In case you missed it, sheep’s wool is now on the list of things you can make a surfboard out of.
And a South African farmer and shaper has come up with his own blend of wool and surfing.
The short film Tides of Wool premiered at J-Bay just days ago and tells the story of South African sheep farmer and big wave surfer, Jurie Muller, who creates a surfboard using a salvaged buoy and sheep’s wool from his farm.
In the spirit of creating awareness, Muller and director Johann de Klerk made the short film above documenting their journey. It took two years to complete.
“I farm with sheep and I also shape surfboards for a hobby,” Muller says in the film. “I love being outdoors, love working with my hands, looking after the animals, and seeing the whole process from grass to table. I can’t imagine myself anywhere else.”
The shaper and farmer lives and practices his crafts on Ouland Farm in Vleesbay, South Africa, and surfs nearby.
When he found a huge buoy on the beach a couple of years ago, Muller reclaimed it and brought it back to the farm.
“I thought of this crazy idea. Why don’t I bring wool and surfboards together?” he recalls in the film.
So he embarked on the journey of shaping the buoy into a surfboard blank and transforming sheep’s wool from his herd into natural fiberglass.
“The most important part is to process the raw wool,” Muller said. He explains they used a process called “wet felting,” which uses water to mat the wool fibers together into a cloth.
The film also shows the potential challenges faced by anyone working with resin, fiberglass, and surfboard blanks such as resin burns and having to re-shape the blank.
But in the end, the board goes full circle as it’s completed and surfed in the same ocean it emerged from.
“The sea plays a big role in my life,” Muller says. I just was just thinking this is my little bit that I can give back.”
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