12 . 05 . 21
If you follow Otter Surfboards on social media, you may have come across our weekly posts documenting our encounters at Porthtowan Beach on a Monday morning. Usually in the form of a video following some of the Otter Team as we experience whatever conditions we find at 7am… This is Monday Morning Surf Club.
Monday Morning (Bellyboard) Surf Club
So much more than a Surf Club – depending on the conditions at the beach, the mornings can often include bellyboarding, body surfing, running, dog walking and even catching up over a strong coffee, as we navigate the beginning of our week in the workshop. Putting a label on 7am-9am every Monday has made following through on meeting each week more achievable, it totally legitimises in our minds the allocation of time to go to the beach and also forces us outside even if we are tempted to lie in, ‘better go…Monday Morning Surf Club!’.
Ideally we would be surfing every time, however any surfer in the UK can appreciate that unfortunately waves aren’t often the offshore, carvable delights we imagine in our heads when driving to spots, so jumping in the sea when conditions are less than ideal with a bellyboard or handplane is always a great way to access those feelings ‘only surfers know’. Sometimes if the waves are really blown out we try to embrace the coastal experience in other ways by running or walking up the rocky trail to the right of the beach and along the cliff path to Chapel Porth, which is always a breathtaking route. If the weather is super bad for even the most hardcore amoung us, we will retreat back to the workshop at the top of the hill, having an early catch up over a coffee is still a pretty nice way to start the day and we are always happy to incorporate it into the official club operations!
The origins of this weekly pre work meet up lie in our desire to not to take where we live and work for granted; it is easy to be swept up in the realities and duties of daily life, no matter how beautiful your surroundings. We wanted to make a special effort to embrace, and share with followers, the beautiful beach at Porthtowan on a regular basis.
Monday Morning Surf Club also came from wanting to push ourselves as surfers, to get in the sea whatever the conditions and improve how we read and ride the waves.
Monday Morning Surf Club inspires getting into your wetsuit as soon as you can, shouting encouraging quotes to each other such as – ‘you only know if you go!’, ‘it’s always worth getting wet!’ and ‘if I was stood on a train platform waiting to go to work, I’d give my right arm for this opportunity!’
Taking time to experience the outdoors is something we all hold dear but regrettably it’s often not a part of our daily schedules, as crazy as it sounds – being as the waves are at the bottom of the hill from our workshop – real life gets in the way!
Monday Morning Surf Club is a conscious decision to make fun in the ocean and catching up with friends a regular part of our real life. It’s also an opportunity for self care in the form of outdoor leisure time and friendship.
It is something we feel is worth sharing, especially for people unable to access the coast at the moment, so hopefully you enjoy the regular videos of us appreciating what we have on our doorstep.
Making wooden surfboards in such a picturesque area of Cornwall is without doubt a huge privilege, and taking into account the world events of the past year only heightens our awareness of this, so sharing images and videos of this beautiful landscape and how it can be enjoyed feels like a wonderful and necessary responsibility.
We completed workshop number 112 in 2024, here's a huge thank you to everyone who joined us to come and make their own wooden surfboard!
Here's Jonathan to tell you what it was like joining us in our workshop to make a wooden surfboard...
