big sur

The drive from Carmel at the south end of monterey through Big Sur and down to Hearst Castle is just jaw droppingly beautiful. It's difficult to keep your eyes on the highway as it twists it's way from headland to headland for 50 miles or so. It's impossible not to keep screeching to a halt every couple of miles to drink in the next stunning vista that just revealed itself. This is maybe halfway down, mid afternoon and one of many such photo stops.

roadside gems.....

With a summer south swell, Highway 1 on the mid-californian coast is peppered with little gems. This is just north of Cayucos and brought our tyres screeching to a halt. It's not in the guide books and it would be easy to miss but it was a fun right hander with a pretty much flat water paddle out from the little bay in the foreground. Long period swell and glassy conditions with a little bit of kelp to smooth the chop certainly helped too

ghostly

a pleasure

This is probably my favorite photo from our Californian trip, taken in Santa Cruz at about 8 am from the sidewalk above The Hook at the south end of pleasure point. I was still dripping wet from a glassy headhigh session on the Seapea, avoiding the thick kelp beds and chasing and racing perfectly shaped right handers down the point.

I've never surfed in such a thick layer of kelp before. It's weird paddling through it, you feel a little like its going to grab you as you duck dive and hold you under and it pulls at your fins as you take off. Like all of the california coast, it's beautiful and having a couple of sea otters breakfasting just outside the line up only added to the picture.

at rest

Simple Pleasures

rocking out

This is Morro rock, in Morro bay, home to a good beach break and a lot of noisy sea birds. We only really passed through on our way south but i scored head high glassy peaky waves on my Seapea early one morning.

Seemed like the seapea was the perfect second board to take with me, short enough to be fun in the faster peakier beach break waves but flat enough and with enough foam to make the most of small summer swell. This and a session at "the hook" in Santa Cruz were two of the best sessions ive had on this board.

i bet on sky....

Latest in a long list of random pictures and post titles loosely related to music. Answers on a postcard please............

look north

Familiar places from unfamiliar angles, a break from the norm and a fresh eyed appreciation of whats always been there...

Inspiration 2.0

Pilgrim Film: Manuel Caro from Pilgrim Surf + Supply on Vimeo.

As far as I'm concerned, California is pretty much ground zero as far as surfboards are concerned. There are two or three shops that always have a huge selection of mouth-wateringly beautiful resin tinted logs, eggs, fish etc. Icons of surf in San Clemente is always good to drop into with friendly staff and a board room that would make your Visa card sweat!

Further south is Mitches North which has a similar but different selection, usually with a couple of Manny Caro's Mandalas tucked in amongst the rack. Manny cut his shaping chops up in San Francisco with help from Rich Pavel and was initially known for a superb version of Pavel's speedialler, double bump quad fish ( believe me they are SO good!). Since then Manny has moved to Leucadia and found his own path, mixing elements of hulls and Simmons but putting his own twist to create something that's a little different than many of the mini Simmons influenced designs out there. Similar to Jeff McCallum, many of Manny's shapes are just that little bit quirky but they all work great. He's a really nice guy too if you ever get the chance to meet him.

I've been a little bit obsessed watching the clip above. Classic playful, glassy Californian waves and the smooth fast lines of a Mandala ASQ quad ( for most of the video, the last two waves are an arc tail quad which is closer to a normal mini sim) It looks like a real fun board, generating speed like a mini sim but carving more like a quad fish. Whether you believe the "variable rocker" flex in the tail or not, it looks like a fun board and one I'd really like to try!

Inspiration 1.0

Drink One from Ben Potter on Vimeo.

I don't know if I got a bit stale with surfing over the winter, or just busy or just lost a little bit of enthusiasm for the daily grind required to be a regular wave rider in this country. I think I'm old enough and I've seen enough for not much to seem so new anymore...

Whatever.........

 A good surf trip was always going to top up the stoke-o-meter and California certainly didn't disappoint. Two and a half weeks of glassy waist to head high swell, mostly on right hand points is definitely going to do it. It's amazing what consistent waves will do for your surfing and I've returned full of Stoke and hopefully back up to a decent level of logging.

I'm going to post up my film pictures her over the next few months and I'll type out the highlights as I go, those of you who follow me on Instagram will have seen plenty of pictures already. I met so many cool people in the water and saw some really high level surfing on logs, short boards and everything in between. To everyone that chatted and shared a wave, thanks for being so welcoming and stoked on meeting an English traveller, you all added something.


I want to thank the Threadgills for once again for your hospitality. We wish we saw you more often. And to Matt and Talla for showing us a proper July 4th. Hope we see you guys again soon.

So what's all this got to do with a stolen video of East Coaster Mikey Detemple logging in Montauk, New York?

I took two boards with me to Ca, the seapea and my trusty 9'4 if6was9 log. Pretty much a perfect quiver for summer in California. The logs been featured here more than a couple of times. It's pretty foiled, has the wide point aft of center with a wide tail, a narrow nose and a greenough 4a. It's definitely the direction where logs have gone over the last couple of years drawing from the Aussie involvement movement in a direct line from Nats magic sam board and I for one am a convert. 

It's loose off the tail but still nose rides real well in the pocket and the narrow nose helps with control in steeper waves, allowing the boad to get more parallel. It must do something right, a random Santa Cruz local told me my board looked "bitchin!"

The board Mikey rides in the video plays from the same hymn sheet. It's a christenson flathead model with the similar dimensions and shape to my if6was9 (albeit with a much bigger and longer nose concave and perhaps even more "piggy") it's one of the clips that's been inspiring me since I've been back. Mikey's surfing is smooth yet powerful and stylish. Solid nose-riding and sweeping turns.......

Plus he's got a pacemaker, you can't help but be inspired by that!

eggs for breakfast

Very country soul eh? Still loving the egg, such a smooth refined surf, it's a board that flatters your style.

sundown session

I'm a sucker for a good sunset......