First round of J bay

 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.

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.

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

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

The Meyerhoffer 2.

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!

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

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.