Moonshiner: Pete Dwyer

Meet Pete Dwyer.

 

A true pioneer in the inception of Moonshine surfboards. With humble beginnings in the bush and backyard, Jack and Pete breathed life into the Moonshine brand, crafting surfboards that echoed both their passion for surfing and the untamed waves of their home, the Wild West. 

Fast forward, and Pete has hung up his hat the shaping bay to fullfill his career as a Landscape Architect with his business Acacia Landscape Design. 

 

Join us as we catch up with the man who help lay the foundations of Moonshine, reminiscing about the early days and exploring the harmony between his shaping roots and his current life as a landscaper.

 Our family moved to the coast in Perth when I was in Primary School and surfing has been a massive part of my life since then. I was also involved in the local surf life saving club and between training, patrols and surfing, I was at the beach almost every day. My parents weren’t too involved with surfing before having me and my brother, and I think they made a conscious decision to help create a life around the ocean for us from pretty early on. 

It was around the time when Jack and I were making boards and doing ding repairs at our makeshift bay at Injidup, just after I’d finished uni, and then eventually in Osborne Park where the first Moonshines were made in 2018. We were both pretty keen to start a new brand where we could put out a range of shapes that we enjoyed surfing and just make versions of those. Jack was the leading force behind it, I was just shaping them (mostly) the way he wanted. We did one initial batch of boards for a shop in North Freo, and then the Board Store in Vasse, and the response was so epic. The range was a 6’10 Longfish, 70s style single fin we collaborated with Colin Earle on, a mid-length egg style board and a log. All boards that we really enjoyed surfing and experimenting with and weren’t really available in the market at the time. 

 

It’s been amazing, Jack’s always had the passion and determination to keep improving as a board builder and business owner and it’s so cool to see how far it’s come. The boards they're making are truly word-class in terms of functionality and quality, and it’s been a relatively short amount of time since its inception. It’s exciting to see what will happen in the future. 

As a landscaper, how does living on the WA coast and being a surfer influence your design choices? 
I typically only choose local native plants when designing gardens, probably because that is what I’ve grown up experiencing when going surfing and travelling up and down the coast. It creates a greater sense of place when you can integrate a usable outdoor space with the surrounding bush. I also tend to choose ground materials that can be walked on barefoot, that’s probably come from being a surfer. 

Describe your new Moonshine triple stringer log. What inspired the design, and how does it feel in the curl?
She’s a 9’4 Ranger. It feels amazing and goes so much better than the other logs I’ve made for myself. The design came well after my time, I'm not sure what inspired the design originally, but it’s a good all-rounder, rolled bottom and not as wide or thick as a full nose-rider. I like that style of log because our waves are quite raw and not always perfect, so having a board that’s a bit more agile is nice for me. 

 

 We did a little trip to a beachie down south once with one of the first ever Moonshine Longfishes. We hadn’t really ridden one before and weren’t too sure how it’d go, but ended up being super fun. Jack was ripping on it and Lachie Micale (@lach_stock__) made a video. 

 I think going against the grain and simple functionality has always been a big part of the Moonshines ethos and I find myself doing similar in my work now. Also just travelling the vast Wild West coast searching for waves is a pretty big part of being a surfer in WA. 

For me, a fair bit of travel which will be great. Other than that just working through a few landscape projects and trying to surf as much as possible in between.