WORDS Cheri Morris IMAGE Jan Ras
Woodpecker Wooden Surfboards are hand-crafted works of functional art. Muizenberg-based surfer and carpenter Bill Bulgen makes surfboards, but they’re not your everyday laminated foam boards.
Bill crafts hollow wooden surfboards using techniques pioneered by American surfer and inventor Tom Blake in the late 1920s and early 1930s, but with the aid of a state-of-the-art shaping program. The boards are made of responsibly sourced plantation grown wood and glassed with Super Sap, a plant-derived epoxy resin that is eco-friendly.
Even the wood chips and sawdust are collected by an NGO for making compost for the greening of poor communities. The buoyancy provided by the hollow design makes for excellent paddling and wave catching, and the marginal increase in weight improves glide. The boards come in 11 longboard shapes, including some inspired by iconic designs and replica models. They have outstanding nose-riding potential – for those who like to hang ten.
To view more of these wooden wonders, visit their website.
