Surf’s up

PHOTOS Andries Joubert WORDS Nadine Botha

The Cape-based crew at Wawa have revived the ancient Hawaiian craft of hand-shaped wooden surfboards, in the process elevating functional sports gear into an aesthetic marvel.

The four-man Muizenberg-based team of Cobus Joubert, David Hidi, David Constance and Andrew Strode are creating waves in the surfing community with their revivals of the traditional alaia (a thin, round-nosed, square-tailed surfboard that gives extra oomph to weak waves), paipo (the shorter, wider evolution of the alaia into a bodyboard) and handslide (a swimming fin for bodyboarders).

From a design perspective, these boards are right on-trend. Besides crafting the abstract organic forms of an age-old artisanal tradition by hand, Wawa’s philosophy is to use what’s available. This means they use a lot of wood sourced from alien species that have received the chop. 

Some of their most spectacular pieces come from chance finds of unique trees that have to be felled for one sad reason or another. For instance, an eye-catching knotty, reddish-brown piece was crafted from a Himalayan cedar found at a farm on the KZN North Coast that was being redeveloped. Besides the superb craftsmanship that went into the making, this piece especially proves our point that after your surf, you can hang your Wawa board in your gallery.

Wawa wooden surfboards retail for R4 500 to R6 500 each. wawawave.com