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smorgasboarder<br />
2022<br />
#54<br />
SURFmagazine<br />
Top of the tree<br />
Wood Boards galore<br />
wayne winchester<br />
The art of restoration<br />
Bricks & mortals<br />
best surf shops guide
Celebrating<br />
45 YEARS<br />
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CONTENTS<br />
#54<br />
2022<br />
66<br />
58<br />
22<br />
12 news<br />
20 controversy<br />
22 top of the tree<br />
58 Ocean clean up<br />
62 art<br />
66 wayne’s world<br />
76 gear<br />
80 bricks & mortals<br />
98 aloha barry<br />
80<br />
smorgasboarders<br />
Editorial | Dave Swan<br />
dave@smorgasboarder.com.au<br />
0401 345 201<br />
Editorial | Amber O’Dell<br />
amber@smorgasboarder.com.au<br />
0420 615 107<br />
Advertising | Simon Cross<br />
simon@smorgasboarder.com.au<br />
0413 698 630<br />
Social Media | Phoebe Swan<br />
phoebe@smorgasboarder.com.au<br />
0459 705 404<br />
New Zealand | Jiff Morris<br />
jeff@smorgasboarder.co.nz<br />
0220 943 913<br />
South Australia | Jimmy Ellis<br />
james@smorgasboarder.com.au<br />
0410 175 552<br />
Design | Horse & Water Creative<br />
mark, kate, val, helen, taylah,<br />
sarah, carolina<br />
mark@horseandwater.com.au<br />
Accounts | Louise Gough<br />
louise@smorgasboarder.com.au<br />
Top of the tree<br />
Wood Boards galore<br />
smorgasboarder<br />
SURFmagazine<br />
wayne winchester<br />
The art of restoration<br />
2022<br />
#54<br />
Bricks & mortals<br />
best surf shops guide<br />
our cover<br />
Photo: Lime Light Creative<br />
Studios - Testing Riley Balsa<br />
Surfboards in PNG.<br />
get involved<br />
Stories, photos, ideas, new and<br />
interesting surf-related stuff you<br />
want to share? drop us a line on<br />
editorial@smorgasboarder.com.au<br />
get your fix<br />
1. Subscribe - the mag is still<br />
free - you just pay for delivery. 4<br />
editions per year - $25 annual<br />
subscription (Aus and NZ)<br />
2. Call in to one of the businesses<br />
featured in this mag - they’ll have<br />
some free copies.<br />
3. A full list of stockists are online<br />
smorgasboarder.com.au<br />
4. Download or read it online at<br />
smorgasboarder.com.au<br />
Smorgasboarder is published by Huge C Media PTY LTD ABN 30944673055. All information is correct at time of going to press. The publication cannot<br />
accept responsibility for errors in articles or advertisements, or unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or illustrations. The opinions and words of the authors<br />
do not necessarily represent those of the publishers. All rights reserved. Reproduction in part or whole is strictly prohibited without prior permission.
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Mark Riley in the woods.
Forever forward. It is what my grandad used to say. It’s a saying<br />
I have said more than a thousand times over throughout my life,<br />
from the sporting field to the business world and in my personal<br />
life. I have said it myself, I have said to my kids, to my family, to<br />
my work colleagues and my mates. And it is such a great saying<br />
because it more or less cuts to the chase – accept whatever<br />
b*llshit you are going through, deal with it and get on with it. No<br />
excuses, no reasons why you can’t push on, quite simply because<br />
you must.<br />
I think everyone would probably agree, the last few years have<br />
held their share of challenges but for some reason this year seems<br />
to have proven the hardest. But as the saying goes, there’s no<br />
point revisiting the past. You need to focus on the future, focus on<br />
what is within your power to control and push on… and ensure to<br />
have fun whenever you can while you are doing it.<br />
So, with this in mind, in this edition we hope to bring you some<br />
feel-good vibes. We have some magnificent timber surfboards<br />
to drool over, everything from the cutting-edge of performanceorientated<br />
design through to traditional shapes that will evoke<br />
nostalgia to groups who are healing and bringing people together<br />
through the love of building surfboards and then there’s the aweinspiring<br />
restorative work of Wayne Winchester. If that wasn’t<br />
enough, we introduce you to an incredible young man called<br />
Boyan Slat, whose name, if you are not familiar with yet, we hope<br />
you never forget. If that wasn’t enough, we have the inspiring<br />
story of Laura Feller, artist, surfer and traveller who is “always on<br />
the move”, experiencing all that life has to offer. It’s a story that<br />
just makes you feel warm inside. And finally, we present to you<br />
some of the best surf retailers in the country – now there’s a story<br />
of resilience!<br />
So, there you go, wonderful stories of ingenuity, perseverance,<br />
longevity, renewal, creativity and grit. The kind of stuff to remind<br />
you how and why you must constantly push on. Forever forward.<br />
Stay safe, have a great Christmas and we will see you all in the<br />
new year.<br />
Merry Christmas!<br />
The Smorgasboarders
Specialising in all<br />
fibreglass supplies<br />
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E sales@acefibreglass.com.au<br />
WWW.ACEFIBREGLASS.COM.AU<br />
balsa<br />
NEWS<br />
Beloved<br />
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100% natural and organic sun<br />
care products handcrafted and<br />
hand-poured in Australia.<br />
Naturally tinted Face Zinc, Lip Balm, and<br />
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the elements. Recyclable non plastic<br />
packaging. Get your SeaZinc on before<br />
your next paddle out!<br />
Purchase from stockists or online:<br />
www.seazinc.com.au<br />
Mark Riley, founder of Riley Balsa has recently secured some<br />
world-class balsa wood that is just asking to be shaped.<br />
Considered to be one of the most sustainable, strongest, and<br />
lightest woods in the world, balsa makes for a very stunning<br />
surfboard. It’s no wonder it is one of the most beloved materials<br />
for surfboards shapers.<br />
Mark informed us the last few years had seen delayed shipments<br />
of the blonde gold but he was pleased to now inform his<br />
customers he has a heap of it ready to move.<br />
Riley Balsa is providing large and small section sizes and lengths<br />
ranging from 1ft to 12ft long, with the balsa wood now being<br />
graded into three types: AAA 100kg/m3, AA and A. The company<br />
can even custom cut and glue the wood to any requirements, with<br />
discounts applying for commercial quantities and delivery available<br />
world-wide.<br />
For more info go to www.balsawoodsurfboardsriley.com.au or<br />
email mark@riley.com.au<br />
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sb / #54 / 12
NEWS<br />
Following the<br />
Australian Surf Movie<br />
Festival national tour<br />
featuring THE BIG WAVE<br />
PROJECT II (about to be<br />
released worldwide Dec<br />
10), you can catch up on<br />
Tim’s latest travels and<br />
cinematographic work<br />
on his YouTube channel:<br />
@surfingvisions<br />
Surfer: Tahlia Hirst<br />
WORLD CLASS<br />
AUSTRALIAN MADE<br />
SURFBOARDS AT<br />
AFFORDABLE PRICES<br />
Custom Shortboards, Hybrids, Fishes, Mals and Logs<br />
Factory 3/6 Kerta Rd, Kincumber NSW 2251 | m: 0415 577 085<br />
Hall of famer<br />
Dick Van Straalen, classic Aussie bloke and fine surfboard shaper, has received<br />
the well-deserved honour of being inducted into the International Surfboard<br />
Builders Hall of Fame (I<strong>SB</strong>HOF).<br />
Now in its 23rd year, the I<strong>SB</strong>HOF honoured its new crew of talented surfboard<br />
shapers and makers on 15 October this year. The event took place at the blissful<br />
Huntington Beach in California, the surfing capital of the USA.<br />
Huntington Beach surfers Mike Ester and Bob Bole founded the I<strong>SB</strong>HOF in 2000<br />
and have since inducted 140 expert surfboard builders. The event was created<br />
in order to recognise the brilliant and creative board builders of the world who<br />
have shaped the surfing industry and have scarcely been appreciated for their<br />
innovations.<br />
Australians would be hardly surprised to hear of Dick’s induction to the I<strong>SB</strong>OF.<br />
The 78-year-old master craftsmen from Queensland’s Gold Coast is an expert<br />
in custom-made balsa surfboards that are often beautifully painted with flowing<br />
patterns and vibrant colours.<br />
Raised in the Netherlands, Dick began surfing shortly after moving to Sydney with<br />
his family in 1944 and started shaping boards six years later. He is best known for<br />
the sleek single-fin boards he made throughout the 1970’s that were masterfully<br />
shaped for the high-speed pointbreak waves of Queensland and is well-deserving<br />
of perhaps the highest honour a surfboard shaper can have.<br />
Good on ya Dick!<br />
(08) 8323 0879<br />
168 Olivers Rd,<br />
McLaren Vale SA 5171<br />
Fri – Mon: 11 – 6pm<br />
Extended Christmas<br />
holiday hours: 7-days<br />
swellbeer.com.au<br />
13 / #54 / sb
news<br />
Jeremy Ievins standing<br />
next to the lucky door<br />
prize, the John Hunt<br />
shaped WBS surfboard<br />
John’s joke legend<br />
Held in celebration of the late John<br />
Hunt at a surf break he discovered<br />
some 50 years earlier the John’s<br />
Joke Legend at Port MacDonnell<br />
in South Australia was attended by<br />
many wishing to honour his memory.<br />
The surf sport near Orwell Rocks was initially considered by his friends at<br />
first to be a joke but it became John’s regular and in time affectionately<br />
known as John’s Joke, hence the reason for the name of the contest.<br />
Contest director and Port MacDonnell surf identity Jeremy Ievins was stoked<br />
with the support shown for the inaugural event.<br />
“It is really nice to see the community get behind these sort of things,” he<br />
said.<br />
“The surf wasn’t big, but it was pretty consistent and clean.”<br />
Ievins was a close friend of Hunt’s and it was from him he learnt the craft of<br />
shaping surfboards. He now also crafts the trophies for the event, this year<br />
repurposing used paintbrushes set in resin from Hunt’s workshop.<br />
Max Lockwood<br />
John’s paddle out at Posties<br />
Jan 2018<br />
Barry Bennett<br />
We would also like to acknowledge the passing of Barry Bennett<br />
back in July earlier this year. We can’t confess to knowing him well<br />
but know the high regard in which he was held by his peers. Barry<br />
undeniably had a huge influence on surfboard manufacturing here<br />
in Australia and on the world stage.<br />
RIP<br />
sb / #54 / 14
NEWS<br />
Had a gutful<br />
Oceanfoil Surfboards is quickly eliminating the heartbreak of<br />
retiring from the ocean as Gut Slider orders soar – literally.<br />
Readers may remember the legend of Keith Robinson<br />
from our last edition - the 74-year-old surfer and<br />
shaper based in Nambucca Valley that gifted the<br />
surfboard industry with the Gut Slider.<br />
His innovation was a board for himself and his mates<br />
that stopped aging knees from getting in the way of<br />
surf sessions. Applying his so-called ‘crazy ideas’ and<br />
his extensive shaping experience, Keith developed a<br />
board you lie on that allows the rider to paddle into<br />
waves easily and perform cutbacks just as you would<br />
with a regular surfboard.<br />
Since his story was published in Smorgasboarder, we<br />
would like to not-so-humbly point out that orders for<br />
Oceanfoils Gut Sliders have taken off and are coming<br />
at him from all directions across Australia. Keith said<br />
the response to his boards have been overwhelming,<br />
as he has received over fifty orders and has only been<br />
able to handle four at a time.<br />
“I just did it for a mate of mine who had a hip<br />
operation and that’s all I thought it would be. Then<br />
word kind of got out and it went a bit crazy.<br />
“It turns out there’s a whole range of people out there<br />
that just can’t physically push up to get onto their feet<br />
anymore, or it just takes them so long to get up that<br />
they miss the best part of the wave.<br />
“I’m getting orders from Tasmania, Western Australia,<br />
South Australia, Victoria and even an old mate I used<br />
to work with in New Zealand rang up and asked me<br />
about them.”<br />
To keep up with demand, Oceanfoil has enlisted the<br />
help of their mates at Oke Surfboards in Melbourne.<br />
Keith said he chose Oke as his partner in making the<br />
boards because of their ability to make his boards<br />
as authentic, comfortable and catered towards his<br />
customers as possible.<br />
“I know the people at Oke Surfboards really well,<br />
I picked them because they are like me - very<br />
fastidious. Their quality is amazing, they are all great<br />
people, and I am quite happy to work with them<br />
because I can’t possibly make all of these boards.<br />
“I am still going to be making the local stuff, like<br />
orders from Queensland’s Sunshine Coast and as<br />
far down as Sydney. Then I’ll be quite happy to just<br />
sit back and know that the job is done. I’m happy<br />
everyone is getting in the water and everyone’s<br />
stoked about the boards.<br />
One of Keith’s most extraordinary new customers is<br />
Kevin Merifield, an 85-year-old surfer in Perth showing<br />
no signs of giving up on the waves. Keith said Kevin<br />
is quite simply a legend among surfers in Western<br />
Australia and is believed to be the first person to surf<br />
Margaret River.<br />
“He’s as fit as a fiddle and still gets out in 10-foot<br />
surf, but he’s had a little bit of trouble getting up on a<br />
board.<br />
“He asked me to make him a Gut Slider, but I don’t<br />
like doing things if I don’t think it’s right. We already<br />
had one being sent to Western Australia, so I asked<br />
him to try it out first.<br />
“When I know exactly what people need, where they<br />
surf, how they like riding, what size board they<br />
need, I am able to do the best job I can for them.”<br />
The Gut Sliders have not just provided retiring<br />
surfers with an alternative to giving up, but<br />
have also introduced a new, invigorating way<br />
to experience waves. Keith said the board<br />
accumulates instant speed and soars as soon<br />
as you take off.<br />
“When you’re laying down on the board,<br />
you get to see a lot more of the wave then<br />
when you are standing up. You can see all<br />
of the beautiful curves, the kinetic energy,<br />
and you can direct yourself better. You<br />
fly - you actually fly - all these old guys<br />
are going to need hair transplants.<br />
“People see this as an opportunity to<br />
get back into it again because they<br />
are quite miserable on giving up<br />
surfing and giving up something that<br />
they love.”<br />
While he is technically retired, for<br />
Keith the call of the ocean and the<br />
creativity of board shaping will<br />
always drive him. Keith said he<br />
is quite happy to keep surfing,<br />
floating around in his shed and<br />
coming up with even more<br />
crazy ideas.<br />
“All I want to do is go surf,<br />
and it’s always been like that<br />
since day one. The surfboard<br />
industry for some people is<br />
a commercial venture, but<br />
for me it’s always just been<br />
about the lifestyle. The best<br />
surfer in the water is the<br />
guy having the most fun.”<br />
15 / #54 / sb
Surfers rejoice as the Surf Lakes wave<br />
pool in Yeppoon finally confirms it’s<br />
opening to the public in 2024.<br />
news<br />
Surf Lakes Yeppoon<br />
opening soon<br />
The announcement has left the global surfing community<br />
absolutely stoked, as many have been teased for years with<br />
stunning imagery of the crystal blue waves and perfect swells<br />
from the Surf Lakes website.<br />
The awe-inspiring pool in Central Queensland has been a<br />
research site for testing unique wave technology since 2018.<br />
Whether it would ever open to the public has been largely<br />
kept as a secret – until now.<br />
The reveal comes after Global Surf Parks, a wave pool<br />
development and operations company, signed an agreement<br />
with Surf Lakes International to transform the site into a<br />
general surfing experience for the public to enjoy.<br />
The wave pool uses a heavy central plunger-like device which<br />
drops like a rock in water, creating large waves. As the waves<br />
flow towards the outer edge of the lake, they hit differently<br />
shaped ‘reefs’ which create perfect sets for all kinds of<br />
surfers and their skill levels.<br />
In 2021, the site was approved to allow for accommodation,<br />
a food and beverage precinct, camping, an events and<br />
entertainment area and more. The site is also planning on<br />
expending from its existing 15 acres to 100 acres, with<br />
construction is expected to begin in early 2023.<br />
As a gigantic surfing pool paradise in the middle of Central<br />
Queensland surrounded by vast rocky land, Surf Lakes in<br />
Yeppoon is definitely looking to be a stunning and unique<br />
surfing experience.<br />
sb / #54 / 16
17 / #54 / sb
stuff<br />
Known for pushing the<br />
boundaries for sustainable<br />
footwear, Sanük is a global<br />
and unconventional footwear<br />
brand that’s been making<br />
people smile … and passing it<br />
on since 1997.<br />
Sun Zapper Zinc Sticks and Sunscreens are 100% Australian made<br />
and have been tested to meet our harsh conditions.<br />
Zinc oxide is a natural sun blocker that stays on your skin for hours<br />
when in the water and is a prominent ingredient in their range. It<br />
won’t burn your eyes and is great for people with sensitive skin<br />
conditions. Recently, the good folks at Sun Zapper brought out<br />
a new Extreme Zinc Sunscreen Lotion 90mL SPF 50+ and Tinted<br />
Moisturiser SPF 50+ Medium/Dark. We can happily say both go on<br />
super easy and last for a very long session out in the surf.<br />
sanuk.com.au<br />
Guaranteed to keep you grounded,<br />
Sanük is on a shoe-mission that supports<br />
customers to embrace more sustainable<br />
products, without wavering from the<br />
companies commitment to cushiony<br />
comfort, made for all-day wear.<br />
Sanük’s customers represent various<br />
beliefs and have different wants or needs.<br />
But the company is proud to say their<br />
eco-friendly initiatives provides a little<br />
something for everyone.<br />
Sanük loves using reincarnated rubbish<br />
and incorporates some form of quality,<br />
eco-minded materials in every style<br />
including recycled polyester, recycled<br />
cotton, recycled EVA and other foams,<br />
plus other upcycled stuff.<br />
Nature provides a bounty of wholesome<br />
materials out there and Sanük are<br />
always striving to make the most of<br />
them by including naturally occurring<br />
substances such as hemp, cotton,<br />
linen, jute, straw, cork and responsibly<br />
sourced leather in their footwear.<br />
Sanük doesn’t use leather often but<br />
when they do it’s responsibly sourced<br />
from Leather Working Group tanneries<br />
and partners who abide by their Ethical<br />
Sourcing and Animal Welfare Policy.<br />
They look at sustainability holistically<br />
and are constantly seeking new ways<br />
to improve product packaging and how<br />
they can reduce their environmental<br />
impact.<br />
Sanük’s research and development is at<br />
the forefront of rethinking manufacturing<br />
and footwear, and they are always<br />
exploring innovative ways to source even<br />
more. Learn more about Sanük’s ecoinnovations<br />
at www.sanuk.com.au/pages/<br />
our-materials<br />
sunzapper.com.au<br />
sb / #54 / 18
Photo: Paul Hardie | Surfer: Mark Hansel<br />
admin@connectedby.org | connectedby.org<br />
Connected By Inc. | ABN 60 302 768 978 | IARN: A1030024X
Nowadays it appears so many people are eager<br />
to take offence about something or rather. It<br />
almost appears as if some, not all, are on the<br />
constant lookout for anything to be offended by.<br />
Now let me say this, it is of paramount importance we are<br />
respectful of one another’s feelings and wellbeing. We<br />
need to show due care for the welfare of people who may<br />
be the target of bigoted comments. Genuine grievances<br />
need to be addressed but let’s not see the seriousness<br />
of these grievances overshadowed by ones contrived by<br />
people who merely seek to find offence as some form of<br />
gross attention seeking.<br />
With the ever-present cloud of someone taking offence<br />
to something or a rather some of us may feel like we’re<br />
walking on eggshells most of the time. You don’t wish to<br />
cause offence, you don’t actively seek to offend and you<br />
do everything possible to not offend but someone still<br />
manages to fault with something you do or say, no matter<br />
how you try.<br />
Where am I leading with all of this? Recently, we received<br />
a notification via the Online Fight Club otherwise known as<br />
Facebook or one of those that our magazine had offended<br />
someone. It piqued my interest because we are particularly<br />
mindful of being an inclusive publication – a magazine that<br />
can be picked up by anyone, of any age, of any sex or<br />
sexuality, and any ethnicity, and this very ethos applies to<br />
our editorial content within. How on earth could we offend<br />
someone? I pondered.<br />
Our said offence was that Smorgasboarder was not<br />
inclusive enough because we featured an advertisement<br />
of a white lady in swimwear and the subsequent story that<br />
followed was about a white surfer. You’re joking, I thought.<br />
Through our thirteen years we have frequently featured<br />
stories of surfers of all ethnicities, both able bodied and<br />
not, male, female, old, young, accomplished surfers,<br />
“crap surfers” and those starting out. The said person<br />
who publicly criticised us couldn’t be more wrong about<br />
our publication. Indeed, in the early days, when it was just<br />
Mark and I, we even produced a 132-page magazine with<br />
100% of the editorial coverage dedicated to female surfers,<br />
surfboard shapers, glassers, photographers and artists – a<br />
Ladies Edition completely produced by two guys. I would<br />
be interested to know if there is another publication in the<br />
world that has done that.<br />
But then I considered, maybe all of this isn’t enough. Whilst<br />
we have featured diverse content regularly, maybe to<br />
those who actively seek to be offended it just doesn’t cut it.<br />
Maybe that diversity HAS to be in every edition, or indeed<br />
on every page, or every picture, and every sentence,<br />
otherwise we’re bigoted. Our free magazine that runs<br />
on the smell of an oily rag better quadruple our editorial<br />
budget to seek out all these specific stories.<br />
Moving forward we need a considered and intelligent<br />
approach to being inclusive and mindful of all of those<br />
around us. However, with regards to this said person,<br />
please read a couple of editions before you form an<br />
opinion. You offended me with your uniformed comments.<br />
Yep, there it is, I am offended by idiots. Those people who<br />
portray themselves as righteous and holier than thou but<br />
unfortunately don’t fully educate themselves on the subject<br />
matter of their interest before getting on their high horse<br />
to lecture us lesser individuals from ahigh. However, that<br />
statement is probably offensive to horses.<br />
words: dave swan<br />
sb / #54 / 20
make a wish...<br />
OKE CUSTOM SURFBOARDS<br />
SINCE ‘68<br />
OKESURFBOARDS.COM<br />
1/1-7 Canterbury Rd, Braeside, VIC<br />
P: 03 9587 3553<br />
E: rory@okesurfboards.com
t o p<br />
There’s nothing quite as appealing as<br />
a wooden surfboard. Whether it be<br />
the natural colours of the timber, the<br />
pattern of the grain, or the fact it is<br />
quite clearly crafted from materials<br />
more environmentally friendly than their<br />
alternatives. Wooden surfboards look<br />
good, and they make you feel good.<br />
Through the course of time however,<br />
the intended use of wooden surfboards<br />
is changing as the way they handle and<br />
perform in the ocean is advancing. In this<br />
special feature we explore the many types<br />
of construction and the motivation for<br />
doing so.<br />
Photo supplied courtesy of Varuna
of<br />
the<br />
t r e e<br />
words: Dave Swan & Amber O’Dell
As you would be well aware, some<br />
surfers collect wooden surfboards to<br />
be adorn their walls, to simply gaze<br />
at and admire the workmanship and<br />
sheer beauty of the craft while others<br />
seek out that ‘traditional feel’, to fully<br />
understand what it is like to ride a solid<br />
balsa malibu or chambered big wave<br />
gun. Then there are those surfers with a<br />
heightened eco-consciousness who are<br />
looking for more sustainable surfboards<br />
than their traditional foam and fibreglass<br />
counterparts. This is where the evolution<br />
of the wooden surfboard is experiencing<br />
a real ‘tree change’ with the advancement<br />
of materials and construction techniques.<br />
Now, it would be fair to say that surfers in<br />
the main have an innate sense of affection<br />
for the environment and are conscious of<br />
supporting sustainable and eco-friendly<br />
means of producing the boards they<br />
take to the waves on. The one variable<br />
however that can prohibit such support<br />
is that this ‘environmental consciousness’<br />
cannot be at the expense of performance.<br />
Plainly put, if the boards are made of<br />
environmentally friendly products using<br />
sustainable practices and they still<br />
perform the same as a traditional PU<br />
board, they are more than willing to spend<br />
their hard-earned. If they don’t compare,<br />
many surfers are arguably willing to turn<br />
a blind eye to environmental concerns<br />
until a viable, eco-friendly equivalent is<br />
found.<br />
In the ensuing pages we talk with those<br />
businesses who are the Top of the<br />
Tree, who have found a sweet spot and<br />
successfully married performance with<br />
sustainability. We also have the great<br />
pleasure of taking with legends of the surf<br />
industry who are crafting timeless timber<br />
masterpieces and those who are bringing<br />
the joy of building wooden surfboards to<br />
the people. Enjoy.<br />
<strong>SB</strong> / #54 / 24
the evolution<br />
of the wooden<br />
surfboard is<br />
experiencing a real<br />
‘tree change’ with<br />
the advancement<br />
of materials and<br />
construction<br />
techniques.<br />
Photo: Riley Surfboards<br />
Photographer: Lime Light<br />
Creative Studios<br />
Contact your Coopers Area Manager for more information<br />
and to secure your order.<br />
1300 555 166 (SA/NT: 08 8440 1800)<br />
coopers@coopers.com.au www.coopers.com.au<br />
25 / #54 / <strong>SB</strong>
eco<br />
warrior<br />
He may have initially not set out<br />
to be, but nowadays, Mark Riley<br />
is an eco-warrior with purpose<br />
seeking to set the benchmark for<br />
others to follow.<br />
Where to start? I guess a declaration<br />
on two fronts. First, Mark Riley is an<br />
incredibly talented surfboard shaper who<br />
continues to refine his craft and is now<br />
elevating his eco credentials to a whole<br />
new level. I will explain this in more<br />
detail a little later on. The second, is that<br />
he is a very good mate. I didn’t know<br />
Mark before we started Smorgasboarder<br />
some thirteen years ago, but through the<br />
years, whilst we haven’t seen each other<br />
that regularly in person, our friendship<br />
has grown. I absolutely think the world<br />
of the guy. I have come to know him<br />
very well and now fully understand his<br />
devotion to crafting long-lasting beautiful<br />
balsa boards perfectly tailored to his<br />
customers.<br />
Regular readers of Smorgasboarder would be<br />
well aware by now that Mark shapes his boards<br />
entirely by hand, creating everything from fishes<br />
through to single fins, longboards, paddleboards<br />
and everything in between. While most are<br />
performance orientated and super lightweight<br />
with balsa skins applied to a recycled EPS<br />
foam core, he still shapes solid balsa classic<br />
longboards for clients seeking a traditional feel.<br />
So, what has changed?<br />
Mark originally set out to make his surfboards<br />
last. Tired of what he considered the disposable<br />
nature of traditional surfboards, he made his<br />
boards the equal of their counterparts in terms<br />
of performance but also indestructible. Over the<br />
last 27 years he has achieved that aim having not<br />
yet managed to snap one of his boards to date.<br />
However, as the years have gone by, he has<br />
become more acutely aware that the boards he<br />
builds can have a positive environmental impact.<br />
Mark explains his intent.
“I came to realise what I was doing was good<br />
for the environment because the boards I was<br />
making lasted so much longer. I had always been<br />
environmentally conscious in my approach, but this<br />
just strengthened my belief in what I was doing and<br />
how I went about my business. It also encouraged<br />
me to find out about and adopt other ecologically<br />
sound materials, products and approaches.”<br />
Mark set out to find material that complemented the<br />
balsa he sources from sustainable farms. The first<br />
point of call was of course the internal foam blank.<br />
He settled on 100% recycled EPS foam and has<br />
stuck with them since.<br />
The blanks go through a process called<br />
regranulation. Scrap pieces of packing foam from<br />
fridges, TVs and the like are ground up, pumped<br />
into a mould and heated. Once ejected from the<br />
mould they are shuttled into large gas oven drying<br />
rooms. Mark then shapes the blank before a 2-3mm<br />
balsa veneer is vacuum-bagged (laminated) onto<br />
the blank providing added strength. Solid rails are<br />
then added to the board and the shape is further<br />
refined with some light sanding before being<br />
glassed, finished and polished.<br />
Mark further continued to work towards reducing<br />
his environmental footprint. All foam offcuts from<br />
his boards go back into his recycled EPS foam mix.<br />
Waste from his solid balsawood boards is used as<br />
garden compost and usable offcuts are donated to<br />
schools. The glues he uses contain no volatile or<br />
flammable ingredients and his vehicles converted to<br />
LPG to reduce the amount of fuel consumed. He is<br />
also an active member of the Rainforest Alliance; an<br />
organization that works to arrest the major drivers of<br />
deforestation and environmental destruction and to<br />
further his commitment to responsible, sustainable<br />
harvesting of balsawood, Mark even set up his own<br />
balsa plantation in Cooktown near Port Douglas in<br />
North Queensland. Now Mark is looking to certify<br />
the carbon footprint of each of the surfboards he<br />
produces.<br />
“Various estimates put the carbon footprint of a<br />
traditional PU surfboard at around 250kg of carbon.<br />
<strong>SB</strong> / #54 / 28
I estimate my boards presently emit around 80kg of<br />
carbon into the atmosphere. That’s near a quarter<br />
to that of their PU counterparts. But I am keen<br />
to ratify this with certification from the regulatory<br />
bodies.<br />
To put that in perspective, a Riley Balsa Surfboard,<br />
emitting 80kg of carbon is a smaller environmental<br />
footprint than that of a bicycle and close to that of a<br />
woollen coat. That’s quite the accomplishment.<br />
“Once I achieve this, I will not only fulfill my<br />
promise to produce high performance surfboards<br />
that last, they will also be certified as far more<br />
environmentally friendly than their counterparts. And<br />
we will continue refining our processes to further<br />
minimise our carbon footprint.”<br />
There is no denying Mark has found his sweet spot<br />
– beautiful boards built for speed that last forever,<br />
soon to be certified as an eco-friendly alternative<br />
to conventional surfboards. All he has to do now is<br />
find an eco-friendly beer because he doesn’t mind<br />
consuming a couple of those, and I am only too<br />
happy to share a few of those with him.<br />
“Once I achieve<br />
this, I will not<br />
only fulfill<br />
my promise to<br />
produce high<br />
performance<br />
surfboards that<br />
last, they will<br />
also be certified<br />
as far more<br />
environmentally<br />
friendly<br />
than their<br />
counterparts...”<br />
balsawoodsurfboardsriley.com<br />
29 / #54 / <strong>SB</strong>
COMMUNITY<br />
CHAMPIONS<br />
Bringing the joy of building your own surfboard<br />
with a heightened eco-conscientiousness to the<br />
suburbs are the good folk at Tree to Sea.<br />
These guys are quite literally the community<br />
champions of environmentally friendly surfboard<br />
construction. Their wooden surfboard workshops<br />
are now that of legend here in Australia and are truly<br />
something special to experience.<br />
Based in Mt Eliza, three friends, Rob Ivers, Gary<br />
Miller and Darren Minchin hold their wooden<br />
surfboard workshops in their purpose-built indoor/<br />
outdoor workspace. They are bound by their love<br />
for surfing, timber surfboards and the sensory<br />
experience of crafting your own, so much so,<br />
they want others to experience the feeling for<br />
themselves.<br />
It all began some twelve years ago when one of the<br />
founders of Tree to Sea Australia, Rob Ivers, met<br />
Rich Blundell, an American pioneer of the wooden<br />
surfboard making workshop and founder of Tree to<br />
Sea in the USA. Not long after, Rob met Gary Miller<br />
through a mutual friend and the two of them talked<br />
about bringing the workshops to Australia.<br />
They invited Blundell out to Australia and it was with<br />
him they taught their first workshop, which was a<br />
huge success. Subsequent workshops filled just as<br />
fast as the first and so the two sought an agreement<br />
with Rich Blundell to use the name Tree to Sea.<br />
The team crafted surfboards using Rich’s original<br />
template of a hollow wooden surfboard with<br />
fibreglass coating. They further refined their board<br />
building process when Darren joined the team, who<br />
is a carpenter by trade. This took their workshops<br />
to another level and since that time they have<br />
continued to refine their processes, construction<br />
methods and the materials they use. The desire has<br />
always been to experiment and innovate to realise a<br />
more environmentally friendly product.<br />
Today the boards are no longer hollow nor feature<br />
fibreglass. What they now refer to as their “Eco<br />
Board” is made using a sandwich design where<br />
inside a lightweight plantation-grown timber veneer<br />
is a pre-shaped recycled polystyrene blank. All<br />
that is needed to complete the main body of<br />
construction is sustainably grown cork rails. This<br />
innovation has not only lessened the build time so<br />
boards can be fully constructed and ready to surf<br />
at the completion of a two-day workshop, they<br />
are now incredibly lightweight and performance<br />
orientated.<br />
<strong>SB</strong> / #54 / 30
Thanks to the timber construction they are also<br />
incredibly strong.There is virtually no waste in the<br />
manufacture of their Tree to Sea surfboards.<br />
The foam core blanks are made from recycled<br />
offcuts and packaging and the timber veneers<br />
are sourced from Australian grown Paulownia<br />
plantations, a fast-growing softwood that when<br />
felled, another grows in its place, basically<br />
perpetuating an endless cycle of renewal. The<br />
boards are then finished with Australian made<br />
marine grade varnish. Every aspect of their<br />
surfboard construction takes sustainability into<br />
account.<br />
If the sustainability of these boards wasn’t<br />
appealing enough, the workshops are altogether<br />
something else.<br />
“The desire has always<br />
been to experiment and<br />
innovate to realise a more<br />
environmentally friendly<br />
product.”<br />
31 / #54 / <strong>SB</strong>
“It’s a pleasure to surf on a handmade<br />
board, but even better to have made it<br />
yourself. And making the boards is so<br />
therapeutic, as so many have told us.”<br />
The many laughs, the absolute sheer joy of building<br />
something with your own hands and sharing<br />
that euphoria with others and the comradery<br />
that develops makes for such an incredible and<br />
memorable experience. Rob best sums up their<br />
approach.<br />
“We’re not dollar driven. It’s not about making<br />
money. All our decisions are made for the benefit<br />
of the end result - a great, fully functional surfboard<br />
made by the average guy or girl in the street, and<br />
built from a renewable source.<br />
“We have literally taught people of all ages and skill<br />
levels how to build their very own environmentally<br />
friendly wooden surfboard. And we enjoy teaching<br />
people and are just as proud as they are to see the<br />
end results.<br />
“It’s a pleasure to surf on a handmade board, but<br />
even better to have made it yourself. And making<br />
the boards is so therapeutic, as so many have told<br />
us. Crafting something by hand is so absorbing<br />
and deeply satisfying. Plus, we are in keeping<br />
with the soul of surfing – surfers making their own<br />
surfboards and crafting them from wood, just like<br />
they originally were.”<br />
There are virtually an endless array of plan<br />
shapes to craft with templates for retro fishes to<br />
shortboards, funboards, single fins, longboards and<br />
pigs all on offer. And if you don’t have the time or<br />
inclination to attend a workshop, you can also buy<br />
a ready-made board crafted from the experienced<br />
hands of the crew at Tree to Sea.<br />
treetosea.com.au<br />
<strong>SB</strong> / #54 / 32
taking it for<br />
granted<br />
33 / #54 / <strong>SB</strong><br />
When surfing, it’s easy to<br />
get lost in the rhythm of<br />
the ocean, and even take for<br />
granted the object that is<br />
underneath our feet that lets<br />
us walk and soar on water.
“Many of my wooden<br />
boards are hanging<br />
in people’s houses<br />
as pieces of art, but<br />
whether you surf it or<br />
not, the process for<br />
making them is exactly<br />
the same.”<br />
Like many surfers, Grant Newby didn’t pay<br />
much mind to the components, equations<br />
and creativity that make up a surfboard until<br />
he embarked on the process of shaping<br />
wooden boards himself. Grant said he started<br />
building boards with all sorts of combinations,<br />
processes and materials that led to some<br />
interesting outcomes.<br />
“It’s a journey where you learn about your<br />
yourself, your patience and your creativity. You<br />
learn to use tools in a different way, and it’s just<br />
thinking outside of the box because it is all very<br />
new.”<br />
Based in the Gold Coast, Queensland, Grant<br />
has spent over a decade crafting gorgeous<br />
wooden surfboards desired worldwide for both<br />
their artistry and functionality. Grant said the<br />
allure of wood is felt by everyone, and he loves<br />
bringing out its beauty in his boards, some of<br />
which contain up to 80 different layers of wood.<br />
“Many of my wooden boards are hanging in<br />
people’s houses as pieces of art, but whether<br />
you surf it or not, the process for making them<br />
is exactly the same.”<br />
<strong>SB</strong> / #54 / 34
Growing up in New Zealand, Grant has always<br />
been connected to the sea. His respect for<br />
the ocean comes from his long family history<br />
of mariners and fishermen, and his creativity<br />
comes from spending much of his life as an art<br />
director and production manager in advertising<br />
agencies.<br />
More than anything, Grant loves experimenting<br />
with wooden board designs and sharing his<br />
findings with as many shapers as possible. For<br />
over 11 years, he has hosted ‘The Wooden<br />
Surfboard Day’, a gathering of like-minded<br />
people who build wooden surfboards. Grant<br />
said the thing that really blows people away<br />
about the event is that every attendee is happy<br />
to explain how they have gone about building<br />
their boards, which is pretty rare in the surf<br />
industry.<br />
“People have lots of questions. There’s not<br />
many people building wooden surfboards in<br />
the world. You never forget the time where<br />
you catch your first wave on the board you<br />
made. So if you can share that experience<br />
with somebody else, I think that’s a pretty cool<br />
thing.”<br />
Grant said looking back at old boards is<br />
a window to where the industry is going<br />
tomorrow, and describes perfectly the<br />
spiritual journey of a wooden surfboard<br />
creator.<br />
“The combinations are endless and so are the<br />
outcomes. This, to me, is what strikes a chord<br />
with my creative background and enquiring<br />
mind. Some things work and some don’t. But<br />
great watermen before us have ridden some<br />
amazing waves on a huge variety of shapes<br />
and styles. So nothing should be discounted.<br />
Different shapes, sizes, outlines and contours<br />
give different feelings on a wave. All of which<br />
can only happen with an open mind and a<br />
willingness to try different things.”<br />
Talking to brilliant wooden board makers<br />
like Grant really makes you appreciate those<br />
wonderful things that carry and guide us<br />
through the waves.<br />
surfboardsbygrantnewby.com<br />
35 / #54 / <strong>SB</strong>
he is<br />
legend<br />
The title we refer to here is of course a play on the movie<br />
called “I am legend” although we couldn’t use those exact<br />
words because they would never be uttered from the lips of<br />
one of Australia’s most esteemed surfboard craftsman.<br />
Sam Egan is one of the most downto-earth<br />
blokes you will meet and<br />
is incredibly humble despite being<br />
revered by several generations of<br />
elite surfers and surfboard designers<br />
across the world. Simply put, Sam<br />
Egan is a legend. He’s a surfindustry<br />
pioneer. Now 80, he’s<br />
been shaping surfboards since he<br />
was 15 and commercially since<br />
’62 when Sam Egan Surfboards<br />
officially opening its doors in his<br />
beloved home of Newcastle. Sam<br />
estimates he has probably shaped<br />
more than 10,000 boards in his<br />
lifetime.<br />
His surfboards have been under<br />
the feet of many pro surfers,<br />
such as his son Luke, and while<br />
he regularly continues to shape<br />
surfboards every week, it is his<br />
wooden boards in particular that<br />
left my mouth agape.<br />
It is in essence a return to Sam’s<br />
roots. The very first board he ever<br />
crafted was a 16-foot plywood<br />
toothpick that he had modelled off<br />
the boards he saw washed up on<br />
the rocks.<br />
The board was built out of necessity.<br />
A member of the Cooks Hill Surf Life<br />
Saving Club, he had developed a<br />
love for surfing but back then boards<br />
were hard to come by. Skilled with<br />
his hands, and being an apprentice<br />
carpenter at the time, he crafted his<br />
own and the rest is history.<br />
<strong>SB</strong> / #54 / 36
Sam never pursued his carpentry trade but rather<br />
turned his hand and making surfboards. It is<br />
staggering to consider at the height of his fame, 18<br />
of the top 44 surfers on the World Championship<br />
Tour were riding his boards. In fact, his boards have<br />
been under the feet of more than a couple of world<br />
champions.<br />
It is in essence a return to his<br />
roots. The very first board he<br />
ever crafted was 16-foot plywood<br />
toothpick that he had modelled<br />
off the boards he saw washed up<br />
on the rocks.<br />
Even revered Hawaiian born shaper Donald<br />
Takayama is on record as saying that Sam’s 66<br />
model, still sold at Barry Bennett surfboards today,<br />
is the best example of boards from that era. That’s<br />
fair testament to his skill. And speaking of his skill,<br />
rather than just craft a wooden surfboard, in true<br />
Sam fashion he takes these boards to another level<br />
altogether.<br />
“I like to use balsa mainly with some other exotic<br />
timbers such as Western Red Cedar and Silky Oak<br />
and Australian Red Cedar, all cut and fitted in.”<br />
As for the time it takes, Sam estimates the boards<br />
take him in excess of 200 hours. He sells them for<br />
around $5000.<br />
37 / #54 / <strong>SB</strong>
“That works out to $25 per hour,” he chuckles in<br />
true Sam fashion, non-plussed.<br />
“They are just a labour of love I do when I don’t<br />
have too many (foam and fibreglass) board orders<br />
(Yep, you heard right. Sam is still shaping 5 or so of<br />
those per week).<br />
“They take so long. I will have them on my bench<br />
for a few months. I have probably made about 10<br />
or 12 over the last three years. I have always got<br />
one going and tinker on it. You can’t rush it. It is<br />
just a matter of take your time and do a bit here<br />
and there. I do enjoy doing it though, as long as it<br />
doesn’t take over my entire life.”<br />
Photo: Sam’s third surfboard he made.<br />
Sam crafts all manner of timber surfboard shapes<br />
from chambered wooden guns through to skin on<br />
frame collectables, that can be surfed but most of<br />
his clients opt to just appreciate the workmanship<br />
hung up on the wall of their home. Those clients<br />
include people like Jason Stevenson, the founder,<br />
owner and original shaper of JS Industries who<br />
has one of Sam’s chambered balsa boards in his<br />
collection.<br />
He makes everything from nose to tail – fins, nose<br />
blocks and tail blocks. He even sells the nose and<br />
tail blocks to other shapers. They are works of<br />
art in themselves. Same goes for the many surf<br />
trophies he crafts and ornate timber furniture and<br />
jewellery boxes. Sam explains.<br />
“Well, I spent 4 years from the age of 15 as a<br />
carpenter and joiner. Before I came out of my time I<br />
was making some surfboards. As soon as I finished<br />
my apprenticeship I left. So, I have only had two<br />
jobs in my life. But yes, I can make furniture and of<br />
course I make surfboards.”<br />
Instagram: samegansurfboards<br />
Photo: the first board Sam made - a 16ft paddleboard.<br />
<strong>SB</strong> / #54 / 38
in tune with<br />
nature<br />
The equivalent of strumming a classic<br />
Gibson Les Paul guitar would be riding<br />
a Mitchell Rae balsa collectable. Tuned<br />
to perfection, these truly are elite waveriding<br />
craft.<br />
These boards are not designed to be ornaments on<br />
a wall, admired from afar, these chambered balsa<br />
boards are the equivalent of a Formula One race<br />
car, albeit far less destructible.<br />
Each year, Mitchell Rae crafts a small number of<br />
these signed and dated custom balsa boards.<br />
In creating these long-lasting statements of his<br />
craftsmanship, he most certainly draws inspiration<br />
from the guitar maker’s art to which I refer with<br />
hand inlaid Mother of Pearl eyes and logos,<br />
elevating the aesthetic appeal and resonance of<br />
the surfboard way beyond the ordinary. Mitchell<br />
elaborates on his approach.<br />
“It’s a similar fashion to collector’s guitars, years<br />
of use and hard riding enhance their intrinsic value.<br />
Like a ‘57 Gibson Les Paul, they become full of<br />
memories and experience. They look good on the<br />
wall, but these boards are built to be ridden.”<br />
Mitchell spends in excess of 60 hours constructing<br />
these boards, sparing no effort. They are what he<br />
considers the pinnacle of the surfboard maker’s art.<br />
“Folks have no idea how much crazy love I pour into<br />
these creations. I only make a few each year and for<br />
good reason.”<br />
Mitchell has shaped these magic balsa boards<br />
everywhere from the jungles of West Java using<br />
local balsa to where he resides today on the Mid<br />
North Coast of News South Wales. His clientele<br />
includes many well-known surfers, surf industry<br />
royalty and surfboard aficionados.<br />
Built from mainly the lightest balsa from Ecuador<br />
and Papua New Guinea with Western Red Cedar<br />
and Redwood stringers, they are chambered for<br />
lightness, split, bent and glued using techniques<br />
similar to that of boat builders and aircraft wing<br />
construction. Each board also incorporates<br />
Mitchell’s devotion to flex.<br />
“I am looking to load the timbers in a similar fashion<br />
to the wooden bow analogy. I set the timbers up<br />
and actually bend them to where the wooden bow<br />
would be holding its flex before you let the arrow<br />
go. When the glues dry, the timbers will hold that<br />
39 / #54 / <strong>SB</strong>
<strong>SB</strong> / #54 / 40
shape. It’s sprung under tension so when you flick<br />
it, it sings. It has a real different quality to it than if I<br />
carved a profile on one big chunk of wood.”<br />
“The bent wood and chambered construction<br />
sets up a resonance like that of a guitar or violin.<br />
Awesome to ride, a long process to build. These<br />
boards will last for generations and be around long<br />
after I’m pushing up daisies.”<br />
The craftsmanship that goes into these boards is<br />
awe-inspiring. There is good reason why Mitchell<br />
Rae is revered as one of the most talented<br />
surfboard artisans to have picked up a planer.<br />
Best of all, when you talk with him about building<br />
a board, you not only get a first-hand insight into<br />
his craft and the principles he applies to surfboard<br />
design, you also get a life lesson all in one. His<br />
knowledge for all manner of things is unfathomable<br />
and a joy to listen to. I have said many times before,<br />
a chat with Mitchell is akin to visiting a spiritual<br />
guru. I absolutely love him.<br />
“Awesome to ride,<br />
a long process<br />
to build. These<br />
boards will last<br />
for generations<br />
and be around long<br />
after I’m pushing up<br />
daisies.” outerislandsurfboards.com<br />
41 / #54 / <strong>SB</strong>
fueling<br />
the fire<br />
Revered by many, Maurice Cole is quite simply a<br />
legend of the surf industry. His boards have been<br />
ridden by some of the best surfers on the planet,<br />
a few who have gone on to win world titles on<br />
his craft.<br />
Maurice’s designs are an expression of his<br />
deep, philosophical understanding of wave<br />
mechanics. His eccentricity and the way he<br />
sculpts his boards has often seen him described<br />
as a disruptive force of creative genius in the<br />
surfing world, challenging the status quo of<br />
conventional thinking. Recently, Maurice has<br />
overseen a reincarnation of his shapes in foam<br />
and fibreglass in the form of Varuna surfboards.<br />
Based in Byron Bay, Varuna is a true international operation,<br />
with crew scattered across the globe and manufacturing in<br />
Indonesia. The team have embarked on a mission to redefine<br />
the world of sustainable surfing. To that end, they’ve<br />
partnered with world-renowned surfboard designers such<br />
as Maurice, Stuart D’arcy, Joel Fitzgerald, Renaud Cardinal,<br />
and most recently Beau Young and Chilli Surfboards with<br />
a few other big names soon to be announced, to replicate<br />
iconic designs using sustainable materials. The reasoning is<br />
simple, as explained on their website: “We replicate trusted<br />
shapes from elite designers on all of our boards, but with a<br />
sustainable spin. Because we figured there was no sense in<br />
reinventing the wheel, or the board, for that matter.”<br />
Intrigued, we decided to find out more about how this<br />
revolutionary sustainable spin was achieved exactly. We<br />
were surprised to find out these high-performance balsa<br />
wood surfboards are made with absolutely no foam. Varuna<br />
surfboards are made entirely out of wood.<br />
The internal structure of the board is made with bamboo<br />
and balsa ribs to keep the boards light without sacrificing<br />
strength. Hollow balsa rails with flex layers are employed<br />
to provide power, speed and control. A super light balsa<br />
wood composite deck is reinforced with aerospace-grade<br />
fiberglass and then laminated with Sicomin resin to deliver<br />
strength, flex and durability. Being essentially a hollow<br />
wooden board, an all-in-one, self-regulating air valve / leash<br />
plug is installed to regulate interior pressure. For fins, Varuna<br />
utilises Futures fin boxes.<br />
What’s important to mention here is that whilst sustainability<br />
and durability are the cornerstone of how these boards<br />
are made, performance is still very much front of mind.<br />
The weight of the boards are equivalent to their foam and<br />
fibreglass counterparts. Company spokesman and<br />
co-founder, Damien Cole, elaborated on Varuna’s approach.<br />
Images supplied courtesy of Varuna<br />
<strong>SB</strong> / #54 / 42
43 / #54 / <strong>SB</strong>
“We believe that when it comes to surfing,<br />
sustainability and performance are not<br />
mutually exclusive.<br />
“By replicating world-class designs onto<br />
sustainable materials, we envisioned a world where<br />
everyone can surf exceptionally and responsibly.<br />
“However, it really was our focus on performance<br />
that morphed this business from a passion<br />
project to a fully-fledged operation. There’s<br />
no point making boards with an environmental<br />
consciousness if they don’t perform. Surfers won’t<br />
buy them.<br />
“We’re using innovative technology to give you a<br />
lively ride that you can be stoked about both in and<br />
out of the water. And because we’ve reimagined<br />
iconic surfboards from the hands of world-class<br />
designers, we’ve created an elevated, sustainable<br />
surfing experience that even meets the needs of the<br />
most experienced, seasoned surfers. Our boards<br />
go incredible.”<br />
The approach has to be applauded. To construct<br />
hollow wooden surfboards on this scale is quite<br />
mind blowing. And it has been Maurice, Damien<br />
Cole’s father, who has been secretly with Varuna<br />
from the start, working behind the scenes and<br />
guiding them with his knowledge of structure and<br />
the intricate minutiae that take a board from the<br />
ordinary to extraordinary.<br />
In an interview with surf photographer and<br />
filmmaker Peter Baker, Maurice had this to say<br />
about his collaboration with Varuna.<br />
“There are literally thousands of variables that<br />
go into creating a magic surfboard. And across<br />
the industry, I’ve continuously pushed design<br />
innovation, which has defined what a person can<br />
do on a wave.<br />
“It’s been incredible to be a part of the evolution<br />
of surfboard design. But after all these years, what<br />
has continuously plagued me is that we’re still<br />
making surfboards, using the same toxic materials,<br />
which after 75 years has become a huge problem.<br />
“Working with Varuna has been such a pleasure.<br />
By using their sustainable materials and their<br />
sustainable manufacturing process, I feel like I’m<br />
now part of this family where we are all part of the<br />
solution.”<br />
Quite clearly both Varuna’s mission and vision to<br />
not only redefine the world of sustainable surfing<br />
but to also revitalise the planet by doing what they<br />
love, resonated with Maurice.<br />
Damien explains the three core principles guiding<br />
the company.<br />
“As we developed the business, we all understood<br />
there were a couple of non-negotiables – basically<br />
three parts to our business that if we didn’t get<br />
right, it wouldn’t get off the ground. They were in<br />
relation to sustainability, performance and integrity.<br />
“When it comes to sustainability, we vow to pursue,<br />
innovate and inspire sustainable solutions that<br />
rejuvenate our planet. We hold ourselves to the<br />
highest ethical standard of sustainable production,<br />
so our planet can have a chance to thrive.<br />
“When it comes to performance, we simply aim<br />
to create products grounded in exceptional<br />
performance, responsiveness and durability. We’re<br />
achieving that aim by collaborating with world-class<br />
designers to optimise performance of these boards.<br />
<strong>SB</strong> / #54 / 44
“When it comes to integrity, we’re conducting<br />
our business with the utmost respect toward our<br />
customers, our team, and most importantly, our<br />
planet. We are doing this by pursuing a business<br />
framework rooted in a carbon negative future, so<br />
our kids can stay stoked in cleaner oceans and<br />
thriving wilderness.”<br />
From what we can see, the team at Varuna are<br />
living and breathing their edict and have fully<br />
adopted their mantra “from seed to surfboard”.<br />
Indonesia has been victim to massive deforestation<br />
practices for decades. Once abundant rainforests<br />
have been transformed into barren grasslands,<br />
incapable of regenerating on their own and pushing<br />
wildlife species out of their habitats.<br />
Balsa trees were initially planted to counter<br />
deforestation, but being an invasive species in<br />
Indonesia, the solution created more problems.<br />
With balsa being the key material used in Varuna<br />
sufboards, the team figured out a way to rid forests<br />
of balsa overgrowth while regenerating these<br />
abandoned lands of plenty to get the materials<br />
they need.<br />
Basically, the balsa is harvested via two methods.<br />
First, they selectively log existing balsa trees,<br />
effectively weeding the forests of them, and<br />
secondly via permaculture. This approach<br />
requires a more detailed explanation.<br />
Varuna are working closely with the Indonesian<br />
government, expanding green zones to reforest,<br />
regenerate and rejuvenate the land through<br />
sustainable practices to reduce environmental<br />
impacts and revitalise the area. They’re doing so<br />
through permaculture methods, planting balsa<br />
trees in tandem with native plant species. Most<br />
importantly, as Damien points out, the balsa trees<br />
are harvested before they flower.<br />
It only takes 4 years for balsa to fully mature,<br />
so once it’s harvested, the native plants are left<br />
behind to flourish and thrive. This regenerative<br />
practice leaves behind a restored ecosystem<br />
rich in biodiversity, generating economy for<br />
local farmers, encouraging self-reliance and<br />
advocating sustainable practices. Permaculture is<br />
known to promote resilience through biodiversity<br />
and restores natural resources, allowing nature to<br />
rejuvenate while empowering local communities.<br />
Varuna have even swapped the traditional<br />
shaping bay for a jungle workshop and minimised<br />
The way we see it, it’s our<br />
responsibility as surfers to do<br />
whatever we can to protect the<br />
thing we cherish most.<br />
their waste partnering up with renewable allies.<br />
Damien explains, “We’re abandoning the traditional<br />
shaping bay for an environmentally forgiving<br />
alternative with a system that minimises waste<br />
while giving back to the planet in colossal ways.<br />
“We’ve committed ourselves to an approach<br />
rooted in conservation. Any harvested balsa<br />
not used in Varuna production sees the excess<br />
materials transferred to our partners in various<br />
sectors such as wind energy, railway, models and<br />
biochar, which is used around our balsa plantings.<br />
(Biochar is said to offer multiple soil health benefits<br />
in degraded tropical soils.) This ensures minimal<br />
waste and responsible use.<br />
“From seed to surfboard, we’re minimising our<br />
environmental impact through innovation.<br />
The way it stands, the climate crisis threatens<br />
everything we love about our planet. And as<br />
surfers, that love flows deepest with the ocean. The<br />
way we see it, it’s our responsibility as surfers to<br />
do whatever we can to protect the thing we cherish<br />
most. That’s the mission we’re on and why we are<br />
going about our business the way we are.”<br />
For those interested as to the origin of the name<br />
Varuna, Damien explains the inspiration stems from<br />
their intrinsic connection with the environment, a<br />
devotion to optimal performance and a collective<br />
passion for conservation.<br />
“Associated with clouds, water, rivers and the<br />
ocean, Varuna is a powerful Hindu deity and<br />
‘one who encompasses the whole world.’ It’s his<br />
influence over the environment that inspires our<br />
calling to go full circle, or, from seed to surfboard.<br />
“In our eyes, the rains bring our balsa crop,<br />
which is then transformed into surfboards, and<br />
ultimately returns to the ocean from which it<br />
originally began.”<br />
varuna.surf
One man’s trash<br />
is a surfer’s treasure<br />
Who would have thought the venetian<br />
blinds dangling from your window would<br />
ever touch the ocean?<br />
Let’s be honest, it’s hard to make venetian blinds<br />
look good. The rickety things often get tangled and<br />
after a few impatient pulls end up looking like a<br />
jumbled mess. There’s no telling how many of these<br />
things go into landfill, which is why Stephan Halpin,<br />
founder of Shapes by Steveo, has found a way to<br />
make venetian blinds both functional and beautiful<br />
in the form of a surfboard.<br />
Along with other recycled wood cuttings and<br />
materials, Stephan transforms venetian blinds<br />
into unique, stunning and sustainable surfboards<br />
adorned with various patterns and shades of<br />
salvaged timber. Stephan says he started to make<br />
wooden, environmentally friendly surfboards<br />
because they last longer, look better, and are way<br />
kinder on the environment.
“Using offcuts is not just good for recycling and<br />
keeping stuff out of landfill, you can make some<br />
really decorative boards out of those strange<br />
bits of timber.<br />
“Wooden surfboards aren’t boards that last for<br />
only five or ten seasons at the most, they last<br />
a lifetime. They are something you can pass<br />
down to your family, and they also just look<br />
amazing on a wall in your house.”<br />
Growing up, Stephan was always tinkering and<br />
building with wood. After moving to Noosa<br />
at 26 years of age and learning to surf, his<br />
passions naturally led him into shaping the lines<br />
and curves of wooden surfboards. Stephan<br />
said he used to go to local board factories and<br />
study the subtle art of surfboard shaping under<br />
quite a few well-respected shapers. Now, he<br />
can turn just about anything into just about any<br />
surfboard.<br />
“I make hollow wooden surfboards, fishes,<br />
guns, malibus and stand-up paddle boards.<br />
I still make foam and fiberglass surfboards of<br />
all shapes and sizes, but it is the wood boards<br />
that I really enjoy the most.”<br />
“Hemp was the past,<br />
and it’s going to<br />
be the future,<br />
because people are<br />
starting to realise<br />
the number of<br />
plastics that are<br />
in the ocean, and<br />
just I don’t want<br />
to see it anymore.”<br />
Wherever possible, Stephan uses recycled<br />
wood or sustainable grown timber to create his<br />
boards. However most recently he has delved<br />
into the vast capabilities of hemp in his new<br />
eco-friendly board range: Hemp Tech. Stephan<br />
says hemp boards are lighter and stronger<br />
than normal polyester boards and even epoxy<br />
boards.<br />
“I am right now making Hemp Tech Boards,<br />
which are recycled polystyrene boards with a<br />
minimum amount of fiberglass. We use hemp<br />
cloth and a range of different hemp materials<br />
like hemp, linen and silk, plus organic epoxy.<br />
“Hemp was the past, and it’s going to be the<br />
future, because people are starting to realise<br />
the number of plastics that are in the ocean,<br />
and just I don’t want to see it anymore.”<br />
Based in Coolum Beach in Queensland,<br />
Shapes by Steveo offers a range of Hemp<br />
Tec and recycled wooden boards. In perusing<br />
over Stephan’s beautiful wooden surfboard<br />
collection, you may even be tempted to hang<br />
up some venetian blinds in your home again -<br />
in the form of a board, of course.<br />
47 / #54 / <strong>SB</strong><br />
shapesbysteveo.com
connected by<br />
water<br />
Sometimes when your head gets the better<br />
of you, it’s important to take a step back,<br />
breathe, and feel the smooth, wooden<br />
grain of your very own creative and<br />
passionate project under your palm.<br />
I’m certain no one reading needs to be reminded<br />
of the healing power of the sea, the surf, and the<br />
board. Whether it’s cruising waves or shaping<br />
surfboards, surfing has always been a therapy for<br />
many people as well as a lifestyle.<br />
Someone who knows this exceptionally well is<br />
Greg Wallace, who, after 15 years of lecturing and<br />
practicing naturopathy around Australia, quit his job<br />
and built a legacy for himself by giving people the<br />
opportunity to learn, share, heal and grow through<br />
wooden surfboard workshops.<br />
For those who don’t know, naturopathy is a holistic<br />
approach to health and includes natural remedies<br />
like sunlight, exercise and stress management -<br />
which sounds a lot like surfing if you ask me. Greg<br />
would agree, which is why he founded Connected<br />
By, a charity that merges mental health and healing<br />
with the satisfying, long, and therapeutic process of<br />
wooden surfboard shaping.<br />
The charity is a branch of Bodhi Tree, a company<br />
founded Greg in 2012 that specialises in sustainably<br />
sourced wooden surfboard DIY kits. Back in the<br />
day, Bodhi Tree also provided wooden board<br />
building workshops, until Greg noticed an<br />
increasing amount of first responders and Australian<br />
Defence Force personnel seeing value in his<br />
lessons, propelling him to turn his company into a<br />
movement that would outlast him.<br />
“What I did nearly four years ago was create a<br />
charity out of the workshop component of Bodhi<br />
Tree, and I did this because I recognised that the<br />
long-term benefit for people’s wellbeing through<br />
building boards.<br />
“What I’ve done is combined all of the philosophies<br />
and understanding from my past career and created<br />
a space where people come to build a board and<br />
deal with trauma and transition.<br />
<strong>SB</strong> / #54 / 48
“Everything is hand shaped. We don’t use any<br />
guides or templates, everything is all about<br />
understanding, we want to give people the skills so<br />
if they want to build a board at home, they can”, he<br />
said.<br />
Greg said it all started when he attended a<br />
singular workshop in Perth and felt passion’s firm,<br />
comforting grip for the first time.<br />
“I built my son a nine-foot mal when he was three<br />
months old through a six-day course over three<br />
weekends, and when I left on the last day - I just<br />
had this rush.<br />
“I knew in that moment I felt passion. I was 37, and<br />
I had never known what it felt like. So I got a couple<br />
of wooden surfboard kits from the states and built<br />
those, but I was actually pretty disappointed with<br />
what I got.<br />
“I just wanted for everyone to feel what I felt, so<br />
I quit my job as a naturopath and reinvented the<br />
board building process to make it more accessible.<br />
I changed by path to building wooden surfboards,<br />
and it just made sense,” he said.<br />
After spending years in his shed developing and<br />
refining the process of hollow wooden board<br />
building, Greg founded Bodhi Tree Surfboards to<br />
share his love of the craft with the world.<br />
“Part of that passion I felt came from recognising<br />
that I could buy every part of the process. I really<br />
wanted to do it all myself. So I collect my own trees,<br />
and in house learned how to machine everything.<br />
“Wooden boards are stronger and structurally<br />
integral even before they get glassed. The thing I<br />
love most is that there’s no wrong way to build a<br />
board, it’s just a relationship with the builder and<br />
the method they’ve chosen. Its a labour of love,<br />
“We service anybody, but the parameters of<br />
the workshop have been set up for ex-defence<br />
members and ex-first responders, cops, firies,<br />
ambos and people who have suffered workplace<br />
trauma. Because of the place we have set up, it’s a<br />
trigger-free environment for them,” he said.<br />
The wooden boards take from 60 to 80 hours to<br />
build across three months, with the end result being<br />
a unique wooden surfboard that is as beautiful as<br />
it is functional. Greg said an important part of the<br />
workshops is to have everyone make the boards<br />
themselves.<br />
“You have to let everything go before you form<br />
a relationship with the board. They are not<br />
cookie cutter things, there’s a lot that goes into a<br />
surfboard. They are beautiful objects.<br />
“We have about ten frames that we use, and from<br />
those frames we can basically create any type of<br />
board. We don’t replicate boards or copy anything,<br />
but stylistically from those ten frames, we can make<br />
anything from a kickboard up to a ten-and-a-halffoot<br />
paddleboard.<br />
The surfboards are what I love to<br />
do with my life, and seeing what<br />
the surfboards do for other<br />
people, it just gives you that sense<br />
of pride.<br />
“In a throw-away society, we build boards that last<br />
at least a lifetime,” he said.<br />
Bodhi Tree was one of the first wooden board<br />
makers to go to market in Western Australia, and<br />
while the company remains a sustainable worldwide<br />
source of custom hollow surfboards, Connected By<br />
has become Greg’s true passion.<br />
“The surfboards are what I love to do with my life,<br />
and seeing what the surfboards do for other people,<br />
it just gives you that sense of pride,” he said.<br />
Connected By workshops are quiet, private and can<br />
be booked by appointment only.<br />
49 / #54 / <strong>SB</strong><br />
connectedby.org
<strong>SB</strong> / #54 / 50
51 / #54 / <strong>SB</strong>
See<br />
the<br />
wood<br />
for<br />
the<br />
seas<br />
Mark Riley shapes solid balsa<br />
classics right through to a range of<br />
high-performance surfboards built<br />
with a recycled EPS foam core<br />
and a 2-3mm balsa outer skin.<br />
This makes the boards super<br />
light as well as super strong.<br />
Shortboards, longboards,<br />
fishes, funboards and<br />
paddle boards, Mark custom<br />
shapes them all with an ecoconsciousness<br />
second to none.<br />
He also conducts board building<br />
courses for the surfboard<br />
enthusiast.<br />
balsawoodsurfboardsriley.com<br />
0412 376 464 | mark@riley.com.au<br />
By Appointment: 156 President Ave, Miranda
EARTHLY YET<br />
OUT OF THIS WORLD<br />
email: outereye@gmail.com | phone: 02 6655 7007<br />
outerislandsurfboards.com
When Rob from Tree to Sea Surfboards asked if I wanted to give<br />
one of their eco-friendly Paulownia timber boards a go, I jumped at<br />
the chance. I love surfing and spend most of my time on my CI Fever.<br />
I’m a member of the Peninsula Surf Riders Club and love competing<br />
in competitions. I mainly surf on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria<br />
which gives us a huge variety of waves.<br />
The board from Tree to Sea I’m riding is a 5’5 Vola Twin fin.<br />
It’s super fun in smaller conditions and catches waves so easy.<br />
One amazing bonus is how tough it is, its so easy to fix I don’t<br />
have to hassle dad. Thanks heaps to the awesome crew at Tree to<br />
Sea, I’m looking forward to lots of epic sessions on this little<br />
beauty this Summer.<br />
— Ava Holland (pictured)<br />
TREE TO SEA<br />
AUSTRALIA ECO Board<br />
workshops are held<br />
over 2 days<br />
We have 14 or so models to choose from<br />
ranging from performance shortboards,<br />
fishes, guns, longboards and our<br />
popular custom service. If you prefer<br />
TREE TO SEA AUSTRALIA can build an<br />
ECO Board for you.<br />
“Firstly, Rob, Gary & Darren - thanks so<br />
much for a hugely enjoyable and rewarding<br />
workshop. Rob for the technical know how,<br />
Gary for the patience, and Darren for the dirty<br />
jobs! I am absolutely stoked with the outcome<br />
and cannot believe we did it in 2 days. Back<br />
home I am trying to not let my enthusiasm<br />
get in the way of being patient, working out<br />
the staining, sanding - 120 then 240 grit,<br />
colouring, pin lines, varnishing etc.”<br />
— Jason<br />
The board has a very fast take off, easy pop up<br />
and is really really fast down the line. Really<br />
nice turns as well. Great bottom turn and<br />
amazing tight but predictable turns off the top.<br />
Super happy. The board got a lot of attention<br />
on the beach. A lot of impressed onlookers<br />
that discovered you can build a great board<br />
with you guys. Thanks so much.”<br />
— Andrew Hallett
GRANT HAS BEEN BUILDING<br />
AND EXPERIMENTING WITH<br />
WOODEN BOARDS FOR SOME<br />
16 YEARS. IT HAS BEEN HIS<br />
OWN PERSONAL JOURNEY OF<br />
DISCOVERY AND LEARNING LED<br />
BY THE INTRIGUE OF THE PAST<br />
AND WHAT COULD BE DONE<br />
WITH WHAT WE HAVE AT OUR<br />
DISPOSAL TODAY.<br />
He found there was a growing interest in<br />
wooden boards and so in 2008 hosted the<br />
first Wooden Surfboard Day at Currumbin on<br />
the Gold Coast. An event that he has hosted<br />
for 11 years and has attracted people from all<br />
over the world. His wooden surfboard Blog<br />
has had some 1.8 million visitors and been<br />
a source of knowledge and inspiration to<br />
others. He also assisted in the establishment<br />
of the European Wooden Board Day in Spain<br />
and attended the second event in 2019 at<br />
Playa de Berria.<br />
He has built wooden boards using many<br />
different methods and materials along the<br />
way. His preferred method is to vacuum<br />
bag wood veneers over an eps core which<br />
can then be glassed. This results in a board<br />
very similar in weight and performance to a<br />
traditional foam and fibreglass board. Wood<br />
has a certain attraction and allure to many<br />
people and if you are a surfer then a wooden<br />
board is a must-have in your quiver.<br />
GRANT IS WILLING<br />
TO WORK WITH YOU<br />
TO DESIGN AND<br />
CRAFT THE WOODEN<br />
BOARD OF YOUR<br />
DREAMS. OR A GIFT<br />
FOR A MATE, OR<br />
CELEBRATING A<br />
SPECIAL OCCASION.<br />
surfboardsbygrantnewby.com<br />
E: GRANTNEWBY@BIGPOND.COM<br />
M: 0434 797 596<br />
IG: @SURFBOARD<strong>SB</strong>YGRANTNEWBY<br />
55 / #54 / <strong>SB</strong>
<strong>SB</strong> / #54 / 56
RECYCLED<br />
WOOD<br />
SUSTAINABLE<br />
PLANTATION GROWN<br />
TIMBER<br />
WORKSHOPS<br />
WOODENSURFBOARDSSHAPE<strong>SB</strong>YSTEVEO<br />
SHED 3 / 26 ACCESS CRESCENT<br />
COOLUM BEACH QLD 4561<br />
0421522503<br />
STEVEOSUPERIOR1@GMAIL.COM<br />
shapesbysteveo.com<br />
57 / #54 / <strong>SB</strong>
AQUATIC
words: Amber O’Dell<br />
photos: theoceancleanup.com<br />
No doubt all of us are growing tired of<br />
walking along our beautiful beaches and<br />
spotting the occasional plastic bottle bobbing<br />
over the waves, beer can half-buried in the<br />
shore, or plastic bag being brought in with<br />
the sea foam.<br />
This garbage many of us have to pick up and move<br />
out of the way of our beach towels are some of the<br />
5.25 trillion pieces of plastic in our oceans. With our<br />
rubbish being incredibly damaging to marine life,<br />
it’s unfortunate that plastic is as common a sight as<br />
fish nowadays, in fact, scientists predict plastics will<br />
outweigh all fish species in our oceans by 2050.<br />
While this is a damning and upsetting issue,<br />
there are so many people doing truly incredible<br />
and innovative things to clean up our oceans<br />
that deserve to be spoken about. While large<br />
media companies would prefer to shine a light on<br />
controversial and environmental protesting, the<br />
people that truly deserve the world’s attention<br />
are those taking action and providing hope and<br />
inspiration for others to do the same. One of these<br />
incredible people is young Dutch inventor and<br />
entrepreneur, Boyan Slat.<br />
In 2011, Boyan was also tired of spotting rubbish on<br />
the beaches of his home, so, at the age of 16, when<br />
most of us were still figuring out how to socialise,<br />
he decided to do something about the world’s<br />
devastating ocean pollution.<br />
Driven by his shock in seeing more plastic than fish<br />
while scuba diving one day, Boyan said he came<br />
up with an idea for a strategic and energy-efficient<br />
solution to rid the world of large garbage patches<br />
floating in the middle of the ocean.<br />
“I wondered why we couldn’t just clean it up, and<br />
that rather simple question stuck in my head.<br />
“This plastic doesn’t go away by itself, and to just<br />
let hundreds of thousands of tons of plastic be out<br />
there fragmenting into these small and dangerous<br />
microplastics to me seems like an unacceptable<br />
scenario.”<br />
While cleaning up ocean garbage is easy when it<br />
washes up on our shore, it is not so much when it<br />
is stuck circling in currents thousands of kilometres<br />
away from land. So, Boyan’s solution was to create<br />
long barriers to concentrate the plastic and act as<br />
artificial coastlines where there is none.<br />
“I envisioned an extremely long network of floating<br />
barriers, they’re like curtains floating in the ocean<br />
which are attached to the seabed. So what happens<br />
is the current comes around and because it’s in<br />
a V-shape, the plastic gets pushed towards the<br />
centre.<br />
“I came up with the idea of a curtain, not a net, so<br />
there’s nothing sea life can get entangled with. The<br />
system would also move very slowly, around four<br />
inches per second on average. So the chances of<br />
sea life being harmed were very minimal.”<br />
At the age of 17, when most of us were having<br />
nightmares about public speaking, Boyan presented<br />
his idea in a TEDx talk in the city of Delft in the<br />
Netherlands. In 2013, his passion and determination<br />
led him to drop out of an aerospace engineering<br />
course at the Delft University of Technology. It<br />
was at this point that he founded the non-profit<br />
organisation The Ocean Cleanup, which currently<br />
has its HQ in Rotterdam.<br />
Boyan said it was a challenge being in the CEO role<br />
at the start of the organisation, but despite his many<br />
failed attempts at creating a working prototype,<br />
and his ironic problem of getting badly seasick,<br />
he eventually created System 001, the first ocean<br />
clean-up system, in September 2018.<br />
“When I started, there was this consensus that you<br />
could never clean this up, that the problem is way<br />
too big, the ocean is way too rough. There was the<br />
issue of bycatch - ‘plastic is too big, plastic is too<br />
small’.<br />
CARETAKER
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch<br />
“It was a feat we were pleasantly surprised to<br />
achieve. When people say something is impossible,<br />
the sheer absoluteness of that statement should be<br />
a motivation to investigate further.”<br />
In 2021, the team at The Ocean Cleanup, consisting<br />
of 120 engineers, researchers, scientists and<br />
more, made Boyan’s concepts into a reality with<br />
the new and improved System 002, which is<br />
currently harvesting every little bit of rubbish across<br />
kilometres of open ocean, including tiny onemillimetre<br />
microplastics.<br />
Boyan said the trash collected by the clean-up<br />
system is dumped on the ships pulling the barriers<br />
and brought back to shore once a month, where it<br />
is processed and recycled into new products. Using<br />
the ocean plastic, the organisation created and sold<br />
sunglasses with 100 percent of the proceeds going<br />
back towards their clean-up efforts.<br />
“We have been able to recycle it into a high quality,<br />
useful product; something which was always<br />
considered impossible because of the complex<br />
nature of ocean plastic.<br />
“But there is something else we tried to achieve<br />
with this model, to show how plastic can be used<br />
responsibly. What we’ve been able to accomplish<br />
with these sunglasses I hope will already raise<br />
the bar of what it means for a product to be<br />
sustainable,” he said.<br />
Thanks to the persistence and passion of Boyan,<br />
The Ocean Cleanup has successfully cleansed<br />
over 500,000 football fields worth of ocean. On<br />
top of this, they have also collected over 100,000<br />
kilograms of trash from the largest build-up of<br />
ocean plastics on earth, the Great Pacific Garbage<br />
Patch. Boyan said they started solely concentrating<br />
Basically, just picture a mass of garbage about the size of the entire<br />
state of Queensland floating in the middle of the ocean and trapped<br />
circling in currents between Japan and the U.S.A.<br />
• It is the largest of five offshore plastic garbage patches on earth<br />
• According to studies conducted by The Ocean Cleanup,<br />
86 percent of the rubbish comes from fishing activities, with 84<br />
percent containing toxic chemicals.<br />
• It is estimated the plastics in the patch originate mainly from<br />
Japan, China and the USA.<br />
on cleaning up the garbage patch because they felt<br />
it was the most neglected environmental problem of<br />
them all.<br />
“The waste is mostly in international waters that are<br />
sort of in no man’s land, and thus considered to be<br />
not one nation’s problem.<br />
“It’s a very strange experience to be four or five<br />
days from the closest point of land, and you see<br />
more plastic than you have in your life.”<br />
Not only does The Ocean Cleanup believe in<br />
removing plastics from the oceans, but also in<br />
halting the trash flow from the rivers, which are the<br />
main source of ocean plastic pollution. Boyan said<br />
the rivers are the arteries that carry waste from the<br />
land to the ocean, and that preventing pollution is<br />
just as important as cleaning it up.<br />
“We absolutely need to clean up the plastic that’s<br />
already in the ocean. It won’t go away by itself. But<br />
we do also need to make sure that no more plastic<br />
enters the oceans in the first place. These things<br />
should go hand in hand,” he said.<br />
In 2017 the organisation invented the Interceptor<br />
001, a river clean-up system that is placed at the<br />
mouths of rivers and completely stops the flow of<br />
rubbish to our oceans. Today, multiple iterations<br />
of the technology are placed in various locations<br />
across Malaysia, USA, Indonesia, and more. The<br />
organisation hopes to eventually install versions of<br />
the Interceptor across the 1000 top polluting rivers<br />
that are responsible for roughly 80 percent of ocean<br />
pollution.<br />
The Ocean Cleanup is currently conceptualising the<br />
third iteration of the clean-up system that is planned<br />
to completely rid our ocean of the Great Pacific<br />
Garbage Patch. System 03 will be comprised of<br />
three vessels hauling a huge 2,500-meter-wide<br />
barrier system and will also rely on drones to locate<br />
garbage hot spots. Over the next few months the<br />
organisation is planning on creating a fleet of 10<br />
System 03’s. A massive project to say the least.<br />
With their innovative new technology, Ocean<br />
Cleanup boldly aims to remove 90 percent<br />
of floating plastic by 2040. The non-profit<br />
organisation is solely funded through donations and<br />
sponsorships, and hopefully when the media sorts<br />
out its environmental priority issues, more people<br />
will be exposed to the wonderful work that Boyan<br />
has done, and more people will be inspired to<br />
donate or find solutions of their own to keep those<br />
annoying plastic bottles off of our beaches.<br />
“It will be very hard to convince everyone in the<br />
world to handle their plastics responsibly, but what<br />
we humans are very good in, is inventing technical<br />
solutions to our problems.<br />
“For society to progress, we should not only move<br />
forward but also clean up after ourselves,” Boyan<br />
said.<br />
<strong>SB</strong> / #54 / 60
61 / #54 / <strong>SB</strong><br />
“It’s a very strange<br />
experience to be<br />
four or five days<br />
from the closest<br />
point of land, and<br />
you see more<br />
plastic than you<br />
have in your life,”<br />
Boyan said.
THE<br />
ART<br />
IS<br />
<strong>SB</strong> / #54 / 62
the motion of surfing<br />
art inspired by the sea<br />
always on the move…<br />
. . . is a haiku written by artist,<br />
surfer and traveller Laura Feller<br />
as a mantra for both her life and<br />
work.<br />
As an inspired artist and illustrator born in Austria,<br />
Laura simply cannot help but have the travel bug.<br />
Always going where her heart takes her, she has<br />
journeyed from the lush wonders of New Zealand to<br />
the pristine beaches of Australia to the tropical surfing<br />
paradise of Bali.<br />
Travelling inspires and drives everything Laura does,<br />
which is why wherever she goes, her sketchbook<br />
follows. Filled with wonderful watercolour illustrations,<br />
her art perfectly depicts the small intricacies and<br />
feelings of surfing and the picturesque places she visits<br />
around the world.<br />
In addition to her sketches of surfers carving up<br />
watercolour waves, her art is also littered with skilfully<br />
drawn architectural wonders inspired by her travels.<br />
Laura said she attended art school and studied<br />
architecture in the trendy and cultural city of Graz,<br />
which is a place she calls home whenever she goes<br />
back to Austria.<br />
“I took my time and travelled a lot during my studies.<br />
The further away and the more exotic the culture the<br />
better. Different architecture, food, plants, animals,<br />
languages and people are super interesting to me.<br />
“It really makes you see our planet with open eyes<br />
and teaches you to have awe in life. Looking back,<br />
that’s why I changed my path from wanting to become<br />
an architect to an artist. Well, of course surfing was<br />
involved too,” she said.<br />
Laura grew up on a small farm in the land-locked<br />
country of Austria. Her summer holidays were by the<br />
Mediterranean Sea, but while it was beautiful there,<br />
the expanse of water is almost completely enclosed<br />
by land and waveless. While she was very connected<br />
to nature her whole life, Laura said she didn’t discover<br />
surfing until she was 23.<br />
“Getting into surfing was pure luck I would say. Back in<br />
2016, I wanted to go on an exchange to Australia, but<br />
the program didn’t work out, so I signed up for study in<br />
Bali very last minute and not knowing too much about<br />
it at all.<br />
“A few months later I had my very first surf lesson<br />
through uni on Kuta Beach. Then I found a few friends<br />
who surfed, and I was hooked! I remember we often<br />
surfed before and after uni, and I just couldn’t get<br />
enough.<br />
“The seven months there passed way too quickly, and<br />
after one month of traveling in Australia afterwards I<br />
was back home in Austria. It was early March and still<br />
cold and all I could think about was ways to get back<br />
into Bali and surf. As stubborn as I am, I made it work<br />
somehow, and spent every study break in Indonesia<br />
and also later in New Zealand,” she said.<br />
For someone who grew up in a land-locked country,<br />
it’s a miracle and a wonder that Laura has become so<br />
passionate with surfing. Laura said she loves riding<br />
the waves, not just because she likes being outside<br />
and having fun with friends, but because it teaches her<br />
patience and it’s not like any other sport she has tried.<br />
“Surfing challenges you in so many ways physically<br />
and mentally. So many factors have to play out in<br />
order to catch a good wave. Pushing through those<br />
frustrating moments helped me a lot to tackle other<br />
hurdles in life, both privately and with work.<br />
“The ocean calms you and challenges you at the same<br />
time and is something that I find very freeing. What’s<br />
cool is that you’ll never be the boss, and the ocean will<br />
show you that from time to time. Eventually, you can<br />
learn to have a good relationship with it, and you will<br />
be rewarded.<br />
“There’s nothing like coming off a wave that felt good,<br />
you just can’t hide your smile afterwards and it will<br />
make you paddle back out no matter how tired your<br />
arms are already. It’s addictive, but in a good way,”<br />
she said.<br />
63 / #54 / <strong>SB</strong>
Laura’s love of the surf and the sea is reflected<br />
in her rhythmic, flowing artwork. She said at the<br />
beginning, her art and style were totally influenced<br />
by architectural sketching, until she started to carry<br />
a sketchbook around with her while travelling.<br />
“I transformed from black and white line drawings<br />
to watercolour, mostly because I just couldn’t<br />
bring the surf scenes across the way I wanted with<br />
a black pen. Exploring this new style, I actually<br />
fell in love with it. Now I can express myself best<br />
when combining line drawings with free-flowing<br />
watercolour.<br />
“I love sketching outside the most, there I can get<br />
into a certain flow where my hand is moving freely<br />
and producing what I see in a way that I could never<br />
guide consciously and that doesn’t follow any rule.<br />
These are the drawings that I’m most satisfied with<br />
myself.<br />
“You often don’t really know when and why<br />
inspiration hits you for a certain painting, but there is<br />
something that drives you, images in your head that<br />
just want to come out. For some time, when a new<br />
idea for a painting is in your head, you are almost<br />
uncomfortable until you can bring it onto paper.<br />
“In general, I would say my<br />
biggest inspiration is ‘observing<br />
closely’. For me it’s about the<br />
little details, the hidden feelings<br />
between the lines or a certain<br />
atmosphere. I soak all of that up<br />
and subconsciously transform it<br />
into lines and surfaces,” she said.<br />
Being a self-employed artist, Laura has a lot of fun<br />
letting loose her creativity with the many private<br />
commissions she’s taken on. From mural paintings,<br />
portraits of homes and window illustrations to<br />
artwork for websites, flyers and books - she leaves<br />
behind a trail of dazzling drawings wherever she<br />
travels. Laura said the one thing she loves about her<br />
job is that she gets a lot of different enquires.<br />
“Private commissions are always special, because<br />
people share their stories with me and give me their<br />
trust to transform it into a painting. My favourite<br />
piece that I have done is probably a mural where<br />
I have combined frame prints into a panoramic<br />
<strong>SB</strong> / #54 / 64
65 / #54 / <strong>SB</strong><br />
drawing of a landscape showing different places where I<br />
have travelled to. With my background in architecture, it’s<br />
super interesting to me to transform rooms and spaces<br />
with art,” she said.<br />
While Laura’s artistic motifs often include surfing,<br />
architecture and anything that she can observe around<br />
her, she also has a strong interest in sustainability across<br />
all sectors, especially when it comes to architecture. Laura<br />
said she tries to shift her focus to sustainable projects as<br />
much as she can.<br />
“I don’t only want to draw my environment, but also for the<br />
environment. Making an impact with my work is always<br />
something that drives me. With my illustrations I want to<br />
make important information visible for a larger group of<br />
people and help to make the world a little bit of a better<br />
place.<br />
“In the past year I have illustrated and written a children’s<br />
book. It’s an activity book where you can playfully explore<br />
a lot about ecological footprints and learn how to see<br />
everything on this planet as connected. The book aims to<br />
show the huge potential there is to live happily and more<br />
in tune with nature. I am still looking for a publisher who<br />
shares my passion and wants to realise this project with<br />
me.<br />
“Looking at things through kids’ eyes can teach you so<br />
much and I’m always learning lots from them for my work<br />
and life in general,” she said.<br />
In 2018, she bumped into her future husband, Tom, while<br />
surfing in Portugal. Laura said she was incredibly lucky to<br />
find a person who shares her dreams, and she can’t even<br />
imagine going on surfing adventures without him.<br />
“For the past one and a half years I have been at home,<br />
but my husband and I have recently moved back to Bali to<br />
stay for a year. I just love the tropical weather and food of<br />
Bali, and with the friendly and kind people and the amazing<br />
waves, it’s just paradise on earth,” she said.<br />
While Laura adores travelling the beaches and wonders of<br />
the world with her sketchbook in hand, she said the most<br />
difficult part of following the waves is that it always comes<br />
with being away from her family and friends.<br />
“At the moment I am moving around a lot to try and<br />
balance time with loved ones, living by the sea, and work,<br />
which is not always easy. I feel like I have three places I call<br />
home and I can’t split myself in three pieces.<br />
“Every move naturally comes with a lot of heartbreak, but<br />
also joy and excitement, Sometimes I think if we had a<br />
wave pool in Austria the decision of where to live would be<br />
easy, but in the end that’s not true. Honestly, I’d still have<br />
the travel bug,” she said.<br />
Laura’s collections of inspired artwork and illustrations can<br />
be found on her website,<br />
www.laurafeller.com, Instagram, @laurafellerart, and<br />
Facebook, Always On The Move/laurafellerart.
W<br />
W<br />
<strong>SB</strong> / #54 / 66
AYNE’S<br />
ORLD<br />
IN WHAT IS A SEEMINGLY UNLIKELY LOCATION,<br />
SOME 50KM OUTSIDE OF DENMARK ON THE<br />
SOUTH COAST OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA IS<br />
THE LARGEST PUBLICLY DISPLAYED PRIVATE<br />
COLLECTION OF HISTORIC AND COLLECTABLE<br />
SURFBOARDS IN AUSTRALIA.<br />
words: Angus Brown<br />
photos: supplied courtesy of Wayne Winchester<br />
67 / #54 / <strong>SB</strong>
Wayne Winchester is the man behind this new and<br />
exciting venture which opened its doors in early<br />
2022. Wayne has been working on living the dream<br />
for half a century, not only shaping, repairing and<br />
restoring boards, but most importantly surfing,<br />
photographing, filming and amassing a collection of<br />
historic boards and memorabilia.<br />
As a young man in the 70s and 80s, Wayne was<br />
living in the Perth area when his passion for all<br />
things surfing led him towards making boards in his<br />
family backyard shed. Over time he shaped under a<br />
range of brands including Boom Shankar, Tin Can<br />
Surfboards, Salt Fever and Winchester. In the 80s,<br />
Wayne and his wife Carol managed to have a team<br />
of staff working and shaping boards.<br />
Wayne was absorbed in the surfing lifestyle as a<br />
young man, though he is quick to point out that<br />
although he loved everything surf-related, including<br />
running a board shaping business, he always<br />
worked a real job on the side to help supplement<br />
his lifestyle. While his shaping business was<br />
successful, he soon found a niche in the market<br />
offering surfboard repairs.<br />
While most of the surf shops in the Perth area at the<br />
time sold boards, very few offered a repair service.<br />
So, Wayne and his team developed a reputation for<br />
delivering quality board repairs and soon after most<br />
of the shops in the Perth area were referring to him.<br />
Wayne identified that board repair was relatively<br />
lucrative as making boards (similar to today) was a<br />
very time-consuming and expensive process with<br />
often very tight margins.<br />
We will address Wayne’s Surf Gallery and<br />
“Evolution of the Surfboard’ exhibition later, but<br />
for now we wanted to catch up with him and pick<br />
his brain on surfboard restoration and surfboard<br />
collecting - both of which are his key passions and<br />
has led him to where he is today.<br />
RESTORATION<br />
Wayne was keen to differentiate between surfboard<br />
repair and surfboard restoration.<br />
“Repairs are usually done to everyday riders and<br />
are generally just to fix specific areas of damage to<br />
keep the board in a surfable condition.<br />
AS A YOUNG MAN IN THE<br />
70S AND 80S, WAYNE<br />
WAS LIVING IN THE<br />
PERTH AREA WHEN<br />
HIS PASSION FOR ALL<br />
THINGS SURFING LED<br />
HIM TOWARDS MAKING<br />
BOARDS IN HIS FAMILY<br />
BACKYARD SHED<br />
“Restoration involves a much deeper and complex<br />
process. The work is generally done to specific<br />
vintage surfboards and involves the entire board,”<br />
he said.<br />
Approaches to surfboard restoration vary. Some<br />
‘hard’ restoration processes can be quite intensive,<br />
as basically all of the fibreglass is removed leaving<br />
only the original blank, with the board being built<br />
back up using new decals, colours and glass.<br />
On the other end of the spectrum, we have all seen<br />
those restoration jobs where an old board receives<br />
a paint job on the outside of the glass and a new<br />
shiny clear coat to retain only the tapped off logo,<br />
shape and rails of the original board. As a collector<br />
and surf historian, Wayne takes a more measured<br />
and honest approach to his restoration work.<br />
“Restoration demands a different level of respect.<br />
It’s about preserving culture and it aligns with my<br />
technical, environmental and artistic approach to<br />
life,” he said.<br />
<strong>SB</strong> / #54 / 68
69 / #54 / <strong>SB</strong>
HE ATTEMPTS TO SOURCE PERIOD<br />
CORRECT FINS AND, IF REQUIRED,<br />
CORRECT DECALS AND LOGOS. EVEN<br />
MAINTAINING MUCH OF THE PATINA,<br />
SUCH AS THE YELLOWING AND<br />
MARKS OF A WELL-USED AND LOVED<br />
SURFBOARD, IS IMPORTANT TO HIM.<br />
WAYNE OF COURSE TAKES SERIOUS<br />
EFFORTS TO COLOUR MATCH AND<br />
REPAIR ANY DESIGNS OR ARTWORKS.<br />
<strong>SB</strong> / #54 / 70
Bringing surfboards back from the brink to where<br />
they are valued and appreciated is intrinsically<br />
rewarding for Wayne. Some of his clients want<br />
to surf the boards again, and others want them<br />
as display items or even to sell, which is also a<br />
factor in how the restoration is approached. While<br />
he considers the customer’s desires, he prefers a<br />
‘softer’ approach to restoration.<br />
Authenticity is key for Wayne, as he likes to keep<br />
as much of the original fabric and material of the<br />
boards as possible. He focusses on repairing any<br />
of the damage and structural issues using minimal<br />
impact and the correct materials.<br />
“My involvement in the surfing industry since the<br />
late 60s has given me the knowledge to undertake<br />
the work in a manner that is sympathetic to the<br />
era that the board was made, using period correct<br />
materials and techniques,” he said.<br />
He attempts to source period correct fins and,<br />
if required, correct decals and logos. Even<br />
maintaining much of the patina, such as the<br />
yellowing and marks of a well-used and loved<br />
surfboard, is important to him. Wayne of course<br />
takes serious efforts to colour match and repair any<br />
designs or artworks.<br />
Surfboard condition is typically ranked on a 1 to<br />
10 scale. Wayne notes that while not all boards<br />
can be restored back to a high rank, with a good<br />
restoration job, all boards can be improved.<br />
COLLECTABILITY.<br />
It’s impossible to explore surfboard restoration<br />
without delving into the subject of surfboard<br />
collectability and value. Wayne reports that he<br />
noticed the collectability and monetary value of<br />
old surfboards had become increasingly apparent<br />
in the 2000’s. Prior to this, although there were<br />
collectors, there wasn’t as broader demand or real<br />
appreciation for the importance and historic value of<br />
surfboards.<br />
But, given the growth of the wide-spread appeal<br />
of surfing, this situation has changed. Wayne talks<br />
of the ‘40-year factor’ in collecting which can be<br />
seen in a whole range of areas such as music,<br />
furniture, fashion or any pop culture objects where<br />
items can become highly desirable again. This<br />
may be because of trends returning, or people<br />
wanting to connect with their past (and some 40<br />
years later they have the means and time to revisit<br />
this influential time of their life) or the quality and<br />
craftsmanship finally being recognised in a world of<br />
mass production.<br />
“You can consider value in terms of monetary terms<br />
or emotional terms,” he said.<br />
In terms of general collectable demand and<br />
monetary value there are a couple of core<br />
considerations: age, condition and providence.<br />
Wayne notes that originally it was the boards of<br />
the 50s and 60s that were sought after and had<br />
the highest value. This then extended to the single<br />
fins of the 70s and now, much to his surprise, the<br />
fluorescent thrusters of the 80s. He is not sure<br />
how this will translate for the mass-produced, thin<br />
banana boards of the nineties but hey, you never<br />
know!<br />
71 / #54 / <strong>SB</strong>
Example of providence -<br />
Martin Potters board on the<br />
cover of Tracks magazine.<br />
<strong>SB</strong> / #54 / 72
The overall condition of the board is also an important<br />
factor, whether this be its original condition or<br />
restored condition. As discussed, boards are rated on<br />
a 1 to 10 scale in terms of condition. The boards that<br />
are typically in better condition are more collectable.<br />
This is where the quality of the restoration process in<br />
terms of enhancing the boards condition plays a big<br />
role.<br />
However, providence is the most significant and often<br />
unknown factor in terms of making a board financially<br />
valuable. Providence refers to the verified background<br />
of the board, including the shaper, the brand, the<br />
decals, the artwork, and the people who have ridden<br />
it. These all add to the story, history and importance<br />
of a board. For the average surfer who has a couple<br />
of old boards under the house, this is one of the<br />
most difficult areas to determine. Those of us who<br />
don’t have an intimate knowledge of surfing history<br />
probably don’t pay much attention to many of these<br />
details. Being able to identify the tangible history of<br />
the board helps to determine its true value. Searching<br />
for clues such as the brand, the shaper and any<br />
identifying features can assist with this investigative<br />
process. Wayne advised a good starting point is the<br />
surfsearch.com.au website.<br />
THE SURF GALLERY<br />
‘EVOLUTION OF THE<br />
SURFBOARD’<br />
Over his years in the industry, Wayne amassed an<br />
impressive collection of rare and collectible boards.<br />
When running his shaping and repair factory in Perth,<br />
surfers would often trade their old boards for the latest<br />
models.<br />
“People didn’t see the value in old single fins, they<br />
were seeking to get their hands on the latest thruster,”<br />
he said.<br />
Despite not having any plans for the growing<br />
collection at the time, he maintained a deep<br />
appreciation for the craftsmanship and artwork<br />
associated with these boards so he couldn’t help<br />
but keep them. Wayne explained that at the time,<br />
those boards were not considered collectable, as<br />
they weren’t that old. It wasn’t until the early 2000s,<br />
when the sport of surfing become a major industry,<br />
that people really started to appreciate them for their<br />
cultural and historical significance.<br />
Forward some 30 or so years later, Wayne decided it<br />
was time display his hidden treasures.<br />
He curated some hugely successful “Evolution of the<br />
Surfboard” exhibitions in Albany and Esperance and<br />
received a lot of interest in his collection. Momentum<br />
continued to build but the logistics of transporting<br />
and displaying his boards proved prohibitive. So<br />
Wayne, with the support of his wife Carol, sought<br />
and identified a suitable property on the highway at<br />
Youngs Siding. Previously it was a dairy farm and at<br />
the time of purchase in 2020 it housed a Woodwork<br />
Shop.
<strong>SB</strong> / #54 / 74
After significant hard work and refurbishment, this became<br />
the permanent location for what is today the largest private<br />
collection on public display of surfboards in Australia. The<br />
exhibition space and display are of a very high standard and<br />
Wayne talks of drawing inspiration from MONA in Tasmania.<br />
It is apparent when visiting the venue that Wayne has a focus<br />
and attention to detail that is present in all he undertakes.<br />
Wayne with Neves and<br />
the Mexican Board<br />
The surf gallery houses an extensive collection of<br />
boards dating back to the origins of surfing through the<br />
development of the surfboard up until the current day. It<br />
is hard to describe the quality and historical importance of<br />
some of these boards but consider some highlights such<br />
as an original 1975 Jerry Lopez Lightning Bolt, a 1968<br />
George Greenough Spoon and a 1981 Michael Peterson<br />
Winterspoon. But there are so many more, some 80 in total,<br />
on show.<br />
There are also a range of historic photos and a curated film<br />
on display taken by Wayne and his brother that transport you<br />
back in time. The exhibition also includes a brief evolution of<br />
the skateboard from the 60s to the 80s along with a viewing<br />
window into Wayne’s workshop where, if you are lucky, you<br />
can see him working his magic.<br />
Since opening, Wayne continues to develop his collection,<br />
with people often giving him surfing memorabilia knowing<br />
it will be valued and may be given the opportunity to be<br />
appreciated by a broader audience.<br />
Alongside the gallery is a coffee shop (for which Carol bakes<br />
fresh cakes daily) and a restored dairy shed and meeting<br />
place which makes for a great place to chill and reflect on<br />
this little gem of a setup. In the near future there will be<br />
opportunities for related artists to access gallery space so<br />
keep an eye out on the website for more information.<br />
thesurfgallery.com.au<br />
surfboardresto.com.au<br />
IT IS HARD TO DESCRIBE<br />
THE QUALITY AND<br />
HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE<br />
OF SOME OF THESE BOARDS<br />
BUT CONSIDER SOME<br />
HIGHLIGHTS SUCH AS AN<br />
ORIGINAL 1975 JERRY<br />
LOPEZ LIGHTNING BOLT, A<br />
1968 GEORGE GREENOUGH<br />
SPOON AND A 1981 MICHAEL<br />
PETERSON WINTERSPOON.<br />
THE MEXICAN<br />
When talking about value to an individual it is not<br />
necessarily about financial worth. Wayne’s favourite and<br />
personally most valuable board is ‘The Mexican’. He<br />
obtained the board in the 80s and it is the one he feels the<br />
most attached too. The board is a short twin fine shaped by<br />
Ian Keightly in 1976 (Mt Pleasant WA) and depicts a lonely<br />
Mexican riding a donkey across the desert, with perfect<br />
unridden barrels in the background. For Wayne, this image<br />
captured and continues to conjure up the allure of surfing<br />
and travel in the 70s, with a world of unknown waves to be<br />
ridden by adventurous surfers.<br />
The story of this board became even more interesting when<br />
Wayne was able to locate the artist, Neves Sumner, who<br />
airbrushed the image at 16 years of age. Wayne described<br />
the moment as being quite emotional when he was able<br />
to show the board to Neves some 40 plus years later. The<br />
Mexican takes pride of place in the exhibition.<br />
75 / #54 / <strong>SB</strong>
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<strong>SB</strong> / #54 / 76
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E: leightonclark01@yahoo.com.au<br />
M: 0422 443 789<br />
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L: The “Compass” model -<br />
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W: espsurfboards.com<br />
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77 / #54 / <strong>SB</strong>
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<strong>SB</strong> / #54 / 78<br />
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Photo Credit: Hewysurf Photography<br />
Burford Blanks<br />
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79 / #54 / <strong>SB</strong><br />
MORGA<strong>SB</strong>OARDER • SMORGA<strong>SB</strong>OARDER • SMORGA<strong>SB</strong>OARDER •
<strong>SB</strong> / #54 / 80
NZ BRICKS<br />
MORTALS<br />
NEW ZEALAND , S BEST SURF SHOPS<br />
81 / #54 / <strong>SB</strong>
Out There,<br />
DOIN’ IT!<br />
“This is my shop!” - a fair comment, if it’s coming<br />
from the person who owns it, however, so often<br />
it’s from a customer. It’s humbling, as you know<br />
you’re on the right track when you inadvertently hear<br />
comments like that as they walk past the door telling<br />
their friends about the store.<br />
“I buy all my gear from here” - so many do, and it’s<br />
appreciated.<br />
We’ve been around a while here at NZSHRED.<br />
From our conception in the mid-80’s out of a need<br />
to fund a Southern Hemisphere snow holiday, to<br />
the modern day where we cater for all sorts of<br />
fashion and sport orientated hardware and apparel<br />
requirements. From our roots in snow and skate,<br />
through to surf and SUP, to the modern era of wake,<br />
foil and bike. Like so many other customers remind<br />
us - “You have a bit of everything in here!”. There is<br />
a lot of product in our little footprint – it really is like<br />
owning your very own toy shop.<br />
The development of a relationship with our<br />
customers is at the core of our NZSHRED<br />
community. It’s as much about understanding the<br />
marketplace, reading the customer requirements<br />
or paying the bills as it is being honest to ourselves<br />
and making sure we are also ‘getting out there and<br />
doing it’!<br />
I’ve always found it funny when sitting with a<br />
customer fitting them into a new pair of snowboard<br />
boots or trying them in a good pair of goggles and<br />
they comment - “Well, you could sell me anything, I<br />
suppose”. And partly, they are right. A salespersons<br />
skill is sometimes misconstrued as their ability to<br />
convince a customer that they need a particular<br />
item. I’d like to think we take a very different<br />
approach and our reply to their suggestion is - “But,<br />
I will see you in the lift line”, and we do! There is<br />
no better feeling than to be waved at randomly by<br />
someone sporting their new kit, proud as punch,<br />
and, just like us, they’re ‘out there doing it!’.<br />
Sitting in the line-up some months ago at our<br />
closest break on the New Zealand South Island’s<br />
very south coast, the swell had dropped out and<br />
I had time between sets to loose myself in the<br />
magic of the morning sun reflecting on the water<br />
and the glassiness that was suggesting to me<br />
perhaps a switch to a SUP would keep me out there<br />
for another hour or so. As I perused those hardy<br />
folks, who no doubt were having similar thoughts<br />
to me, I recognised a recent customer sporting<br />
a 7’6” funboard purchased just days before. He<br />
was ‘out there doing it’, as were the group of local<br />
Queenstown girls, eating their breakfast after their<br />
“There is no<br />
better feeling<br />
than to be waved<br />
at randomly by<br />
someone sporting<br />
their new kit,<br />
proud as punch,<br />
and, just like us,<br />
they’re ‘out there<br />
doing it!’.”
morning session while watching the tiny swells meander into the bay<br />
from the side of their campervan. Two of the wetsuits hanging from<br />
the back door were literally hanging instore just days before.<br />
I think this is what owning a shop is really about, the ability to be part<br />
of your own community, to do the things you like and sell that game to<br />
your customers.<br />
Whether it’s some early morning laps up the Remarkables, or a<br />
session with friends in the backcountry of the Doolans,<br />
It could be negotiating messy peaks at Colac Bay, or a sunset SUP<br />
paddle and a beer on Lake Wakatipu.<br />
Or, just getting that endless powder fix on our annual Japan snow<br />
tour.<br />
In equal measure, we must strive for the products to facilitate the<br />
tasks, as much as we encourage and embrace the drive to stay ‘out<br />
there, doing it’!<br />
Real Surf<br />
“Real Surf is a locally owned and operated Core Surf Store<br />
specialising in surfboards, wetsuits, hardware and rentals. Come<br />
check out our new store just down the road at 5/56 Kingsford<br />
Smith St, Lyall Bay, Wellington.<br />
“We’re open 7 days a week with a friendly and experienced team<br />
ready to help out with your next purchase!<br />
Alternatively check out our website for the latest products and<br />
sale deals at www.realsurf.co.nz or find us on social media.”<br />
+64 4 387 8798<br />
www.realsurf.co.nz<br />
team@realsurf.co.nz<br />
In the 80’s we printed t-shirts as kids<br />
with our surf designs in our beach<br />
garage. Coupled with home made surf<br />
wax and board repairs, our surf brand<br />
was a family affair.<br />
Today the prints are available worldwide<br />
through our online store. Our shirts are<br />
hand-crafted and made with the same<br />
love and aloha from the 80s. We stock<br />
authentic Hawaiian shirts, single<br />
fins, vintage art and all things<br />
longboard. We have strong<br />
connections to Australia<br />
with Michael Saggus<br />
Longboards and Surf<br />
organic wax. Find us<br />
under the palm trees of<br />
Mount Maunganui.<br />
169 Maunganui Rd,<br />
Mt Maunganui Beach<br />
P: (07)5743888<br />
NZ SHRED<br />
words: jase johns<br />
www.nzshred.co.nz<br />
mountlongboards.com<br />
83 / #54 / <strong>SB</strong>
SUP CENTRE<br />
In days heavily reliant on online shopping and web<br />
orders, at the SupCentre we still recognise the<br />
importance of an in-store experience. With our shop<br />
conveniently located near Auckland’s CBD, we aim to<br />
be a one-stop shop for all your watersport needs.<br />
In-store we not only stock an extensive range of quality<br />
brands but a variety of clothing, accessories and hard<br />
goods. Customers of the store are always met with<br />
our friendly, knowledgeable staff who can answer your<br />
questions, provide you with local advice or are just<br />
down to have a yarn about all things surf and SUP.<br />
By buying in-store not only do you get to try on gear,<br />
compare boards and view or test products but you<br />
are more likely to walk away with a board that is a<br />
perfect fit for you and your needs. An in-store surf shop<br />
experience is unparalleled. Whether it be the live surf<br />
comps streamed in the shop, a peek inside our fin box<br />
or our exclusive instant coffee service from our wellknown<br />
neighbour’s Cafe Laffare. A trip to SupCentre<br />
will leave you feeling psyched and ready for your next<br />
mission!<br />
So be sure to pop in store for a good time and great<br />
deals. You are in good hands with Auckland’s shop for<br />
all things stand-up paddle, surf and foil.<br />
P: 09 520 3366<br />
20 MELROSE STREET, NEWMARKET,<br />
AUCKLAND 1023, NEW ZEALAND<br />
supcentre.co.nz<br />
Your stand<br />
up paddle<br />
boarding<br />
specialists.<br />
Moana<br />
SUP and Surf<br />
Your stand up paddleboarding specialists<br />
We’re a locally owned Nelson-based business specialising<br />
in everything SUP and driven by our passion for the<br />
magnificent Moana.<br />
Our premium range of NZ inspired stand up paddleboards<br />
and accessories are designed by kiwis, tested on kiwis, and<br />
paddled all over Aotearoa and beyond. Having fine tuned<br />
every detail of every board, we believe we have a range<br />
of boards that will get your whānau out there enjoying the<br />
Moana. So if you are looking for a flat water cruiser or a<br />
wave machine, we can hook you up!! Pop in and check out<br />
our range, try a demo, and get amongst it. We also stock<br />
a great range of quality Moana clothing and merchandise,<br />
as well as other well-known surf brands like Vissla, Xcel,<br />
Sisstrevolution, and O’Neill.<br />
Whether you want advice on which board is best for you,<br />
the ultimate paddleboarding locations or any advice<br />
remotely related to the ocean - don’t be shy, it’s our favourite<br />
thing to kōrero about. We paddle, we surf, we play, and we<br />
enjoy being out there as much as you do.<br />
Come see us at Shop 2,<br />
623 Rocks Road, Moana,<br />
Nelson, 7011, visit us online at<br />
moananzsup.co.nz, drop us an email<br />
at boards@moananzsup.co.nz,<br />
or give us a bell on 027 285 0772.<br />
We ship nationwide.<br />
<strong>SB</strong> / #54 / 84
Pedal and Paddle<br />
With over 25 years of experience in<br />
recreational activities on the land and sea,<br />
Pedal and Paddle is a cycle and surf store<br />
with soul at the gateway to the Coromandel.<br />
Whether it is a kayak or a stand-up paddleboard, we have enlarged<br />
hire fleets available for you to experience the pristine coast in<br />
your own way. Or, if you prefer to explore on land, we have a<br />
comprehensive range of E-bikes for you to traverse the urban jungles<br />
and Mountain Bikes for you to immerse yourself in the forest regions.<br />
In alignment with our obligation to preserve the environment, this<br />
summer we are actively promoting and committing to the collection of<br />
rubbish with our TRU NORTH initiative in respect to the land and sea.<br />
As part of this, we are proud to announce that we are now a key<br />
stockist of Helly Hanson’s sustainably sourced professional-grade<br />
range of clothing and gear.<br />
If you are passing through in your self-contained campervan,<br />
you are invited to stay at our Little Onion Parkover, an animal<br />
friendly campground nestled next to the serene water of the upper<br />
Whangamata harbour complete with barbeques and supplied kayaks.<br />
We also welcome you to take advantage of our store boat ‘Castaway’<br />
to deliver you to the quiet haven of the peninsular beaches for a surf<br />
or a picnic.<br />
Pedal and Paddle is here to make<br />
your experiences on the land or sea<br />
unforgettable all year round.<br />
Full range of NZ Kayaks,<br />
and all equipment<br />
www.pedalandpaddle.co.nz<br />
85 / #54 / <strong>SB</strong>
SADHANA SURFBOARDS<br />
NZ Board Building Supplies<br />
NZ Board Builder Supplies, is New Zealand’s only online specialist<br />
shapers supplier.<br />
Stocking a full range of Bennett PU and EPS blanks, known for their<br />
whiteness, small cell structure, consistent density, strength and<br />
lightness. We also have fibreglass cloth and tapes, polyester and<br />
epoxy resins, Shapers tools, DIY kits and installation equipment.<br />
Whether you’re a seasoned shaping veteran or a backyard expert, we<br />
have the tested, professional equipment to craft your own board.<br />
Buy online or visit us in store at Sadhana Surfboards, Christchurch.<br />
Shipping New Zealand Wide<br />
sadhanasurfboards.co.nz<br />
+64 03 3895611 sales@sadhanasurfboards.com<br />
Ultimate Surf<br />
& Skate<br />
Ultimate Surf & Skate has been<br />
Auckland’s premium core surf & skate<br />
shop since 2000, supplying New Zealand<br />
with quality gear that’s been tested and<br />
proven by our crew.<br />
We’re New Zealand’s biggest stockist of<br />
Firewire and Haydenshapes surfboards,<br />
with many other amazing brands such as<br />
Christenson, Tokoro, Salt Gypsy, NSP<br />
and many more.<br />
Tested and proven wetsuits from<br />
Billabong, Vissla, C-Skins and<br />
Sisstrevolution.<br />
Next time you’re up in Auckland<br />
come visit us in our huge<br />
showroom and have a chat<br />
with our very experienced,<br />
knowledgeable and friendly<br />
staff. We’ll make sure you’re on<br />
the correct gear and/or advice<br />
before leaving the store<br />
+64 9 476 7000<br />
ultimatesurfnskate.co.nz<br />
‘Ultimate Surf & Skate -<br />
by surfers, for surfers’<br />
<strong>SB</strong> / #54 / 86
BEACH FRONT CAFE<br />
OFFERING BREAKFAST, LUNCH<br />
OR AN AFTER SURF BEER!<br />
Beachstreet<br />
Beachstreet Surf Shop - is a core surf shop, locally<br />
owned and operated, just up from Fitzroy Beach.<br />
We stock surfing products for all types of wave<br />
riding. Home to local brands Lost in the 60’s and<br />
Blacksand.<br />
Also offering trade in’s, ding repair, hire equipment<br />
and stand-up paddle and surf coaching.<br />
Beachstreet Surf Shop, it’s all about surfing!<br />
+64 6-758 0400<br />
chip@hotmail.co.nz<br />
CONTACT<br />
+6 4387 4539<br />
cafe@maranui.co.nz<br />
7 Lyall Parade, Lyall Bay,<br />
Wellington, New Zeland
AUS<br />
AUSTRALIA , S BEST SURF SHOPS<br />
BRICKS<br />
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<strong>SB</strong> / #54 / 88
89 / #54 / <strong>SB</strong>
HUGE CHOICE.<br />
UNBEATABLE PRICES.<br />
BEST ADVICE.<br />
<strong>SB</strong> / #54 / 90
HANDMADE SURFBAORDS<br />
MORE THAN<br />
JUST A<br />
SURF STORE.<br />
Open every day from<br />
19th Dec - Xmas Eve: 9am-5pm<br />
TEXT US!<br />
0408 068 068<br />
WE’RE HAVING<br />
TECHNICAL ISSUES<br />
WITH OUR LANDLINE.<br />
Mon, Wed & Fri: 9am-5pm<br />
Sat & Sun: 10am-3pm<br />
29 Ipswich Rd,<br />
Woolloongabba QLD 4102<br />
(parking at rear on Gibbon Street)<br />
office@goodtime.com.au<br />
goodtime.com.au<br />
91 / #54 / <strong>SB</strong>
Peter White still making the surfboards locally in<br />
Eumundi with the showroom open for convenience in<br />
Noosaville. Our showroom address is Unit 3/37 Project<br />
Ave Noosaville, next to the Land and Sea brewery.<br />
Appointments to see Peter in the factory can<br />
be via EMAIL: peter@classicmalibu.com<br />
and/or PHONE: 0402 106 616<br />
Unit 3/37 Project Ave, Noosaville, qld<br />
info@classicmalibu.com<br />
Ph: 07 5474 3122 / Janet: 0409 004 760<br />
classicmalibu.com<br />
@classicmalibusurfboards<br />
<strong>SB</strong> / #54 / 92
More than<br />
200 years<br />
board<br />
building<br />
experience<br />
under one<br />
roof<br />
Since 1969 this familyowned<br />
surf brand has tied<br />
the coastal community<br />
of Philip Island together<br />
with not one, but two<br />
surf stores. Island has<br />
become renowned for<br />
their quality hand-shaped,<br />
custom boards and their<br />
generational knowledge on<br />
everything surf related.<br />
Their store on Smiths Beach<br />
just happens to be home to<br />
one of the most established<br />
surf schools in Australia.<br />
Island’s location is so close<br />
to the surf you can almost<br />
feel the sea spray while<br />
perusing their wide selection<br />
of performance surfboards<br />
and all the accessories<br />
and clothing a surfer could<br />
possibly need to enjoy their<br />
time in the water.<br />
+613 5952 2578<br />
islandsurfboards.com.au<br />
cowes@islandsurfboards.com.au<br />
147 Thompson Avenue, Cowes<br />
225 Smiths Beach Rd, Smiths Beach<br />
@islandsurfboards
10%<br />
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ONLINE<br />
“REVIVAL10”<br />
at checkout<br />
Brunswick Surf<br />
1/12 The Terrace,<br />
Brunswick Heads NSW<br />
p: 02 6685 1283<br />
brunswicksurf.com.au<br />
1/25 coldstream strett,<br />
yamba, nsw<br />
02 6646 3454<br />
revivalyamba.com.au<br />
HUTCHINSON 7’ x 18 ¼ x 2 7/8<br />
MORE THAN<br />
JUST A SURF<br />
CLOTHING<br />
STORE!<br />
WE STOCK<br />
BODYBOARDS,<br />
SKATE, SURF<br />
HARDWARE AND<br />
A FINE DISPLAY<br />
OF CLASSIC<br />
SURFBOARDS.<br />
The Anglesea Surf Centre is situated in<br />
the heart of the Surfcoast, 10 minutes<br />
from the surf capital of Torquay and<br />
twenty minutes from the popular coastal<br />
get away Lorne.<br />
Located right on the Great Ocean Road,<br />
we are famous for our friendly and<br />
helpful service, huge range of new and<br />
second hand surfboards, wetsuits and<br />
accessories.<br />
lowpressuresurf.com.au<br />
68 Prince St Grafton NSW<br />
Phone: 02 6643 5551<br />
noel@lowpressuresurfco.com.au<br />
SOL 6’8” x 19 x 2 7/8<br />
111 great ocean road,<br />
Anglesea vic<br />
03 5263 1530<br />
angleseasurfcentre.com.au<br />
@anglesea_surf_centre<br />
<strong>SB</strong> / #54 / 94
40 years in the making, the store was founded on<br />
following the alternate and freeing surf lifestyle. With<br />
an awe-inspiring store, Natural Necessity is the<br />
largest single doorway surf shop in Australia boasting<br />
an assortment of surfing fashion, hardware and a<br />
stunning gallery of over 1000 boards.<br />
Located in Gerringong a couple hours south of<br />
Sydney, the store is one of the Smorgasboarder<br />
crew’s all-time favourites. Indeed, when we’re asked<br />
about the best surf stores we’ve ever seen, Natural<br />
Necessity is always one of the first that comes to<br />
mind.<br />
Natural Necessity Surf Shop<br />
115 Fern St, Gerringong NSW<br />
(02) 4234 1636<br />
naturalnecessity.com.au<br />
@naturalnecessity<br />
95 / #54 / <strong>SB</strong>
HED NINE<br />
REW<br />
OMING<br />
HROUGH<br />
Shed Nine, the core, surf, skate, bodyboard, snow and foil store in Rye, Victoria is run by mutli-boarding<br />
legend Eddie Wearne. There is not much he can’t ride and Eddie has had two feature articles over the past<br />
decade so when we approached him for our “Bricks and Mortar” edition he was surfing alone in a remote<br />
Indonesian tidal bore and said “Lets do something on the next generation of our team riders and staff<br />
because They Are The Future! Lets stoke out the Groms! There are plenty of talented kids coming up on<br />
our coast and around Oz, and although we can’t sponsor them all, we will do what we can! Support Your<br />
Independent Bricks And Mortar, They Have Community At Heart!<br />
<strong>SB</strong> / #54 / 96
Lilly is a fearless, talented and committed skater,<br />
her favorite moves are frontside tailslides and<br />
backside airs, she loves any white stripes tune old<br />
school Elton and Hip Hop like her mum.<br />
Sponsors: Shed Nine | Pic: mum<br />
LILLY<br />
SHERRIFF<br />
OWEN<br />
FAIRWEATHER<br />
(16 yo Junior World Kneeboard champ and staff)<br />
O-dog loves pit to roundhouse cutback combos<br />
and cant wait to get to the Mentawis.<br />
Sponsors: Shed Nine, Balin,<br />
Mick Pierce Shapes<br />
Pic: bruce sherlock<br />
SPENCER<br />
DAVIS<br />
(17 yo surfer, skater & snowboarder and staff<br />
member) Spence is a multi board, mutlti sponsored,<br />
techno shred head. He hopes to surf and dj his way<br />
around the coast of Oz, some day.<br />
Sponsors: Shed Nine, Adelio, 3D Fins, ZFlex<br />
Pic: Jeff lease<br />
JETT<br />
HARRISON<br />
(16 yo surfer and staff member) Jett was<br />
last years most improved junior in the local<br />
‘Peninsula Boardriders Club”. Well sponsored,<br />
he dreams of running a boat in the Mentawai’s so<br />
he can surf amazing waves every day.<br />
Sponsors: Zion, OAM, Shed Nine,<br />
Two Boys Kombucha<br />
Pic: peninsula sports<br />
photography<br />
97 / #54 / <strong>SB</strong><br />
shednine.com<br />
362 dundas street<br />
rye ocean beach, vic
pic: @corabezemersurf<br />
The<br />
Harries<br />
Pro 9’1”<br />
Introducing the Harries Pro. It looks<br />
like a Mal but it rides like a short board.<br />
This board, which features Sunova's<br />
BalsaFlex construction technology, is<br />
so free and loose that no one believes a<br />
Longboard can be surfed so radically.<br />
The Harries PRO is the ultimate<br />
performance longboard, striking a fine<br />
balance between competitive edge and<br />
longboarding tradition.<br />
benbucklerboards.com.au
AVAILABLE NOW AT YOUR LOCAL SURF STORE<br />
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