Passenger Surfboards

We love nothing more than exposing and celebrating a true craftsman. Recently we stumbled across a man called Nathan Tumon, who makes amazing looking surfboards and operates a pretty busy, full on board building business without much of an online presence. In a world that is full of time spent on the ether web, with adverts and distractions, how refreshingly different is it to meet someone who does things the simple way?

We wanted to hear more about Passenger Surfboards, how they are linked to Passenger clothing, which is a surf brand from the UK, and what Nathan was into and how he survived without a RJ45 plug in.

We caught up with Nathan in his country of residence, Straya (Australia).

SB: How and when did Passenger start, as a surfboard builder and then did the clothing grow from there?

Nathan: Passenger surfboards started a few years ago... a couple years after the clothing brand, they were already established at the time over in the UK. I had just moved to Australia with my partner and had been an ambassador for Passenger clothing since the beginning. I had been talking to Rich (the owner/founder of Passenger clothing) about making boards under the Passenger logo, and he was pretty happy for me to use it. So I'm just over here making boards and send a few over to the UK here and there when the orders come in!

SB: I have seen a few images of your boards and they look amazing, do you shape them all by hand or is there a CNC machine somewhere?

Nathan: Not all of our boards are hand shaped, a lot of them are pre-shaped on machine in the factory I work at, and finished up by hand after, I'm more than happy to get the planer out and mow some foam for customers if they ask, and are after that special one off board!

SB: What do you think of the cutting edge new shapes on the market as apposed to the old classics?

Nathan: Personally I'm pretty into the new designs coming out... and equally I like the old traditional boards... I'd say I'm pretty open minded when it comes to board design, I'm always up for giving something new a go!

SB: Personally what sort of board do you like to ride, which draws the best lines on a wave for you?

Nathan: My personal quiver consists of about 25 ish boards! They range from longboards, thrusters, asymmetric shapes, and twinnies... my personal favourite would be a board I call the Passenger twin, it's 5'2 x 20 x 2 1/4 and has about 28 litres of volume, I have a couple in rotation and they are by far my favourite... super fast, lively and generally go in everything I surf, small stuff/big stuff... Living with Snapper Rocks as my local and being a natural footer, I find personally my Passenger twin allows me to have the most fun in pretty much every condition. I'd much rather go as fast as I can and carve through turns and flat sections than ride a standard thruster and flap around when the waves are average (even at Snapper that's quite often).

SB: Is there anyone that inspires you as a shaper, someone from the past or present?

Nathan: I wouldn't say I have one particular favourite shaper... there are a couple who stand out and defiantly inspire, Chris Christenson is one who stands out in my books, his designs and style of shaping is amazing, Ryan Burch is another... amazing boards and amazing views on design.

Ryan Lovelace I'm pretty into his shapes, older guys like Skip Fry, Bob McTavish, and Rich Pavel are also pretty big influences.. the list goes on really... sometimes I even see back yard shapers and I'm frothing over a board they have shaped in their garden sheds!

SB: What, to you, is the most important part of shaping surfboards, which part do you enjoy the most?

Nathan: I wouldn't say there was one thing alone that is more important than another... as long as the shape flows it's all good with me! Surfing is so individual, everyone surfs differently and every wave is different, so one board that I think it crap may be someone's ultimate board. There's heaps of things I look out for like rails and fins, but a board as a whole involves glassing and finishing, these are the guys behind the scenes that people overlook, they help make the boards look, feel and surf how they do... the shaper is just the beginning of the process. Heavy/Light glass jobs, sharp edges, everything from start to finish is all important!

SB: What do you think about surfing being in the Olympics?

Nathan: Surfing in the Olympics?! Hmmm... I'm on the fence... not really sure how I feel about it! Maybe come back and asks me once it's happened...

SB: What is your stance on Epoxy vs Poly, EPS v PU? Personally?

Nathan: Personally I'm a Poly/PU guy... I like trying out different things like flex and resins/constructions but when it comes to stringerless epoxy and loading it up with carbon to stiffen them up... personally I think to myself... stick a wooden stringer in it, job done! I understand why people do it, and again everyone likes the feel of different construction methods, board shapes etc but that's my own personal opinion... not that I don't like them and don't surf them or make them but I like the flex and feel of a normal wood stringer, PU blank with standard resin and construction!

I could go on and on and on about my own personal views on things but people would probably get bored.

SB: Not us, carry on. Where did you grow up and surf in the UK?

Nathan: I grew up at Constantine bay in Cornwall, about 20 minutes north of Newquay, which is probably the most commonly known place to surf in the UK.

SB: Unusually (in this day and age) you guys don't seem to have much of an online presence. How would we order a board from you?

Nathan: So we try to keep ourselves pretty exclusive... our main presence is via Instagram... all our current work is on there and it also has some of the board designs and custom orders we have made! We will at some point have a website up and running... not yet though!

So yeah, Instagram... you can get us on there and via our email [email protected]

SB: If you said yes to shaping me an early Lis inspired fish, how long and at what cost?

Nathan: So productions time's around 4 weeks, it all depends on how busy the factory is, and if you're having a spray, tint or polished finish on the board.. I work out of a factory called "The Glass Lab" its basically a glassing factory for an assortment of big and small I brands over here in Australia. It's the best I've worked and the quality of workmanship is second to none!

Cost wise.. starting at $750, again depends on spray/tint and finish of the board, as well as size! But 750 is my base rate!

SB: Thanks again for Nathan and his time, it's always refreshing to see an honest approach to board building and one that does not rely on the internet but good old fashioned word of mouth and proof of quality.

We will be following Nathan to see what the future has in store for him and to wish him luck in his board building journey on the other side of the world.