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.

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.

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.

Pictured here is a stoked Donovan Seymour, the winner of a Groundswell Wood Surfboard that was up for grabs in a partnership with Pakalolo’s restaurant and bar in Hout Bay and Jack Black’s craft beer.

Over the last three months, the beautiful twin-keel hollow wooden fish has been mounted on the wall at Pakalolo’s. Every time someone ordered a pint of Jack Black’s craft beer, their name was entered for the draw.

On Tuesday night the pints of Jack Black’s craft beer flowed freely as Pakalolo patrons keen to win the board made their last gulps in the hope of getting lucky. One guy I spoke to at the bar had put down five pints by 7pm.

But it was a thrilled Donovan whose name was drawn from the thousands of entries. He exploded into a jig in front of the DJ and performed multiple fist pumps. With his Movember mo, you just couldn’t take the smile off his face and it was great to see. A more stoked dude you would not have found in the whole of Cape Town.

Donovan described how he had seen the board while at Pakalolo’s on Friday night with friends. “I just thought to myself that’s mine,” he said. And it was. Donovan even hopped on his scooter and traveled across Cape Town from the West Coast to attend the draw.

He has won a board that could never be replicated and is a global one-of-a-kind. It is made from South African-grown redwood, with the bottom of the board made up of two planks of bookmarked timber cut with a very wide saw from the same piece of wood. The top is made from South African-grown Japanese Cedar and redwood. Click here and here to see more pictures of the board that Donovan won.

Groundswell Wood Surfboards would like to thank Stefan Richter from Pakalolo’s restaurant and bar in Hout Bay and Jack Black’s craft beer for pulling off an awesome raffle and great evening.

It’s great to get local support from Pakalolo’s and great to see a delicious Cape Town-based craft beer go from strength to strength.

Coffee table in Purple Heart, Poplar and Cherry. 165cm long X 43 cm wide X 35cm high. R3,000. Contact groundswellsurfboards@gmail.com

Groundswell Wood Surfboards has launched a range of home decor and furniture inspired by surfing and the sea. The initial range includes surfboard-shaped coffee tables with contrasting wood lines, surfboard-shaped clocks and barometers, magazine racks that imitate swell lines, and key ring and hat holders in surfboard shapes. We have stock, but can custom make if what you need is not available. Shipping and postage available countrywide. Contact groundswellsurfboards@gmail.com

It’s finally under glass. Sometimes it really has seemed like it was never going to get there and now that it is I feel a great sense of relief. That’s because once the first layer of resin goes on, it seals the hours and hours of woodwork – the measuring, the eyeballing, the planing, the scraping, the sanding, the constant attempt to strike a balance between getting it just right or pushing it over the edge and blowing it. Once the glass is on, there’s no going back. At times, I’ve felt like I’ve blown it; now that the glassing is on, I know it’s good.

This board has been some months in the making. It has a rolled bottom going into a V on the tail, and is made out of striking Western Red Cedar with poplar accent strips. It’s a special one and I’ll be posting the full story soon. In the meantime, here are some pictures that give a hint of what to expect.

Here’s a mini-mal that’s just been finished and gone off to its happy owner. I love how the deck came out on this one – a swirl of red cedar, redwood and japanese cedar.

Umm, in this case – and apologies to the late and great Jimi Hendrix – it’s more like: ‘Excuse me, while I plug my surfboard’. Yes, have a look at the picture – it’s in a shop window, it’s beautiful and it’s for sale. Now go and buy it, potential customers.

Seriously, this is a one-of-a-kind, collector’s item surfboard. It’s a piece of art that’s functional too – a 9’6″ single fin hollow wood longboard. The deck is really special – there is a centre strip made of pieces of driftwood that I’ve picked up along the South African coast during my wave wanderings. This strip is framed by a stunning piece of kiaat which I found on a woodpile and the kiaat flows into some striking  redwood. The bottom of the board, which you can’t see in this picture, is Western Red Cedar, a premium wood with a fine, straight grain.

You just won’t find a board like this anywhere. It’s a piece of art that took upwards of 60 hours to make. Where: Corner Surf Shop, Muizenberg. Price: R6,500 (this is a steal for a labour of love like this. Everyone’s telling me it should be selling for much more and they’re right, so before I change my mind  go and buy it!)

PS…Other shops that have Groundswell Wood Surfboards are: Empire Cafe in Muizenberg, Pisces Divers in Glencairn and Pakalola’s restaurant and bar in Hout Bay.

Here’s an update to a December post about a quad fish being made for The Empire Cafe in Muizenberg: The board has been finished for about a month and is looking splendid hanging on the upstairs wall of The Empire. Feel free to go and have a look and enjoy a drink and/or a meal while you watch lazy lines roll into the bay. Here are some pictures provided by owner Dave Jones (pictured left).