Wood, Water
& Waves
A wooden surfboard, grown from an island tree, shaped entirely by hand.
Wood, Water & Waves
A wooden surfboard, grown from an island tree, shaped entirely by hand.
Wood, Water & Waves
A wooden surfboard, grown from an island tree, shaped entirely by hand.
One tree. One board. Grown on Nantucket and shaped by hand, from soil to surf.
The board is shaped by Rich Blundell, whose surfboard designs and build methods are used by hollow wooden surfboard builders around the world. The work happens in a small shack on Nantucket: no factory, no molds, no shortcuts. Just a design, a stack of cedar, and a plane.
Nine feet of Nantucket cedar, down on its bottom plank.
The design is finished and every frame is cut — the whole set numbered and laid out in order, bow to tail. Slotted onto the spine, the drawing finally stands up: nine feet of skeleton on the shack floor. The first pieces are glued up in a sunburst of red and white heartwood, and the deck and bottom planks are coming together too — island cedar edge-glued into panels wide enough to take the whole outline, then cut to it. The frame is down on its bottom plank now, and the fin foils are still in trial — different edges, different halos, one of them eventually wins. From here it is strips, glue, and a hand plane, all the way to the water.
This work has been written about for twenty years.
Wooden boards, and the ideas underneath them, have drawn writers since the first hollow cedar boards came out of a small shop in York, Maine. Four of those stories are below, along with a short film. Wood, Water & Waves is the next one — and it is only just starting.
How a wooden surfboard can improve our cosmic relationships.
Exploring the natural history of surfboards on Cape Cod.
The soil that fed it. The rain that swelled its grain.
The water it will ride. The wave that is older than memory.
One board, made from all of it.
Cut, shaped, and finished entirely by hand.
No molds, no shortcuts. The log is milled into strips, feathered along their edges for a seamless glue-up, and worked over the frame plank by plank until the hull takes its shape. Nothing here is veneer — the deck and bottom planks are structural, and that is what lets the board be hollow, light, and strong while carrying the whole story of the tree it came from.
A summer of shavings and sawdust.
Where every board is headed.
A nine-foot hollow wooden surfboard built by hand from a single Nantucket cedar — light, strong, and made entirely from the island's wood.
Hollow wooden construction, worked over the frame plank by plank. Rich's designs and build methods are used by HWS builders around the world — he has helped amateur builders and professional shops get established in the US, the UK, Europe, and Australia.
An integrated rail band method Rich developed to prioritize symmetry and aesthetic value, laid up so a contrasting wood carries the whole outline. The rail is structure and drawing at once, not trim added at the end.
Nothing is given up on hydrodynamics or integrity — and nothing is given up on how the board looks. No cork. No seams out of symmetry. It is going to surf well and look sweet.
A small shack on Nantucket, a short walk from the water.
Designed, framed, and being planked as of August 2026 — deck and bottom cut to the outline, the frame down on its bottom plank, and the fin foils still in trial. The build is open to being documented from here to the first wave.
A story about craft, place, and slowing down.
Wood, Water & Waves has a clear arc and it is starting now: a tree, a design, a stack of frames, and a board that ends up in the water. The whole build is ahead — which means a story can follow it rather than arrive after the fact.
High-resolution photography, build footage, and interviews are available. Rich is glad to talk on the record about hollow wooden construction, the builders and shops his methods have helped start on three continents, and where a board comes from before it is a board.
Rich Blundell
Co-founder and former chief designer and builder at Grain Surfboards, Rich pioneered hollow wooden surfboard construction. His designs and build methods are now used by HWS builders around the world — he has helped amateur builders and professional shops get established in the US, the UK, Europe, and Australia. His work bridges craft, ecology, and the wonder of the natural world.
Duxbury, Massachusetts is his home habitat, and he is a Cape Cod and Islands organism. Wood, Water & Waves is his own build, done alone in a shack with hand tools, and documented as it goes.
He is looking for people to build with. More boards, made with more artists who share the same life philosophy — a love of the ocean, of nature, of quality objects and quality experiences, and of the good life that is still possible.
The future is beautiful or there isn't one. So let's make it.
Let's make it.
Rich is looking for collaborators — artists and makers who share a love of the ocean, of nature, and of well-made things and the experiences they open up. If that is you, say so. Or tell the story, follow the build, or ask about a board of your own.
omniscopic@gmail.com