Coaster Ride Report - A Postcard from France

11 . 09 . 24

We love speding time with our customers in the workshop, sharing the experience and excitement of making wooden surfboards with your own hands over five days and often, we develop friendships too. A few weeks later, our workshoppers come to collect their finished surfboards and head out into the world for a lifetime of waves.

Sometimes, we’re lucky enough to see them again at our Annual Gathering of Makers that we host each year, and can catch up on where their surfboards have taken them and the memories they have continued to make with them.

Even rarer still, we might just hear from one or two of our workshoppers each year, who want to tell us about a specific trip, surf or even just one wave…Gavin is one of those rare ones.

He joined us to make his 7’2″ Coaster with us in October last year and has recently got back from a summer trip to France with a ride report that we’re stoked with…over to Gavin.

“After fawning over the potential to build my own wooden surfboard for several years, I scraped together the funds (including some very generous contributions from friends and family for my 40th Birthday) and finally pulled the pin, for a weeklong workshop in October 2024.

After much deliberation I’d chosen the Coaster model, for its all-round ability and classic outline. I already owned quite a few surfboards, but I liked the idea of a one board quiver for all conditions and felt the shape had echoes of a heritage board I’d always lusted after, the McTavish Tracker.

The workshop itself was a fantastic experience (more details here: October’s Make Your Own Wooden Surfboard Workshop – Otter Surfboards) and I took delivery of the board in February 2024. I made the decision to save the board until I had the opportunity to surf some decent waves; living in London and generally surfing the English Channel around Dorset and Hampshire, I didn’t find any great opportunities until a family trip to France in August.

We stayed in a small surf town in the Landes region of South-west France; an area I would highly recommend for its coastline, cuisine and relaxed but chic French vibes. Surprisingly, for deepest summer in France, on the first day I was greeted with a punchy, overhead, long-period swell. There was initially some apprehension about taking my beautiful work of art out into the maelstrom, but I’d made the board to be surfed, so I dived in.

My “local” conditions in England necessitate a lot of surfing on longboards but paddling out on the Coaster I didn’t notice a huge difference in paddle power with the added bonus of being easy to duck dive, despite the volume. These were fairly challenging conditions (for me at least) but I was amazed how easy it was to get out the back. I didn’t catch many good waves that day, but the board was confidence inspiring on some steep drops and I really enjoyed the momentum of the wooden shape.

What followed was a great run of waves during my stay in France which gave me the opportunity to use the Coaster in a variety of beach break conditions, from waist high to overhead. The board performed across the range, paddling well, nimble in the cutback and always steady under-foot. The wooden construction has a lovely feel and easily cuts through any chop or imperfections in the wave.

I’d strap the board to my bike each morning, cruise to the beach, enjoy some waves and then hit up the local cafes for some croissants and espresso on my way home…sheer bliss. It’s now back to work and reality but I’m looking forward to testing the board in the UK as autumn approaches.”