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GULF STREAM occupy a small section of retail frontage in Braunton, a small town in the SW of the United Kingdom. In the scheme of the global surf cartel they optimise the little guy, the artisan shaper.

The man behind this particular sander is the plain speaking, Julian 'Jools' Matthews, skipper of a company embracing the relentless march of technology whilst dodging the jackboot of homogenisation. A refreshing outlook in today's climate, instead of burying collective heads in the foam and bemoaning the commercial pressures of Asian manufacturing, Gulf Stream are utilising the reach of the internet to spread their message as the little guy, the quality product in an anemic ocean.

How did you get here Jools?

The exact beginning of my desire to make boards is a bit blurred in my memory. Ever since I started surfing I think I always felt that I wanted to shape (like a lot of people I guess) but something seemed to click during a long surf trip in California and Baja during the winter of ’91/’92, I was 23. Whilst travelling the coast I spent a lot of time with various people who worked in and around the surf industry. They seemed to manage to earn a living AND surf as much as they wanted, so I thought that might be good way for me to maintain my surfing habit.

It was when I returned home from that trip that I made my first board in a friend's garage. I rode the board, then sold it and bought two more blanks with the money. Then I sold those two and bought 4 blanks then 8 and so on. I made quite a few boards for friends and relatives during those early years but it wasn’t until the winter of ’93 that I feel I really started to shape. That was when I took on a premises. Suddenly I had rent to pay and surfboards became my only form of income. That was the start.

© Jose Walker - 2012