Rob and Darren,

What a great experience for my sons Henry and Oliver, that simple and rewarding joy of making something with your hands. And the boards look great. Thank you for your patience and willingness to impart your knowledge. We are all excited now to finish them off and get them into the water. 

Cheers and again thank you.

 

Bill Gair

 

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Hi Rob.
Surfed the board for the first time last weekend. Spent the first week of Feb varnishing. 2nd week just let it sit. And ordered fins from the USA. One Greenough 4c fin and a modern straight fin (from conscience). The fins took ages to get here. Hence the delay in getting back to you.
I also finished the board with versa grip tape so the wood grain showed through.
I have the modern fin in at the moment. Surf in smallish soft waves.
The board has a very fast take off, easy pop up and is really really fast down the line. I was particularly taken with the increase in speed compared to the standard thruster.
Really nice turns as well. Great bottom turn and amazing tight but predictable turns off the top. Super happy.
The board got a lot of attention on the beach. A lot of impressed onlookers that discovered you can build a great board with you guys.
Thanks so much. Two photos attached. Tried to get in water shots but nothing really happened in that session. I'll keep trying.
Andrew Hallett.

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"Guys, just a short note to thank you all for hosting Tom and I for the recent workshop. Creating the board with my son Tom was a great experience and I would heartily recommend this as a father and son experience. We both enjoyed working on the board together and as you saw, we  had a lot of fun. We all live a fairly frenetic life these days and its difficult to get the work/ family balance right, its experiences like building the board at Tree to Sea which form a bond between fathers and sons.

 

Special thanks to Gary, a very cool guy who epitomises everything that’s cool about surfing and being part of the developing surf scene in the seventies."

Cheers, Paul and Tom Fellows

Deniliquin

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"Hi All,

Firstly, Rob, Gary & Darren - thanks so much for a hugely enjoyable & rewarding workshop. Rob for the technical know how, Garry for the patience and Darren for the dirty jobs!

 

I am absolutely stoked with the outcome and cannot believe we did it in 3 days. Back home I am trying to not let my enthusiasm get in the way of being patient, working out the staining, sanding - 120 then 240 grit, colouring, pin lines, varnishing etc."

cheers

Jason

 

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"Hi Rob,

Sorry for this late email, but just wanted to send you this note to thank you for the awesome workshop you, Gary and Darren gave me in January.

Also wanted to thank you for your professionalism and expertise and to encourage you all to continue with this great initiative. I've been a surfer for many years and have been surfing in awesome places around the world but nothing is comparable to the feeling of being riding your own shaped board. The best experience with no doubt!!

Apart from the fact of leaving some sort of "legacy" in this world Please give also thanks to Gary for his good energy and the flow brought to the workshop.

To Darren please give him thanks for his expertise, know how and good sense of humour. You can tell him that After knowing him and thinking very seriously in having a change in my career and becoming a carpenter. So who knows maybe one day I ask him for a job. I have attached you some pictures  to show you how the board has ended up after some painting and design stuff.

I wish you all the best and hope to see you soon!

Hasta pronto"

Jon Ruiz de Loizaga

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"Hi Rob and Gary,

Thanks again for the awesome course in February.  I have had my 6'4 Striper out in the water and it was everything I hoped for plus more.  Its easy to paddle and loads of fun to ride with a good combo of buoyancy  and maneuverability.  I spent a fair amount of time shaping the rails (and re-shaping) and now I'm pretty happy within the semi-boxy rails, but who knows,  I might change them again in the future - its great having the option.  I am also well impressed by the process for repairing dings in the timber after my board rattled around in the back of a ute for a day and ended up with a deep depression on it's nose.  Just sanded the spot back and stood it in a bucket of water and out the ding came - have to love the properties of wood!"

Jonathon Ricciardello 

 

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"Hi Rob and Gary,
Many thanks for the photo it was greatly appreciated.
Well I had a great time at the workshop, I found it absolutely fantastic. You guys are exceptional at what you do, with the preparation, set up, information on day 1, layout etc etc. What a great buzz and feeling you get out of making something that is functional as well as impressive. Great fun and very therapeutic.
Is there any chance that you can send me a jpg of the Tree to sea logo so that I can put it on my board before completion. Also a couple  of Tree to sea stickers would be really great for the 4 X 4 and Campertrailer while touring around OZ with my new creation.

Keep up the great work and I will be passing on the Tree to sea message .
Kind regards,"

Graeme Beere

 

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"Rob & Gary,

Many thanks for hosting the recent workshop, thoroughly enjoyable, challenging and rewarding.  I’ll be taking my time to finish off my board and get it in the water with a bit of hand made pride.  Please also pass on my thanks to Darren, the 3 of you are a great combination.   It was terrific to spend a few days doing something completely different, I’ll make sure I send through the pics of the finished product.

Many Thanks"

Wayne Phillips

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"Hi Robert,

I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed myself at the workshop.

I would highly recommend it to anybody that was even slightly interested in building there own board.

Thanks for the info on the vents I am sure I will be able to modify my vent screw to work sufficiently to save you posting another one out.

Currently i have just finished the board ready for the first coat of west system, when we get slightly warmer day that is. I have also made up a simple set of fins out of ply that i will glass in the next couple of days until i get time to make a nice timber set.

Again thanks for running the workshop i was very impressed with the whole process.

I will send pics as soon as it is complete, hopefully in less than 2 weeks.

Also today i went down to torquay to speak to a few people about rail shapes etc and it was very satisfying when people stopped me in the street to as me about the board i was carrying, when they asked who made that for you? being able to say i did was priceless!"

Regards

Rob Wood