lens flare

summer swells

They're coming!

like a phoenix from the ashes.....

"AAAAAAND WE'RE BACK" to quote CRob from one of my current favorite podcasts, The Nine Club. Short hiatus due to general lack of time and lack of film photos to post.

Following on from the drowning of my last waterproof film camera I invested a whole £7 in a new semi disposable waterproof point and shoot. It's a lovely yellow plastic colour and looks like £7 was slightly overpriced but the first roll through yielded some decent results.

thems the breaks.........

Perhaps the most frustrating thing about the aforementioned broken ribs was watching lovely autumn swells on the webcam, knowing there was no way I could consider paddling out. I tried a couple of times after about a month but with varying success and pain levels and it wasn't really until past 6 weeks that I managed a proper little logging session.

In an effort to distract myself I searched out a cheap old canon waterproof camera, an a1 sureshot which took some lovely pictures on my first session back in before it sprung a leak and died. That's what you get for shooting with 30 year old cameras I guess!

#winteriscoming

It's starting to feel like we are on the cusp of seasons. There's definitely a hint of autumn creeping slowly in. Lets hope she brings some well groomed swell and ushers in a cold winter off offshores and deep powder to play in.

vespa

Vespa scooters in Italy may be Cliché, but its cliché for a reason. There are genuinely loads of them weaving around with questionable traffic awareness.

They are also a design classic. I don't understand why you would buy anything else if you were shopping for a moped since no other company seems to have nailed it with the simple elegant lines and certain "je ne sais quoi" style that makes the vespa stand out.

Funny how some things just seem "right". The original mini is an other example or the foil on a good displacement hull surfboard........

marina

Lakeside

bluebelles

Putsawatu

Looking empty for probably the last time until autumn

daybreaker

One thing I love about this time of year is seeing so many beautiful sunrises and sunsets, I'm lucky to get a spectacular view from just outside the house on many occasions. #lovewhereyoulive

finally

Not only is the flat spell over but I have a new film developed and scanned to start posting again!

I'm typing fresh out of the water at S-town having lucked into some small little offshore zippers with just Damo (on his posh new teamrider Karma Surfboards Log) keeping me company. The waters still got a little nip to it but the sun shone, the cave turned on and I got reacquainted with the front foot of my Gulfstream Slimpig. It kinda felt like the first little surf of summer today and it was cool to get some nice logging in without feeling as rusty as I sometimes do at this time of year on longer equipment.

Hopefully looking at a couple more days of bigger waves too......... Yew! As my Californian Friends would say!


Pic obviously not from today. V bowls loaned by Bill, more details to come!

by dawns early light

7'10 of Gulfstream speed egg goodness. Template is a mix of Russ Pierre's wild west shooter with a bit of Devon Howards takayama model mixed in. Ride report to follow............

b-logging

I've just started helping Jools out at Gulfstream with some of their online content. First up is a little blog about their longboard models, how they surf, where they come from etc. Pretty pleased how it came out!

Check it out here

The picture is an oldie, Dawnpatrol with Swedish Thom and Mr Vowles back when he surfed!! 35mm film x holga

middles

End of a beach day with Mr Y and family at middle beach (OR toilets as its sometimes known) Waves didn't really co-operate but perfect BBQ weather.

Wistful thinking of summers past today............... Holga x 35mm kodak

early birds

Dawn Patrolling

sil - who - wets

Chamois

Just back from a lightening trip to France for some snow sliding. Chamonix and the surrounding area is so rad. Fun to be back in winter on the same roads and passes that i climbed by bike last summer.

fin.

So i was killing time on the internet the other day during the inevitable downtime at work and i came across a thread on magic seaweed's forum asking about noseriding fins. It got me thinking a little bit.

There's a lot of time and marketing BS put into the idea of making a board noseride easily, fins, tail shapes, nose widths, concaves or no concaves, square noses, pointy noses etc etc. In reality everything really comes down to rider skill and wave positioning. A good longboarder can make pretty much any longboard noseride and most people who are on a quest for things to make it easier in reality just need more time in the right waves or a better idea of the mechanics behind it. Thats probablynot what you want to hear but it is true in my opinion!

A few years ago i would have probably told you that your fin was really important but these days i'm less sure. I think you're fin choice has far more influence on the way and feel of your board in turns than it does on noseriding. The classic position is that you need a big fin to noseride, the bigger the better - reference the dewey webber hatchet fin for example. But the truth is that as long as you have good soft rails and some tail kick, you dont need a big fin like that to hold the tail in or lift the nose. Likewise with nosewidth, it's less important thatn the rail and tail shape.

Case in point: I've spent a lot of time on logs with some kind of pivot fin. They have seemed to suit the stop/go nature of my tradtional style surfing but.....
I've done almost all my noseriding over the last year on the If6was9 log i've posted photos of before. It's foiled out, the nose is only 17 3/4 wide and the fin is a greenough 4a, which has a wide base but a narrow tip and some flex. It turns beautifully with more flow than a pivot and loosens the board up nicely, especially in faster waves. The board noserides really well and i've never had the tail skip out while hanging up front, even on a wave as fast as croyde! If there is a disadvantage it is just that the board is perhaps a little more sensitive and a little less stable - thats the trade off better turning that a smaller fin area gives, but that doesn't compromise it's noseriding, perhaps just demands a little more skill.

My feelings are in line with a global move away from big fins on logs, led by tudor and his duct tape crew. Cruise the net and they are all pretty much riding greenough derived templates. I'll leave you musing with jack lynch. The 4a isnt holding him back!



+THE SEA OF POSSIBILITY+ JACK LYNCH from Nicholas Damen on Vimeo.

the skies.

Letting film expire before you use can do weird but great things! Talking of weird things, i just read this. Completely un surf related but intriguing in a strange but true x files kinda way!

the people switch

 

It's the Easter Hols, at least it is for school kids, i'm still working with no time off for good behaviour! Living in an area that makes much of it's income from tourism, this weekend tends to mark the beginning of the season. I often think of it being when "the people switch" gets thrown since the contrast can be so dramatic. Winter can be fairly sleepy with little traffic and few people around, especially in places like Woolacombe. As soon as easter comes, so do the throngs of families jaywalking through the village, the traffic queues to get through Braunton, the lack of parking spaces to sneak a few waves at combesgate, the bobbing foam flotsma clogging the line-up.

With dry weather and small swell forecast, it's likely this year will be no exception. Time to dust off a big log and a bigger dose of patience!