Ashes to ashes dust to dust

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Ozzie departure from Peruvian shores leaves community devastated.

So the headline should read. It´s a special bond that is forged in a modern male surfing relationship....issues of punctuality, choice of break, whose paying for what...and .....sod that...what a load of arse, we went to chicam , it went off and we loved it! That´the truth, Ozzie got the best barrel, I fucked my feet up and we had the best time.











The only shot I could find was your last wave at La Isla , no frills or spills, no bikini clad women applauding, no form, just like your cricket team, I guess it must just be for the love of it.

Its a surgical operation losing a partner like that...brutal.

Surf Invention "The Wurzzle"

The Pumpkin and myself in a wondrous period of creativity and escape from a terrible flat spell and horrendous student behaviour, came up with "The Wurzzle", which although not the first of its kind was unique in its mounting system, which was detachable and based on generic back racks. I guess by publishing this here I am kind of blowing our chances of making our millions, but I have a feeling that its all good.

We progressed to usability with a few hiccups, it was great when the screws sheered off on the A38 roundabout during an emit fest but problem was quickly rectified, without a pipe bender though you can forget production but I spoke to people who could and even spoke to a windsurf sail maker who thought that draining waterproof panniers on the other side for wetsuits was feasible...You know what may be I should get back to it..that was a great idea and so fun....it´s just a shame that cornwall is so bloody hilly. It would be all time on the flat though.

FITNESS WHEN FLAT.wt

Staying in shape is an issue at the moment 4 months out of the water with a twisted hips/sacrum and more subluxations than Peru has goals in the Copa America means that a few extra pounds have appeared and a relaxing of my bulging six pack. However it looks like with the new chiro (loving you Arthur at the moment), yoga, swimming and a bit of this and that, I should be mounting up again soon. Just thought I´d share some fitness thoughts.

When I first damaged my back I could only walk for 10 -20 minutes at a time and then I´d have to lie with my knees bent to take the pressure off, over time I strengthened this and found that by far the worst position was sitting. Fishing proves a gentle way of rebuilding the stabilizers and getting out.

Cycling has pluses and minuses, bent over a racing bike is not recommended for the tall and dodgey spined but an upright position such as mountain biking is a welcome change for the back. Cycling is one of the few sports that rounds your back muscles the ones around the lumbar below the rib cage, as opposed to surfing when the spine sits deeper than the muscle wall. So cycle tall and proud. I even managed to persuade Humphry Davy School in Penzance to get a group of kids together to ride John O Groats to Lands End....did it in 16 days, though it definately doesn´t make you light on your feet.

Kayaking on the sea is bliss to me. Cornwall is the home of the cove and every nook and cranny can be explored. You can fish, catch waves, paddle to the pub, watch sun sets, race, cruise, explore.....I´m sure Stand Up Paddleboarding is great fun and I´d love to try it.....but the Kayak rocks. Cheers Chav for leaving it...sit on tops are easy to use and you can buy them all with the fishing gear if you desire (I recommend it) or you can convert it yourself the videa at http://www.kayakfishnation.com/?p=12 should be pretty idiot proof...I managed it! You can buy mounts in any reputable Kayak retailer and ebay.

The Pumpkin who became a land lubber in a sad loss to marriage and the states is building his own Canadian Open top , check it out at ...what´s the address Pumpkin? Can´t work this out? I´ll get back to it.

Morocco

I dreamed of going to Morocco for years....long rights, mystical, desert, arabic, markets and mosques. I have the fondest memories of the Muezzin call to prayer from my time in Indonesia (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAvlimEYEpQ) and a slightly less spiritual infatuation for belly dancers.

Finally after many a year an apartment was secured on Anchor Point, right on it, fourth floor. Heidi could sunbathe and photograph from the baclony..........perfect. Not a ripple in nearly two weeks. I hear the next week was the swell of the winter and Woody I hope you enjoyed it .. really not a lot of bitterness here, no not much at all, I´ve forgotten about it really.

Still I had the best time, I want to go back not to Taghazoute but may be a road trip, spend some time up north where I have a little secret to check that a gypsy told me..who knows?

I know the shark is dead, but that is as close as I could get.....

The camel driver didn´t speak french but I gather that he was selling his camels at a market in Agadir but had arrived a week early, he had no water or food at all...it seems that in times of need a letting of blood from the neck quenches the thirst....hmmm not so sure. Lovely chap though.

In the fig tree is a man, an old man, it was impossible to get the perspective right for me, the tre is hugs easily 50 foot, he shinned up there and cut the figs (or are they dates?), he was shouting at me for a long time, before I realised where he was. Paradise Valley, boootiful.

Essaouira market scene, the town that Hendrix bought...whatta knob.

The fixer was a real nice guy, he had a story to tell and i loved to listen.

Cornishtimes

Some Pictures from the G spot, West Cornwall.

The picture of myself and The Pumpkins back

One of my favourite pictures. I don´t know how many times I´ve done this with "The Pumpkin", I can hear the conversation now, I´ll call a bank, the pumpkin won´t say much for a while....I already know I´ve lost and then he will systematically destroy the banks reputation, at least he favours rights not like Golden balls.

Tasting notes: The Randy French Surftech fish

6ft 6 x 21 x 2.5



I borrowed one from the demo centre at Watergate bay (good on ya, no fee, no credit card number, just smiles) and took it out in really good rights. Having been stuck on boards missing volume for so long it was a breath of fresh air. It´s a strange material and super buoyant. It catches waves really easily, it covers flat sections in a way I didn´t know a board of that size could. The buoyancy makes a lot more sense in winter with the 5mm monkey on your back and the boots et al.

I was straight into the shop (their the kind of people I wanna hand over dosh too) and had bought the thing before the bank manager could even guess I was smashing the account again 465 quid.....at least she won´t snap after three surfs, strong as an ox and lighter than a feather.

I´ve had her a while now and in english fat waves she goes and that should probably be enough. I took her out at double over head and closing out Porthtowan and realised this was no situation for her to be in....not her remit, Tom Curran might be able to ride one at maxing Mentawais in "In search of Tom Curran" but not me.

It seems inconceivable having started this piece that I have her up for sale on the vendertablaperu website for a poultry 300 dollars. I guess that comes from the fact I haven´t really enjoyed riding her here. I thought left hand long points would suit her but not so much , I can´t put her on a rail she´s quite skittish in that respect and I can´t carve with satisfaction rather she just flips round with no torque, her rails are real fat. She likes to go straight and fast not top to bottom.

I guess the sensible thing is to send her home to England to await my return .....

Bad back days

Just thought I´d stick down some photo´s of ways to enjoy the beach baring in mind that its not always a surf day.

Surf them or just paddle them about .
Huanchaco, Peru.

Apparently the oldest form of surf craft...you can buy yourself one, use it for about three months, surf, fish, seduce, whatever and then have a BBQ or fire...


I´ve always liked a spot of fishing, preferably off my/Dave´s kayak in Cornwall, which I converted into a trawler with a rod mount for Bass and sit on the feathers . 2 pounds minimum on the Bass though so I felt a bit cheeky when I sushi´d this one. Of late I´ve been on the road and fishing gear just didn´t make the cut...but the hand line is the solution, piers are everywhere in Peru and Chile, and they´re the hang out spot, throw in a few beers and make a contest out of it, its a bit of a laugh and on a surf trip ideally with a few nationalities its like doing the Grand Slams at tennis, finish for sun down and retreat the bar afterwards.


My personal favourite is the Frisbee but you need a talented partner such as "The Pumpkin" to have a good time. Yoga is great for backs and on the beach, get involved anyway you can, if all things point in the right direction then a team bundle with people much smaller than you helps too.

TASTING NOTES home made fish "Boardom"

Sadly I don´t have more detailed pictures with me in Peru, this is "Boardom", shaped, glassed, sanded by my own fair hands. Which is fairly evident...I guess you´d probably say she was asymmetrical to get by the rather freestyle approach I took to her.

So in the region of 6´6 x 21 x 3, flat bottomed fish, slight nose lift and a swallow tail that took more work than I care to remember. Rails that are unequal but very forgiving and two Mark Richards twinnies with a stabilizer, fitted with Cambered and straight FCS........The paint job was mixed by B +Q and is matt wall paint.......advice don´t put black paint on and leave in car in Maroc in the desert...okay for Cornwall in winter though.



By all accounts she´s a bit of a dog, but I love her. I learnt a lot from my first shape(the intention). I will have to list for reasons of time. Firstly embrace the sander don´t be scared mow and mow.........you gotta feel those rails, time after time....unless your handy, don´t go swallow first time.......don´t panic with the glass, yes it will go off in under 15 minutes, but a four minute wobbly inciting all Satans powers will not produce the desired result (try some Verdi in the player, keep it cool and brisk)...get a patient mate round to help with fins and a lot of masking tape.....take loads of photos...... don´t rush letting coats dry.....when you choose your blank examine the stringer, forget the bubbles.......cut the cloth to the mid point, screw trimming later its a nightmare, get it wet and stuck down, no air........sanding is a love thing, don´t resent it.....leave it for 2 to 3 weeks before riding and whatever you do...do not, do not do it outside....leaves don´t come out of glass, neither do flies etc.

Let it all hang out, and try to get a friend to do one at the same time, its like a hardworking expensive holiday...

Shame I ripped the fin box out so many times.

Photos don´t want to upload so I´ll try again later

Tasting Notes

First board under review.

The Tunnel Vision Quad.

Price 430 pounds of hard earned British Sterling. Custom made and custom art job.

Place of purchase: Newquay, Cornwall. UK. The Shop seems to have repackaged itself now but is basically http://www.bilbosurfshop.co.uk/

On purchase I was full of hope for this board having enough volume and yet still be able to throw it a round a bit. The theory behind the quad set up was that it would faster and loser, but not skittish like the twin fin I had shaped myself before. The Art job, probably the best thing as it turns out was inspired by my time in Japan not the Irons brothers, whose attitudes are not really something I dig.

The outcome: I snapped the board in three places on something like its third surf at dumpy Chest high Praa Sounds, south coast Cornwall. Its just one of those things right?!!? Well I´ve decided no actually. Its my second board that has been glassed at SeaBase and both where too soft for my liking and the other one weathered far too quick. Other friends have had there boards and suffered similar fates. 430 pounds is a lot of money to invest, hell its two weeks in Maroc, its been pieced back together, weighs a ton (it felt heavy on collection). Besides all that, I was left short on volume under the chest.

Verdict: Lovely guys a Tunnel Vision they sold me a great surfboard coffin, they love a yarn and there solid dudes.....but buy another surfboard glassed in Seabase I will not. Nor will I buy one with suh little volume again. I vow not to miss waves because I won´t get enough foam. Hard lesson, learnt I hope.

having said all that, Its a great board and a bargain so buy it at http://www.vendotablasperu.com/...Lima, Peru where I live at present.

Good intentions.

Spinal Surfer....

In a quest to do"Something" purposeful and having scant idea what that might be, I decided to begin my Blog else I was going to do something daft like Open University.


As a surfer I have two areas that I find myself interested in but with a lack of information, so hopefully this Blog will try and pull it together a bit.

First issue for me is my back. This year I have had four back spasms, spent in excess of a thousand dollars, received massages in more styles than I thought possible, had differing diagnosis from differing medical practitioners and have to a large extent had to find my own path. Rest, recovery and maintenance should hopefully be explored here.

Second issue. At 6ft 3 inches or 193 cms and 90 kg I have always had issues getting the right boards, I´m not a freak but boards are made for dwarfs, so I´m gunna be running a tasting notes section on boards here to share info and save dosh...more travel, less boards...that´s the go. The rest I´ll make up as I go.