Wooden Surfboard Workshopper Profile, No.7: Matt

Matt first joined us back in June 2015 to make a 6’4 Woodburner and then again in December 2018 to make a 9’1 Wicket.

Here are Matt’s words on his journey with us, what he took from the experience and why he came back to make another wooden surfboard…

“I shaped a woodburner on my first workshop, a board I adore and have spent many happy hours surfing on, even taking it to Indo on 2 separate trips. When I met up with James for the AGM (Annual Gathering of Makers) surf a few years later we swapped boards and I had a go on his long board. Some say this was a cunning salesman tactic but knowing James as I do, I’m sure he just wanted to share the share the experience of surfing a wooden longboard. I obviously loved it because when I got home that night and talked for hours about it, my wonderful wife insisted that it was time for me to go back and make another board.”

“My week’s spent with James and his team rank up there with the best weeks of my life. Both my workshops came after intense and stressful work contracts, so being removed from all day to day stress and focusing on creating in a wonderfully simple environment was exactly what I needed.

James’s amazing teaching style where he imparts his knowledge in a down to earth and simple way, while empowering you to go beyond what you thought you could do, was truly amazing. I spend much of life in a digital world, so being in the real world, the feel of the tools in your hands and the smell of timber as you work, was wonderfully life affirming.

At the end of the week I had fallen in love with my board and James, I felt properly connected to my life again, probably due to a combination of time spent meditatively working on my board and talking and connecting with good people.

Having a 2 wooden surfboard quiver is amazing, and I can count on 1 hand the number of times I have surfed an “old fashioned” foam board since my first workshop. The feeling of surfing a wooden board is completely different, somehow more alive and connected to the wave. I’m a lucky man to have 2 of them!”

Matt, November 2023

If you would like to join one of our wooden surfboard making workshops, click here!