Matthew Kramer, who built a 6′.4″ fish,and Lewin de Villiers, who built a 6′.3″ egg, showcase the beautiful boards they made.

Inspirational. That’s the best word I can think of to describe the experience of being part of  Groundswell Wooden Surfboard’s first board building course. Five guys literally lived hollow wooden surfboards for a week at Imhoff Farm Village in Kommetjie, taking a pile of planks and shaping them into stunning wooden surfboards.

I’m totally inspired and humbled by the amazing group of guys who joined up for the first course: The two Patrick’s, Lewin and Matthew demonstrated buckets of enthusiasm, commitment, engagement, skill and craftsmanship. The result is four boards that are truly beautiful and a credit to the craft of wooden board building. Check out the gallery below for some great visuals of the location, how things unfolded and the boards produced.

What’s been great about this course is that it has shown how a group of guys with no experience in board building can craft their own wooden boards that are not only functional, but also highly individualized works of art.

The course has also crystallized something for me that I think I’ve known for a while without being able to articulate. Watching four guys at work making their own boards – rather than being the one building a board – showed me that there’s something very meaningful in the process. It’s not just about producing a surfboard that is pleasing to look at, although that is an important end result. The process of craftsmanship that the guys engaged in seems to me to be about far more – it is a process of expressing human qualities that we all have, but which maybe often don’t have expression in our daily lives. It’s about connecting the movement of our hands with our brains, of creativity, of expressing passion and love through the creation of something that is so closely connected to surfing, an activity which we are all deeply connected to. Seen this way each board is a a journey, really, and one I’ll gladly take over and over again.

But don’t take my word for it. Check out the pictures below and write to groundswellsurfboards@gmail.com if you’d like to sign up for a course. Click here for our course schedule for the rest of 2013.

The first day of our May board-building class began Monday 6 May at Imhoff Farm Village in Kommetjie, Cape Town. Four guys, surrounded by paddocks of bleating goats, neighing horses and cool-looking camels got to grips with their chosen shapes – an 11′ longboard, a 6’4″ fish and two 6′.4″ eggs. Wood surfboard decks and bottoms where laminated, profiles cut and frames built and laminated to the wood. The consensus was that four very beautiful boards are going to come out of the workshop by Saturday when the course ends. The guys were stoked.

Tomorrow is a rail building day and it looks like there will be time for course participants to surf in between the glue drying. Yup, apart from building boards in a rural spot surrounded by mountains, we’re also close enough to cooking waves to allow for a surf in between the work.

Good news is that we have another course in June. Read about it here and sign up before it fills up.

It’s been a very busy few months at Groundswell Wooden Surfboards. We’ve been hard at work building custom boards and preparing for our courses in May, June and beyond. The gallery below has a selection of some of the boards we’ve made recently and some pictures of how we build them.

Resin on wood: I love seeing the grain stand out when the first brush of resin goes on a new hollow wood surfboard. Beautiful and a really rewarding part of building a wood surfboard.

“Just wanted to say a very big thank you for the amazing surfboard you made & sent up. Its flippen awesome & genuine piece of art!” That’s a quote from one happy customer about a board we made recently. Feedback like this obviously makes us happy and is further motivation to strive to make the most beautiful, finely-crafted and functional hollow wood surfboards that can possibly be made. It’s a life’s journey and we’re always learning. Every day.

Other news from Groundswell Wood Surfboards is that we’re hard at work preparing for the course being held at the beginning of May. Four guys are going to be building some awesome boards in the space of a week – an 11′ longboard, two 6′.4″ eggs and a 6’4″ fish. Stand by for further pictures, either on this website or keep up to date through our Facebook profile.

And I’m really excited about an artist/artisan collaboration with fine artist Kelly John Gough. The board is nearly done and then I’ll be handing it over to Kelly to work some magic. Stand by for pictures soon.

Below are pictures of some of the amazing boards that have been made in the last few weeks. Have a look and if you want to order one, please write to groundswellsurfboards@gmail.com

There will be another hollow wooden surfboard building course 17-22 June 2013 in Cape Town and registrations are open. This after the May course filled up very quickly.

Those participating will walk away from the course with their own handcrafted and very beautiful hollow wooden surfboard.

The course will take builders through all the theoretical and practical aspects of building a wood surfboard. We’ll look at the different types of timber, the environmental aspects and the design dynamics underpinning wood surfboards. This will be combined with the practical process of crafting a surfboard from a pile of planks into a one-of-a-kind work of art that can be surfed.

Participants can choose from any of the hollow wooden surfboard models we’ve developed and tested at Groundswell Wood Surfboards, which can be viewed here. We can also accommodate custom requirements*.

It’s not essential that you have DIY or woodworking experience as we’ve devised a programme that everyone can follow. Both ladies and gents are welcome. Participants will build their own board (it won’t be done for you), under expert assistance, so you must be prepared to do a degree of work. The course is inclusive of all tools and materials. Lunch will be supplied.

Dates: 17-22 June 2013, 8.30am – 5pm.

Venue: Cape Town. Details of the exact venue will be forthcoming.

Places are limited so if you are interested, please write to groundswellsurfboards@gmail.com or call Patrick on 073 232 3043 to register your interest. Questions welcome.

Prices:

- Tuition: R4,000

- Cost of materials: R2,500-4,000, depending on the length of board ordered

* Custom orders cost R1,000 extra.

Groundswell Wood Surfboards, makers of finely crafted hollow wooden surfboards since 2007, will be running a six-day course on wooden surfboard building in May 2013. Those participating will walk away from the course with their own handcrafted and very beautiful hollow wooden surfboard.

The course will take builders through all the theoretical and practical aspects of building a wood surfboard. We’ll look at the different types of timber, the environmental aspects and the design dynamics underpinning wood surfboards. This will be combined with the practical process of crafting a surfboard from a pile of planks into a one-of-a-kind work of art that can be surfed.

Participants can choose from any of the hollow wooden surfboard models we’ve developed and tested at Groundswell Wood Surfboards, which can be viewed here. We can also accommodate custom requirements*.

It’s not essential that you have DIY or woodworking experience as we’ve devised a programme that everyone can follow. Both ladies and gents are welcome. Participants will build their own board (it won’t be done for you), under expert assistance, so you must be prepared to do a degree of work. The course is inclusive of all tools and materials. Lunch will be supplied.

Dates: 6-11 May 2013, 8.30am – 5pm.

Venue: Cape Town. Details of the exact venue will be forthcoming.

Places are limited so if you are interested, please write to groundswellsurfboards@gmail.com or call Patrick on 073 232 3043 to register your interest. Questions welcome.

Prices:

- Tuition: R4,000

- Cost of materials: R2,500-4,000, depending on the length of board ordered

* Custom orders cost R1,000 extra.

Here’s a head’s up: there’s a new hang out in the village and the locals love it! Yup, Ours Cafe in Kalk Bay has been open for the last few months and has quickly established itself as the place to get scrumptious pastries, wholesome food and award-winning coffee.

The guys behind it are wonderfully committed – last year they opened up in a converted garage next to the old Dutch Reformed Church (now the Kalk Bay Theatre) and earned a reputation for pastries (I was especially partial to the bacon and sweet chilli sauce croissant) and coffee. Now they’re above the garage in bigger premises renovated with passion and innovation to create a stylish and relaxed feel. The indoor premises open up into a garden-style outside area with trees and views of the sea. Ours is open all day and also for dinner. When I saw Mr Chef himself swimming at Dalebrook the other day he got my mouth watering with the menu for the evening, which included fresh tuna just off the boat. Going home to baked potato and salad just wasn’t the same.

You’ll find them a  short way up Rosmead Avenue’s cobbled street, next to Prince Edward Mansions. It’s a stone’s throw away from Kalk Bay Reef, which is fitting because it’s a surfer run establishment. I’m sure I’ve spotted some of the stoke that comes from being spat out of a deep reef pit in the passion of the place.

Of course, in the interests of full disclosure, there is a Groundswell Wood Surfboard hanging on the wall, pictured here. It’s close to my heart to have a board displayed at Ours because I grew up, also a stone’s throw away, in the rectory opposite the reef and still spend a lot of time in Kalk Bay.

Wood is wood, right? Nope. Just take a look at the grain on this 9’7″ hollow wooden longboard and you’ll understand. Even looking at the rough timber it was possible to see there was going to be a beautiful grain in the piece of Western Red Cedar used for this board, but it wasn’t until glassing that it really started to shine. The lighter colour wood strips are poplar and the contrast works well. Sold at the The Corner Surf Shop, Cape Town’s oldest surf shop.

Surfboard and table made by Groundswell Wood Surfboards.

The first 9’6” longboard made by Groundswell Wood Surfboards has long been on display at Pisces Divers. What’s worth a mention now is that Pisces Divers has moved to amazing new premises in Simonstown.

The building housing the dive centre boasts huge wooden sliding doors with the original fittings – above which hangs the Groundswell longboard (watch it being hang-fived here) – and massive Oregon pine roof beams that ooze character and style.

Situated 200m before the Simonstown Railway station on Main Road, the space was on display for the first time at a roof wetting party last week. It is stunning!

It’s big enough for Pisces to run a full dive centre complete with retail space and coffee shop. They’re minutes away from excellent shore dive sites or from their launch site to deeper reefs and wrecks with their dive boat.

I’m stoked to have a board on the wall of such a character-filled building and business.

And lastly, the table pictured above was also made by Groundswell. It’s nearly 3m long and made out of beautiful Oregon pine, standing as a centre piece in the middle of the shop.