Ten years ago I made my first wooden surfboard. It was the start of a journey that has changed – and is still changing – my life, and it’s motivated me to write this post about wooden surfboard life lessons.

Matthew Kramer was a participant of the first wooden surfboards course that I ran in 2013. Earlier this year I caught up with him for a surf – he subsequently wrote a very articulate account of what his wooden surfboard had meant to him over the years.

Building a hollow wood surfboard is about discovering the craftsman that is in all of us, about re-engaging the mind with the physical world and rediscovering the natural rhythms of our hands in creating something functional and beautiful.

With some exceptions, surfers don’t seem very concerned about the toxicity of the surfboards they ride. I fear that the environment as a driver of choice isn’t as high on the agenda as it could or should be. Which doesn’t mean that we’re not on the right path.

Between 9-14 December 2013, Burnett Wood Surfboards hosted five people, who all built their own hollow wood surfboards in the space of six days. One of these people was Liezel Gous, the first woman to sign up for a Burnett Wood Surfboards course.

Hollow wood surfboards take many hours to make. But even by the standards of hollow wood surfboards, this 11’ gun is a project years in the making.