Carving Nostalgia

While surfing the other day, in a line up that was so ridiculously crowded, that it resembled an uncontrolled zoo where the animals were just left to their own devices.  A scene that was a free for all, where the usual etiquette and rules that everyone should at least have a inkling of are being totally ignored or simply not being applied.  Anyway, it occurred to me (after I had been dropped in on multiple times) that there has to be a different way.  I want to surf without the crowds of kooks, the aggro, unfriendly people, and the down right clueless.  I want a different version of surfing to be my reality, no crowds, and attitude, but near solitude where smiles are plentiful, the vibe friendly, and space.  I think that latter is the thing that I crave the most, for lately it would seem that personal space is something that is no longer observed in the line up, any more than it is o...

While it is true to say that the commodification of surfing has been taking place for quite some time, it would appear that the suits within the corridors of power at many of the companies who have a vested interest in surfing have seriosuley upped their game. Okay, let's start with the shark 'attack' during the comp at Jeffrey's Bay, okay, it wasn't orchestrated, but the whole incident was given far more coverage than was actually needed.  Surfing, and indeed Mick Fanning, received unprecedented amount of media coverage (someone correctly pointed out that Fanning will be remembered more for this, than for anything he has ever done in surfing), at all levels throughout the world. Suddenly surfing was in the spot light, not because of anything to do with surfing, but the fact that a shark was perceived to attack one of the competitors, but was fought off, thus thwarting the shark and saving his ass.  Now don't get me wrong, I don't...

After a run of fun but slightly mediocre surfs, last weekend yielded something that I had been craving for quite some time.  Fast, racy, heavy shore break. Praa Sands style! I love surfing here in these conditions, it was the beach where I grew up, as such I have put enough time in over the years so that I have got it more or less wired.  Because it was the place where I predominantly surfed during my formative years, it no doubt shaped my style and approach towards surfing.  I have surfed it a lot throughout my surfing life, taking a fair few knocks in the sand along the way, broken some lovely boards too, but I do love these waves. And I am truly in my element when the tide gets high and things get a bit heavy! This past Saturday as soon as I saw what was happening, that shift from the outside banks to the ones just below the high tide line, I knew that I was in for a treat.  And I realised that...

Lately I have found myself being drawn more and more towards skateboarding.  The magnetism began some time ago when I bought the first of my re-issue desks, a Powell Peralta Caballero street.   This was bought as a treat, based upon how it looked, as-well-as with a tinge of nostalgia, as this was one of the boards that I coveted when it was first issued, many years ago.  Being a child of the Bones Brigade era, Animal Chin was the film that really sparked my interest, so really it was the natural choice. Anyway, while I had every intention of getting out and using it, once I had set it up I just couldn't bring myself to do so.  My rationale has always been that I have older, well used boards, so why mess up a new one?  Whilst it was never bought with the intention of re selling it, I simply wanted to keep it pristine. A wall hanger, the first one of my collection. So, fast forward eighteen months or so, and I find my...

I saw this photo on the Surfer Magazine site recently, and it really struck a chord with me.    For this is one beautiful wave, I love the colours, deep blue fading to emerald green, the way in which it is back lit by the sun, but most of all I like that it is a wave that I can relate to.  I could surf it. It is also empty, untouched.  This one went through un ridden. This heightens its beauty, and further fuels the imagination.  I am imagining riding it, on my backhand, going off the bottom, off the top, flying down the line super charged. Just looking at this picture gives me immense stoke, in fact if I could surf waves like that every day, or even most days, sans crowds I would be a happy chap.

This is a clip from a film that helped define me in terms of my surfing life.  For a long time it alluded me, searches proved fruitless and the VHS copy I had has lone since been lent out to a friend, never to be returned.  Finding it was difficult, partly because I thought it was called something else entirely, but on hearing Bury Me by The Smashing Pumpkins on the radio recently, I made another search.  And guess what?.. This film was from the Momentum era, a turning point in surfing, which paved the way for a whole style and approach.  This was power surfing taken up to the next level, these guys were doing airs, in pretty small shore break surf, the type of waves that I grew up surfing.  It smacked me around the chops and made me alter my own surfing. This particular clip also introduced me to the Smashing Pumpkins, a band that have waned a bit in recent times (in my opinion) but for a while in the 90's they turned ou...

This weekend I had the pleasure of watching Bella Vita, Jason Baffa's latest surf film.  I had been looking forward to this for quite some time. Having treated myself to a copy of the DVD from Mollusk while in San Francisco, it received its debut in our house on Saturday evening. I had anticipated that it would be a great film, based upon Single Fin Yellow and my all time favorite, One California Day.  I wasn't disappointed, not at all. The film is made beautifully. For a start it is shot entirely in 35mm, giving it a really lovely look and feel, capturing the colours of the Mediterranean and the Tuscany countryside in their full vibrance. The narrative is absolutely lovely, providing an insightful look at so much, surfing related as well as Italian customs and culture. Put simply, the film has got soul. As for the surfing, well that is everything you would want it to be, plenty of great footage of CDM, styling in the Italian wave...