respect the vest

There's a really interesting interview with Joel Tudor about logging, competitions and his Vans duct tape series in the newest issue of Slide magazine. Worth checking out if you get the chance!

Hopefully everyone had a slice of the swell we were treated to over the weekend. Sunday for me was particularly fun before the crowds of straight lining longboard crutch wielding masses turned up. I learn't a couple of things:

1. Competing for waves while riding a 5'2 in a line up of 9 foot plus boards is hard work

2. Catching up and overtaking longboarders who drop in on you is exceedingly fun on said 5'2

3. Tyler Warrens bar of soap design is one of the fastest, most exciting and downright fun surfboards i have had the pleasure of owning!

sitting on the stoop..

cold beer, warm air, bare feet and the fading summer sun.

A time to remember in the depths of winter........

unique belly board auction for the surf museum

It's not long now until the first Surfing museum in Europe opens it's doors in Braunton and preparations are gathering pace.

Gavin at Traditional Surf in Sennen has crafted this lovely bellyboard and is auctioning it off in aid of the museum. Every little helps them,Pete Robinson has poured heart and soul into getting the museum off the ground and they still need your support to make it a success!

Gavin's bellyboards are beautifully made and rigorously tested in darkest kernow and honestly bellyboards are so much fun and a massive part of our surfing heritage in the UK, everyone should have one!

Full details of the auction here. It finishes 12 noon on the 24th Feb

winter wonderland

So last week i picked up a new winter wetsuit. It's a hooded 4/3 from the new Hasu range from Nineplus.

It's mostly single lined apart from the bottom of the legs and feels very lightweight. Seams are liquid sealed and the torso and hood is lined with fleecy material. It's a chest zip entry, the neoprene is yamamoto feels lovely and supple.

It's supposed to be plenty warm enough for our winter (water around 8 celcius) but i must admit i wasn't entirely sure as i sauntered down to mid tide 2 ft windswell a few days ago, it felt thin and too easy to get on compared with my old xcel suit to believe id be warm.

How wrong i was. I'm not going to claim it's warmer than a 5/4, it's probably about the same (although having a full time hood reduces flushing and the fleece lining in the hood had my head sweating!) What you gain is in flexibility, it feels as though you have a summer suit on, in fact less restrictive than some 3/2's i've worn. The seams let very little water in and i was perfectly warm, even hot, for an hour on a windy grey day. Admittedly it was a small day and i was on a log so i didn't spend a lot of time under water.

 So far so good and on first impressions i'd heartly reccomend it.

Only time will tell on durability and if the warmth of the suit lasts and i'll keep you posted..........

Rob from the Nineplus shop has a new blog for the shop itself up and running, have a look here

Meanwhile, "surf city" Newquay has a fine looking new shop up and running with a cafe upstairs called Watershed. Their blog is here Looking forward to checking them out next time i'm down the coast.

horse

a horse is a horse of course, of course
and no one can talk to a horse, of course
that is of course,
unless the horse,
is the famous Mr Ed!

today's trivia question is which old skateboard video did the song appear in, answers on a postcard..........

a healthy obsession?

So the following was a piece that i originally did for Dan Crockett's kook project but in the end didn't get used. It found a home in Corduroy lines magazine issue 13. Much as i'd love to think everyone who reads this blog has bought a copy, i know that , partly for reasons of geography, plenty of you wont which is why i'm reprinting it here........

We're pretty cool right?

Basking in the reflected glow of the way surfing is perceived by the media. Congratulating ourselves on our status as those in the know. Inducted into a tribe with it's own language, customs and traditions that those on the outside could never truly understand. Pursuing waves for the childlike fun it brings into our lives as we pit our athletic bodies against the forces of nature.

But maybe there's a darker side, a compulsion, a desperate need to repeat the thrills. The tug of the sea ever stronger once the hook is set. As any old sailor will tell you, the sea can be a cruel mistress.

The following is (only slightly) modified from one of the many self tests for addiction to harmful substances or habits found on the internet.............................be honest, i bet you score pretty highly!

Do you often find yourself spending more time surfing than you intended to?

Is it hard to imagine a life without surfing?

Has excessive surfing or surfboard buying resulted in financial difficulties for you?

Do you sometimes feel that something inside you, beyond your control, pushes you to surf?

Do you hide your surfing habits or purchases from family and friends?

Have your relationships with family and friends ever suffered because of your surfing?

Do you feel "high" following a good surf?

Have you tried to stop "over surfing" but been unable to? (e.g paddled out on a day you know will be rubbish just to "get wet"?)

Do you often feel compelled to surf even though conditions are not ideal or you cant afford the time?

Do you feel surfing helps you cope when you are lonely, anxious, disappointed, depressed or angry?

Has your desire to surf ever interfered with work or school?

Do you find that your friends are determined by your surfing habits?

Do you plan your life around surfing?

Do you ever feel anxious about how long it will be until your next surf?

Have you ever failed to keep promises as a result of going surfing?

Sadly not everything we love is as good for those around us....

a tin shed

 Totally papped through the railings at the edge of the whole city block that makes up the patagonia headquarters in ventura. This is the original tin shed where, legend has it, yvon chouinard started making pitons for climbing and started the giant that is patagonia clothing and what became black diamond mountain equipment too. Call me sad but i was excited to spot it!

timmy's trust........

Longtime readers on here will have heard my appreciative comments about Tim Mason's surfboards. Tim is a real craftsman and one of the nicest men you could possibly hope to meet. Tim probably knows more than anyone else in Europe about hull style boards and makes beautiful displacement hulls as well as some lovely casper inspired mini simmons.

What lots of you wont know is that Tim is a real family man and at the end of the last year lost his 7 year old son Timmy after a long battle with cancer. It's such a sad thing that you feel even more keenly when you have your own children.

Tim and his wife Kate have set up The Timmy Mason Trust to help families in a similar situation in the future and to keep Timmy's memory alive.  Their first goal is to raise £5000 to achieve UK charitable status which will really mean they can move the trust forward. They would gladly recieve any donations of course.

To help raise funds, Tim is intending to auction off one of his beautiful boards every month. First up is the lovely Lis inspired fish in the pictures. It's 6'4 and like all of Tim's boards it's a thing of beauty and sure to be a joy in the water. Search my earlier posts to find out how much i rate Tim's shaping!

If you are interested in this board or to see what's available next month check here.

end of a long, happy, day....

score draw

Two pictures taken within seconds of each other, one with the lc-a, the other with my pentax digital compact. For once i can't decide if i prefer the analogue or the digital version!

petro cruising