Mike, Mickey and Philippe’s Wooden Surfboard Workshop Experience

Cornwall has had its fair share of swell in the past few weeks, coupled with some stormy weather and a noticeably colder water temperature it has made for some intense surf time. Unfortunately our workshoppers arrived at the beginning of a flat spell, but that didn’t stop them enjoying the sea; they all went in for a dip at Porthtowan beach before making their way up the hill to our workshop on Monday morning, which was a great effort!

Mondays during a workshop week tend to be pretty relaxed, as we like to take our time to piece together the frames of the surfboards, before gluing them down to the bottom skins and letting them cure overnight. This means we could take a bit of extra time for lunch and a jaunt down the hill to the beach, where we were met with glorious sunshine and blue sky, a great setting to get to know our workshoppers.

Mike had made the trip down from London where he works in property development, he and Philippe are good friends who met at a London surf club and have since travelled together along with Philippe’s girlfriend Mickey, to surf destinations around the world. Throughout the week Mike would be making a 6’4 Woodburner, our second to be made from poplar with a single strip of dark down the centre, so a pretty exclusive club! We were all excited to see how it would turn out. Mike brought along his dog ‘River’ for the week, a 6 month old Vizsla with boundless energy who kept us all entertained throughout the week.

Philippe, a stock broker and Mickey, an advertising creative, would be making a board together; a 7’2 Roller Coaster which they were hoping would help Mickey increase her wave count, with it’s high volume and great paddle ability. They joined us from Paris and London respectively, and both were happy to be taking a break from their busy work lives, it was their first in two years!

With everyone being keen surfers and the fact that the course had been postponed a few times over the last 2 years, there was such a great atmosphere in the workshop all week, with lots of surf travel talk and a general excitement around the surfboards taking shape in front of us.

The week flew by and before we knew it, we were celebrating the deck skins being glued down with a pint and a curry at the cafe next door to the workshop. Two days of shaping followed, with Mike, Mickey and Philippe getting a real feel for the planes, rasps and saws they were using to bring their newly hand crafted surfboards to life.

We had so much fun on the wooden surfboard journey with you all, thanks so much for joining us, we can’t wait to have you back to pick up your freshly glassed creations!

If you would like to make your own wooden surfboard click here for more info.