Journal
The latest news and stories from our workshop, and beyond.
The latest news and stories from our workshop, and beyond.
In mid-October, the workshop was full of the noise and energy of the Koska kids; Flora, Ellie and Jolly. In the summer of 2015 their dad Marc joined us to make himself a 9’1” Wicket, and three years on it was a pleasure to welcome his three offspring into the workshop. Jolly was on the half term holidays of his GCSE year at school, Ellie is taking a year out between college and university, and Flora was enjoying those extended “reading...
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...
The first of our new range of exploration stand-up paddleboards to be developed was the largest; the 12’6” Endeavour. A former workshopper,...
Sharp chisels, plane blades and saws in a woodworking workshop are a given; but a sharp pencil is probably the most important tool of all. There’s...
As I walk along the litter-laden coastline of my local beach break clutching a beaten-up old surfboard held together largely with duct tape and good...
With Christmas fast approaching, and because some of our products such as handplanes and bellyboards are handmade to order, we need to let those of you who are shopping for Christmas gifts know our order-by dates: Handplanes and Bellyboards - December 13th for the UK, and December 7th for Europe and the USA/Canada Hardware, clothing, gift vouchers and print (calendars, books and magazines) - December 20th for the UK, and December 14th...
At the end of last year, James’ dad Andrew turned sixty. We’d been developing, slowly but surely, our range of flat-water exploration stand-up...
The first wooden surfboard that James made has just celebrated its tenth birthday, and it’s still going strong! Whiz is a 5’10” classic twin...
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...
Everybody loves getting a postcard through the mail, particularly in the age of e-mails when most of what lands on our doormats is bills and...
“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 it. It tells the story of the week I spent making the board, and the narrative of that journey is intertwined with the story of the path I have carved for myself while running this company (Unbound). It is the story of a writer who became an accidental entrepreneur who had to become a writer again to...
Every year, as summer gives way to autumn, we invite all of our previous wooden surfboard workshop attendees back to Cornwall to celebrate their...
Summing up all of the steps and processes involved in one of our week-long wooden surfboard workshop courses can be a challenge - how does one go...
Over the course of the last year we’ve been developing a range of three flat-water exploration stand-up paddleboards. We spent this summer refining...
Surf wax is as necessary when surfing as the surfboard itself, but it’s also a small, consumable product that is often overlooked. Most surf...
June, July and August have been busy months so far here in the workshop, with “business as usual” colliding with the culmination of various projects and some major events in the personal lives of various members of the team (one baby so far, one still to arrive, and a wedding). In amongst all of this we ran two workshop weeks in June, and have only just got around to celebrating the second course when we were joined by Andrew all the way...
Allow us to introduce Ally. Ally is one of James’ best friends, and the latest member of the team here at Otter Surfboards. For his 30th birthday,...
Easkey Britton, PhD, is a pioneering Irish surfer with a fascinating story: an academic and world travelling professional surfer, amongst other...
Surfing is often referred to as “The Sport of Kings” thanks to its ancient history as the preferred pastime of Hawaiian kings and queens, but it...
