Journal
The latest news and stories from our workshop, and beyond.
The latest news and stories from our workshop, and beyond.
It all began in the 1930's when pioneering waterman Tom Blake looked for a way to maintain some directional control whilst surfing his hollow, box-railed, paddle board. The sharp, square, edges of Blake's "cigar box" paddle board sheared water away from the rails and the boards slid out of control easily until he came up with the idea of bolting a small metal keel from a water ski onto the bottom of the board to help it keep going in a...
The last couple of journal workshop entries have begun with a comment on how busy our summer has been, which we are all so grateful for here at Otter...
Simple pleasures. They're wonderful things aren't they? Take bodysurfing for example; the simple act of swimming around in the waves and getting...
Summer has absolutely flown by for us here at Otter Surfboards, with three surfboard workshops in August keeping us busy, the old adage about time...
Why Fish? When summer starts to show its face each year, surf shops and magazines begin their annual round of promoting various “Fish”...
Summer in Cornwall is in full swing! August has been a busy month for us here at the Otter Surfboards workshop, it got off to a great start when Tim joined us during the first week to make himself a 6’10 Jetty…
Yep, we make our surfboards out of wood. It’s different to the industry standard of polyurethane foam, wrapped in fibreglass and polyester...
Last week was special for a number of reasons, not least that we had a father and son making a surfboard together in the workshop and there were...
This month the Body Board turns 50 years old so we decided to find out more about the huge influence on the surf world that is Tom Morey, and also...
It’s not often Cornwall is blessed with both waves and sun during a workshop, but last week was definitely one for the books! Here’s our attempts...
Summer in Cornwall often means small waves and busy lineups, which can sometimes impact negatively on quality surf time. Our answer to this? Bellyboarding!
Last week we were joined here in the Otter workshop by Chris and Phil who came to make their own sustainable wooden surfboards, Chris made a 6’4...
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...
During the sunny and calm days of last week we welcomed Sam to the Otter workshop to make his own wooden surfboard. The lack of waves at the bottom...
For those of you that have bought one of our handplane kits, this How To guide will take you through each step of the making of your bodysurfing...
In the last week of October, we were joined in the workshop by Harry and Chris. Both had travelled from the other side of the UK, to join us, but Cornwall definitely holds a special place in both of their hearts. Harry kicked things off the way he wanted things to continue; rising with the sun from his van to jump in the sea before joining us in the workshop with dripping hair. Amazingly, given the time of year and the changing surf...
Do Make has now been out in the world for a couple of months, since publication day on the 3rd of September. I’ve never considered myself a...
During the first week of October, Rachel and Jerome came to join us to make their own surfboards. Rachel made herself a 9’1 Wicket, that was set to...
This Sunday, the 29th of November at 11am, I'll be in conversation with Mark Shayler as part of the Digital Craft Festival, live on Zoom and...
