Journal
The latest news and stories from our workshop, and beyond.
The latest news and stories from our workshop, and beyond.
Spending a week making a wooden surfboard here at Otter is, for most people, going to be a step away from their day-to-day. The differences between this and a day job ranges from adjusting to spending a week focusing on learning to quite simply spending a week on your feet doing manual work. These adjustments can be challenging, but the reward on Friday afternoon is (we think) well worth it. You can get a good idea of the processes that go...
Creating anything with an organic material such as wood is both challenging and hugely rewarding, particularly if your aim is to work with and show...
This autumn our friends at Surfers Against Sewage have been busier than ever with a twin-pronged attack on the plastic pollution that blights our...
Last weekend, we held our Annual Gathering of Makers. It's a special occasion for us, when we invite all of the makers who have joined us over the...
When making surfboards, accuracy, symmetry and attention to detail are essential considerations. Our wooden surfboards use a skin-on-frame...
"The summers passed with each year. I don't seem to remember them anymore. I remember the fall and the coming of winter. The water got cold. It was a time of the West swell." Jack Barlow, Big Wednesday (1978)
Our August Bank Holiday workshop had a little bit of everything in it, and as such was a fantastic representation of what makes our “Make Your...
It feels somewhat counterintuitive to drive away from Cornwall and head up to London in the middle of August, but last weekend that's exactly what we...
Traffic jams, full car parks and a seemingly never-ending succession of nor'westerly fronts. Welcome, to summer by the sea. Residents can't...
Chris and Rikke drove from Denmark to make their own surfboards with us last week. They took their time and made a road trip out of it, spending some...
Jonny, Andy and Jon arrived on the Monday morning of this year's April workshop as total strangers to one another. Over the course of their week with us each of them made their own wooden surfboard and, much to our delight, made new friends. It's what we always hope will happen, and it frequently does. The three of them made plans to all collect their surfboards on the same day at the end of June, on the weekend of our Boards, Bangers and...
On Friday June 23rd we opened up the doors of our workshop, and of the Eco Park's barn opposite us, and were joined by an amazing crowd of people for...
The week of June 19th-23rd was the ideal time to be in Cornwall as the southwest basked in a heatwave that included the hottest June day since 1976,...
Wherever you are and whatever you do, a little more space would inevitably come in handy. Since moving into our workshop at the Eco Park three...
It's always a great honour to be featured in a publication celebrating craftsmanship, and we couldn't have been more thrilled last week when a...
We’ve been making plans for this year’s Boards, Bangers and Beers event, and would like to invite you all to join us on the evening of Friday June 23rd here at our workshop. This year’s event is all set to be the best yet, with the addition of an evening of talks from two incredible speakers alongside our open workshop (which you’re welcome to have a poke around) and a BBQ and bar. You can claim your free ticket by clicking the link...
At this time of year, when the sun rises so early, we sometimes (as often as humanly possible) manage to squeeze in a dip in the sea before heading...
Mike and Peter travelled from Guernsey to join us at the workshop the week before last; it was the last week of Peter’s school Easter holidays,...
The premise is simple: twenty slides, lasting approximately twenty seconds each, sharing the backstory of the speaker to uncover what makes them...
