Tuesday 26 August 2014

Postcards from "Lonnie" - Alaias, Paipos and Hand Planes


I recently received an email from Dallas at Point Lonsdale, which is a small seaside village on the coast of Victoria near Geelong. Go the Cats. Dallas is a self confessed Alaia hound and after he found some Western Red Cedar planks under his house he felt an unrelenting urge to pick up the tools and build one for himself. One thing led to another and before he could say "Saddle me sideways and call me Trigger", he had managed to build himself an entire quiver including a Paipo, an Itago and some hand planes. Here's his story.


My 7 year old son and I knocked up a paipo in the backyard in a day and waited patiently for three days while it was oiled. This board was made from the cedar stored under the house. Little did I know how good this thing would go! We live in a small coast village in Victoria, Point Lonsdale, and in the dying days of summer we took our creation to the beach for the first time. The consensus on the beach to those we knew and some we didn’t was that the board looked great and you could hang it on the wall. My son took off on his first wave and zipped along the small rollers, easily out-running his mate on a boogie board. It was awesome. By days end I reckon twenty kids had had a go on that board and half of their mothers & fathers too. Hours of fun!

Since then we've made several paipo, handplane, itago and alaia boards out of both western red cedar and paulownia. The one we made for my 5 year old daughter is simply known as the "blah blah" board from the design painted on it. The art work is just as important to the kids as the board. As much as I enjoy surfing all of these boards, the alaia is something else as it takes me back to the feeling of excitement when I first stood up on a board. At this point in time I am more proficient at making alaias than riding them. I have had a new lease on my surfing life much to my partner’s dismay as she wishes more things were done around the house other than board making!

There is also another dimension you cannot underestimate with these boards. They are "social". People want to talk to you when you have them. Since using our boards regularly at our front beach, many elderly people have come up to us and recounted stories with great pleasure of how they had wooden boards, apple crates or made boards after the war themselves to use at the front beach. We have found the local beach to have quite a tradition of wood board use. There is a mention from the surfresearch.com.au site of Point Lonsdale and a Grace Wootton being the first person to surf in Victoria on this very beach with a board brought back from Hawaii around 1915. We have also come across two wooden boards, possibly cedar, in the local maritime museum dating back to the same period.










Sunday 3 August 2014

Wooden Surfboard Day 2014 - Currumbin Alley

This year's annual Wooden Surfboard Day at Currumbin on the Gold Coast was outstanding. With over 60 wooden surfboards on display from local and overseas wooden board builders, the event was a resounding success. Everything from Toothpicks to hand planes - longboards, fishes, kook boxes and stand up paddle boards were out on show. It was great to see such a variety of boards and building methods.

wooden surfboard day
 The Ying and the Yang having a little rest in the shade.

wooden surfboard day


wooden surfboard day
 Grant Newby doing the rounds on the day.

wooden surfboard day
 A Dovetail hand plane.

wooden surfboard day
 Geoff Moase from Dovetail Surfboards had a full rocker jig set up in his tent complete with board.

wooden surfboard day
 One of the Dovetail hollow wooden surfboard kits.

barry regan toothpick surfboard
 A few classic shapes from 85 year old Barry Regan. Still going strong. These boards are built from Paulownia and Gaboon marine ply.

barry regan
 Barry Regan and Grant Newby chewing the fat. Barry is a wealth of surfboard building knowledge.

barry regan toothpick surfboard
 In case you were wondering what those numbers mean (4B), they are an indexing system that Barry uses to document and reference all of his boards. 

wooden surfboard day
 A pintail and simmons style longboard from the "Purveyor of Salty Sleds" (AKA Grant Newby).

charl benckendorf surfboard
Charl B. with his hotcurl and wood booger.

wooden surfboard day
 A classic.

wooden surfboard day
 Some boards from Jason Oliver. Jason recycles old timber from pallets and other sources to create his boards. The SUP is the biggest I've ever seen. 11' long and 33" wide. Foam rails wrapped in paper bark.

wooden surfboard day
 Another Jason Oliver creation. These boards have a unique rustic look to them.

wooden surfboard day matt brady
 A couple of SUP's from Matt Brady of Mackay. He drove for two days to get to the wooden board day. An absolutely awesome effort. 

wooden surfboard day
 This board reminds me of the traditional Japanese "naminori furouto".

wooden surfboard day


wooden surfboard day


wooden surfboard day
The guys from Bywaterdesigned had a shaping demonstration set up in the shade. 

wooden surfboard day
 Discussing the finer points of wooden board building.

wooden surfboard day
 Lots of different shapes and sizes on display.

wooden surfboard day


wooden surfboard day
 A beautifully hand crafted Alaia.

wooden surfboard day


wooden surfboard day
 Some boards from Sergi Galano of Flama surfboards in Barcelona, Spain.

 wooden surfboard day
 This board is made from Bansia. The grain is amazing.

wooden surfboard day
 The Dovetail logo. 

paul joske wooden surfboard
 This board appeared in the Nathan Oldfield surf film "The Heart and the Sea" as created by Paul Joske of Valla surfboards fame. Paul grew the paulownia on his property, milled it and crafted it into a chambered surfboard.

paul joske wooden surfboard
 Geoff Moase and Paul Joske proudly showing off their creations.

paul joske wooden surfboard