No excuses now with this sort of inspiration. www.johncherrywoodcraft.com
Roger Hall , profiling one of 4 boards he is building for August. He is loving working with wood again. He includes some beautiful wooden nose and tail block detail on a lot of his foam boards. Check his web site for some great examples.
Brett Layton a local Gold Coaster normally rides a short board , but decided he wanted a cruiser for small days. He had a mate design a 14 foot board in Aku Shaper and I put the file through template maker for him. Then he had the frames cnc routed out of ply.
Cable ties hold it all together prior to gluing
All glued up , one big frame.
6mm Paulownia sheets and Cedar pin lines
Lots of clamps and a lot of running around a 14 foot board to glue the skins on by yourself.
Yes she will be a cruiser.
All ready to trim the skins to the rail band and then add the rails in strips of Paulownia. Brett wants to not glass the whole board and just oil the wood . Paulownia won't take in salt water and with oiling like you do with an Alaia it should be fine.
There are a hell of a lot of sticks of wood there for one board
Four boards all glued up and ready to be turned into things of beauty by the craftsman
Looks like a speed dialer to me
One under way and 3 to go. No small job.
Tony Crimmins , has been working away on this beauty and it is now ready for glassing. Paulownia over a plywood frame with Cedar and Paulownia nose and tail blocks. He has done a great job and I look forward to seeing it in the flesh in August.
Roger Hall over in New Zealand has been a busy beaver chambering 4 boards to bring to the wooden board day in August. Mate a hell of a lot of work. Look forward to the outcome. Roger owns and runs Surfline Surfboards in the North of the North Island and is busy hand shaping foam all day , so fitting in these four very time consuming wooden beauties is a big job. I appreciate your support and effort.Check out Rogers boards and skills : www.surfline.co.nz
If you have some time and some scrap bits of wood here is a great little project for you. Chip away at one of these guys to bring along to the park in August. 
This is what you can do when you break your foam board and you want a project to keep you busy.This is Franks story...
The Japanese Fish Fry was held last weekend and here are some shots forwarded to me by Yutaka Ono. Some nice wooden boards as seen at the Alley Fish Fry seem to be the norm now and an accepted part of the mix. Great to see. For more fishes and Fish Fry pics check out the blog : www.thealleyfishfry.blogspot.com
Richard had some balsa left over from his last project so set about making a hollow core for his new board. 
The hollow core cuts down on timber and weight as well.
Balsa added to the core and then nose and tail blocks to come in cedar and balsa. 
Final sanding ready for glassing
6mm cork and 6mm bending ply to get round the curves
The glassing sure brings out the colour
" Channel Islands Surfboards produces some of the most well-known surfboards in history. Led by legendary board shaper Al Merrick, and with a team of riders that include Slater and Machado, they are the envy of the surfing world. Though it's hard to picture when you visit their current state-of-the-art factory, many remember the humble beginnings of CI that echoed in the rickety halls of their former HQ where some of the world's best shapes were jammed under every rafter.
But we remember. "Humble" isn't the word for our own hardscrabble start - old drafty barns, borrowed tools, and cadged supplies - we're practically still living it. Yet both companies are dedicated to building boards of the highest quality, and subjecting them to constant R&D and improvement. There the similarities stop, though. We could never hope to approach the sophistication of Al Merrick's shaping abilities, the global scale of Channel Island's appeal or the recognition that they have earned over the years."
" Grain Surfboards and Channel Islands Surfboards are pleased to announce a new partnership. Using our tried and true wood construction method, we'll be rendering some of the Channel Islands surfboard line using sustainable-yield cedar, low VOC epoxy, even bamboo cloth instead of glass for those who want it. We're starting with Rob Machado's board, the Biscuit, a stubby wave-catcher for knee to head-high surf. Our first size will be the 6'2" with more to follow. Soon, these boards will be available as kits as well.
Working with CI to deliver wood versions of their boards is really exciting for us and inspires us to think about the unusual nature of this project. We're tempted to make some comparisons with the arrangements some well-respected shapers have entered into with epoxy pop-out factories. Where pop-outs are machine made, our boards couldn't be more hand-crafted. Where pop-outs can feel corky, ours are solid with great glide and speed. And with more and more boards made overseas (where environmental laws are often lax) being able to get a board made in Maine by folks who make their impact on the planet a daily conversation is becoming a revolutionary choice. "
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