Journal
The latest news and stories from our workshop, and beyond.
The latest news and stories from our workshop, and beyond.
Until 1967, there was no such thing as a longboard. Then the shortboard revolution happened and all of a sudden what had previously been called “ a surfboard” became a longboard as surfing sub-divided. Fast-forward over a half a century and the taxonomy of surfboard shapes has increased even though surfboard dimensions remain within a relatively narrow range. However, the simplest classifications used are still so often “shortboard”...
A week or so after re-opening the workshop post-lockdown, a delivery driver dropped off a large, heavy parcel. We had no idea what it was,...
We haven’t run a surfboard workshop for a few months, so when we knew Ben was going to join us for our first surfboard workshop since February,...
At our 2017 Annual Gathering of Makers we were joined and entertained by The Cheddar Experiment (the side project of Reef bass player Jack...
Back in February we welcomed Adrien into the workshop. It feels like such a long time since we flung open our workshop doors and welcomed anyone...
Good Timber By Douglas Malloch (1922) The tree that never had to fight For sun and sky and air and light, But stood out in the open plain And always got its share of rain, Never became a forest king But lived and died a scrubby thing. The man who never had to toil To gain and farm his patch of soil, Who never had to win his share Of sun and sky and light and air, Never became a manly man But lived and died...
In the episode five of our Boardrack Briefing series, James shares the design details and inspiration behind the popular 7'2"Coaster. A...
If you’re missing the sea and surfing, then Lockdown Surf Film Festival might be just the tonic to help you stay connected to surf culture and...
“We tend to think of landscapes as affecting us most strongly when we are in them or on them, when they offer us the primary sensations of touch...
Right now, the restorative power of making and reconnecting with your own two hands, and of staying connected with each other, has never been more...
On Friday 6th March, His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales signed one of our 7’10” Clipper wooden surfboards to signify and celebrate the announcement of his patronage of marine conservation and campaigning charity Surfers Against Sewage (SAS).
One windy Monday morning in the beginning of March we were joined at the workshop by the lovely Matt Barr, of the Looking Sideways action sports...
Bodhi joined us in deepest, darkest December last year to make a custom 6’2 hybrid shape over five days hunkering down in the workshop as wind and...
In the fourth episode of our Boardrack Briefing series, James takes you through the design specifications and performance characteristics of...
Luca is a close friend and, as we believe that friends are the family you choose, we consider him one of the family. We first met whilst in Sri...
As has now become tradition here at Otter, as we drop into a new year (nay, a new decade!) we like to take the opportunity to look back at the last year to learn lessons and celebrate our successes. Workshop on Wheels Tour At the start of April, we packed our tools and a big stack of bodysurfing handplane blanks into the back of a van and set off on our 2019 “Workshop on Wheels” Tour, delivering our workshop sessions in...
Like most workshops, ours is fuelled by hot drinks and enthusiasm. Buying some new mugs for the workshop could have been a quick and easy task; we...
With Christmas almost upon us (gulp!), it seems a good time to tell you all about our last postage dates and some bundle ideas we've pulled...
In the second episode of our Boardrack Briefing series, James talks about the performance longboard in our range of hollow wooden surfboards,...
