spinalsurfer

Westerlies

2012-01-23T05:57:00.000-08:00

I've seen one too many charts that look like this recently.

I try not to moan on my blog.....so here is a positive slant on "bloody westerly winds" which have been plaguing our surf this winter. If it wasn't for westerlies things might be very different. The German breakthrough in the First World War of developing mass quantities of Bromine, Chlorine and Mustard gas could have led to a hands down victory for the insatiable "hun" and yet despite the fear and success of these dastardly dangerous developments in chemical warfare their effectiveness was reduced massively by the "bloody westerly wind" which projected the wind away from the English lines and instead backtracked to the starting point in the German forward positions. So fellow cornish surfers, spare a thought for the westerly wind which has kept our beloved coastline free of German efficency, job opportunities and ruthlessly effective sportsmen!

Your local line up could have been like this if it wasn't for my mate the westerly

Gassed by John Singer Sargent. How lucky we are.

Apparently we shouldn't get too optimistic of ridding ourselves of this cross onshore, surf shattering phenomenon either. As long as England stays in the mid lattitudes and low pressure systems sit over the North Pole for winter we will continue to dream of shelter or winter escapes...............

Happy New Year

2012-01-16T02:26:00.000-08:00

Spinalsurfer has moved into his new house and is continuing to build, decorate etc. This has not left a lot of time for surfing......but plans are a foot for a prolonged swell campaign soon....meanwhile I've rehoused my trusty steads.

First things first, I screwed in a big batten and sunk it in with some lovely big raw plugs.

I've had these table legs for years which screwed into the batten and then I covered them with plumbers foam....and used some carpet underlay to add some protection to the boards from the wood.

Then I whazzed in a load of boards in any old order and used some carpet off cuts on the floor...... Sad getting old isn't it.

Tidal bores in China

2011-12-14T06:49:00.000-08:00

Tom Blake, the World's most influential surfer.

2011-12-08T14:41:00.000-08:00

The world's most influential surfer was born in land locked Wisconsin, 1902. He wasn't the face of surfing like Duke Kahanomku. In many ways the Duke was the front man. No not Blake, Blake didn't court the public. Blake was the brains, spirit and passion of surfing. This is the man who took 14 foot solid redwood boards that weighed 1500 pounds, that were ridden straight to the beach and invented wave riding. By making the boards from hollow construction (though initially he simply drilled thousands of holes and then slapped a wooden veneer over them to make the board water tight) he enabled boards to turn and also to be carried single handedly to more inaccessible places (he was after all the first man to surf Malibu, which in itself is an amazing story as Rhoda May Ringe refused to let the state build a highway there, losing her millions in the law courts and even resorting to employing armed guards who dynamited the states construction efforts).

Not that building hollow boards was the end of his contribution. He then realised that a skeg, to use the language of the time was needed to give the board, pivot and drive. Throw in the invention of hollow paddleboards, the first ever sailboards (a.k.a windsurfers), the invention of water proof housing, patenting the first commercially available surfboards, he also wrote the first book devoted to surfing, oh and did I say that he invented vital lifeguarding aids such as the torpedo tube and the rescue ring. He practically invented the surfing, windsurfing and paddle boarding and then all the things needed on the beach to make it safe.

When not doing this, he broke and held the World Ten Mile Swimming Record, he won the first ever Pacific Coast Surfing Championship and inevitably won many prestigious paddleboard races....And none of these things make him the greatest , but make no mistake they make him great.

He was a Beatnik before there were Beatniks, he lived Kerouac's "On the Road" before Kerouac was born (He was born in 1922). His Mum died whilst he was in diapers, he met the Duke in a Cinema in his home town and then he turned to the road, train jumping and bumming his way around the States before finding SoCal and then in turn Hawaii. He liked his big waves, he loved tandem surfing the smaller waves, his passion was surfing under full moons. He dedicated himself to his sport, with rigorous physical training, a strict vegetarian diet and a passion which verges on transcendental. He virtually invented the sport, lived and breathed it, improved it and passed it on in a better state than he found it. Respect.

I woke up this morning with the cold water

2011-12-08T13:17:00.000-08:00

Outcome the boots and twat cap.

Different craft

2011-12-08T13:09:00.000-08:00

Baliwaves.com

2011-12-06T07:31:00.000-08:00

There was a time in Renon when a man inspired me. He committed himself to his passion and had blind belief that that was his destiny. May be he didn't care if lost everything trying, may be he had blind faith it would all work out, may be he just did what made sense and didn't over think it. I may well have given it too much thought. I've never met the man, although I've been out surfing at spots like Balangan when he's turned up in boats or with a board, he's inspired me. He started a website called http://www.baliwaves.com/ which he used to post a daily photo of a wave in the area, more often than not Uluwatu or Seragan. It's funny cause then he started off doing fishing trips, surfing home stays and I remember the first time he advertised a trip to G-land...well these days, there isn't much you can't sort out from Baliwaves. He married a Balinese girl and set up shop and set up his stall, sure it's not Santosha....but I'm not in Renon now, I have a child, a mortgage, a job and this morning as I dreaded work and drove through the rain shivering.....Jim inspired me and I had a look at what was happening in his life and got to live a little vicariously for a minute, and felt all the better for it.

The Eddie

2011-12-03T14:43:00.000-08:00

Well the Eddie invitees have all been signed in, ready for the day of days. 8 times in 26 years means more likely than not it won't happen but here's hoping. Super excited to see the mad Chilean Ramon Navarro and a bit surprised to see Jeremy Flores in the mix. Apparently he didn't own a rhino chaser till this year and overlooked proven big wave surfers like Skindog Collins, have been keen to point out that he's a Quicksilver rider getting a spot that many dedicated riders have spent a lifetime trying by trial and error to achieve.

Interestingly it was also pointed out that at this year's XXL Billabong awards 4 out of the 5 winners were Billabong riders. ..... disgruntlement in the big wave camp!?!?!?

Should the bay call the day footage will be available by clicking here.

Rails

2011-12-02T03:01:00.000-08:00

As I struggle with a whole host of injuries, building a house and the water temperature dropping like a stone, I had a little think about waves and stories that inspired me when younger. Sunset beach, Hawaii the old proving ground of the North Shore, where big balls and boards ruled. It was interesting to see Dane Reynolds, new skool dog showing how to use a rail and do things classy yesterday....made me smile.

The Perran Pipe

2011-11-27T00:48:00.000-08:00

November 4mm, 9 ft 4" log, apply sun and small clean swell......good times.

This is my signature move "walk like an Egyptian" is how I like to look at it.

If I could just get one hand on the hip I think I could add "I'm a tea pot, tall and stout" to my manoeuvres.

Dave Muir from Sennen Surf centre and Lekker fame was kind enough to give me the photos despite having far more proficient surfers to snap etc, so big thanks there. Dave's amazingly proficient yet chilled surf school is up for water sports provider of the year, so give him a vote, it only takes 1 minute at http://www.demographix.com/surveys/2KVG-RM5T/8WX72K4F/

Is this the biggest wave ever ridden?

2011-11-13T14:04:00.000-08:00

Nazare is a Portuguese big wave spot. It's a Geographic freak and one of only a handful in the world. The underwater canyon is actually a gap in the continental shelf which allows waves to reach close to the shore without the friction effect of continental shelf and actually serves as an intensifier.

Garrett McNamara was the big ball bloke who may have etched himself into the record books with what looks like a 90 foot bomb. Good to see Europe getting in on the XXXL scale. Al Mennie from Ireland and Andrew Cotton from the UK were also present at the session.

The Cribbar has been breaking here in Autumnal Cornwall and here's some footage from an October session.

"I have a dream!"

2011-11-11T21:59:00.001-08:00

Recent times

2011-11-10T06:34:00.000-08:00

Old Faithful sings

The only person who I've heard who surfed this wave was a lad named Wilson, who lost his battle with cancer this year in his early 20's. It was all for him on this day. RIP

I'm no lover of winter and dread the onset of the dark, cold and the grey but Autumn is a blessed time to be a surfer in Cornwall. Some pictures "lest we forget."

The most lined up I've ever had it. Although an undoubted secret spot the amount of non local surfers who visited on this day and the lack of local readership of my blog, have led me to think that its okay to post this shot...I think. It never breaks if its not grey.

South swells mean different spots break....Danger bay AKA Three Tunnels not quite firing enough for Greg's stick.

Sunny Pipe in November

A Cornish surf shack, a converted pump house from the mining days...greets the new swells.

Sunbathing whilst it lasts.

Young love.

Young lovers on a spring tide and a south swell.

Mums on the run.

Buenassssssssssssssssssssssssso

2011-10-29T01:00:00.000-07:00

Region: -33°,42° to 10°,65° Dataset: multi_1.glo_30m All Times GMT (Zulu

Great Whites goes aerial.

2011-10-29T00:50:00.000-07:00

Winter's at our door

2011-10-29T00:48:00.000-07:00

Winter is slowly creeping up, its even let the sirens out a spot early, with a well groomed and long period south swell lighting up every south coast nook and cranny. I wish I could post the photos of the best spot on the day, but I can't the location must remain just that.

Harry Daily

2011-10-29T00:41:00.000-07:00

Harry Daily hails from San Diego, California. He also goes by many other names such as Sketch Holiday and /or Harry the Hat. I met Harry a few years back when he visited England, wearing some seriously bohemian threads and sporting a handle bar moustache. Whilst he beavered away on a Switchfoot style drawing. A lady said "`Well done, absolutely fantastic." in a rather well healed English accent, to which this rather strange looking bundle of hair replied " Thank you, I always try my hardest.", which struck me as pretty comical.

He's a bit of a well travelled surf and skate artist whose work has not only been published in the switchfoot series but also used by many surf brands in advertising campaigns. Harry seemed more interested in pasties, music and the night life as far as I could tell though.

Anyway with my house build erring towards the latter stages, it seems time to acquire a bit of art. So I phoned Golden Balls up at Driftwood Gallery, a supplier of surf art amongst other treasures and bought myself Adam and Eve has a pair of hand embellished limited edition prints, which look great. Adam's below, thanks to Driftwood Gallery for doing me a deal, that I was very happy with.

Bobby Martinez update.

2011-10-17T12:41:00.000-07:00

I used to love watching Bobby Martinez at Mundaka. He just seemed to have been made for that wave, or any other big barrelling left. I wouldn't necessarily be too interested in what many pro surfers have to say too often, "It was super fun" and "I'm stoked" can be used to answer any question it would seem but I was interested in why he wasn't around much this year. A few years ago I'd read how he was all jaded, hated the industry and thinking of going back to work for his Dad, which I thought was pretty .....left field.

He's a Mexican in Californian who lives in a neighbourhood that has been described as a ghetto, whether rightly or wrongly, still it's a bit unusual compared to the luxurious beach pad of most. He has a few pit bulls and loves his boxing.

Bobby Martinez dropped out of the surfing tour cause he smoked so much weed he couldn't get his act together but apparently that's all in the past, back in 2005.

These day's he's taking some pot shots: (taken from extreme scene.com)

Martinez on Kelly Slater’s legacy, and whether Slater should retire: “I don't know and I don't care. I just hate how he says he's not doing the tour and then he does the whole year. Obviously, he loves the spotlight, but to me I don't care what he does.”

Martinez on Kelly Slater’s quiver: “He's only riding fishes because he can't get a good shortboard. That's why I left Channel Islands.”

Bobby Martinez has the best back tattoo I've ever seen.

However Bobby looks like his time is up as a pro tour kind of surfer due to his live broadcasted rant at the US Open at Huntington Beach...... Not sure he was too articulate but hey he didn't say "It was super fun" or "I'm stoked" once.

Believe it or not he'd just smoked Bede Durbridge and was through to a surf with Senior Slater. Anyway he's been banned for a year for bringing the sport's image into disrepute, seems like a long way from the free thinking and uncensored days....

Something different from Pukas

2011-10-17T05:55:00.000-07:00

I've always fancied a Pukas board. I loved the look of a friends plonker and I dig the fact that Pukas are a European surfing house with shaping at the forefront.....their new model The Mix looks pretty sweet too.....so while pouring over their boards I spotted these clips which got me thinking about shaping again and may be adding a few LED's
Leds by Pukas. Tiago Pires and Joan Duru from Pukas Surf on Vimeo

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MUNDAKA 24H from aritzaranburu.com on Vimeo.

Viva la France

2011-10-08T00:10:00.001-07:00

Right back at ya Shark!

2011-10-05T12:59:00.000-07:00

Just loved this board work.

La Graviere and the French WCt event is on!

2011-10-05T11:18:00.000-07:00

Some pretty good waves on offer already and even Dane Reynolds turned up.

Paris

For live feed and all the action click here.

Wood

2011-10-04T05:47:00.000-07:00

Surf Photographer and Editor at Wavelength Magazine Greg Martin, recently reappeared after hanging out with some beardy weirdies in southern Wales who were transforming surfing through wood. What they hadn't counted on was that Greg (not exactly re known for his DIY exploits to put it mildly, just look at his lounge wall for gods sake) left without sealing the board in any shape or form. I have a feeling the board will remain an unfulfilled promise for sometime to come.

With all the roughly shawn timber on offer and fine opportunities for getting splinters I couldn't resist putting my 6 week old daughter through her paces to see how she'd get on. I have to confess there wasn't a moment when she just popped to her feet, grabbed a rail and then instinctively tickled the tube with her trailing arm. But she did look forward and arch her back......I'll keep her focused on the world title.

You

2011-09-27T07:36:00.000-07:00

Triathalon guy

2011-09-26T03:13:00.000-07:00

Mr Motivator McCreedy decided he wasn't fit enough to tackle to the two foot breakers of Crantock and pledged to do his first Triathlon which he completed last Sunday....well he didn't really. The bike leg was cancelled due to high winds and torrential rain....I couldn't understand why they let the ocean swim go on in 12 foot onshore maelstrom but I've learnt not to question the Cornish on common sense, for fear of the answer.

He was looking remarkably sprightly at the end of some pretty serious sand dune running. The wind chill and baltic temperatures kept the athletes cool and the crowd cowed into the pub.

This young lady is a British Trialthlete and an Olympic shoe in...unbelievably Andy Mac appeared from the soup shorty after with his Blackberry desperately trying to get her number as she pulled away from him.

Macker with the sea behind him.

I like this shot of Andy heading back towards Perranporth in a highly respectable 52 nd place out of the water ...I guess the field was somewhere in the 350 range.

The start was pretty impressive and the clothes in the crowd may give you a hint as to the conditions on the day.

No surf today! 40 mph onshore winds.

Andy checking out this guys packet at the start.

I'm not saying the Lifeguards weren't keen to rescue anyone, but she was on duty and I'm guessing it would have taken her awhile to affect a rescue.

Triathletes are sadists who enjoy pain and never smile......If you are thinking of doing one, head to Miami or Fiji is my advice.

Newlyn raft race

2011-09-23T07:37:00.000-07:00

So with great fan fair and a pretty impressive crowd the Newlyn Raft race burst into life. There were some pretty unusual sites though I must confess its connection with a surfing blog is somewhat tenuous, I like to see a bit of real life community from the ocean dwellers!

I'm sure my mother in law will love this shot of her as she strides confidently towards her galleon...sadly due to a near drowning incident..mother in law had to abandon her vessel in waist deep water and return to the Tolcarne Inn for the age old medicine of Rum.

The Meadery Maids, California you can keep your SoCal girls , these are real Cornish girls who can out paddle Laird Hamilton...2nd place finishers after Marios men.

Enough said.

Shenanigans before the bars tottered under the sheer weight of exhausted wannabe pirates.

2011-09-19T06:31:00.000-07:00

The Trestles Event of the WCT has just begun and after last years amazing conditions its looking all set even without Dane Reynold's wizardry! Click here for feed

Los Angeles

Photos that made me look at my atlas and dream

2011-09-17T14:26:00.000-07:00

Surf accomodation

2011-09-04T09:14:00.000-07:00

With my Campervan having disappeared a while back and the notion of having to rethink my local surf trip plans I decided on doing a bit of research in what others were up to for surf accomodation. Photos from my findings.

Nos 1 allegedly does drive but how they square the shed on the roof with the police is beyond me. Not for driving on windy days but with three double beds..not to be sneared at.

There is always a nice Combi that tempts you into thinking you really don't mind travelling at 50 mph and that breakdown cover is getting cheaper all the time.

This little nugget of a caravan was kindly lent to us to test drive....I'm 6ft 3 and clumsy...wasn't quite ideal. I had broken all the door handles in 5 minutes and got my bum stuck up against the window when I was

crouching to put my kaks on.

The sheer size of some of the tents blew me away...I guess Beduoin orgies take up space.....inshallah.

Boring Motorhome.....god it looked good though. Yes it may be souless but everything works...Sky TV and cold beer on an armchair next to the break....seems too opulent somehow..can you hear the sea from inside those things...oh go on then I'll have one..I just need to sell my house first.

Mr T's family turned up in the family wagon...I think they have a private source of fossil fuels to run that bad boy on.

Or just sleep in at work and be on the beach! My favourite.

Shots from the World Belly Boarding Championships

2011-09-04T08:30:00.000-07:00

The World Belly Boarding Championships were held today the 3rd of September at Chapel Porth Beach, Cornwall, UK.

Conditions in the sea were a foot or two of chop, water temp around 16 degrees and no wetsuits allowed. The air temp was about the same as the water. But it was crowded with a truly hard breed of surfers, who I don't normally see in the local car park. Despite the tag of "world "and the presence of the Sky Sports reporters (it's got to be Transworld Sport material), there was a distinctively old school English feel to it that warmed my cockles. No other nation on earth would have have put on such a brave face about it.

See What I mean about the Old Skool feel?

Somethings don't change though, boys and their toys, will never change. Some of the trusty steads were mighty fine.

I was quite keen to buy the long Paipo board but the owners and salesmen seemed a bit reluctant to part with it, I clearly wasn't down enough with the scene.

Conditions weren't ideal for product testing, apart from the swim suits and hats which were thoroughly put through the paces in some testicles shrinking frigid soup.

There were no shortage of takers for the expression session.

One of the main criteria was length of ride, which limited artistic innovation from my perspective. That was until the reality of the competitors determination to fulfill this objective was carefully viewed. There were people in the Open Division (you had to be over 60, otherwise you were a Junior) who were removing layers of skin off the bellies and even faces as they milked the last remnants of energy out of a 3 inch sand drainer...excellent levels of commitment and a defiance of the Laws of Physics, which are rarely seen in such public abundance these days.

The mood of the competitors was generally relaxed without much heat tactical mind voodoo going on.

A variety of athletes, equipment and warm up techniques were on display to the not unsubstantial crowd who were free to mill around with the athletes as well as collect autographs.

Above; A Men's Senior Heat about to go out.

Below: A couple of Belliest returning from a free surf earlier in the day.

When heats started and finished there was carnage in the water. From a distance it looked like old people walking in and out of the sea with coffin lids, an OAP equivelant of the recent London Riots. The elderly being so worried about all the government cut backs on healthcare, they feel the need to keep the coffin lid with them at all times incase their local council is too broke and bury them in an open casket. Traumatic at a glance for the casual dog walker on the coastal path who stumbles across such a spectacle.

I had a fantastic few hours chatting and watching the madness and think the National Trust, Skinners brewery, the parish council, RNLI and whoever else was involved were legends. Never been prouder to be British in this international event.

No Waves in New York?!!?

2011-08-31T02:29:00.000-07:00

Just as Hurricane Irene's influence loosens her grip on the east coast USA.....so the very same beaches will hold a WCT surfing event for the first time. It seems that New York gets some pretty good looking waves more so over the Christmas period which can make the British Winter sound mild, still September's Typhoon season so watch out for the old south swells. For live feed of the event click here. Event starts 4th of Sept.

New York

Chopes overload

2011-08-29T00:27:00.000-07:00

Sorry, call it cheap surf journalism or rather sheer awe, but when competition at Chopes was being called off due to it being too big I had to watch this...check out the highlights.....as Taff would say "Sizey":

Now with the event back on track, falling back into the 8ft range it's all fun and games....Well done Euro Star Jeremy Flores not for the perfect 20 point heat but for clawing my way back up the fantasy surf team ratings in the spinalsurfer clubhouse....Owen Wright being a strong contender too. Quarter finals next up! I promise I won't mention the contest again, but the best sustained conditions I've seen in an event.

10 to 15 ft Chopes for today's event

2011-08-27T00:59:00.000-07:00

As you can see yesterday's Teahupoo was pretty small, they were calling it 6ft Chopes.....tomorrow they're calling it 10 to 15ft Chopes...thought I'd take a look when it starts

Papeete

Tahiti is in French Polynesia and is one of the Society Islands.

Surfer's ear.

2011-08-27T00:34:00.000-07:00

A while back I did a post on Surfer's Ear, which is caused by cold water trapped in the ear canal leading to boney growth that blocks the drum and therefore hearing.

The operation didn't look so fun either...............

Chopes

2011-08-26T04:43:00.000-07:00

Chopes is on and despite the 1st round looking pretty awsome, there holding off heats until the 10ft swell arrives in the next few days....it's gunna go off. Click here for live feed.

Owen Wright hits Desert Point Lombok ahead of Chopes

2011-08-14T14:41:00.000-07:00

I like Owen Wright, I like his attitude. Here is what he had to say on getting smashed up:

Then you took the slow ferry back to Bali? No speedboats or helicopters for you?
"Nah, this was a trip with the boys, none of that stuff. The ferry ride is kinda slow, and I had a good headache. I was going to stay and surf, it was picking up and getting stitched up and surfing again would have been good practice for Teahupoo but the gash got infected and I had to get out of there?”

Information courtesy of Tracks Magazine

Dane Reynold's Backyard

2011-08-14T14:29:00.000-07:00

Dane's Backyard picture comes courtesy of his Marine Layer blog.

Diana Nyad update

2011-08-08T23:23:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: CNN is reporting endurance swimmer Diana Nyad has been forced to abandon her attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida about halfway through.

The report states Nyad was vomiting when she was brought aboard a boat at 12:45 a.m. Tuesday, 29 hours after she jumped in the water.

"I am not sad. It was absolutely the right call," she said later.

CNN also said she had been dealing with ocean swells, shoulder pain and a bout with asthma before being forced to cease her attempt.

Yoou don't know if you don't go, good on ya.

First World surfing event in China

2011-08-08T23:19:00.000-07:00

October this year will see the women's longboard tour stop in Hainan Province China for the first time, building on the success of the Hainan Open (click here). The island is home to some pretty good waves by the look of it and Wanning City is hosting the event. I had a dig around on the internet to see what I could find and there were the usual gathering of ex pats and TEFL teachers living there who seem to dig the warmish waterwide array of waves. Imagine if the chinese go surf crazy........Spinalsurfer proverb "If you think you're one in a million, there's a thousand like you in China!"

Good Luck Diana Nyad.

2011-08-08T01:05:00.000-07:00

Last time she attempted to swim from Cuba,30 years ago, she had to pull up after 40 odd hours after an eight foot swell kicked in that kept smashing her into the shark cage she was swimming in! Diana Nyad is already a complete legend in my book. She holds many records in open ocean swimming, my favourite being her two day non stop swim from the Bahamas back to Florida, still she was 30 back then in 1979. Things are a little different these days at the ripe old age of 61 she aims to swim from Cuba to Florida, the convential way has been done before but that's not good enough for Diana. She doesn't want to swim in a shark cage in the most shark infested waters on earth. So for three days without stopping apart from to tred water every ninety minutes to take on food through a pipe, she's gunna get her head down and motor.

She likes to swim places like Lake Ontario and the Bay of Naples so I can't see her visiting the North Atlantic in January anytime soon, but I'd like to wish her all the best in her attempt.

She has spent over a year just trying to get permission for the swim as there are still no official relations between Cuba and the US....her swim began last night (Sunday)...Suerte!

Barrel riding in Fiji.

2011-08-07T13:51:00.000-07:00

Morning glass at Bells Beach Australia.

2011-08-04T14:05:00.000-07:00

Shaping shack down.

2011-07-26T11:07:00.000-07:00

Tragedy occurred today in the mecca of Goldsithney as history was removed by a mini digger and two fat lads with sledgehammers. The shaping shack battled hard but after a few hours all that was left was the poultry graffiti embossed on the wall from the dregs of a spray can. Badger surfboards was the first I believe to use the slightly less than state of the art facilities, The Badger went on to produce a consistent quality of sub 7ft single fins. The Badger currently resides in Colorado , USA where he is a back country snowboarder and good bloke. He recently took time out from deep powder to get warm in Nicaragua using I believe the last board shaped in the Goldsithney factory.

Dave "Chav" Devey pened and planed "Asbo" boards here whilst relationships collapsed and blossomed. Chav currently on honeymoon, surfing NZ, still whacks out an Asbo quad shaped at the shack on fatter days on the points and beaches of Casablanca, Morrocco where he resides.

Boardum surfboards shaped by yours truly has had its ups and downs, it must be said. Having first decided the brand was plain cursed after traipsing with twinnies around the corners of the earth where Huey (God of the Waves) was clearly not smiling on me, I have persevered and await a new shack with a few more mod cons (such as a door that shuts) where I look forward to making some keel fin fishes and my dream of dreams a Bonzer.

Michelle Hawes deserves a mention for shaping the worse mini mal I have ever seen, with decorations such as laminated leaves and post cards, one can only imagine what has become of the board. From what I gather Michelle has married a pig farmer in NZ where they are both perfectly content....well done you too.

The end of an era. Good times my friends.

Congratulations Jordy Smith.

2011-07-24T09:57:00.000-07:00

Jordy won the J -bay event beating Mick Fanning in the final.

My new passion

2011-07-18T05:28:00.000-07:00

I was getting worried I was going to sit around and talk about back in the day see....that's what drove me to it.

Still out of the water, over two months gone and by last week I was feeling pretty terrible. I decided to make a huge U turn in thought. ....I can't swim or put any real pressure on my shoulder at all......I was desperate......really desperate....I'm sorry......I took my step kids bodyboards and headed for the shore dump.........It was good to see the boys down the car park, but none of them would park near me anymore, most ignored me and talked about me behind my back, some pulled up and shouted abuse at me through the car windows....One of my "better" surfing mates, simply whispered "why?" as he slithered past, I sensed he was welling up due to his trembly voice. Upset I hit the waves and creased both boards in a couple of waves....I could hear them sniggering as I did the penguin waddle in my fins through the shallows................never again I swore.

I knew I had to keep getting in though. When I spotted my new stick I knew things had changed, no one abuses a bellyboard....I started off in the sun in the small waves of Porthcurnow, instantly the chicks came flocking and that pure uncluttered joy of slidding down a face returned....pure and simple.

This is Porthcurnow through the lense of Greg Martin, the Wavelength Editor whose Bellyboard I have pinched...nice one. His wife Daisy in the previous shot seemed rather friendly too.

Since then I've been every day in all sorts of rubbish having a complete blast. I go out back, take sets and use fins now.....Then I found out about The World Belly Board champs in Chapel Porth in September...so I need a costume and to practice....dare to dream my friends.

The World Belly Boarding Championships 2010 from Sideways Cornwall on Vimeo.

New Zealand with Chav

2011-07-17T07:26:00.000-07:00

Chav's on honeymoon in New Zealand and here's what he has to say(also his pictures).....

New Zealand. It's not a name that I hear that often when I hear Brits talking about what surf trips they are next going on. Perhaps it's because of the 22 hours you have to spend jammed into an economy class seat or the fact that it isn't really a place you can go just for a week, and until this trip is over, I couldn't even tell you whether it was the right decision to go in winter. But as a teacher, the only time of year where there is enough time to make the flight worth it is our summer, or in the dead of winter as New Zealand goes! As with any country, the weather can make or break a holiday, and I am sorry to say that so far the weather has not been kind. Though 10 days of howling onshores and driving rain are certainly enough to whip up a meaty swell off the west coast.

When it comes to surfing, New Zealand should be on everybody's list of surf trips. With the West coast getting regular large swells throughout the year from the southern ocean, the only time you can't surf this coast is from September to November, where the roaring 40's provide constant onshores. Convenient then that there is an East coast that's also gets waves from lows out in the pacific. Seriously, everybody has heard of Raglan, and Shipwreck Bay (of Endless Summer fame) as quality surf spots in New Zealand providing point breaks with rides of over 500 meters on a good day, but the NZ surf guide has more breaks than Evil Kenevil. 450 to be exact. That's not including the spots that you can just stumble across, or work less frequently. There are endless options, for every type of condition making the chances of no surf anywhere on the islands distinctly unlikely.

With reeling points, beachies, river mouths and reefs, there really is something for everyone. As varied as the breaks are, you can also say the same for temperatures both in and out the water. Fortunately winter waters on the north island are still fine for a good 4/3, but that south island is all about 5 mil plus with booties gloves and hoods. I haven't had any ice-cream head so far, but I can imagine it's coming. New Zealand has it all. Endless surf breaks, amazing scenery, friendly locals, and tonnes of outdoor activities for if it's flat. Rafting, snowboarding, skydiving, and more bungie than a hippies transit.

The only complaint being that none of this comes for free and New Zealand is a country of poor wages and expensive attractions. How about 2 quid for a pepper, or 3 for a cucumber or 45 quid for 45 minutes in a cave with some glow worms in it? It's a good job surfing is free, and with so many options, who needs all that crap anyway.. Surfers can live off good local beer and red meat (cheaper than a pepper with all these sheep and cows around!) How does 22 hours in economy grab you now?

Thanks Chav, love to Jenny and enjoy your honeymoon but do send us some more pictures.

First round of J bay

2011-07-15T12:36:00.000-07:00

No Shows from Bobby Martinez or Slater which is a trifle rude given that most surfers would cut their arm off to surf the place with only 2 out never mind compete on the WCT......I never pick Slater in my fantasy surf team this was the first and last time.....bad juju

Da Hui.

2011-07-13T01:52:00.000-07:00

Ever since I discovered the meaning of Aloha (the Breath of Life), I've always thought that Hawaiian words must have poetry behind them. Da Hui or The Club was I believed a surf brand and probably a term for the extended family. I was surprised when I started to do a bit of research into the North Shores famous Wolf Pack, the gang famous for the ferocious enforcement of localism on the Islands led by the likes of Kala Alexander (pictured below.)

Da Hui started up in the 1970's on the islands as a reaction to the increasing number of Haoloes (white guys/outsiders) surfing the islands. It appears that it wasn't just the number of Haoles in the water but more the way things were done. In 1976 when Fred Hemmings who despite being a Hawaiian as he was born in Honululu was still a Haole organised a surf contest without inviting any native Hawaiians. The Black Shorts, also known as Da Hui, comprising of the heaviest local dudes around, guys like Eddie Rothman had had enough and paddled straight into the contest area and ripped it up.

It was the start of Hawaiians having guaranteed spots in contests but it was also much more. It was the start of ownerships of waves by locals the world over, be it for the right or wrong reasons.

Da Hui of course went on to be a surf brand in the islands all be it owned and profiteered by a Texan, but Da Hui is still a term commonly used by the local surfers including the Wolf Pack of the North Shore.

Here's what some of Sydney's Bra Boys reckon on the subject.

Jeffrey's Bay Billabong pro starts tomorrow with prime conditions for the middle of the week.

2011-07-12T07:11:00.000-07:00

Webisode 01 - All Eyes Focused on Jeffreys Bay and the Billabong Pro from Billabong USA on Vimeo.

For results and live feed click here.

All eyes are on the spinalsurfer clubhouse at Fantasysurfer.com

Current top five in the club are

1) Poontang
2) Devey's dorks
3) Me
4) Brown dog
5) Rodi

all to play for and I am most certainly not letting on my new changes.

Spare a thought for the Fish

2011-07-11T06:22:00.000-07:00

Loved the music and vibe of this vid from the guys at Goiabada

The Meyerhoffer 2.

2011-07-08T02:05:00.000-07:00

Having posted a picture of the Meyerhoffer board a few weeks back, It seemed to stir some interest, so I had a dig around to see what I could find out.

I have to say Thomas for me set some alarm bells ringing. "It is a longboard with the characteristics of a shortboard" coupled with "The nose is all about high performance nose riding" is a dichotomy that is rather hard to give credence too. So many shapers have tried to appeal to this concept for example Nine Plus's Magic Carpet. If you want a shortboard get one, if you want a longboard then get one is my view..."You can't fool all the people all the time"

I spoke to a man in the board business and his views read

" I'm not a massive fan of a German/Californian product designer supposedly re-writing the last 60 years of surfboard design and winning a bunch of design awards judged by a load of suits in agencies who couldn't possibly evaluate the board on it's actual surf merits."

Meyerhoffer 2. Don't forget the 8.1 from meyerhoffer surf on Vimeo.

The online reviews are all published by those that have a vested interest in increasing sales so I'm going to stick well clear of them, except may be the commentary that as it's light in volume then its not for gutless mush......I guess what is needed is for someone to go out and ride one for a bit, the price tag of £765 may make you balk at the idea but hey...buying surfboards is that kind of business.

I had a look at some of the shortboard's they were turning out and found myself not drawn to the rails at all, but functionality which surely is the important factor remains, to me at least, completely unknown.

So the jury is out on the Meyerhoffer 2 which certainly looks pretty different.

Hola Jose Antonio!

2011-07-06T05:20:00.000-07:00

Hi Eddie !

how ru?

Im reading your blog and its nice.

I recomendo to post bbrdrs articles including u riding a wave

surfers sucks jajajajajjajajjaja

im gonna sento u some pics to post it in your blog.

Log on to my site http://www.lacasadejoseantonio.com/

(all of the below photos were attached)

The last message I got over a year ago from Jose Antonio read:

het eddy thats a ridicoulous name 4 your article@ spinal surfer.Please do a bbrd one !

do you have your membership card of the new kids on the block band?

jaaaaaaaaaaaaa

I have spent 15 minutes trying to decipher the message and have come to the conclusion that BBRDR is not some strange S and M sexual cult, it is in fact Bodyboarding, something with Jose is pretty nifty at, unlike S and M, Jose's down with the main man.

The world is not so small, I thought having read my message from Jose Antonio. Although I have been lucky enough to spend some weeks in their warm house and spent afternoons in his hammock, under pretty much the only tree in Lobitos trying to escape the vapid heat, it couldn't feel further away today.(It's 10 000KM between Lima and London at the best of times)

With a shoulder injury, that after over 3 months, shows no sign of healing and therefore no chance of swimming or paddling, the Atlantic seems distant never mind the Pacific. My first child is due to be delivered next Thursday, by C section and we are also trying to build a house......I think that surfing is meant to literally come in waves. Before I got the message the tide was ebbing and there was a high pressure blocking the force of nature. It's at times like these, dressed in a tie and dodging writing school reports as well as a mass of paperwork, that one needs an email from their Jose Antonio.

He's there at his home, the swell in the pictures is the swell he is looking at. You can hear and feel the big swells in the bunks there. Jose will have been up before the sun and slipped on his flip flops and gone down to the point, surfed El Hueco by himself or with a couple of other experts and then if he's lucky and there is a guy like me in the house, we'll have drunk the fresh filter coffee the traveller brought with him and spent some down time waiting for the trades to die off in the evening for the glass off. Taken the mickey and learnt from the others experiences and then take the mickey some more. He's making progress too, check out his website, it's amazing. What he has built out of a deserted shack in a deserted town in the middle of nowhere, right next to one of the best wave set ups around is impressive. A man who has lived his life in what he believes is right and has made his life about a place he holds dear. He never could sleep when there was a bit swell for El Hueco...good on him

I guess the tides about to start pushing now and hurricane seasons in September so I better go back and see about this shoulder and get ready.

For previous articles on Lobitos click:

here

There

far away

Dog Shit on the way to surf

2011-06-17T07:15:00.000-07:00

I got a warm feeling on my feet the other day as I jogged towards the surf...I know it's summer but the tarmac ain't that hot.

I kind of found someone else to sum up my feelings for me though.

A tall leggy number

2011-06-17T07:08:00.001-07:00

Surfing, the real deal.

2011-06-16T04:08:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be a Dad next month, I know , it explains a lot. Less surfing and blogging time for sure, I reckon....

Last Sunday 3ft and clean and where was I? I had a guided tour of the pre and anti natal ward and the maternity ward....I finished the day light off with a mind bending two hours in the pram shop......I don't know if I was looking for it or whether the waves were rubbing it in or whether commercialism really needs to get a grip, but the word surf was everywhere. Here are some highlights from last Sunday and a rove around the net.

The silver cross surf pram and the other one was something surf too. I have no idea why.

Small wave shredder and big wave charging lego.

Surfing USB key.

Surf clothes for the little monster.

Toyota Hilux surf in matchbox.

Surf scented candles.

Surfboard earrings.

One thing they all have in common is that they are all massively over priced.

Well done surf industry! That's integrity.

Hitler's surf trip.

2011-06-07T01:58:00.001-07:00

Shipsterns

2011-05-27T03:03:00.001-07:00

Is Shipsterns a place for the anti surfer? I mean do people surf it to prove that waves are ugly and style is unimportant? I mean its just a beast that to make the wave is all you can hope for....pray for. Not for me thanks.

THE SHIP HAS SAILED from Jamin Mclean Studio on Vimeo.

Don't you just wish it was only you out.

2011-05-23T07:54:00.000-07:00

I don't know who Mele is who took this shot in Pascuales, Mexico but I love the sizings and space of this photo.

The Billabong Pro in Rio is on!

2011-05-18T07:16:00.000-07:00

Click here for the action!

Pollution

2011-05-16T06:53:00.000-07:00

Whilst experiencing an out of control Moroccan swell, we went digging around for sheltered spots

I'm not sure the photos really do it justice but up the channel of the river in Kenitra was this wave that wasn't breaking. Strange as the main beach was white water to the horizon....I started to wonder how much swell it needed. On the far groyne was a tasty looking right hander that looked great and had almond tubes.

The idea of actually stepping into the water though was too grim to contemplate. I'm sure most of the colour is silt, but you couldn't see your hand half an inch under the water, I've heard that cholera was an issue......

Professional Surfer

2011-05-05T23:52:00.000-07:00

"Squirrel fins are supposed to be good for noseriding, but I don't know..." He said with his minimalist smile, yet an expression that said "I've considered it carefully but I just can't see it" and an approaching set brought the conversation to an end.

He rides with his own style. No flamboyance or signs of performing. Setting lines and getting forward to trim and then walking the board in order to turn. He always finishes a wave, he never pulls out. I've come to realise that the audience are ignored at best and pitied as worse. Dysfunctional people have unconventional paths in life and their perspectives are their own. Still there is a presence there and like a child with an oil painting, I wanted to make an impression on it. I was drawn to his energy and intrigued. Still he's not much of a conversationalist...so it sort of remained that way.

Sometimes I wonder why people do the things that they do, when they do and why they pick a particular time to tell you. I certainly wasn't thinking that when I stood in a queue to get some food next to him.

Talking surf trip plans is the easiest conversation between two surfers. We dreamed collectively. I was intrigued by the places he'd been. Before I could quiz him about one place, another place had already stolen its limelight.

We had sat down at an empty table loaded with food for a chat by this time. "How come you've been to every country with waves in Central America? I mean how did you manage to do that?" I quizzed. I could have changed Central America with Asia or Europe (I came to understand later that I could have pretty much named anywhere in the world with a surfable or non surfable coastline.). The first few minutes of the explanation I struggled with, as the general din from the room made it hard to hear with ever encroaching surfer's ear. I picked up an acronym of three letters. It sounded like it was important to the plot so I picked up on it.

"Secret services......." he didn't seem to want to raise his voice any higher. I made a banal remark as if he'd just told me that United had won a football game, but my deeper brain that doesn't come into play too often was rumbling, as if on stand by should something more come of it. I now realise that he moved his chair and came closer, he wanted me to hear but didn't want anyone else to hear.

He continued, he was training to be an officer, he had been adopted by a military family, it wasn't likely to end in his selection. The acronym told him, he wasn't their type, he wasn't a team player, he was socially dysfunctional, he was without ties and yet he was very intelligent, especially good at languages, fiercely independent, resourceful and determined. He wouldn't need to fill out any job applications, he changed barracks, too a smaller more clandestine kind of training. He thrived.

Up close I couldn't help but study him as I listened intently. His muscles protect the bones and hold them in place, skin just adorns it all. His face is a map of a distant place where no one else has really been. But the look that sticks in my mind was of the blue eyes with the smallest, darkest pupils I have seen, they were like dark Tahitian pearls. He sought to lock me in eye contact, in doing so no doubt he would control the situation and gain my reaction to what he was telling me. Which I guess is why he was telling me.

He'd said "the most fun I'd had in my life" sticks in my mind now,as well as the excitement of being in the back of a transit armed in Northern Ireland aged 18, though there was lots of information to bring it to light that this was not everyone's idea of "fun". I didn't understand it all, I was getting a picture with lots of background but I felt like I was missing him in the foreground.

"What exactly did you do? I mean on a day to day basis...I'm just not quite seeing what you actually did." had I done the right thing by asking I thought? Before I had time to worry about whether I'd said the wrong thing. He'd galloped forward, he wanted to tell and his words and body were loaded with sincerity. "We'd do ops and when they were over we'd do courses back in England learning skills for the next one. In and out." He went into some detail of doing ops for a few days or over a year in other cases, doing "clean ups". "They might be following someone, working an asset, killing someone or killing their family members...." My brain lurched.....He had killed someone, multiple people. It had been his job. "fun" was a word I stepped back from.

"Ghosting" was his specialism by the time he finished. Ghosting is working with a small group of operatives. You work with or convert an asset, use them for their purpose and then the ghost eliminates the asset. You then return, do some courses, live in normal society and only work your ops. It wasn't until many hours later that I appreciated what converting an asset might mean, far away from my ideas of a chat over a drink.

Work it would seem was plentiful, Africa, South and Central America, Russia, all of Asia and the Asian/Europe bridge were areas needing a lot of work doing. Eventually he went freelance, responding to his line manager with no information going up or down. Just details. By yourself, no back up, no support no nada.
Just the way he liked it, dysfunctional, poor team player, emotionally screwed, no one was relying on him, he didn't need to think of them and they didn't worry about him. Addresses some real and some not, made up jobs and I'm sure fake passports etc to boot.

He said it several times but I kept missing it, I think the expression was "The bottle was full". It was peak lunch now and though our table was made for 6, we were two and every other table was crammed, so the noise was on the up. It had been the Balkan area and the conflict of the 1990's that had finished him off, he reamed off Sebia, Bosnia, Albania, Macedonia and others, some he repeated, strangely inarticulate for him as if they were stuck and he couldn't swallow them down It was the only hint of emotion the whole half an hour. He talked of many of the others having their "bottles full" after the Balkans too. Of walking past lines of beheaded children lined up on the side of the streets and turning the corner to see the Serbs lining up the next set, men this time. I was there with him, his eyes were the real life TV.

Many got out at that time, too much work, the wrong type of work was what I summarized. Many that didn't were dead, some he is still in contact with and some worked with the South and Central America cartels. 12 billion pound turnover apparently attracts a certain type.

I probed a little further, pathetically aware that I was going to be late for a completely useless meeting and that society had indoctrinated me far more successfully than my dining partner. I asked the normal questions people do with 5 minutes to question someone who worked in the clandestine world who has decided that he's going to open up for a rare show. What I learnt was that everyone copes differently or they don't cope. That 5 seconds was his genuine remorse limit, before the feeling passed. That choosing who to support is not obvious, make two choices, one overtly and one covertly. That menial concerns don't ever register. That normal life is possible because of the lifestyle between ops. One op for 2 days can pay your way through an entire BTEC and sometimes you can coincide an op with a surf trip.

Bells is on.

2011-04-21T01:16:00.000-07:00

Bells is on (click here for scores, live feed etc) and with Winki pop looking sexy today I'm hoping the spinalsurfer fantasy team will get off bottom in the fantasy league.

The Waikiki Surf Club, Lima, Peru.

2011-04-18T01:27:00.000-07:00

Club Waikiki photographed from Kina Malpartida’s gym. The waves way off in the background are Barranquito.

The Waikiki Surf Club in Miraflores, Lima, Peru is almost certainly not what you would expect from a Surf Club. In 2010 it seems ludicrously opulent but go back to the days of creation circa 1942 and then things get really distorted.

Within the last 12 months women have been allowed to become members, no one more prominent in the world of sport than the WBA super featherweight world champion Kina Malpartida. Indeed she has her own facilities within the club overlooking the gentle waves of Waikiki and an over crowded, noisy, dirty road.

Peru

doesn’t have many World Champs so they are pretty proud of the few they have. She beat Sofia Mulanovich to the National Surf title and she’s highly competitive in many more. Her brother Alvaro is a Peruvian National Champ surfer too.

Club Waikiki is above the road both in terms of elevation and social class. At $15 000 joining fee, providing you are proposed and approved, as well as the monthly maintenance fee it is definitely in the exclusive realm. The chauffeur driven cars, nanny tendered children and melee of kowtowing staff attest to this. The club has about 450 members and the land was bequeathed by the Peruvian Government, which underlines the close connection that exists between wealth and politics in Peru, undoubtedly one of South Americas most corrupt countries which is no easy title to win. That being said, the club’s open plan and situation a stone’s throw from Limenos life makes it at least approachable. Many of its members are local business people who visit before, during or after work, some to surf, some to exercise, some to socialize and others to drop their kids off in a “safe and protected” environment.

The members gym complete with locker room and excellent facilities overlooks the gentle breakers of the Costa Verde.

The facilities include several swimming pools, squash courts, tennis courts, gym, locker room, surfboard storage (more like warehouse), sauna, treatment rooms, several bars, a couple of restaurants, BBQ facilities, function room, wetsuit room and admin centre. It’s a place that has changed a lot and although it’s not exactly sterile these days, it has certainly got a family feel to it. I dare say Carlos Drogny would not have been so keen.

Carlos Drogny is the man who incorrectly but popularly is acknowledged with being the man who brought surfing to Peru and creating the Waikiki Surf Club. The Caballitos de Totora of the Chimu tribe in Huanchaco whilst certainly fore filling the premise of wave riding, cannot be attributed with being a member of the Malibu surfing fraternity, rather a hereditary glimpse of what was to come. Yet Barranco had been surfed since just after the turn of the 20th century by Alfonso and Alfredo Pezet, Celso Gamarra, Alfonso Cillóniz and friends. They originally had ridden planks in a prone position but certainly by the 1920’s had began riding bigger boards and standing. They even had an article published about them in a sports magazine called “Aire Libre”.

Yet it was Carlos who was responsible for it catching on, and disseminating it through Club Waikiki. He had been studying in the States and was heir to a sugarcane fortune. Being of a feckless nature which was common amongst the Peruvian elite he decided to spend some quality time in Hawaii playing polo. The connection was made and he ended up returning to Peru with a board from no other than Duke Kahanamoku himself. 14ft boards weighing in excess of 130 Kilogram catch peoples eyes, friends were introduced, guys started sawing things up or going to Hawaii for their own and suddenly a small group of friends led by Senor Drogny wanted somewhere near the beach to stash their boards. Club Waikiki was born.

The first Surfboard in Peru was for a while used as a board to screw a clock on, but these days its propped up against a hedge.

So far a normal surf clubs creation looks underway, but the thing that distinguished the club was the money behind it. Peru’s wealth was almost feudal in its acquisition and distribution and these were the people who had time, money and the will to surf and enjoy beach life. They built both a club and reputation that is unparalleled in surfing history. As champion American surfer and visitor to the club Mike Doyle explains:

“The Peruvians had a beautiful clubhouse they called the Club Waikiki, at Miraflores Beach, just outside Lima. It was more like a polo club than any surf club I’d ever seen. It had two swimming pools, a restaurant, bar, squash court, locker rooms, lots of pretty girls lying around, masseuses, and white-jacketed waiters running all over the place. Everyone who surfed in Peru at that time was wealthy. There weren’t any peasant surfers – no surf rats, no beach bums. Surfing was a gentleman’s sport in Peru, and almost all the surfers were very, very rich. They would work for a while in the morning, tending to their business affairs, then come down to the club for the rest of the day. They would surf for a couple of hours at the little beach break in front of the club, shower, then have lunch and cocktails on the terrace.”

“At the Club Waikiki,” Doyle continued, “guests weren’t allowed to carry their own surfboards down to the water – the servants did it for you. One of the Australian surfers, Nat Young, didn’t like that. When they tried to take his board from him, he snatched it back and said, ‘Goddamnit, leave me alone! I’ll carry my own board!’ Which is how most of us felt, too. But Nat only insulted the servant, and probably our hosts as well, and in the end the Indian carried his board anyway.”

“The servants waxed your board for you, too,” Doyle went on. “If you lost your board, they would run over and shag it for you before it hit the rocks. You could surf right up to the beach, step off and walk away – the servants would run out, grab your board, and carry it up to your locker. If you happened to ding your board, at night a little Indian came out of a hole in back of the club and patched it for you. The whole scene seemed unnatural, and it made me uncomfortable. But the Peruvians were such great hosts, and they took the whole thing so seriously, we had no choice but to go along with it.”

“Most of the young Peruvian surfers were bored rich kids, like spoiled princes,” Doyle continued. “They loved playing the role of Latin lovers, and they were outrageous partiers. But the older guys who sponsored the contest were active surfers, too. They’d paddle out, catch a wave and stand up, just to show they still had the old animal prowess. They they’d come in , have cocktails and lunch, and play a few rounds of palenta, which is a paddle-and-net game, kind of like badminton.

“We stayed in a hotel in town, and a bus would pick us up and take us to the club every day, or to one of the many social events the Peruvians had planned for us.”

“One afternoon they got us all drunk at the club,” recalled Doyle, “then took us to a bullring. They gave us all capes and said, ‘Here, it’s time to fight the bulls.’ I didn’t want to fight any bulls. Most of us didn’t. We tried to get out of it, tried to politely decline, but the Peruvians wouldn’t have it. It was a big macho deal to fight a bull, and everyone had to do it. The bulls had their horns trimmed so we wouldn’t get gored, but it was still dangerous. Several guys got flipped around, and we could have been badly hurt. I really hated that, but I did it.”

Women were ever present at the club, just not wives and the parties have become the tales of legends. So much so that few Peruvians were happy to go on record about it. It was put to me that “there were the girls who would come to the club and there were the girls who wouldn’t come to the club, but never the wives.” In 1954 Kontiki, a wave in the Punta Hermosa area some 45 minutes south of Lima was spotted from an airplane. The club immdediately trekked down there and bought up the land creating an out of town get away. Strangely Kontiki is rarely surfed these days but the surrounding area is home to Peru’s richest wave area. The discovery of Kontiki not only led to bigger waves being surfed but what few shackles members felt in Lima were removed with abandon in the desert. Mike Doyle explains what a night in Kontiki after the annual surfing championships held through the 1960’s was like with Peruvian racing car driver Pitty Blocque:

Pitty explained that this was an ‘official whorehouse.’ As near as I could tell, that meant the place had been set up by the ruling class, for the ruling class. That way there would be no blackmail, no bad rumours leaking out, no embarrassment to the men or their families. They controlled everything.

“Inside, it was like a huge barroom. All the Peruvians from the Club Waikiki were there – they’d just moved the whole party out to their whorehouse in the country.

“Most of the Hawaiians were there ahead of us and already in great form. They knew the routine, and they were primed for it.”

“I was amazed to see that every girl in the place was absolutely gorgeous,” Doyle continued. “There were mulatto girls, Asian girls, Peruvian girls, American girls. They were all exotically beautiful.

“Pitty pointed toward the girls, then asked me, ‘Which one do you want?’

“I felt a little uneasy. I was twenty-three at the time and not exactly naïve when it came to sex, but I’d never seen anything like this before.

“’Don’t worry about the cost,’ Pitty said. ‘I’ll take care of it.’

“I pointed to a Japanese girl and said, ‘She’s nice.’

“Pitty smiled and rubbed his hands together. ‘Okay, come on.’

“He led me over to the girl, nodded, and she immediately took me to a back room. We had a couple of drinks and talked for a while. She waited until I was relaxed and comfortable before she initiated the sex. She was a real professional.

“When I rejoined the others, Pitty asked me, ‘Did you enjoy yourself?’ When I nodded, Pitty pointed toward the girls again and said, ‘Do you see another one you like?’”

“I must have looked shocked,” Doyle went on, “because Pitty laughed out loud. I’d been thinking this was a one-course meal – I didn’t know it was a smorgasbord. But looking around, I began to notice that some of the older Peruvians disappeared with a different girl every few minutes. And when Pitty went into the back rooms, he took two girls at a time.

“Sometime that night, I came to the realization that the Peruvians couldn’t have cared less about the Peruvian International Surfing Contest. They just loved watching the rest of us go berserk in their country. They had already indulged themselves with every kind of pleasure imaginable, and the only new pleasure for them was watching us indulge ourselves. Officially they were our hosts, but actually we were there to entertain them.”

The Waikiki Club had other advantages, its members were welcomed on the Islands and many developed a close affinity with the place here a Peruvian and Hawaiian crew represent the Waikiki Outrigger Club, Hawaii.

Club Waikiki was a place of legend and today it is very much a different experience all together. It has no doubt seen some power battles. This is especially evident as Drogny’s bronze bust has been thrown in the sea of the pier at least three times and replaced. Yet it is this very club that is responsible for putting surfing on the map in Peru. It was members who led to the discovery and pioneering breaks such as Punta Rocas and La Isla in the Punta Hermosa area and this led in turn to trips further south to Cerra Azul by 1962 which must have been ideal for the equipment of the day. Chicama wasn’t added to the list until 1966 and the breaks further north not until the 1970’s. By the 1970’s however the club’s stranglehold on the nations surfing progress had diminished but not before giving it a very colourful heritage.

The Club was responsible for the first Peruvian surfing competition in 1955 won by Alfrendo Granda indeed it was the first outside the US. By 1962 the Club had been instrumental in shaping the Peruvian Surfing Federation. This led to further surfing competitions such as the World Championships in 1962 held at Punta Rocas where the judging criteria was speed of movement and length of ride, it was attended by representatives from USA, Hawaii, Peru, France (where Drogny had also been instrumental in starting surfing) and Australia. The 1965 world Championships was won by Peruvian Felipe Pomar. It was marred by accusations of favouritism by the Peruvian judges, however fellow finalist and world champ Fred Hemmings had no such qualms with the decision and Felipe continues to be active in surfing today.1969 Punta Rocas Pro was the first Pro surfing event outside on the States, with Mike Doyle winning 1000 dollars.

It is strange to think that a club of such other worldly men could spawn a countries surfing heritage, which has had two world champions in the form of Felipe Pomar and Sofia Mulonovich. Whilst this club is not one to which most people will relate or visit, it does explain Peru’s surfing car parks abundant 4wd’s and monied roots.

(Many thanks to the Club Waikiki and Miguel Plaza inparticular who were so generous with their time, I hope I have not broken any confidences) Quotations are taken from http://files.legendarysurfers.com/surf/legends/.

Newquay bay

2011-04-12T01:22:00.000-07:00

The big boss was crusing around Newquay looking for some tail....

Dale "Daily" Webster

2011-04-07T05:25:00.000-07:00

September 2nd 1975 Dale Webster was enjoying his surf so much he decided never to miss a surf again. He wasn't kidding either, at this juncture in life he made the first of many incorrect assumptions and also showed another apparently inheritable talent, unerring commitment. He calculated a lunar cycle at 28 years and decided he would surf three waves to the beach a day for the said period. It was on his 20th year that he found out a full lunar cycle is only 18 years but by that point he'd set his sights and continued.

By the 20th February 2004, he had achieved his mission. Well done Dale. During this time he had apparently caught ten thousand, four hundred and seven confirmed waves and got through 30 boards and 28 wetsuits..

If you start today it will only take you until 2039 to equal the record to put it in perspective....(I see my girlfriend glaring at me as I type). It appears that during this time he got married, had kids and the one I find hardest to believe (girlfriend now getting pretty gnarly) had gall stone problems.....three to the beach with that going on, wow manly.

Dale is no quitter and the day after completing the task in 2004, "Daily" as he's known in California was out there again carving it up as he was too in the swing of it by then. He's now redirected his focus to surfing every spot in the US, so I'm waiting for the Jaws and Mavericks updates (let's be honest age is not on his side).

Things I found out that surprised me were that Dale also said on his completion date that he had to keep surfing the whole year of 2004 otherwise the guarantee on his wetsuit was invalid .......haven't figured this one out yet.

His daughter Margo has the Californian state record for the only student to never miss a days schooling from beginning elementary school through to completing high school. The Webesters are not quitters.

Update: As of September 2009, Daily still hadn't missed a days surf according to: http://www.surfysurfy.net/2009/09/dale-webster-09-09-update.html

Dale shot to fame through his part in Step Into Liquid

This'll turn your head.

2011-04-03T13:51:00.000-07:00

Japan.

2011-03-28T05:11:00.000-07:00

Everyday I lived in Japan I felt I got to know one thing about it and I discovered many more things I had no clue about.

I left after 2 years more intellectually stimulated than at any other point in my life and yet was sure I knew far less than at any point prviously.

So with recent events in Japan I have had some memories re awaken ...... the music, the weird bikes and the whole off beat just struck a certain chord with me.

Hayaku: A Time Lapse Journey Through Japan from Brad Kremer on Vimeo.

I found this short film was made by a guy who seems to have shot around the area I used too. Amazing work.

Morocco Numero tres. Safi.

2011-03-20T10:06:00.000-07:00

in wasn't quite sure what to expect as we crawled along to Safi. I'd heard so much and seen so little that it was hard to conjure an image. A reverse Piplinesque wave with hints of Mundaka drove fear into my heart.

Safi itself seems like an okay place to spend time though and if you didn't concentrate too hard on the industrial plant at the south end, it was a pretty location. The local lads in the car park seemed pretty happy to chat and pointed us in the direction of other waves which would handle the higher tide.

The pictures here were the last ones of the day and it was all over 3.5 hours after low because the tide simply filled it in. It was probably shoulder to head high and at that sort of size looked super fun. It looked like every wave barrelled on down the line and I can imagine some pretty sweet memories. The guys there said it's a different beast at size and I found that very easy to believe.

The wave like most the points we encountered on this trip (north of the Taghazoute spots) broke in very distinct sections that didn't link. This last shot is the end section which seemed pretty friendly and would take a little bit more of the tide though it was smaller in size than up the point. With a set every 15 minutes and 7 guys out, we settled for a chat in the car park.

I'd like to go back and get a few waves in this sort of size range myself. It takes a fair bit of size just to get this result, so I can imagine the hell men don't get to saitiate their desires too often.

Inkawaves Go Pro

2011-03-18T02:52:00.000-07:00

Peruvian resident (inkawaves) Mr T Wade of Californian descent very kindly sent me his Go Pro about a year ago. Since that time I have taken it, free diving, spear fishing, surfing and flowriding. I have never managed to master a device that has two buttons which makes me quite frustrated. it is bad enough having a Go Pro on your board, it is even worse when it just doesn't work. On my recent trip I was riding a quad for 5 sessions straight as I was getting the best tubes of my life. I didn't use lithium batteries I just went with normal ones, they last less than 5 seconds. I lost patience with the Go Pro.

Chav is an IT nerd who has to be logged on at all times type. We got out his hair dryer ( I know, sad isn't it) and removed the pad from my board and I let him "borrow it for a bit".

Within days the photos were arriving thick and fast of Chav.........I was happy it was forefilling its potential but also slighly peaved that I couldn't get those tube shots, so here we have Chav in action on Jacks Beach, Bar Bouzza, Morocco.

In England we sometimes urinate in our suits in winter to warm our extremities, Moroccon belly getting to Chav.

What I can only assume is getting rid of the smell.

The bidet. I would have wanted the jet the other way, taking the said material away from my body.....still it's not for us to judge.

Casablanca. Morocco Part deux.

2011-03-16T13:20:00.000-07:00

"Surfers travel the world" now that's not really true is it, I've been to coastal Peru with a group of surfers who didn't want to go to Chan Chan, one of the world's greatest archeological sites, some 5 minutes drive down the road because they wanted to keep their eyes on the point..... .bearing in mind we'd surfed everyday for 2 weeks and were walking like Quasimodo it seemed a little excessive.

Morocco seems to offer a bit of that mentality. Surfers go to Taghazoute or Safi, unless they are doing a van trip the length of the country, where they end up in Taghazoute and tell people about uncrowded breaks and interesting times they had "Up North", whilst somehow deciding to leave such places behind. This was how my previous experiences of Morocco have gone.

Chav was my big hope in life. He was supposed to go get a job in an international school by awesome waves and then accomodate his mates in style whilst they gorged themselves on his home breaks. He started off in Taiwan for 3 years...loser! A swell record worse than blighty and pitiful oceanic force didn't lead to many visits from waterman friends.

Finally Chav has come good and despite his achilles heal for being periodically unable to surf due to large amounts of fine and cheap inhalable vegitation, he has done one for the boys. He's got himself a beach pad on Jack's beach outside Casablanca. Yes the school may be as good as a jonny with two holes in it (condom for foreigners) but ....it's all good for his mates who get picked up in a well maintained 4WD and only have to put up with constant moaning for a few days at a time.

Casablanca has one hell of a mosque in it, I've forgotten its name because I went surfing instead of the mosque...but my bird loved it.

I can't make out the moroccan world, was that camel head supposed to be there? or were they trying to pass it off as something....nice....with corriander stuffed in its gob?....tasted good though. I had the fillets in a burger. The old camels taste better than they smell for sure.

If England is "a nation of shop keepers" (this view was uttered by Napolean) then Morocco is "the land of artisans" (this view was first proposed by yours truly), The tile work, carpentry, metal work and weaving is really quite something. In fact a great trip would be a van trip from Europe and then fill up with swag on the way home.

This is a Hamman reserved for Allah.....after having to wear a paper G string in one with Chav whilst getting lightly beaten by a clearly intimidated Arab girl, I have concluded that more Hammams should be reserved for deities.

The saddest of times.

2011-03-12T00:21:00.000-08:00

Spinalsurfer and everyone he's been around in the last 24 hours have been deeply moved by the events in Japan. It is hard to put into words the feelings conjured by mother natures most violent of acts.

The footage of cars trying to escape the wave and the enormity of it, left myself and my geography class simply staring, mouths open and silent. Huge hugs to Floyd, Sugiko, Usueke, Yamamoto san and the Onishi crew.

Great waves with no names

2011-03-06T11:17:00.000-08:00

I've just returned from Morocco having visited Chav and Chavetta, and of that there will be more to say, but.......

We did score a great right hand point without a name not to be found on any surf guide we used.

It was a great wave or rather a series of waves that peaked and troughed down the point which ran for several miles. There is no real settlement there and if it hadn't been for Chav's rather well suited mobile we would have had to walk for many a mile.

Coming from Cornwall it was so refreshing to stumble upon a class act that had slipped under the radar. In Cornwall a secret spot exists because of one of two factors; firstly it's a very rare event with a set of conditions that rarely occur so no one is looking there in the first place or secondly it just isn't that good. I'm not claiming this is a bona fide secret spot, rather in a coastline with literally hundreds of waves and not many settlements it's just one of many.

Waves that barrel to perfection and make your heart sling at night are cherished and to us it was a great period of 48 hours of getting our fair share, in warm water with the sun out and a few hardy types knocking about.

Shame the access wasn't remote enough to leave our camera in the cave or wasn't popular enough to be able to leave it with someone. I had yet another Go Pro disaster so I lent it to Chav for a bit to get it wired.

More to follow on the Moroccan trip in the coming days for sure.

Fantasy surf team

2011-02-15T06:10:00.000-08:00

Get yourself involved in the prestigious fantasy surf team house, join the spinalsurfer clubhouse to compete against yours truly and other followers. Go to http://www.fantasysurfer.com/ get yourself all registered . Spend 50 000 bucks on 8 surfers for the first event on the WCT dream tour and then change your team as and when throughout the season. 9 days left to get yourself sorted, it takes 2 minutes and last year I nearly won a pair of Van Zipper sunnies (Thank you Mr Flores)

Times like these.

2011-02-13T01:06:00.000-08:00

Huey is the God of surf...Yet it is not swell that has been the Cornish problem of late. Rather it is the wind, too much and the wrong way and changeable. I've been checking nooks and crannies to give me shelter from the storms.

So I call on the surfers of South West England to unite behind the Assyrian Pazuzu! Yes Pazuzu is the God of the south west wind and he is an evil god (this much we know) with a serpentine penis...so get your pagan altars out.

As a pagan I have officially announced the start of spring here in Cornwall.....I based my decision on a few key indicators to please the Gods. 1) I could wear flip flops without perishing.

2) The Daffs are out and even a bit of gorse, so it doesn't look like the colour has been washed from our world.

3) We keep having south west winds, winter was dominated by northerlies and easterlies bringing snow, bitter cold and clean waves.

4) Just occasionally you can envisage summer and being warm. Cornwall is always beautiful come what may.

If it hadn't been for the wind on it, I could have surfed these 20 foot beasts breaking over bus sized granite boulders. Shame.

Couldn't get out to this gargantuan bombie either. I'd have been blown out to sea.

If you want glassy then you'll only get ankle snappers.

Still if you get everything just right and do the do with Pazazu then you might just get the wind blowing in the tube and some waves that'll hit the spot.

Why do we always think leaving our trusty mini mals behind was progress.

2011-02-05T11:50:00.001-08:00

Rasta's Sled from Billabong USA on Vimeo.

January photo's from home.

2011-01-27T11:00:00.000-08:00

Penzance all tucked up for the night.

Winter walks and poncing with cameras.

What's through the key hole?

A beautiful morning to gig row but it's - 4.

There's been a bit of swell.

And plenty of wind.

2015 and the Gunieas.

2011-01-21T23:56:00.000-08:00

"I have a dream" and it also culminates with the epiphany "free at last". 2015 is the year that my partner, bambino and I will circumnavigate the world on the high seas, in search of bounty and adventure. By this stage I will be approaching 40 and as I've been pretty lucky so far in my travelling, I'm looking for a couple of curve balls and sliders to visit.

One area under the magnifying glass of suspicion for world class waves and not a surf logo clad boys 18 -30 holiday camp in sight is West Africa and in particular Guinea and Guinea Bissau. Are you kidding me? I mean if I ever saw a sexier, jauntier angle poised to receive beloved Atlantic swells from the south and west, then I am a monkey's uncle.

Guinea Bissau does seem a little flawed though. As a keen geographer and student of the world, I wonder how the Geba river and more importantly its gargantuan delta have escaped my notice. Anyway with the exception of a small area to the north of the country, the whole place is dominated by an enormous river mouth and sedimentary deposits, I think. It's off the list, unless anyone is going to drop me a message to state the opposite. According to my blog counter, I have a dirth of interest from the West of Africa which I can see is a glitch in the system, so prove it wrong.

Anyway on to Guinea. Guinea is not adverse to enormous river mouths either but does have substantial swathes of beaches and has considerable potential I reckon. Certainly I think beach breaks abound having scanned it on Google Earth. Conarky the capital has some serious offshore islands and they look jungle infested but as of yet I could only find an inhospitable south and west facing coastline. Still good beach breaks in a new and exciting location seem to be well worth keeping in mind. I thought to myself.....best do a little research....not that it is the be all and end all but I just thought have a peak. After I went through the AIDS situation, the world food program data and the IMF report which were all unsurprisingly grim, I stumbled upon the British Foreign Office report:

We advise against all but essential travel to Guinea. The level of security in Guinea remains uncertain. Land borders are closed until further notice but sea and airports remain open. You should carry your identity papers with you at all times.

It went on to add that theft at gunpoint is common on individuals and businesses, which I guess deters investment and tourists alike.

Welcome to Guinea!

Basically the Guineans didn't like being colonised by the frogs but since the garlic eaters abandoned them, they've had a few military coups with violent suppression and the democracy movement is trying to flex its people power wings...things are in the balance. Most of the refugees who swamped the country have departed and returned to Liberia and the the families from Sierra Leone have had their refugee status retracted. On a brighter note the risk from Al Qaeda is insignificant. Things have been in flux for two years and they were worse before, if that makes sense.

A beach scene from the capital, looks chilled and romantic.

However having had a look online and read some travelling blogs, there looks like a thriving culture and some amazing landscapes....hmmmm interesting.

I'm not going to write Guinea off my hit list yet for 2015 as I feel that would be all too easy to do and the whole spirit of adventure lost. So people of Guinea, Spinalsurfer sends you peaceful felicitations and if anyone knows of a couple of handy surf spots don't be shy passing it on.

This photo seemed to sum up what I read but have not experienced of Guinea so far. Suerte.

Possibility of the Eddie being on

2011-01-15T14:26:00.000-08:00

Thursday January the 20th. 20 foot at 18 seconds....looks like a serious possibility of the Eddie being on.

This year, should it run, there are a few characters who really peak my interest.

Firstly Takayuki Wakita from Japan. I used to live in Japan and whilst there is a considerable amount of Japanese Hawaiians (settling after huge migrations around the turn of the 20th century sugar boom), I believe that Takayuki is the real deal with a reputation for being a Kamikaze type...a word that shouldn't be banded around too lightly. Japanese society is so neat, to be Japanese for so many is to live in a society that can be a straight jacket. But Japanese people know determination, they know dedication, and humility....it's an event for Hawaiian big guns and household heavy weights...lets see how Takayuki goes. Ganbatte ne!

I think the white one is a 4ft 6 inch thruster and the big one is a 6 foot gun.

Ramon Navarro from Chile. One word "Legend". Son of a fisherman, chargers massive Chile all the time with not a camera in sight. Loves big waves. When he was first surfing Waimea he used to make and sell empanadas (sort of sandwiches) on the beach to pay the rent.....as you can probably see by now, I love a yarn and an underdog...oh yeah and he got a 100 perfect ride score last time and got wave of the day. Legend with tache issues. Suerte.

How can you make cheap Chinese laundry tache jokes when you surf waves like that

Chile hit world news with its Conception based quake and miners in 2010. Ramon Navarro at home.

Last but never least is Eddie Aikau's brother Clyde. Anyone whose prepared to paddle out in 30ft plus surf at the age of 61 for his brother who died in 1978, deserves a moments thought. No one would bat an eye lid if he ducked out....hell he's up against Bruce Irons and Jamie O'Brien....hope he makes them stop and think for a second. Pomoikai

I don't have a brother, I can't imagine losing one, let alone one who I surfed giant Waimea with and saved lives lifeguarding with. If I did have a brother I would want to have some lapels and fros captured of us both like this.

Clyde with their dad aka "Pops" by more than just his blood family, after their loss.

Cornish wintry waters.

2011-01-09T08:55:00.000-08:00

Stepping out of a morning whilst the wintry masses sleep. Cold water waking the body with a spasm inducing rush.

The surf looks good, but you can really drag out the moments when the clothes are dropped and the bum exposed to a rasping wind. Taff in such a moment.

Drop Dead Fred after returning from the water, protocol is shunned. Speed here is your friend. Open doors and throw things, the seconds saved between dropping wetty and being engulfed in clothes are vital. Captain Oates last words as he walked from his Antarctic tent were "I may be gone some time."...the most manly thing I ever did hear...... It must have been colder than a dawny in January.

But days when Mexico's is empty, the tide is high and the wind from the south make it all worth while. The day in question a pod of Dolphins did the Lambada through the line up...I couldn't help but think I might migrate somewhere a bit warmer if I were them.....no doubt they were thinking the same.

El Bano, not entirely to the liking of all family members but none the less it's tolerated. Since moving to Cornwall, I've found it the only place I've lived in the UK where the whole community does take heed of the ocean and there is respect for those who celebrate it ardently. A sneaky south swell gains the attention of many who don't revel in Neptune's every move.

I sometimes forget just how lucky we are to be English. England always seems like a place that is riddled with contradictions. It has swell and offshore winds...just not together much. England is so verdant that on a springs morning with the sun out and proud, it is the most beautiful spot on the planet, it's just more likely to be raining though, you have to earn those moments. The lucky couple pictured went for a wedding in December and were greeted by our coldest month on record. Gloucestershire never looked better.

My partner and I have a custom of never turning back when we're lost. You just never know what you might find.

Walking away from a new secret spot...... well... to us at least. When the storms come in to Cornwall and all the different permutations of wind and swell directions ensue....it only seems right to have a gander at what might be possible....six years I've lived on Penwith and there is still food for thought.

Two very good reasons to love surfing in the UK

2011-01-03T03:20:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas

2010-12-26T01:58:00.001-08:00

Congratulations Jeremy Flores.

2010-12-16T14:18:00.000-08:00

Great show put on by the Frenchman in 4ft backdoor. It's the first time I can remember a European winning The Pipe Event and its also much needed points for my fantasy surf team. Winning at Pipe is something which you should be able to eat out on for life and comes with the title "Legend".

Monsieur Flores we salute you.

Castles In The Sky: Review.

2010-12-14T11:27:00.000-08:00

Sipping Jetstreams by Taylor Steel was one of the few surf movies that made me look twice and although it has pretension involved, I kept my eyes open for the sequel "Castles In The Sky".

The opening sequence all the way to the finale, the cinematography, music....Christ I could smell Kretek Indo fags...beautiful. Yes it's sad that they always have to surf something quirky, this time a coracle, as if stuck for ideas. But the starkness of getting tubed in Iceland contrasting with Machado taming El Hueco in Peru, just makes you start fumbling for the passport and cracking out the pin tail.

What makes these highly expensive style DVD's worth it, is that non surfers devour the imagery too. It feeds something in us, akin to the Baraka series.

I loved it. It makes me want to try out 180 Degrees South By Chris Malloy. If anyone wants to do a trade for a bit, let me know.

Pipeline Masters is on!

2010-12-10T02:05:00.000-08:00

Past Masters including the 4 time Master Andy Irons whose recent death has led to the event being dedicated to him.

The first day's highlights show a Backdoor fest. I fancy John John or Jeremy for an upset or two. Check out all the action here.http://www.triplecrownofsurfing.com/billabongpipemasters/

Snowboarding the Penwith range, continued.

2010-12-05T15:04:00.000-08:00

With a fair smattering of snow and the country brought to a stand still only one thing made any sense.

There is no guide currently available on Cornish Snowboarding so all gates had to be inspected. Cattle seemed to be housed, horses wrapped up and left to fend for themselves. These guys didn't seem to mind.

Untitled from Edward Lockyer on Vimeo.

First runs were tentative, lack of practice and gradient meant it became an excercise in picking lines.

Being restricted to fields meant, backing right into corners to make the most of it. The animals must also charge with the same principles because corners are churned up.

Untitled from Edward Lockyer on Vimeo.

Sometimes we got it all wrong and just walked around aimlessly, still the views weren't bad.

Kids got stuck in too.

Says it all.

Some shots from around about.

2010-12-05T13:45:00.000-08:00

It's the end of Movember

2010-12-01T06:32:00.000-08:00

There can be little disputing that growing a Mo for a whole month is good for annihilating the ego. Buddhists should give it a whirl. I for one am very glad to see this bad boy go!

Cornish winter

2010-12-01T05:35:00.000-08:00

Cornish winter has come early and it's harsher than any I remember already. We have this tradition in England that the world comes to end when it snows. Unlike our European brothers, a light dusting here and all schools close, all shops shut and people start hailing Siberian conditions at minus one. The surfs been flat, so it only seemed appropriate to take to the slopes. Cornish land is pretty poor so we don't seem to have large fields more akin to arable farming, so slopes are short and often have cattle or horses in them, as well as granite. Still great time to get a novice buzzing.

The video is of the great mountain range based in Nancledra, spinalsurfer is contemplating a horse drawn carriage lift system.

Sadly bodyboarders seemed to be getting involved in the action too.

Making shapes.

2010-11-29T13:36:00.000-08:00

We just lost out on bidding for a house. It had a beautiful garage, I was dreaming of getting the sander out and making some shapes. This video inspired me a bit. Then we found out we didn't have a house...who cares about quarter of a million quid on a house, I was far more gutted about the garage though.

How to make a Wallako surfboard? from Ka nardo on Vimeo.

It's a lovely blog well worth having a squiz at.

Scotish surfing.

2010-11-28T00:45:00.001-08:00

Where is this wave?

2010-11-27T03:39:00.001-08:00

Surfing Brilliant Corners by Sam Bleakley

2010-11-24T09:48:00.000-08:00

If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull, is all too often a juxtaposition aimed at people who do things differently, I think. I've been guilty of thinking this. I wasn't sure whether this was going to the case when I saw the book. The shear scale of variety of vocabulary between the front cover and the first page, suggested things were not all as they seemed. Still a local legend who just seems to radiate positivity you've got to check it out right?

The surfing world has morphed into and out of art over the years, its simply too diverse to be defined. Thomas Campbell, the WCT and my average surf share less and less in common it would seem. It's hard to find common ground. One thing that has mesmerized me over the last few years is some of the more Art House photography that has emerged.

We have magnificent brains, but we use a great deal of our brilliance to keep ourselves stuck and ignorant, to keep ourselves from not shining. We are so afraid of our beauty and radiance and brilliance because it scared the adults around us when we were children.
Patricia Sun

I've not been convinced the art of surf journalism has kept pace. "Blood, sweat and beers" was as surf article that stuck in my head as being particularly tabloid in nature.... So obviously I purchased Brilliant corners. (click on link to get yours) in search for something new . It's not the cheapest book you'll come upon, but then again for the photographs of the ever brilliant Senor Callahan and the roads less travelled of Monsieur Bleakley it seems appropriate.

Before the beginning of great brilliance,
there must be chaos.
I Ching

There was a bit of chaos in my mind when I read it unlike I think the author.I find it pretty strange to think like anyone but myself. I like Miles Davis though it gets so frantic I can also hate it, jazz has been known to saunter around my Ipod yet I am no aficionado. What I realised very early on in the book is that Sam Bleakley knows his way around Jazz, bands and its historiography. At times there was one too many snaps of a snare drum when I wanted to live a little more vicariously. But in a unique way I did. That's what dawned on me by the end. I'd actually had a bit of a peep into a buena henti and his relationship with the world which had been heavily laden by jazz enjoyment and surfing splendor. it captured me and it did it sneakily. I didn't realise how much I'd appreciated it till the end, then I felt sad but realised there'd be more from what that came from.

This book is not the norm, it will not be everyone, but there is poetry and there is earnestness. The divide between photography and journalism, just got smaller. it may be only in my head but it was a serendipitous discovery indeed.

Most interesting surf book I've read since Miki Dora's biography. Give it a whirl.

Haleiwa finished. Parkinson takes care of business.

2010-11-21T23:44:00.003-08:00

Selfish derision

2010-11-14T11:51:00.000-08:00

I wish I could surf with my friend Leigh,
all ginger haired and knobbly kneed.
He'll ride his single fin and dance up and down
whooping and hollering a complete absence of frown.

Stop....phone Japan, get Usueke and Floyd.
We'll need more wax and wood for the fire.
To warm all our hands, it'll take quite a while.
After friends have travelled so many miles.

Get through to Peru...State of Emegency planned.
We'll need Terry, Gustavo and Dan.
Better bring some local produce along.
It'll pay for the jaunt, Chav'll have a bong.

And then there's the Kiwis and Aussies; Shuy and Owen,
Their poo stances and loud talk
Gwenvor will throng

Of course it could happen.

Still better have a think and rein it in.
With the whole shooting match they'll be quiet a din.
More importantly as a set rolls through?
What's the chances, will it be for me or you?

The Triple Crown starts here.

2010-11-13T00:16:00.000-08:00

The time in Hawaii is

The North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii. Must be the most over publicized piece of real estate the surfing world knows.

The reasons for that are simple. Surfing began there with the Polynesians, so it was the only surfing world (don't get me started on the Chimu and the Caballitos de Totora) Seecondly with a fetch half the length of the world and its volcanic nature (hence no continental shelf slowing wave power), the reefs of the North shore and quite simply hardcore. There power is allegedly (having never been or desire to) unsurpassed. Thirdly Hawaii is part of the US of A and there isn't a nation on this planet that can blow wind up its arse like it.....North Korea....na'h. All in all as a competitive surfer, you ain't shit till you've gone toe to toe with some North Shore grunt and made a mark in the sand.

The Triple Crown is held every year in Movember and December and comprises of three seperate competitions. The first is the Haleiwa pro, the second is the Sunset beach Pro and then the final event is the Pipeline masters. There all beautiful beaches and full on waves. The reason I love them is the passion. I can feel a rant coming on...........

Those people who are called professional surfers are quickly sorted into two sections, show ponies and thorough breds. The waves are thick, heavy lipped heaving machines and instead of the guys getting out there 6'0 beachie board, the 8footers come out and some testosterone is brought back. I love it. The lines the artists etch on these huge moving canvasses, the soul bared for the audience to marvel at...well it's poetic.

Anyway watch it Haleiwa has started it's waiting period and a huge swell approaches.

Mahalo

PS There will be all sorts of other competitions going on at the same time, keep your eyes peeled.

Fins

2010-11-12T22:54:00.000-08:00

A few years ago I lost my much loved garage. Times move on and unless I parted company I would haven't have sampled the delights of South American surf etc.....but I surely miss that garage. The control of an area untouched by my partner and kids, a place where experiments arose out of plumes of smoke. A place where I sprayed my first surfboard and had enough left to get a bit "out there" on the walls. A place where saw dust and fibreglass fumes could mingle freely, far away from frowning eyes.

I can make fins, wooden, keel fins. Never a simpler or more satisfying surfing endeavour. Find the template you like, get some 9mm marine ply, cut out the shape with a jigsaw and then get the mask on and the random orbital out for some freestyling.

Three things led to failure on the last attempt. Firstly, the ply was poor quality and splintered. It would be so great to get some oak and teak ply or something which really adds strength and colour....it isn't easy to get hold of in the piddly quantities I want or can store.

Secondly, I lost concentration at a crucial time. After finishing off the first fin. I clamped up the second one and without thinking, sanded from the base not the tip, in 10 seconds the damage was done. I blame the third can of cider myself.

Lastly with no garage, there is nowhere to store excess wood, there is nowhere to leave things and come back to at a more auspicious time and the whole experience is just off key.

So we are house hunting at present and I'm gunna try and hang tough on the garage front.

Kelly Slater 10 times World Champ.

2010-11-08T11:25:00.000-08:00

So Kelly Slater 10 times World Champon hey....well I can think of no sport so dominated. It struck me as being somewhat creepy that the only guy to really put a rupture in his works was no other than Andy Irons who died the same week just aged 32.

I'm going to say that judges are soft on the guy but...that doesn't go anywhere near far enough to discredit a man who surely holds the gratifying title of "Most successful competitives sportsman on earth"....please if you know some fat clay pigeon shooter whose being shooting better than anyone, don't bother me alright. He is.

Good on ya!

2010-11-04T13:38:00.001-07:00

Problems in Peru for the ISA games.

2010-11-04T12:43:00.000-07:00

The article below was brought to my attention by Inkawaves Terry but was written by Swellnet

Shall Fight Them on the Beaches: Riot in Peru

Last Friday the International Surfing Association (ISA) wound up its week long competition in Punta Hermosa, Peru. The ISA Games are a teams event where surfers compete for their country rather than compete as individuals. The surfers collect points for placing and the nation with the most points becomes the ISA champion.
Last week it was the host nation, Peru, that collected enough points to call themselves ISA champions. It was a proud moment for the host nation but unfortunately the moment was tarnished by a serious riot following the mens semi-final.
Australia had two competitors in the semi, Mick Campbell and Drew Courtney, and if both got through to the final Australia would've accrued enough points to be crowned champion. Peru had one surfer in the semi and not long after the heat began it was clear he was operating under orders to take Drew Courtney out of the competition. The Peruvian didn't catch a wave the entire heat, instead focussing on blocking Courtney from riding waves.
Toward the end of the heat Courtney caught a wave and the Peruvian had an interference called against him. According to Courtney "a bit of push and shove happened and a few words were said out in the water".
When he got to the waters edge the fervently patriotic crowd thought the Peruvian surfer had been slighted and they confronted Courtney. Another Australian competitor, who watched the incident from the roof of a nearby house, said a 100-strong crowd of locals surrounded the Australian. With no security to quell the situation it quickly became violent.
The first thing to hit Courtney was a bottle. He was then punched in the head a number of times by individuals who fled back into the crowd. When rocks started to be thrown Courtney had to use his board as protection.
The Australian team physio rushed to the surfers aide and he was also hit by a large rock in the shoulder. Team coach, 1988 world champion Barton Lynch, stepped in and tried to calm the crowd but had to retreat when they turned on him too.
By now the crowd had grown to 500 and Courtney made his escape by running along the rocky shoreline and through a hole in the scaffolding of the competitors area. The local police force arrived with sirens on yet no officers got out of the car. ISA security, clearly outnumbered, also did nothing.
The Australiam team house was situated just ten metres from the competitors scaffolding but to get there would've meant Courtney leaving the safety of the competitors area and running the gauntlet of the angry mob. He stayed in the competitors area. Much of the anger was then directed at the Australian house and for fifteen minutes the crowd surged with more violence likely.
Tensions began to ease however, and surfers from the Peruvian team made their way into the Australian house offering apologies for their countrymen's behaviour. The Peruvian surfer that blocked Courtney in the semi-final was succesful in keeping him out of the final so Peru were crowned ISA champions.
According to sources the victory was hollow for the Peruvian surfers. Although that wouldn't have been obvious from reading the absurdly one-sided press release written once competition was completed. That press release, clearly written by someone involved in the Peruvian team, made no mention of the violent infraction although it did include this quote by ISA founder, Fernando Aguerre, "Today we present to the nations of the world a vision, a unified hope of surfing for a better world".
The ISA Games offer gestures of international unity such as the 'sharing of the sands'. As an organisation it has much to offer, yet the riot - the way it was handled, and the way it has been covered up - leaves a serious black mark against them.
Of great concern, especially for the Australian team, is that the ISA junior world championships are due to be held in Punta Hermosa, Peru, early in 2011. Following the riot coaches from France, Tahiti, Great Britain and South Africa expressed their concern about sending their junior national team to Peru.
In response to the riot, Surfing Australia CEO, Andrew Stark, said he is "insisting that the ISA provide a safe and secure events for our teams to attend". Stark also said that they "will only send the Australian Junior team to Peru next year if we can guarantee that the necessary security measures are in place and we can be assured that the team will be safe".
As for Fernando Aguerre, he has made it his life's work to get surfing into the Olympics and the ISA is his vehicle for doing so. Friday's deplorable behaviour may prove to be a setback to his goal, yet how he responds will be a good gauge as to whether he is capable of achieving it

Passing of a Surfing Legend: Andy Irons

2010-11-04T11:50:00.001-07:00