Journal
The latest news and stories from our workshop, and beyond.
The latest news and stories from our workshop, and beyond.
Our “Make Your Own Wooden Surfboard” workshop courses have become a core part of what we do here, and as with every thing somebody had to be the first person to go through the process. Steve Iliffe is the Neil Armstrong of Otter Surfboards, having enquired about ordering a surfboard back in 2011 and asking James if, actually, there might be a chance for him to have a hand in making his surfboard. Just over five years later, Steve’s been...
When a person says that they intend to take a blowtorch to their freshly finished wooden surfboard before it goes off to be laminated, you could...
Neither Brian nor Ben are strangers to working with their hands to create something; Brian is a garage owner and mechanic from North Wales who...
No two workshops are ever the same, and the people that arrive here on a Monday morning and end up stood out in front of our big blue doors holding...
During the last week of September, we were joined by Jac, who was celebrating his 21st birthday by making a 5’10 Fetch with us. He travelled to us...
Having somebody join us from overseas for a workshop week to make their own wooden surfboard is not uncommon, but having a completely international group of workshoppers join us for our most recent workshop has been a first. As August transitioned into September we were joined by Larry (French, of American descent, who lives and works in London), Marc (from Switzerland) and Henrik (from Sweden but living and working in London), a wonderful...
We've spent a fair bit of time over the last month loading and unloading bits of our workshop in and out of the back of our van, as we've spent a...
Our friend Tony had quite the complete workshop experience with us over the first six months of this year; he fitted in sessions and days at the...
We’ve always been fascinated by those most ancient of Hawaiian finless wave sliding craft, alaias and olos. Without fins to hold them straight...
We drank a lot of tea during our May “Make Your Own” wooden surfboard workshop the week before last. Marcus and David were with us building...
Two weeks ago, whilst the surfing population of southwest England stared in frustration at the small, wind-blown, waves lapping on their shores, James was enjoying an hour of regular shoulder-high waves every day at the push of a button. He was spending the week at Surf Snowdonia, where we had been invited to run a “Make Your Own” wooden surfboard workshop course, and ironically enjoyed better waves than Chris and Mat who stayed behind at...
Last Wednesday James took on the drive from Cornwall up to London, pushing his way through West London traffic at rush hour to arrive at...
Our first “Make Your Own” workshop week of 2016 has just finished up, and it was a great way to kick off this year’s series of courses. We...
Our final workshop of 2015 has just wrapped up, and it was a great week to finish the year on. Every single one of the “Make-Your-Own” wooden...
Ordinarily, the people who join us to build their own wooden surfboard over the course of a workshop week have a fairly similar understanding of...
Last Saturday, Michael woke up with no idea what he would be doing for the next week; a few months previously his wife had told him that she was planning something for his upcoming fortieth birthday and that he needed to book the week of October 5th off work, however that was as much as she told him. By mid-morning on Saturday he couldn’t handle the suspense any longer and asked just what they would be doing the next day. He’d half...
Our Annual Gathering of Makers is our chance to say thank you; an opportunity for us to invite everyone who has supported us these past few years by...
The British summer holidays are bellyboard season; that time of year when old plywood boards are pulled out of the backs of sheds and garages, dusted...
July was a good and busy month for wooden surfboard workshops here at Otter, and at the very end of the month we welcomed Marc Koska to the...
