Thursday 29 October 2009

The British Surfing Museum

This fine splitscreen panel van (it's a very tasteful maroon colour if you're wondering) belongs to Pete Robinson, relatively recently moved here from Brighton. Pete is the man behind the British Surfing Museum which has previously existed as a travelling exhibit but is now well on it's way to a permenant home in Braunton.

This is a GOOD THING!

I have a huge amount of respect for Pete and his efforts to preserve our surfing heritage and you should do too. For updates on how the project is progressing, or to offer him your time & support check here or search the museum out on facebook.

Monday 26 October 2009

Friday 23 October 2009

one day in woolacombe

I can guess what you are thinking....."nice wetsuit"
Well bright is coming back, or so we're told by the people who decide these things! Thats a shot of the very talented James Parry, at the north end of Woolacombe while filming for One Day

Richard Gregory aka wavedreamer has been working on his "One Day" concept for the last couple of years. It's finally taken the form of a series of short films, all shot over a twentyfour hour period at a single location, set to a soundtrack that was recorded in twenty four hours too. Not like he wants to put himself under any pressure then!
Intended to be a celebration of surfing in this country, the first film was shot on a lovely sunny day, a few of weeks ago and will be out on dvd this winter. We were blessed with a small clean swell and plenty of people made the effort to be there in front of the cameras. There was some great surfing going on & given Rich's perfectionism & eye for a good shot, i have no doubt the finished product will be a really great piece of surf cinema

Check the trailer below





I recently interviewed Rich for Drift and it should be up on their site a little closer to the release date so keep your eyes open for that.

Stay up to date with what's happening in one day world here
awesome water shot taken two thirds of the way through THE day courtesy of the legend that is Jamie Bott

Tuesday 20 October 2009

yum yum.....

my wife's baking rocks!!

Saturday 17 October 2009

moments before the green flash...

Another distinctly lomo style digital hero shot. Still unsure if it's possible to call a shot taken on a low quality digital camera "lo-fi" or whether the fact that it's a digital media to start with makes that a misnomer. Whatever, it sure was another fun sunset session.

Wednesday 14 October 2009

a certain ratio

It struck me today how little time i actually spend surfing. By that i mean, sure i spend large parts of my life thinking (obsessing if you ask my wife) about riding different waves or different boards. I spend hours checking online forecasts, webcams, swell models, wind models, tide times, discussion boards, blogs.

I put miles on the clock driving to beaches, sometimes at leisure, sometimes stressing to squeeze a quick shot of stoke into a boring work day. There's plenty of time spent shooting the breeze with fellow locals - who scored where, who's ripping, who's riding what. The minutes hurriedly shivering in and out of wetsuits or leisurely changing in the sun, depending on the season, mount up as the months pass by.

Sometimes it's a ten minute walk to the waters edge, sometimes a ten minute paddle out, dodging cold mountains of churning whitewater to finally make it out to the lineup. Then waiting, waiting for the set, waiting for your turn (honestly!) jockeying for position.
But if you think about how much time you spend actually stood up riding waves, it's not very long at all. It's almost a depressingly short length of time, if you think about it too much. There can't be many pastimes where that is the case. I mean the footballer spends ninety minutes playing a game and the swimmer doesn't just spend time floating in the deep end (though there are always ladies of a certain age cluttering up any pool for whom talking & floating seems to qualify as excercise!)
Yet perhaps that is part of the draw, the reason surfing grabs you and i by the very core of our being and wont let go. Forces us to plan, sacrifice, risk career and relationship for just one more fix, one more perfect wave, one more glimpse of the ecstasy.
I'm confident that not one of you reading this would say it wasn't worth it, that the stoke doesn't measure up to the commitment. Yet we all know people who don't get it, who would find it amusing that you might try and surf more than once a day, or even every day. Those for whom the joy of trim holds no attraction, have no interest in finding their limits and pushing them further.
We can stay smug in our secret, knowing we are part of the "us", feel sympathy for "them" for they are missing out.

Sunday 11 October 2009

The Major

Tom Major, another one of the younger local crew with a penchant for longer equipment, now terrorising welsh line ups until christmas...

Thursday 8 October 2009

Monday 5 October 2009

old toy, new toy

Current fave fishy, a lovely 5'8 Larry Mabile classic keel & the wheelbarrow my grandfather made me when i was five. Was supposed to be a tighter shot but caught out again by the holgas quirky viewfinder!

Friday 2 October 2009

fizzers!

Happy faces after making the most of another Westerly day. Greg (on the right) is possibly one of the most surf stoked people i know & always down to surf no matter what the conditions.
He has a blog here
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