Surf Scene looks back in time to wooden surf boards

When Duke Kahanamoku gave his famous surfing exhibition in Sydney in 1915, it was on a huge redwood board that the Hawaiian Olympic swimming champion had carved out himself.

WHEN Duke Kahanamoku gave his famous surfing exhibition in Sydney in 1915, it was on a huge redwood board that the Hawaiian Olympic swimming champion had carved out himself.

Duke wasn’t the first to set foot on a surfboard in Australia. As far as we know that was done by Tommy Walker, a Sydney seaman who had brought back a solid wooden board from Hawaii and was photographed at Yamba beach in 1911.

Yet Duke’s board remains one of the most impressive exhibits in the Freshwater Manly Surf Club.

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There just so happens to be another of Duke’s redwood boards in Surf World museum at Currumbin thanks to vice-president Carl Tanner.

Solid wooden boards were replaced by hollow plywood boards before WWII.

They were then replaced by balsa boards during the Melbourne 1956 Olympic Games and foam and fibreglass signalled the end of wood and start of the modern surfboard from 1960.

On Sunday, Currumbin Alley will turn back the clock with wooden boards of all descriptions, sizes and design.

The 11th annual wooden surfboard day is on Sunday, August 4, at Currumbin Alley. Photo: SUPPLIED

It’s a case of what’s old is wood again in as many shapes and sizes from self-shaped to professionally built.

Now in the 11th year, the event is like a tribal gathering with aficionados of wood showing their pride and joy in their work.

A show and tell display will be held at Currumbin Alley on the grassy knoll behind the car park.

The craft are a complete departure from today’s modern surfboard.

It is more about the aesthetics and the craft of creating such a unique board out of timber.

What started as the Fish Fry (shortboard version made of wood) ignited a passion with wooden surfboard shaper connoisseur Grant Newby.

From just a novel idea, it took on an international following with the diehards flying in from all over the globe to be part of this special one-day event, which is free to enter.

“If you build wooden surfboards, or would like to, or maybe you just have an interest in how it all happens, then come down from 9am to 3pm,” said the affable creator of the Wooden Surfboard Day.

“There’s a host of board shapers from all walks of life who will be on hand to showcase their designs, including the well-known American surfboard shaper Tom Wegener from Noosa on the Sunshine Coast.”

Newby said the day was all about like-minded people who enjoyed the challenge of spending countless hours in a shed building wooden boards and getting together to share their passion and progress.

“Even if you don’t build boards but want to find out more, this is the ideal place to ask all the relevant questions, because there are many ways to build a wooden board,” he said.

Newby encouraged anyone interested to take along their wooden boards, pack a picnic lunch and, yes, even go for a surf across the banks at the Alley.