Journal
The latest news and stories from our workshop, and beyond.
The latest news and stories from our workshop, and beyond.
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 surfboard” became a longboard as surfing sub-divided. Fast-forward over a half a century and the taxonomy of surfboard shapes has increased even though surfboard dimensions remain within a relatively narrow range. However, the simplest classifications used are still so often “shortboard”...
More often than not, when the waves are good and we arrive at our local beach before sunrise to surf before work, we end up parked next to and...
As we near the end of another year, before we start looking ahead to what’s to come in 2019, we like to take a moment to pause and reflect on the...
I’ve spent a fair chunk of my adult life now at sea on wooden vessels – be they surfboards or sail boats. Holding the line of a 5'5, 8kg...
“It has taken seven years to write and it’s only 27,000 words long but I have finally finished the thirteenth book that will have my name on...
Every year, as summer gives way to autumn, we invite all of our previous wooden surfboard workshop attendees back to Cornwall to celebrate their achievements and spend a weekend talking and surfing wooden surfboards. It goes without saying that not all of them can join us (our workshoppers are spread far and wide around the globe these days), but every year the pile of positive RSVPs is a little higher and the group who meet at the workshop...
Last Friday we were lucky enough to host the UK premiere of The Plastic Project’s film Dispatches From a Plastic Planet at our annual Boards, BBQ...
New Year, New Model Sometimes we set out to design and make a new wooden surfboard model, and sometimes one develops seemingly organically. The...
As one calendar year clicks over into the next, we like to take the opportunity to pause and reflect on the twelve months just passed so that we can...
Last weekend, we held our Annual Gathering of Makers. It's a special occasion for us, when we invite all of the makers who have joined us over the...
On Friday June 23rd we opened up the doors of our workshop, and of the Eco Park's barn opposite us, and were joined by an amazing crowd of people for our annual Boards, Bangers and Beers open workshop evening. With the help of our good friend Alex of As One Talks, this years event was the biggest and best yet and we were joined by special guests Sam Bleakley and Chris Hines who spoke in front of a capacity crowd, with every seat taken and people...
It’s easy as a small business to always be looking forwards; to plan for the future and keep on pushing ahead. It’s all too common to overlook...
The 6’10” Jetty was one of the first shapes that we developed here at Otter Surfboards, and it's one of the most recognisable surfboards in our...
One of the really special things about sharing what we do through our workshop courses is the fact that we almost inevitably form new...
This deep into winter many of us rely on the woodburner in our front rooms to provide warmth through cold evenings. At Otter Surfboards we also rely...
Tonight the clock will tick over past twelve o-clock and we'll all be entering a brand new year. It's a time to be looking forward and making plans but also, amidst all of the party-poppers and auld lang synes, a time to reflect on twelve months well spent. We've had a fantastic 2014 here at Otter Surfboards; it's been busier than ever before and we've hardly had a chance to pause and reflect upon it until presented with an opportunity to do...
One of the most important parts of the design cycle is evaluating the final product: does it meet the original design brief and how well does it...
September signals the start of autumn for us here in the Northern Hemisphere. Whilst we cling on to the sunny remains of summer for as along as...
It’s been a good summer this year. Memories of past years of howling nor’westerly winds and incessant mizzle were banished and we spent the...
