Charlie, Rob, Jeremy and Sebastian’s Wooden Surfboard Workshop Experience

With 3 trestles set up with bottom skins and frames, each of our workshoppers began Monday by sanding and gluing their frames together to get the first part of the making process underway. The trestles would be where each workshopper would spend the week, and where each surfboard would take shape under expert guidance from James and Chris.

At the front of the workshop was Jeremey, a retired construction manager from Swansea who had planned to attend the workshop as part of a wider mission to spend his free time travelling and pursuing new experiences. Jeremy would be making our 9’1 Wicket, a board he would be surfing at local spots along the Gower and taking with him on new adventures in his campervan.

Occupying the centre workspace was Sebastian, a photographer from Sweden with a keen interest in surfing, skating and snowboarding. He had received the workshop experience as a 40th birthday present and had been in touch with us to create a custom wood layup of three 6mm stringers down the centre of his top and bottom skin, which looked awesome! He would be making a Pieces of Eight, a good all rounder which would suit the knee to chest high waves at his home break.

Rob and Charlie, a father daughter combo from Weymouth, were on the far set of trestles making a 7’2 Coaster together, made from Poplar with a single dark stringer down the centre. Rob, a naval engineer is a keen surfer and paddleboarder, and time on the water, as well as time spent together, is a passion he shares with Charlie; a sixth form student who learned surfing from her dad, and told us she is often checking the waves from her front room, taking any chance she gets to jump in the sea.

By the time we sat down to dinner together on Wednesday evening it was clear that a shared love of the ocean and spending time creatively, was a common thread which connected us all. It was great to spend some time with four new people who each had their own interesting reasons for joining our course, whether it be for quality time like Charlie and Rob or learning a new skill in retirement like Jeremy, a new surfboard seemed like it would be a bonus to the experience!

With 3 new surfboards shaped we hope that each workshopper has also been able take away from the week their own appreciation of the making process and each days unfolding. Whether it be related to practical knowledge, the feeling of making something with their own hands or the experience of a completely different purpose from that of ‘normal’ daily life.

We loved sharing the experience with you all, so thank you to Charlie, Rob, Jeremy and Sebastian, we can’t wait for you come back and collect your surfboards!

If you would like to join one of our surfboard workshop experience’s, click here to find out more!