Carving Nostalgia

When it comes to Winter surfing, I have little or no interest, not any more. There, I've said it, it's out there. I have always preferred the Summer for surfing, as well as everything else for that matter, but I know that I am more suited to surfing in warm(er) water.  That said, I always felt duty bound to surf through the cold months, besides, that's when the best swells hit, isn't it?  The first few Winters were fine, I think, for the stoke of surfing and just wanting to be in the sea doing what I love took the pain of the cold away, plus I was a youth and as such I probably didn't feel it. I certainly don't recall complaining too much, OK, that last statement might not be wholly true, I've always complained, about most things cold or otherwise! But gradually, with each Winter I would find it just that little bit more difficult to go in, I would go through the motions, but in my heart I was beginning to resent the cold. Weighing up just how much

I am starting to wonder whether the version of surfing that I know and love stills exists, in a local context. I began surfing in the mid eighties, the local, West Cornwall scene was fairly strong at this time and I was quickly captivated by the world of surfing.  I loved the beach life and the characters that were found there, as well as the styles and clothes, almost as much as I loved surfing itself.  For me it was all about the complete package.  As soon as I discovered surfing, it was like being given access to a whole new world, I loved the feeling that this gave me, and for many years it played a huge part in my life. I always looked towards California for my inspiration, emulating the styles both in and out of the water as seen in the US magazines at this time.  And I think this is where the shift in British surf culture came about.  British surfing came of age at some point in the mid 90's, people who surfed no longer had to look to the US or Australia for inspiration

Well it seems that today we have been given a brief respite from the relentless storms that we have been enduring for too many weeks now.  Looking at the weather forecasts it is going to be a very short period of calm, before the next round of violence comes our way. Looking at the countless posts on Facebook and alike, pictures and footage of storm waves and the subsequent destruction, it really does seem that I am one of the few people who are well and truly fed up with this pattern of weather.  Since the end of October, the 27th to be precise, there has been a preoccupation with the next storm.  People everywhere have been surmising and speculating about how bad it's going to be, the size of the swell, the strength of the wind.  Many seem to be getting a real kick out of seeing the beaches being destroyed, sand washed out, dunes and cliffs washed out.  The greater the perceived damage, the more excited people seem to get.  The hunger for these images seems insatiable, maybe it