The Karl Mackie fish story

Karl lives in Cornwall the hub of surfing in the UK some might say and this is his story.
" Cheers for showing an interest in my boards, Well...I had been making my own foam boards for a while, experimenting with single fins, Quads and Twin fins, inspired by the greats from the ‘Morning of the earth’ period, I was getting more & more interested in going back and building from raw materials, and surfing all kinds of crafts."

" I went traveling in 2009 and ended my trip in Noosa Heads, While staying with a friend I met a Noosa local called Parish Watts (vintagepacificsurfcraft.blogspot.com), an established board builder of the vintage tooth pick and handplane. I returned to Cornwall, UK full of ideas and inspired to make a wooden surfboard using materials from my local area, the plan was to build a wooden surfboard as eco friendly and cost effective as possible. "

" The board has been made almost entirely from Ply, apart from the rails where I have used pine strips. The top and bottom of the board is from a whole piece of 2mm ply, I would have loved to have used strips of good quality wood, however in the UK the cost would have run away with me. The tail is made from Balsa and the rails from cork. "


" Handplaning in the the UK is hardly recognized, certainly in Cornwall its still very new, i have been a bodysurfer for years now and I wanted to take what I had learnt in Noosa and apply it here, My Handplanes are made from boat builders high quality Gaboon Marine Ply, there are 4 boards in the line up, based on the aesthetics of the fish, the rounded Pin, the mal and for smaller hands the Mini, each board is hand crafted with channels, concave and hard/soft rails, I finish them untreated or coated in Raw Linseed oil. "

" By far the most exciting time in surfing for me has been the shift into wooden board building, the possibilities and the stoke from building from nothing is a wonderful thing to treasure."

It is a small world we live in. Parish Watts was at the Wooden Board Day last year with a great display of his wooden tooth picks. It is a shame Karl can't be here this year as well. But you will be able to check out Parish and many other great boards for sure.

Check out Karl's site here : www.cloudsalt.blogspot.com