I founded Otter Surfboards in 2010, where we design and make hollow, skin and frame wooden surfboards and run "build-your-own" courses to help customers to reconnect with the act of making by building their own wooden surfboard under our tutelage. Our wooden surfboards are the product of the shared twin passions of surfing and fine woodworking that drive the workshop here with a strong nod to the planet that we live on. Wooden surfboards stand separate from the vast majority of petro-chemical derived surfboards found bobbing in line-ups these days; they glide and carry their momentum to help you flow through fat sections, they flex and recoil out of turns in a different and more controlled manner than foam boards, and they look like straight up works of art. Wood has been a principal material in the construction of surfboards since ancient Hawaiians started to shape wave-riding tools. Here at Otter Surfboards we look back for inspiration to the construction techniques first pioneered by legendary waterman and surfboard designer Tom Blake in the 1930’s, whilst looking forwards towards a future of more considered and harmonious surf craft that enhance enjoyment and accessibility of waves by blending the best of old and new: Traditional materials and techniques with modern refinements and construction methods.