you scratched my anchor

You Scratched My Anchor - Trailer from RVCA on Vimeo.

from the peeps that brought you "tales from the black van" and pretty much guaranteed to be sick....coming soon.

In their own words, (thanks Mitch!)

After the lingering nip in the air from our frosty winter in southern california, who wants to be warm and snugly, go to the beach and get emotional about south swells? Lets all whip up a cold pitcher of fresh squeezed lemonade, drag the boobtube onto the back porch and gather the kiddies around. Here comes Alex Knost, Kassia Meador, Ratboy, Jared Mell, Tyler Warren, Mitch Abshere, Scotty Stopnik, James Reed, and Jai Lee!

Quite!

new toy

fantastic plastic 120 film machine.....let the experiments (and disasters no doubt) begin!

help the homeless

Looking for a loving home, 9'6 Christenson Slider, recently imported from Cali, had about a weeks use at a pointbreak so virtually pristine, would be mine if i had the cash but i don't so it's available to one of you lucky people. Truly a gorgeous log! These are £900 new if you can find one £600 or near offer to you!call the gulfstream shop on 01271 815490 & ask for Simon

the skelton

He'll probably hate me for posting this but......

Skelly, a true local underground legend, surfs better than you, rips on everything from a vintage 60's bilbo to a modern thruster, has one of the largest collections of vintage boards in the country, learnt to play the concertina (really well) for a bet, ex world bellyboard champion, Gulfstream shop manager, spear fisherman, true friend and someone I respect a huge amount. His name would have been all over the mags if he was interested in the recognition but he prefers a simple life with as much water time as possible.

The pic is from midtide, midmorning Saunton, the board is a 5'8 twin keel, shaped by Rich Pavel in exchange for a fish and chip supper when he visited here a couple of years ago. Legend has it that this board and it's 5'4 successor are virtually the only boards Rich has completely handshaped in recent years. Either way they both fly under his feet.

inspiration too

Good strong espresso and another coffee table surf book. This one is a photo essay by Chris Burkhard documenting a trip, border to border, down the coast of california, in a somewhat temperamental VW camper (see told you they were cool). It's packed with some awesome photos, mainly lifestyle type shots with a sprinkling of action pics too. The book comes with a short super8 DVD that was shot during the trip and is yet another prod to make you search outside your normal comfort zone (or lust after californian waves!) There's no clear message other than "get out there" except maybe that it rains a lot in Nor Cal!

getting away

It's easy to get caught in a rut, following rails to the same beach, riding the same board. This summer i'm really motivated to get down the coast and find some new nooks and crannies to slide some new spots. Hopefully the weather will start to co-operate again so our future nights under canvas will be as pleasant as this one was...

I'm currently thinking of investing in an ark for the rest of July though!

early bird..

Often a bit of sleep deprivation can end up being a good thing as far as beating the crowds and wind go. We definately reaped the rewards on this morning.

maximum fun potential..

One of the things i love about logging is that you don't need a lot of wave to have a good time. Sometimes it's good to be silly and remember that surfing is meant to be about getting away from the stress of life and having fun with friends.

photo courtesy of youngstu

fish frenzy

wave come....

fifty words

This week should see the relaunch of Drift magazine . After a, sadly shortlived, foray into print they are going back to their roots as a rapidly updated online portal for surf editorial with a focus on real surfing, not just the antics of the top 44. As far as i am concerned this is a great thing, not least because i have been asked to be part of their global blogging team ( which also includes such luminaries as Tom Wegener ) but also because i believe they have something interesting and relevant to say that is an alternative to the sometimes blinkered view of the more established surf press. Please support them!

I've had to come up with a 50 word "mission statement" to sum up where i'm coming from for their contributors page, hopefully this covers it:

North Devon, Logs, Fish, Vans, Brian Setzer, Gamboa, Red Sox, A Quiver Approach, Tudor, Gretsch, Knost, Tens, Jamie Lynn, Adventures in Trim, Stills, Heels, J Mascis, Heavy Boards, Fender, T. Moe, Surfers Journal, Final Cut, Powder Turns, Sprout, Andy Davis, Mac, Right Hand Points, Black Van, Seedling, Film, STYLE IS EVERYTHING!

fresh fruit for rotten vegetables...

I just got hold of a copy of Steve Cleveland's new movie (the guy that made Another State of Mind). It's called Fresh Fruit For Rotten Vegetables and is available from Xtreme distribution. First impressions are pretty darn good. It doesn't try too hard to be an arty film, more of a classic surf vid with an upbeat soundtrack, a fair split of progressive and traditional longboarding, some shortboard, fishes and hulls thrown in and waves from Cali, Oz and some cranking barrels in Indo.
Highlight for me was Chad Marshall's fin first hang heels (truly mental). There is some stellar logging from Jai Lee, Knost, Pickle, The Marshalls and CJ Nelson. If prog is your bag, Bonga gets big barrels (great sentance no?) Harley Ingleby rips and Taylor Jensen pulls a couple of christ/rocket style airs on a 9 footer. Nice to see some new footage of Tudor too.
Well worth the price of admission!

a smorgesbord of forward trim.....

It's not often that you get to use the word smorgesbord on a sentence but i think it is a justified celebration having just been sent some pics by Tim Mason of my finished 6'10 Spence Hull. Just waiting on fins and i can take delivery and get her in the water.
I want to say thanks to Tim and Spence for such a pleasant custom order experience. I spent a long time with Tim discussing lengths and the widepoint position (which is crucial with hulls),finally made a decision only to have Spence chime in and confuse me further. To cut a long story short, Spence hashed out a custom design in his home in California, sent it over the internet to Tim to run off the shaping machine and tweak over here. Sometimes a little technology is a wonderful thing. Watch this space for updates on my virgin hull experiences!

shameless self promotion pt.2