Shaping shack down.

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.

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

My new passion

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

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

 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