skateboarding changed my life..

As we get older i think most people start to look back at their life and it's path. It's natural to start to analyse the journey (and possibly disappear up your own rear end, so top me if i am!). With time comes perspective and it's amazing to see how major directions in your life can hinge on small , seemingly innocuous events.

In my case, my friends younger brother getting a "Pacer Road Hog" skateboard for his birthday started a path that has led directly to my current situation some twenty years later

I had a pretty comfortable middle class upbringing with great, supportive, loving parents who sacrificed much to send m

e to a private school in the nearest city. I was never especially good at the normal school sports but enjoyed being active. A happy but somewhat protected existence.

Enter the Road hog, my own Variflex and my first copy of RAD magazine. I can still picture it, Ken Park eggplanting on the cover, Hosoi advertising aquamarine Chuck Taylors inside and pictures of people grinding things, ollieing off things and how to "Hail Mary" inside (full marks if you 1. know what that is and 2. can still do them!)

It was a whole new

exciting world that my school friends knew nothing

about and frankly looked down upon when they did. Ultimately my taste in clothes, music, culture and people were based on my skating experiences. All of a sudden i was meeting kids from all sorts of backgrounds as well as some older ne'er do wells i would never have met otherwise. It gave me self confidence and a sense of place and i am sure that i am a more well rounded and grounded person as a result. Full credit again to my parents for supporting me in my obsession and letting me find my own way.

From there I can trace a direct line through snowboarding obsession, back to skateboarding, to the friend that convinced me to give surfing a proper go, to sacrificing big bucks in my career in favor of living by the sea with an older car. What's more, I couldn't be happier. I have an amazing family, some very close friends and a focus on fun in my life. Not everyone can boast that.

Makes you wonder if it would all have been the same if Rob had wanted a Scalextric that year!

small wave weapons

First film shot in the Holga is back, pretty pleased & relieved it wasn't a complete disaster!

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.

howling

With our prevailing wind direction being onshore and surfing mostly beach breaks we have to deal with a lot of short period windswell, 6 or 7 second period, stuff our californian colleagues would not step into a wet wetsuit for and waves your average east coast US surfer is used to (albeit with much warmer water)

If you're in the right mood, it's big enough and you can face the marathon paddle outs, it can still be a lot of fun. I still find it only takes one good wave in a session to push lifes trials and tribulations to a far corner of the mind.