In the late fifties I learnt to shape surfboards from balsa whilst undertaking an apprenticeship as a carpenter joiner at the ripe old age of fifteen,the factory then was a converted chook pen in the backyard at Stanwell Park . When the first foam surfboards came out shapes were refined and boards started to get shorter many balsa boards were thrown out or just simply forgotten as the older guys got married & gave up surfing ,those of us that never owned a surfboard had an opportunity at last to have there own board, to buy a new board in those days was around 30 pound $60 that was an enormous amount in those days as a school kid or an apprentice so I started ripping glass off & reshaping many of these old boards for myself & friends no charge just pay for the materials that usually came from Brian Jackson & Ron Cansdell or Graham King . My schoolmate Bill Trestrail & myself decided to go into business together making boards in 1966 hence the name Bill Collins Surfboards we started out in a closed down service station in Stanwell Park right where the hang /paragliding guys take off, within a few months the service station was demolished to allow for road widening to date the road has never changed ,completing my apprenticeship the call of the sea became to strong so after qualifying I became the permanent lifesaver at Scarborough beach after narrowly escaping Vietnam ,my period of service in the army was one day they finally realised that my board lumps were to big to fit in an army boot .
I got married ,moved to Thirroul ,started a factory in a big shed at the bottom of Kennedys hill between Austinmere & Thirroul the neighbours complained so i rented a workshop at 30 Flinders Street Wollongong in 1967 and started Collins Surfboards there , gave up the factory in 1974 made boards under the house and went back to to building houses & working in coal mines got a job on the professional ski patrol in Perisher Valley in 1975 then became a ski instructor in 76 -77 continued making boards & ski boats under the house under the brand name of Sybernaught & Seaglass many of these boards were sold through Southern Man surf shop at Ulladulla founded & owned by David Matthew a few more years later I moved to Lake Conjola in 1991 where I bought a 1 acre block, the first thing I did was to plant 10 paulownia trees, I had no idea until a couple of years ago that these trees could be used for making surfboards. Paulownia trees mature very fast , about ten years on the north coast but almost twenty years here in Lake Conjola ,they became dangerous and huge branches regularly snapped off during our westerly gales ,the time had come eight of them were cut down in 2009 & stored under cover ,in late 2010 my good friend Laurie Andrew bought a Lucas Mill and my son Airin & myself milled them in to usable sizes , so having grown the trees & milled them considering my multi skilled background it seems I was destined to make a few hollow wooden surfboards before my time is up .
Finding time for all this is not easy ,i am still surfing & fishing anywhere between Bendalong & all points south and Skiing in both Japan & NZ where i am considered a local in the remote away from the tourist crowds places I visit each year, looking back on life while writing this story ,I had better hurry up at the age of Sixty Six it seems my life has gone so fast perhaps my life's story will be preserved forever in these last few surfboards .
Colin Biggsy Ashford May 2011
I got married ,moved to Thirroul ,started a factory in a big shed at the bottom of Kennedys hill between Austinmere & Thirroul the neighbours complained so i rented a workshop at 30 Flinders Street Wollongong in 1967 and started Collins Surfboards there , gave up the factory in 1974 made boards under the house and went back to to building houses & working in coal mines got a job on the professional ski patrol in Perisher Valley in 1975 then became a ski instructor in 76 -77 continued making boards & ski boats under the house under the brand name of Sybernaught & Seaglass many of these boards were sold through Southern Man surf shop at Ulladulla founded & owned by David Matthew a few more years later I moved to Lake Conjola in 1991 where I bought a 1 acre block, the first thing I did was to plant 10 paulownia trees, I had no idea until a couple of years ago that these trees could be used for making surfboards. Paulownia trees mature very fast , about ten years on the north coast but almost twenty years here in Lake Conjola ,they became dangerous and huge branches regularly snapped off during our westerly gales ,the time had come eight of them were cut down in 2009 & stored under cover ,in late 2010 my good friend Laurie Andrew bought a Lucas Mill and my son Airin & myself milled them in to usable sizes , so having grown the trees & milled them considering my multi skilled background it seems I was destined to make a few hollow wooden surfboards before my time is up .
Finding time for all this is not easy ,i am still surfing & fishing anywhere between Bendalong & all points south and Skiing in both Japan & NZ where i am considered a local in the remote away from the tourist crowds places I visit each year, looking back on life while writing this story ,I had better hurry up at the age of Sixty Six it seems my life has gone so fast perhaps my life's story will be preserved forever in these last few surfboards .
Colin Biggsy Ashford May 2011