you know he means it

I have a few cherished surfing memories that i hold on to, a couple down the coast, a couple overseas. One of my favorites was watching Skip Frye surf his local wave at Tourmaline, from the beach and the line up. He exudes class, ocean knowledge, positioning and an understanding of trim matched by few world wide. His lithe movements belie his age and i can only aspire to surf half as good as i move into my dotage. The pic above is actually Rincon (another place of memory) and comes from Andrew Kidman's "Lost in Ether" book which is what this preamble is buliding to.

It's a beautiful film and book project and like all of kidman's work is something of a gem. It's probably best described as a love letter to the art of surfboard building, particularly to the backyard tinkerer's and surfer/shaper/wanderers, often at odds with the machine of the "surf industry" following their own trip and enriching our collective cultural experience as a result.

 Thos posted a great review here and so i'm not going to go into huge detail because i think he nailed how i feel too. If i have a criticism, it's just that, like litmus and glass love, it sometimes feels a little unfocused without a distinct narrative but that doesn't interfere with my enjoyment.

Something that does come across strongly in all of Kidman's output, this being no exception, is how much he really means it, from the minute questioning of rail and bottom theory to the handwritten thank you for ordering note in the envelope. Much like the shapers he features, Kidman himself is something of a wanderer, a deep thinker, often railing at the percieved status quo. His work often questions more than it answers and through it all is a feeling that he cares passionately about surfing as an entity, and not in the business or conventional sport sense but as a way of being. He's someone who has frequently put his own money where his mouth is and as our "sport" becomes more and more integrated into the mainstream, people like Andrew become more and more important to help us hold onto what makes surfing so special for so many people. I'm sure he feels like he has a responsibility to almost "curate" and preserve and celebrate that which the industry machine ignores as not commercial and more power to him for that.

I'm sure he will never read this, but thank you Andrew!

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

rincon

Rincon was pretty much flat while we were close (being more of a winter break) though even with the tiny windswell you could see the potential. The beach itself is smaller than you would imagine and covered in driftwood. There are a few huts out on the point made with the wood. This one would have easily seated three or four people.