baggy is back?

Nice surfboards, friendly faces and nice coffee (eventually eh rob?) One of my go-to haunts to kill some spare time on the rare days when i'm free to play all day.

On this particular day Mikey (who's almost certainly a better surfer than you ) and Stent (who is very definately a better snowboarder than you) discuss the finer points of paddling the devon coast. Meanwhile Rob manages to get the coffee right first time!

old faithful

Even though i have a few different longboards to choose from, some from the hands (or is that computer mouse) of some of the worlds foremost longboard shapers, over the last couple of days i was in the mood for something old and familiar. Like putting on an old comfortable pair of slippers, stepping onto my 9'4 Gulfstream log is just like coming home. This shape is pretty much what is now their saunton foil model but was a board i custom ordered 5 years ago, drawing on a few boards i'd had and liked before.

Its a magic board that requires almost no mental effort for me to get the best from and for small saunton this goes as well as anything else i own. I think anyone who's ever ridden it has loved it (eh thos?)

sick gull....

Wishthound@appledore

Not entirely sure what the significance of a seagull throwing up in the graffiti is. Seems kinda weird and too urban for a sleepy small place like Appledore. Anyway, Tom definately impressed the two 12 year olds on scooters........"can i have a go on your board mister?"

summer reality

 With the sun and the waves come the crowds and the frustration of not being able to get a parking space in the lot or a wave unmolested by kooks. Marlow has the right idea perhaps having just invested in a 10 foot Bic. Unhampered by a nice gloss coat he's prepared to mow them down!

I'm thinking a padded paddle and an SUP, then i could evolve some kind of medieval jousting moves!

spacehopper

It's father's day today and i'm proud to be a dad. It's an honor and a privilege & I hope i've been a good one this year. Happy Father's day to my dad. Thanks for being a cool parent, always interested in the stuff i was into and always supportive. I know you're proud of me and that means a lot.

oh and happy birthday to me too!

in full bloom

Back home and lucked into a week of small clean and sunny waves. If it was actually like this all summer you'd barely need to consider visiting california, though a nice cobblestone righthanded point or three wouldn't go amiss either!

It's been great to get my new Dano Old Pleasure (pics to follow) out in waves that i know really well and begin to properly get to know it. Impressions so far are really good. It's heavy and is less foiled than i expected but that is probably no bad thing especially as saunton is hardly a racetrack type wave. It's pig influenced wide point back shape mean you have to use your feet but with your weight right on the tail it is the loosest noserider i have (possibly have ridden) and even though the nose is only 17.25 it locks in really solidly on the nose in the pocket. It's definately designed for surfing in the pocket and feels sluggish if you try and get too far away from the wave's power zone. It definately likes a bit of "body english" cutbacks feel sweet if you really throw your weight through the back foot in a more exaggerated fashion than my more paralell templated noseriders demand, but the reward is a really sweet feeling pivoty cutback. It's easy to see how surfers like Knost's style has developed riding these sorts of boards.

Forecast looks promising over the weekend for further testing and i'll post some photos once i've finished scanning the film!

light leak?

Introducing stylish logger, loose fit coffee monkey and currently the occupier of a tented palace somewhere in Georgham........Rob Morgan
 Given the lo-fi nature of holga's this is almost certainly the result of light leaking in and nothing to do with Rob's aura or the force of his personality ;-)

Whatever, it's pretty cool!

so long and thanks for the fish!

Sadly i'm leaving california today after a great trip, some great fun surfs and a few rolls of film in the bag. Assuming US security didn't fry them i'll start posting some over the next few weeks.

I want to publicly thank Graham & Cathy Threadgill and their boys for opening up to us & helping us to experience the real california. You showed us a fantastic time. We'll be back to see you & i hope we can return the favor in the future.

post modern punk

I am really beyond stoked to publish a link to my latest article for Drift magazine. It's an interview with Randall, former shaper at classic malibu in noosa and temporarily crafting beautiful handmade boards in the UK again. I feel really lucky to have my words laid over the amazing photos of Dane Peterson. I think it came out great, hope you do too!

clicky here to have a butchers!

7 waves....

The song is "59" from Brian Setzer's ignition album

cp in 7 from Chris Preston on Vimeo.

I am not in NYC....

Not my picture but part of a roll i scanned for my friend Emma after her recent trip to New York. She had some toy camera inexperience related issues but one or two of the shots came out great. This one just says America to me. With hindsight i think the white bands on this one might be a scanning issue so i'll have to check that.

I'm currently half way through my california trip and loving it. So far i've pretty much only surfed logtastic right hand points, collected a beautifully made and enjoyable new board (thank you Dano), topped up on tip time, driven a lot of miles, ticked off quite a few famous spots and shops, met some really great people both in and out of the water, stoked my daughter out at Disneyland, oh and ended up in hospital after getting stung by a stingray which in hindsight makes a great story but isn't an experience i'm keen to repeat!

It's already been as fun as i hoped and i know i'll be back again whatever the rest of the trip brings!

Horsies

We woke up one morning in Morzine to find these semi wild horses raiding the bins. My daughter was way more stoked to see them than our hosts. Seems the French binmen run on an even more relaxed schedule than ours!