

 Cork deck over EPS core

 Oiled Paulownia bottom

 The vacuum bag is great for pulling those concaves

 

Nice 

www.siebertsurfboards.com

Another labour of love and work of functional art by Tarquin Place

 This is a hollow SUP kit he is developing. Great workmanship.

More when the kit is ready for release

Board building class in France

If you would like more info or to book a spot contact Paul : paulitspaul@gmx.net

Tom Wegener is off to PNG again

Tom has just cleaned up from hosting a wooden board building class and talks on sustainable surfing at The Noosa Festival last week and jumped on flight to New Guinea on Monday.

 "I'm presently on my way to Papua New Guinea for a surfing festival with the WSL Longboard Tour.  We're going to the Tupira Surf Camp where I've been twice before, to make wood surfboards with the locals. It's pretty remote and the inspiration for this distant location is to mix the culture of modern longboarding with the very ancient wood surfboard makers of PNG."

 "This complements the normal WSL longboarding competition by contrasting the modern with the very old. The visiting surfers will compete against the locals on their wood surfboards and the locals are welcome to ride the modern surfboards. "

 "The idea is to capture a sharing of surf culture. My involvement will be to help the local kids integrate into the ways of a modern surf contest as well as to work with the WSL webcast." 

 

 As you can see Tom has been there before and left his mark with the local surfers and keen shapers.

                                                               The PNG  Peanut for sure

Thanks to JB for some of this copy from Pacific Longboader Magazine

The 3rd Thirroul Seaside and Arts Festival 2017

Guys if you are looking to be part of a great event in April this year then this is a good one. It is on Sunday the 2nd of April in the Thirroul Surf Club (A Northern Suburb of Wollongong) approx 1hr South of Sydney. It is part of a seaside festival with markets, etc etc.

Lisa Fahey, an avid artist and board builder who is one of the organisers of the event says "This is our 3rd year, last year we had about 60 boards, but it would be nice to get some more sydney siders etc along this year to share the love."

For more information please contact Lisa Fahey : lisatimberlover@gmail.com

Or call Dave on 0412 270 878

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!"