Editor’s Note: These pieces are intended to offer a deeper look into each episode of surfer Fergal Smith‘s Line9 series, Growing, a new clip published every two weeks. The series is a year in the life of Smith and his brother. With a new clip published every two weeks, the series follows them as they take a step back from the rat race while spending days tending to a sustainable garden and surfing the readily available Irish slab.
Author’s Note: My main reason for doing this series is for showing the what else I’m passionate about — aside from surfing — and to try to promote all the good, positive things that people are doing.
This episode is all about Vincent O’Halloran, the definition of a true legend. He got in touch with us after watching the series, and was on the same wavelength as myself for so many things. He grows his own food, tries to be a sustainable surfer by making his own wooden boards, keeps bees, and is just a really caring giving guy who wants to help.
He told me he had blueberry plants to give to the community garden, so we drove to collect them, but also got wooden surfboards to try out as well! Vinnie is doing everything for the right reasons; he wasn’t a surfboard shaper but really disliked using chemically-made surfboard, so decided to give a go at making his own wooden surfboards. And five years on, he is now making fully-functioning wooden boards from Irish trees. It blows my mind — the idea that I can ride boards that are made from Irish trees. I know its only the beginning of Vinnie’s shaping and designs, but already I can see what can be done with the boards. The wooden single fin that I used at Aileen’s goes really well on bigger waves and I can totally see myself using boards like that.
Vinnie has recently shaped me another smaller single fin that is a copy of a Neil Purchase Junior surfboard and I have been riding it recently. It goes amazing. Being able to show what people like Vinnie are doing is what this series is all about for me. It’s a true honor to be able to show and use Vinnie’s boards.
Until now, I have been riding fiberglass boards for years, and have gone through a crazy amount, which is totally unsustainable and doesn’t feel good. So the idea that we can make surfboards from wood and also we are growing a lot of trees at the moment — this for me is a very exciting future. I can’t wait to see where we can go with wooden boards on good waves in the future. I want to say a big thanks to Vinnie for lending me and shaping me a board, and for the blueberry plants, which we are enjoying eating at the moment.
