11 . 10 . 21
The last couple of journal workshop entries have begun with a comment on how busy our summer has been, which we are all so grateful for here at Otter Surfboards. We’ve completely fallen back in love with what we do after some seriously quiet months earlier in the year and we’ve rounded out our August workshop trilogy in such a fun way with Henry, here’s the lowdown of his week…
It was Henry’s second visit to the workshop as back in 2019 he joined us to make a 7’2 Barque, he seemed instantly at home as soon as he started making on Monday morning and it felt like catching up with an old friend, which set the tone for the rest of a warm and laughter filled week.
A flat spell seems to have lasted much of the summer here in Porthtowan and Henry was greeted with a few beautifully calm mornings during his stay, which meant he could swim and/or run before joining us at the workshop to make his paddleboard each day. A connection to the outdoors is something we all bonded over during the week and it seemed apt that Henry would be making a 9’2 Skiff stand up paddleboard with us.
Henry joined us from Putney in London where he has access to the river Thames, a five minute walk from his house. He told us how important it was for him to be able to get outdoors and exercise with time on the river, and said he hoped to be able to take his new wooden paddleboard out at least once a week, as a good way to relax away from his day job as an A+E doctor.
We feel stoked for Henry to be able to maintain this connection to the water in day to day life despite not living on the coast and having the option to surf regularly, something we are always in danger of taking for granted. We joined Henry for a couple of swims during the week, floating about in the early morning light was a great way to start the day and it brought so much energy to time spent in the workshop.
Making a paddleboard can seem like a pretty huge task especially when it comes to our ‘big Wednesday’ during a workshop week, as there is a lot to do before the deck of the board is glued down in preparation for shaping on Thursday. We all chipped in with some of the making but made sure not to rush the process, taking a well deserved break for dinner and drinks at the open air cafe across from our workshop.
We cant wait to see you in a few weeks to collect your new paddleboard brother! And hear how you get on cruising the river near home!
After checking the flat conditions on Monday, we held out for a lunchtime mission the next day...
Welcome to part 3 of our new series, here James shows how we build up the rails of our wooden surfboards...
