where sea meets the sky......

 

So close yet always just out of reach

random musing...

Procrastination is the thief of time....

Sat in the tent one evening, a few vin rouge deep and a few hours after the photo above was taken, belly full of excellent french seafood, the conversation turned to the general high quality of french cooking and from there to shopping in french supermarkets. One thing we all agreed on, in the way one does at these hazy moments, is how fantastic it is that they sell Prince biscuits.

Most people who've been to France will be familiar with Prince biscuits. If you aren't they are kind of a chocolate cream sandwich and they are yummy. We always try to find space to bring a few packets back with us. They obviously sell well right across Europe but no one sells them over here. I'm not sure why but with grape fuelled logic we agreed this was a heinous crime! In fact even in daylight sensible moments i'm not sure why they dont sell them in the UK. 

Maybe i should import them, i'm sure i could turn the country on to the gastronomic pleasure of a crisp biscuit sandwiching sweet chocolate filling.There'd be a revoloution in biscuit eating and my future as a workshy surf obsessive would be assured.

Of course in reality, it's going to be one of those idea's guarunteed to make a fortune that i never get around to doing anything about, the same way i never actually get around to sitting down to compare car insurance prices or check i'm really on the right energy tariff. 

 I've got a good friend who comes up with a suitable world beating idea every month or two. All bound to lead to early, wealthy retirement and a small island in the bahamas. He never follows any of them up either, too lost in the frantic whirl that is modern life.

I've just read that back and i really am rambling today, sober too. I'm not sure i really have a point i'm trying to make, or maybe it's just....

 Carpe Diem,

 seize the day because who knows what tomorrow brings! 

 

keeping it old school

handmade

So if you're anywhere near Hayle / Gwithian on the 8th or 9th sept, James Pary's second annual Hip wiggler single fin invitational is happening along with schmoozing oppurtunities with the Bing people. It's kindof the low key Brit eccentric version of Joel's duct tape contests and is bound to be a fun time. Hopefully the weather will be kinder for spectating this year!

Bing, Matt Calvani, Elliot Dudley and Mick Rodgers will be demo ing boards at Saunton from 8 on the 15th sept then hanging in the Nineplus shop in braunton from 12 and at a special film screening at the surf museum that evening. The museum is also hosting a bbq / old board meet with them at saunton from 11 on the 16th september.

Finally, Rich Mcgonical and friends are organising the european fish fry at Crackington on the weekend after (22nd sept) Should be fun and great to catch up with Rob Royal!

Today's reccomended is sound track...... Handwritten by The Gaslight Anthem, shades of springsteen only cooler....

going overboard.......

 

A couple of years ago I paddled out at a small, inconsistent but quiet Rincon to share the lineup with a couple of dolphins and a man talking on his cell phone. It somehow struck a jarring note in such a beautiful natural environment.

 I've always quite liked the fact that paddling away from the beach takes you away from the stresses of modern life and a waterproof phone case has not been something I've sought out for just that reason. That said I do like snapping the odd photo and the idea of being able to post watershots to instagram does appeal so I was stoked to get sent the new overboard iPhone case in exchange for posting a review.

It retails for between £15 and £20 and is essentially a phone sized heavy duty vinyl bag with a simple plastic clamp closure. It comes with a lanyard and a bag of silica gel to deal with any condensation issues and looks well made and well presented.  Overboard market it as a way of protecting your phone from accidental spills overboard or into the pool although it is rated for a depth of 9 Metres. It's small enough to tuck into your wetsuit and not get in the way. It's easy to use, lightweight, watertight and allows you to use the touchscreen of your phone through the plastic, so its perfectly possible to post tweets from the line up in real time if you feel the need. 

Once I'd stopped worrying about my phone drowning ( overboard wisely suggest you test each case empty first!) I managed to snap a couple of cool little pictures as you can see.

 

 

 

Overall it's a good product without a negative i can think of, other than not being able to leave your phone behind when you paddle out!  I can see a huge potential for people whose jobs require them to be "on call" but not at work if the surf is pumping!

 

do as i say....

One of my favorite ever tees, now back in stock at gulfstream

pick up the planer..

This little run of summer waves and weather has given me the first proper chance to run my newest log through it's paces. It's a 9'4 "mod log" from the last batch of boards Randall shaped before hanging up his planer indefinately last year. I loved the look of it when Neil showed it to me and wished i'd had the cash and the space in the shed to buy it then so when it popped up for sale on magic seaweed i wasn't about to make the same mistake twice!

Template wise it's pretty much what a lot of people have been moving towards recently, less Nuuhiwa noserider and more Hot Generation/ Magic Sam with a greenough fin, thin pinched rails, widepoint pulled back a little, plenty of roll out into the rails and only a shallow nose concave. The nose is fairly narrow at 17 3/4 and the tail is wide at 16 1/4. Despite being 23 wide and 3 in the center there's not a great deal of foam in there. It's similar to the boards Dane Peterson has been riding recently or Chonoski's "involvement" Mctavish's

It's not really a "saunton board" being designed for waves with a little more zip but like most boards with a wide point back of center, as long as there is a steepish pocket to tuck into there's plenty of scope to get piggies dangling. Off the tail it's whippy in a pivoty way and it's got a nice responsive lively feel despite it's volan glass. In fact my only negative so far would be that it paddles really slowly although i'm not entirely sure why as it's fast in trim.

It's a crying shame Randall is no longer making boards, his logs are great and he makes a great mini-simmons too. His templates are spot on and the boards are beautifully finished with some very neat creative touches. Mine has a carbon fibre cloth asymmetric tail patch for example!

I think everyone i've known to ride one of his shapes has rated it and there are more than a few people who would like to get a board off him if he can ever be persuaded to pick up a planer again. In a way it's a little bit pointless posting a detailed review since none of you can currently order a board off him so perhaps this can form another little prick at his concious that his skills are prized over here and an occasional trip to the shaping bay wouldn't be such a bad thing!

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....

dawn breaking....

As you head north, the trade off for shorter days is witnessing some beautiful sunrises and sunsets. Fingers and technology battling the below zero mercury

searching for a life less ordinary.....

aren't we all?

solace in a six string....

 

One of the peculiar (and also best) things about surfing is how all-consuming an activity it is, while you're out there i mean. There's the oft-used quote of the "church of the open sky" and hackneyed though it is, the sentiment behind it rings true. For me, and for lots of others too, no matter what's going on in our lives or how busy or stressed we feel, we can leave everything on the beach and let our minds be all consumed by the activity itself. The lines of whitewater serving as breaks to disconnect a busy mind as we wade out, the physical effort bringing peace through repetition of simple action. The rhythm of the sea, not the ticking of a clock dictating the pace of the activity. It becomes a touchstone, a constant in our lives, marking the passing of events, helping to deal with the peaks and troughs, a stillness we can come back to, a place of refuge in a sea of change.

Playing the guitar is a lot like that too. I've been playing a long time, counting up just how long makes me feel old, and though the desire to play waxes and wanes as the years pass, it never leaves. It's hard to explain to a non-player but, though your mind is partly focussed on making your fingers move, letting the notes flow through you and out of your fingers, especially while improvising, brings a kind of relaxing that makes minutes drift by and nothing else matter. Sounds cheesy typed out but some of you will know what i mean.

As an aside, i was well into music before i picked up a guitar. Not long afterwards, I remember one day looking across at my guitar in the corner of my bedroom and thinking how cool and amazing it was that pretty much all the music i'd ever heard or would ever hear could be coaxed out of those six strings. The breadth of the human condition and the full gamut of our emotions expressable for anyone with enough imagination. My tastes and views are more mature and broad and sophisticated now but its still true and its an idea that still fills me with wonder whenever it flits through my conciousness.

torn like an old dollar bill.............

Possibly the best laminate ever!

Ride report to follow soon but this video pretty much sums it up.......

spiderman?

Exeter just got a brand new climbing wall and i went to check it out a week after it opened. Called Quay Climbing it's located in an old electricity generating station in the Haven Banks area of the city. It's been really well done with a massive lead wall ( 15 metres at the apex!) and plenty of routes on slabs and overhangs from 4 up to around 7c. There are about 7 routes set up on auto belay's which allow you to climb without a partner to hold your rope, great if you post up on your own like i did! There are two bouldering rooms with lovely soft floors and a lot of routes ranging from v0 up to around v6 at the moment. Behind the desk, there's a friendly team, the man in charge is actually Paul who originally set up the Mill wall near south moulton and they have  little cafe for decent coffee too.

The wall is open now but, rather excitingly they hav climbing superstar Chris Sharma coming on the 14th October to open it officially. Should be a real treat to watch him monkey around in real life!

business as usual..

 

After a run of fun little groundswell waves a couple of weeks ago it's back to the British summer time we've become used to, finding the pockets of sunshine between the showers and making the best of the onshores and windswell while the holidaymakers shelter behind their windbreaks and brave the low temperatures in their speedo's. That said, yesterday had a fun little wave despite the onshores and was topped off by pushing my daughter into a whitewater wave and watching her get to her feet for the first time! She's goofy but I can live with that! Big smiles all round in our household last night!

If you're around Newquay this week, the relentless boardmaster's is on which is best described as a mini US open type thing. Elsewhere, there's a couple of interesting things on the horizon...

Fresh from his semi's berth at the joel tudor duct tape in spain ( with an invite to the next one in malibu) James Parry is putting on his own single fin thing. The Hip Wiggling Invitiational Single Fin Gala is at gwithian on the 3 & 4th september and promises to be a beacon of style in a contest season filled with butt wiggling and people attempting lame airs on longboards.

A couple of weeks after that, Royal and friends are hosting the European Fish Fry at Crackington Haven in North Cornwall on the 17th September. Visiting US shapers to be confirmed but it promises as usual to be a fine day of surfing and chinstroking over alternative board design. Hopefully my brownie point bank account will be full enough to release me from familial duties for the day and i might see some of you there!

back to earth..

So back to Blighty after nearly three weeks away, to be greeted by rain, onshore winds and rubbish swell. Business as usual then!!

We had such a good trip to California, even better than last year. Good weather, fun waves and nice people. There's a few tales to tell and plenty of film to scan but in the meantime heres a little iphone shot of one of the cottages in crystal cove near Laguna, one of my girl's favorite sun worshipping spots!


I want to say a thanks to the people that contributed to such good times. The Threadgills again for their hospitality and kindness. You guys are great and we so enjoyed spending time with you again. Christine and Austin in Carp too. Also Jake and Dave at Almond and Alex at ten piggies, JP at surfysurfy and Smukes, meeting you guys made me smile!

No doubt we will be back!

dessication

 

I'm feeling distinctly landlocked and in danger of drying out, a mixture of work and bad timing  keeping me away from the few windows of waves we've had recently. Typically there are frustrating tales of derring do filtering back from those with more luck in their schedules. Hopefully a little swell will linger and the wind will abate soon.

If there is a plus, it's time for my shins to heal properly after their argument with a handrail......... still, i have a quiver feeling lonely and unloved in the board shed!

suits me sir!

Just took delivery of a couple of full suits from Nineplus to try out. Out of the bag they look lovely, soft supple yamamoto neoprene, mostly single lined with stretchy double lined in the crotch area. Understated subtle logos complete the high quality look. Inside there's neat seams and furry warm looking lining on the torso.
Probably a bit cold for the 3/2 already but hopefully the 4/3 is as warm as they say. I'll report back!

the stuff nightmares are made of...

I'm not sure how cool it is right now to admit to reading comics, especially at my advanced age! But.... lately i've been re-reading Neil Gaiman's Sandman series, a seminal moment in the history of graphic novels from the 90's and widely acclaimed as fiction that helped legitimise the artform outside the boundaries of the comics world. Nominally chronicaling Morpheus, master of the realm of dreams and his siblings, Gaiman's world is dark and nightmarish, the stories inventive, witty and multi layered. In fact they would make compelling reading whatever the medium of their telling.

While they represent the time at which the world at large first became aware of Gaiman, his catalogue reaches before and after them and includes several acclaimed childrens books and adult novels. American God's being a particularly fine example as is Stardust which recently became a well regarded film too.

So a totally non-surf related post but his stuff is well worth a look if you haven't come across it already.

Velo sim stoke!

Huge, massive thank you's to Tim Mason who battled the traffic to drop off this beauty today. 5'8 Point Concept Velo sim designed by Ryan Lovelace and shaped in the UK by Tim. It's mini simmons-esque but way more foiled than the Baugess caspers with a hull entry into a single concave through the ply fins.

First impressions from a brief session in sort of surfable chest high junk were really fun. It feels very much like a hull crossed with a fish, smoother and more laterally fast than a keel but more user friendly than a hull. I think it's going to go really well in a much wider range of conditions than the hull but still have that feeling of super fast trim.

Proper report when i have a few more sessions under my belt

sunset special

I'm not going to lie and say it was epic. Too high, small, one turn and your done p-land. But the sunset was beautiful and it was just what the doctor ordered tonight.