Journal
The latest news and stories from our workshop, and beyond.
The latest news and stories from our workshop, and beyond.
Back in April we were visited by Anna and Sebastian who were on a surf trip of the UK to promote their company, Sieve Recycled Plastics. They showed us a selection of fins they had made from recycled materials and we were stoked to find out more...
Until 1967, there was no such thing as a longboard. Then the shortboard revolution happened and all of a sudden what had previously been called...
A week or so after re-opening the workshop post-lockdown, a delivery driver dropped off a large, heavy parcel. We had no idea what it was,...
At our 2017 Annual Gathering of Makers we were joined and entertained by The Cheddar Experiment (the side project of Reef bass player Jack...
One windy Monday morning in the beginning of March we were joined at the workshop by the lovely Matt Barr, of the Looking Sideways action sports...
Surfboards, in all their various forms, are relatively fragile; getting them from one place to another, be it to your final destination on a surf trip or in the first instance delivering a board from the shaper to the surfer, can be a risky business. We like it best when customers come and collect their surfboards from the workshop here, because most of our surfboards are made by their new owners and it’s a lovely chance to reconnect with them...
Surf wax is as necessary when surfing as the surfboard itself, but it’s also a small, consumable product that is often overlooked. Most surf...
Easkey Britton, PhD, is a pioneering Irish surfer with a fascinating story: an academic and world travelling professional surfer, amongst other...
"It is the story of how I built a surfboard when I never thought I could, and what it's like to build a company when I never thought I would." In...
Creating anything with an organic material such as wood is both challenging and hugely rewarding, particularly if your aim is to work with and show...
Cornwall is, and has a history of being, home to some incredibly creative people; from the artistic hubs of St Ives and Newlyn in the 19th and 20th centuries through to the present day, creativity in many mediums both develops here and is drawn here. Some people pursue their creative endeavours full tie, whilst others enjoy them as a past time that sits alongside their working lives and other hobbies. Our friend Matt Smith falls into that later...
Every surf spot has its characters who are recognised for one reason or another. Our local break has one such individual who is highly regarded far...
Surfers Against Sewage are a charity very dear to our hearts here at Otter Surfboards; based just over the hill in the neighbouring village of St...
It's fairly common for visitors to the Otter Workshop to comment on James' lack of footwear. For most of the year, in the workshop, on the beach and...
Last September, just as the last of the summer warmth was preparing to give way to autumn, James managed to sneak in one final surf in boardshorts at...
Wooden surfboards are at the root of many countries traditional wave riding cultures, and this is certainly the case for Papua New Guinea. Here, "splinter" surfboards have been used for generations to ride the waves that break over the reefs and black sand beaches, the boards being carved from indigenous trees or pieces of old canoes. At the end of last month the multi-award winning documentary film Splinters toured the UK with several...
