enough said

queen of the coast

So i was lucky enough to surf Rincon a few times on this year's trip to california, something i missed out on last year. Obviously it's traditionally a winter break but it does get a little swell in the summer and let me tell you it is every bit as good a wave as you might expect from it's reputation, even with less than ideal swell conditions!

The shape is fantastic, a powerful pocket and a nicely tapering shoulder, more speed and power than i expected. Fun when tiny on a log but i can imagine a hull being a mindblowingly good speed race there at medium size

Obviously it gets super busy on a decent swell but the cove was pretty quiet when i was there, friendly mostly older locals, happy to shoot the breeze bobbing in the lineup. I think my favorite thing though, is just how immersed in nature it feels, even given how close the freeway actually is. Dolphins regularly swam through the lineup, pelicans dove just feet away, even the scrub path from the parking lot is populated by scurrying lizards and nervous bunnies.

i'd better stop now or i'm liable to get a bit depressed about not living there! :-)

 L

rocking the status quo....

Not the actual Quo you understand. I'm not advocating you go out and listen to caroline or rocking all over the world! I'm thinking more the way things are, there in your comfort zone. It's easy to get complacent, follow the same routines, the same well worn ruts to the same spots with the same boards.

Sometimes what you need is something from out of left field to make you sit up and take notice, make you take a look at things and see them from a new perspective, maybe give you the things you were missing even if you didn't realise they were absent. Just because things are easy, rubbing along nicely doesn't always mean it's the best way forward. Maybe there's a lesson for life, that you should keep looking forward, working at it, not rest on your laurels. It's fashionable to talk about "going on a journey" right now, reality shows are full of it but Shmaltz aside there's a kernel of truth there...

Case in point, the mini simm in the picture. Obviously a fashion correct hipster such as myself had to have one or i wouldn't be able to walk down the beach with head held high. Yet jesting aside, the mini simmons design and the thinking behind it has had a big effect on the daily surfing of a lot of people worldwide. It's a design that looks odd, feels a bit funny to surf initially but unlocks a huge amount of fun in marginal conditions. It's certainly redfined the way i've felt about small boards in small waves and is responsible for more surf stoked smiles than almost anything else in the last few months

more sun pleeeeeeese!

and a bit less wind and some nice quality swell while you're at it!

moving pictures...

 

Surfing Anorak that i am, i'm always looking out for new dvd's to keep me stoked while the sou' westerlies blow. This dvd popped into my mailbox a week or two ago, the new film from Mikey Detemple, the man behind Picaresque which came out a couple of years ago, called Sight Sound. With great anticipation i popped it into the dvd player tray and it's been living in there since!

Although he does wield a camera, Mikey mostly takes on an actor/director role and steer his films firmly into the artistic side of the endeavor with little in the way of voice or titles cluttering the piece. The film flows past smoothly and in full colour from one section to the next, with a "modern electric" soundtrack that is a hell of a lot better than that description makes it sound!

Like Picaresque, Mikey made an effort to seek out some of the road less travelled while gathering footage. This time we are treated to, amongst others, spitting Nicaraguan beach break barrels, sub zero snowbound Canada, dusty baja zippers and colorful Barbados.

There's an eclectic mix of surfcraft to fit with an eclectic mix of surfers. Chris del Moro clearly rips on anything, Ryan Burch makes slabs of foam look fun and there's plenty of high quality logging on offer from Detemple, Kassia Meador, Scotty Stopnik and Justin Quintal, an east coaster that few will have heard of but many will remember. There's some good footage of Tyler Warren and Detemple on mini Simmons style boards too, maybe the first footage on DVD outside richard kenvins sphere of influence and making them look just as fun as they undoubtedly are. The Canadian footage is high quality too, even if it does look ball achingly cold! It's somehow gratifying to watch pros donning full suits boots and gloves to surf in 40 degree water and snowstorms just like we do!

My favorite section features a rifling right hand Mexican point which looks almost cape st Francis perfect. Jared mell and Kassia Meador feature heavily, their contrasting styles creating a counterpoint like a conversation through the footage. Meador smoothly logging some of the most impressive women's longboarding I've seen while Mell's highly technical almost jagged and urgent "knost-esque" style sitting on the other side of the coin. Mell is exceedingly good and has perhaps the longest hang heels ive ever seen committed to film.

The overall feel is similar to picaresque although the production crew and many of the cast have changed. There's a more balanced mix of short and long equipment, warm and cold water. The most obvious difference is a hike in production values from last time. There's a more lush feel to the shots and some of the footage is shot on 16mm film stock.

It's altogether less "self congratulatory" feeling this time, something that picaresque was criticized for, I really liked it and it's stood up to repeated viewings so far.

Perhaps the best way of rating a new surf film is by answering this most simple of questions..........." did it make me want to go surfing?"

In this case, the answer......."HELL YES!"

check out the trailer here............mercifully the star wipes are not in the actual film!

Nick Lavechhia's photo by the way!

rhyme for the summertime..

By the time Garret "G Love" Dutton kickstarted Jack Johnson's career with his Rodeo Clowns single , he was already four fine albums deep into a career that's still going strong today. I forget exactly where i heard him for the first time, i think it was on mark radcliffe's old late night show on radio 1 in the early nineties, or maybe on the soundtrack to an early snowboard video at my friend ed's house. What i do remember is how the mix of blues sounds with a strong groove and elements of hip hop topped with g love's laidback delivery was something i'd never heard before. Hell he just oozed cool!

After starting out busking acoustic blues on the streets of philadelphia before hooking up with "special sauce" his sound has evolved several times over the years but it's his early stuff i still like best. He's a very fine slide/acoustic blues guitarist and really underated. check his youtube channel for some evidence! (under the moniker phillyglove) He's still one of the best artists i've seen live and his first couple of albums are well worth re-visiting or discovering for that matter!

the bing's the thing

chasing the dragon

On present evidence we seem to have had much of our summer sometime in April, it certainly was a better month for sun and swell than june so far. I spent a week of it on the pembrokeshire coast, a little surfing snuck in on a family break with my parents and sister.

 Most of my childhood holidays were in this part of wales. I rode my first wave on a polystyrene bodyboard at saundersfoot (quite how it got even knee high waves in summer i'm not sure!) first became aware of people actually surfing and it's really here that my love affair with the beach got started. Ironically i've only properly surfed up here a couple of times and i can honestly say it's the first time i've ever seen Newgale without blustery 4 foot onshore slop. This time i lucked into some quiet logging waves and light winds, both there and at Whitesands. It's a beautiful part of our coastline and it was fun to revisit, fun to go somewhere different than the well worn track down the A39

the kook 2

Out Now,the second installment of Dan Crocketts labour of love, The KOOK.

In his words:

*****What is the KooK?******

*24-page Independent Surfing Newspaper
*Pink Newsprint
*UK-printed paper from sustainable forests
*No paid advertising
*Almost 90 Global Contributors
*Available worldwide to your door

Buy exclusively through http://thisrichtapestry.blogspot.com/

I'm proud to be one of those contributors and i'm amping to get my grubby mitts on an actual paper copy. If it's anything like the last issue it's going to be thoughtful, aesthetically pleasing and well worth supporting. I think Dan deserves congratulating for putting the huge effort in to get these out because it's not easy. Please support him if you can!

from little acorns......

 

big oak trees grow.

Happy Fathers Day to my Dad and fathers everywhere.

To my little bean, i'm proud to be your Dad,  i hope i've been a good enough one this year.

You light me up.

log o clock....

Small wave weapons of choice

all this could be yours......

well ok, not the barbcue.........and i kinda need the suit (assuming summer ever arrives!) but the fish could be cos i'm selling it.....

Under the stripy wax it's a 5'9 double bump quad fish shaped by bro diplock drawing very heavily from the Mandala quads (i.e the same computer file!:-) It's a super fun board in great condition but a little bit surplus in the board store at the moment and room is needed so it's looking for a loving home.

more photos and details here

contact me there or leave me a comment if you are tempted.