Otter Surfboards

Glimmers of sunshine had us daydreaming about the year that lays ahead of us. - Planning a few surf and SUP adventures into the diary, using ‘work’ as an excuse for discovering and exploring new places. What is your big adventure for 2019? - 📷 Mat Arney Photography

A couple of weeks ago Duncan came down to collect his board with his family in tow. He headed straight to the beach where his wife, Eleanor, took a few pics and his son, Jack, cheered him on from the sand. Big smiles and stoke all round!

Reflections on week number one. How has it been for you all? - For us, this week was all about getting back to work. We normally take things a little slower through January as it’s a great time to reflect and gather ideas for the year ahead as well as make the most of our refreshed and reenergised minds and bodies. We’re straight back into it this year though, with a couple of custom surfboards to make and a workshop in early February to prepare for.

What a lovely run of swell that was! - Pretty unseasonal, but we’ll take knee to shoulder high and clean any time of year!

As we near the end of another year, before we start looking ahead to what’s to come in 2019, we like to take a moment to pause and reflect on the past twelve months. It’s an opportunity both to celebrate our high points, and note the lessons to carry over to next year.​
Www.ottersurfboards.co.uk/journal
Moments that stood out for us include releasing a new board model - The Barque.
... Surfing in snow a number of times as the arrival of the ‘Beast from the East’ was also met with a small run of swell.
We were thrilled to be featured on @kmhumble series of Back to the Land on BBC2 back in spring.
June saw our annual evening of boards, barbecue and beers go down with great success and culminated in a film viewing and interview with Tim Nunn about his project ‘Dispatches from a Plastic Planet.’ In July we were invited by our good friends at @surfersagainstsewage to make a bellyboard for HRH The Prince of Wales. We even managed to make it out of some of his own timber from Highgrove Estate and gifted it to him at the Ocean Plastics Solution day hosted by SAS and @finisterreuk In the high summer, James and Liz and Chris and Flo became parents for the first time. A great time of joy, love and celebration for us all in the workshop.
One of James’ oldest friends, Ally, joined the team and hasn’t looked back. Turning his hand to anything we ask of him and helping keeping us all heading in the right direction with big smiles on our faces.
We launched our exploration paddleboards at the start of September and we’re excited to hear of the adventures they will go on in the coming weeks, months and years.
Our Annual Gathering of Makers took place at the end of September and was possibly one of the best ever! We saw so many of our past workshoppers from over the years and brought them all together for a day of surfing and an evening of good food and great company.
In October, @dankieran brought out his latest book, The Surfboard, through his company @unbounders
James’ first wooden surfboard celebrated it’s tenth birthday with a day in the ocean.
We are thankful for all of the highs and lows of the year and are incredibly excited for what 2019 will bring! Happy new year folks!
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The man in the red suit has gifted us men in wet suits a few wonderful presents over the past few days. Thankfully we were on the nice list. Happy Christmas everyone, we hope you’ve had a fun few days.

This week’s journal post is all about the week (or two!) spent making our first 12’6 Endeavour SUP. David and Tracey joined us to get hands-on and make a paddleboard for touring up and down the Thames.
https://ottersurfboards.co.uk/journal
Hit the link to read and see more.

Wishing you all a fun festive season!
We’ve got the lights up and are looking forward to spending some good quality time with close friends and family and maybe even sneaking out for a few waves. Here’s hoping you all get to do the same!

Three very merry Christmas’s. - Marc and Flora stopped by the workshop earlier to pick up their boards. One was made by Flora and the other two were made by her younger brother and younger sister. We think Marc might have to get a bigger Christmas tree for them all! - Great to catch up and see how pleased you guys were with them, we hope Ellie and Jolly hug theirs as much as you did Flo! Big love

New Da Fin swim fins have arrived with us just in time for Christmas. If you want/need some, you’ve got until Thursday to put your order through our website to ensure they find their way under your tree in time!
https://ottersurfboards.co.uk/products/sw im-fins

Stay Sharp.
Our latest journal post is all about Duncan making his 6’4 Woodburner and the obsession we shared over keeping tools sharp, especially our pencils. Hit the link to see and read more about his week with us.
https://ottersurfboards.co.uk/journal/
... 📷 Mat Arney Photography
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It’s been a wild couple of weeks in the South West, but in between there have been a few memorable moments. Here’s Chris, riding our 5’10 Fetch, spotted earlier in the week before work by Jacobguy_photography
https://ottersurfboards.co.uk/products/su rfboards/fetch

Late night oiling session. - In the run up to Christmas, we’ve been getting a few handplanes made so we’ve got gifts ready for the bodysurfers our there. All of the ones oiled in this photo are ready to post out, so if you’d like one, drop us a message and we’ll get it sorted for you.

We’ve picked twelve of our favourite seasonal images for next year’s calendar, from a snowy January to a fun summer swell. Grab one while you still can to take you through each month of 2019.
https://ottersurfboards.co.uk/products/20 19-calendar

It’s wild and woolly our there! Hopefully you’ve managed to find some shelter, but whatever you do, take care! - Chris out storm hunting (wave chasing) a little while ago. - 📷 Mat Arney Photography

Stamped and signed off. - We’ve just put the finishing touches to a great week in the workshop, with Matt dusting off his 9’1 Wicket for the last time. Well done pal and thanks for a lovely, relaxing and wholesome week!

Dreaming of warmer days.
Natalie Fox recently joined us on a handplane course and has spent the past couple of months escaping the UK’s winter weather with it, running her DRIFT Retreat

The final piece of the puzzle. - Matt has been making sure every single piece of his surfboard is well fitted and glued today. The final piece before the top went on was the right hand nose block and here he is making sure it fits just right.

This weeks journal was guest written by Sophie Louise Hellyer - https://ottersurfboards.co.uk/…/sustain able-surfing-and-it…/ - It’s a dive into the ethical conundrums of being a more sustainable surfer. As with all of her work, she opens her heart and her mind for us to explore the continual dilemma we have as surfers who are trying to protect what we love. Thanks Sophie! Hit the link and spend a few minutes with her.

The most FANTASTIC day. I'd recommend everyone far and wide to go to this wee corner of Cornwall to do a James Otter Workshop. Awesome. Loved it.

Lovely guys. Workshop was great fun and totally absorbing. Stoked with my handplane. Need to start saving for an Otter surfboard: truly things of beauty!

Just excellent! Combination of surfboard building, James Otter and Cornwall is unbeatable!

I love my hand plane! Is Just wonderful! !

Fantastic day I had making my new board, thank you James the board looks stunning. Really enjoyed it... Great feeling of achievement and relaxing. Another few coats of oil and I will get in the sea.

Can't recomend these guys enough... Just get booked in... You won't be disappointed!