ecuador >> hammocks & balsa surf boards

while wonder where to hang my ecuadorian hammock. brought back from south america my carol last month. I happened to be looking at things hammock online and fond a really good site selling balsa surfboards as well as hammocks (sounds like my kind of dream). rather than take it from me have a look at balsasurfers, some good stuff.

channel 5 >> surfers >> read on

every now and again I get emails from people in broadcast media, probably because I write a bit for print/web based media on surfing stuff. a while ago I got asked to do the channel 4 programme 'wife swap', luckily my wife carol refused to have anything to do with it!

yesterday and today I got lucy contacted by lucy lane at channel 5 (or working for a production company princess productions working for channel 5). I said that I would help her with her search.

this is what lucy emailed me this morning make of it what you will.

"I am working for a TV show called Generation Sex and we are looking to speak to male surfers about how much female attention they receive. Do you have female surf groupies who watch you surf or like to hangout with you? Do you find more girls are attracted to you because you surf?

We also want to speak to females who find male surfers attractive. Ladies is your ideal guy a surfer?"

if you are interested in getting involved get in touch with lucy mention that david george sent you her email: lucy.lane@princesstv.com or call her on 0207 9851725

I have to add as a surfer this has never really happened to me!

rip curl boardmasters 08 >>

I am normally excited around this time of year I am either on the way on foreign surf trip (as last year) or at minimum on my way over to the board-masters in newquay. as a surfer and a writer about surfing I usually drive over (it is quite close to where I live). but I am not planning to go over this time well not unless the surf picks up a huge amount. strange really but I am beginning to feel that its a bit like the two weeks of wimbledon you know when every one in the uk plays tennis for two weeks. only to forget about it three weeks later. perhaps I am a miserable old git but surfing is a year round thing and much as it is very important to cornish surfing and the local surfing industry. it is more than ever full of people who are there to be seen rather than to actually watching the surfing. but who am I to criticise I will probably go later in the week, perhaps I am just wishing that I had been asked to judge some of the heats then I would be over there like a shot. all that said if you are over at fistral hope you enjoy it. 

still haven't got back in to the swing

even though I am only one day away from my summer break (from my real work, I will still be posting here). the french trip last week and a few other work related thing have left be incredibly tired. so there was no chance of joining moby this morning as he hit the water at 6.15am for a pre-work surf. he did however have enough time to send me some pictures of what I was missing.
here are just two.

art or information? you decide >>

so often when you see a surfing photo, a postcard or a beach scene with a sunset. corny and cliched will often spring to mind. so thought I would provide you with another. though this picture (another taken by moby in morocco) fits this in a number of ways. it also supplies a surfer with a number of other things as for a surfer it is a great photo. rather than thinking of colour, design and composition and all 'arty' type of things you probably are. a surfer will see clean lines of swell a good size wave and a car roof to lean on when you are watching or checking the surf. 

perhaps its time to 'go surf'

every now and again I have so much going on in my working life, much of which I can do nothing about I just have to see how things work in the future. so I just have to stop for a while and think about what I have, rather than what I want! I think today is one of those days. I am not trying to purposefully trying to make out that anything is more interesting or difficult than anyone else's as it probably isn't. what I do know is that I should have been at the beach on saturday when the picture (taken by chris cockett) was taken. that is a pretty well shaped wave; the sort I look for.

more morocco photos >> from moby

it is over a month now since good friend moby sent me through a whole load of photos taken from a (surf) trip he made to north africa/morocco just before christmas 2007.

at the time I posted a couple but thought it a good time to post some more. I could give these picture a whole bunch of explanation but I won't as I think they capture the trip on their own.

more pictures from moby will appear here soon. for more surf shots have a look here

missed a classic surf last night >>

well apparently I missed one of the best surf sessions of the winter at my (best) beach last night. when I got in to work first thing I was instantly surrounded my those who had either surfed watched or photographed the session.
oh well another day I suppose I have to prioritise, these days. but I found a nice picture that made me feel much better. when I turned my machine on to searched the hard drive for a piece of software that I had mislaid. this picture (taken by moby in the summer) was on there all alone, (I had forgotten) so I thought I would add it. taken on the north coast. makes me think of warmer days, it won't be long until it gets like it again down here.

adding things together >> arrows

just because I like the way things can look when added together.
and arrows seem to be a theme.
arrows = travel? I think so?

stormsurf >> probably the best

in another web presence I maintain. I spend ages looking at weather charts on the internet in order to produce the data for surf98 the uk surf site. along with actually looking at the ocean which is almost at the end of my road (I do feel lucky).
of the many different weather forecast sites the one that stands out and probably is my favourite along with the bbc, is stormsurf.
This picture /chart shows what will be reaching the shores of the uk in the next few days. to me it is a thing of beauty not just because it means that we will have some very good surf (probably the best weekend so far this autumn) but as an image it is also very pleasing to look at.

free runnning >> parkour

just watched on local TV that the worries about tombstoning (jumping in to the sea from harbour wall or cliffs) have now started to include the free runners in the local areas of the south west.
I absolutely agree that all safety must be considered and informed choices made, tombstoning kills & injures people every year in the south west of england.
but some of these free runners are pushing themselves successfully to met dangerous challenges. properly managed (to not damage any people or property, etc.) free running/parkour could/should be something to be proud of.
I remember the same things being said of skateboarding 30 years ago and surfing before that and I am sure the same was said of rock-climbing and mountaineering, but these seem to have been accepted into the main stream and are probably just as dangerous.

logos >> sammy the surf dog

I just thought I would show that even I will design something on a whim, I was just checking out paula the surf mom's site when I saw she had a little competition. to design a logo for the surf report for north carolina's outer banks (usa), written by sammy the surf dog.
well how could I resist and just a short while later I had emailed my freshly designed logo. (macromedia fireworks is a wonderful thing!)

little did I know that not only would it be used for the surf report but also a complete clothing range, and accessory range. (the hoodies look good and the messenger bag is a must have!)

happy birthday gabes >> serious woodies

firstly a very happy birthday to my son gabes for friday 22.06.07. I really hope you have a great day gabriel.

and special thanks to davidthedesigner for pointing me in the direction of some seriously good looking woodies (american/californian surfing wagons).

back to what you know >> george greenough

it wasn't going to be long before I returned to my love of the ocean and surfing and whilst looking for something else I found a few pictures that I had to share the first one especially. even though I grew up on the south coast of england I have a few photos of me as a 12/13 year old looking like one of my all time surfing hero's george greenough. I was born a few years later than him but with out knowing I seemed to have had a similar interests and dress sense, until I decided to be david bowie for a year or so.


the man who did more for surfing in general not just kneeboard surfing which he is most usually only credited with. his designs for smaller surf boards along with revolutionary attention to the detailing of the skeg (fin) broke new ground in the late 60's and 70's and to this day the hydrodynamics of a pretty much all surfboards in some way have been influenced by george's designs. the site I was looking at was california surf museum.

be sure that I will return to mr. greenough as his influence is firmly embedded, in both my surfing and design life.

> kneeboard >> should be good today > north coast, cornwall, uk

I had to put this photo up it is (kneeboarder) karl ward, surfing in the world kneeboard championships at santa cruz, california earlier this year. to me it shows power & speed as well as total commitment.
the north coast of cornwall should be getting a good'ish clean wave, check surf98 for more details.
special mention to pushing tide & surf in oregon both well worth a look if you get the chance.

surf blogs >> I have been looking at

really like this blog sissyfish I have checked it a few times over the last few weeks and I really find it interesting and calming, run by chum from portland, oregon, us. a painter, illustrator and scribe holed up in the pacific northwest. hopelessy addicted to sliding on frigid waters and "talking story." (his words) I can relate to that.

another site I like to check is surfysurfy, especially when they post pictures of boards like the one below.
a flextail quad 'mashup' shaped by Ian Zamora and Dennis Kane.
just a couple of the many really interesting takes on when the world of surfing and the internet collide. I have more for another day.

track map >> bank holiday

the tracking system I use on my surf98 tells me so much. just looking at this screen shot taken on Friday pm I can see that it must be a bank holiday weekend certainly a weekend as no one from cornwall has even looked in the last 10 minutes as the map shows.
in days passed people would drive down from all over the UK on the off chance of surf but now with all the surf forecast and report sites like mine you check on-line first.
on the subject of bank holidays I will not be updating this blog until tuesday next unless I can't help my self.
the surf98 forecast website of course will be updated as usual.

surfing >> left >> right >> goofy?

the picture below was taken this time last year by moby it is of south fistral, newquay cornwall. for me is is very close to the perfect wave except for one thing the wave is a right.
now that might sound strange to those of you who don't surf but clean waves don't section (fold over in one go) they peel. when the wave peels it breaks from left to right or right to left.
so that will mean a right breaks from left to right if you are surfing the wave, and a left breaks from right to left if you are surfing it.

surfers come in two types (in general) a natural footer stands with their left foot forward, and usually like surfing rights whereas a goofy footer stands with his right foot forward and usually like surfing lefts.
normally there is a direct correlation between being
left or right handed and being a natural footer (right handed) and goofy footer (left handed). of course there will always be exceptions.
again I also prefer surfing lefts, but I am right handed!

well I am now, as a child I was one of those who was actively encouraged to write with my right hand and I was shouted at by teachers constantly told not be 'cack handed' so I practiced and practiced eventually making my self very able to write with at first either hand and then a bit later better with my write hand. the unfortunately side effect it gave me I think was that I developed a bad stammer, through primary school I would be so keen to express my knowledge I would often stand up and say, I,I,I,I,I,I,I, it's 25 sir. to much amusement from the class.

of course that is not how you would wish to be at school but I was lucky I never got really upset by it and by the age of 16 I had pretty much learnt (with help) to slow down and speak clearly though even now I still stammer on rare occasions, but I don't see it as a major problem.

if any thing being forced to write with my right hand gave be an advantage I think, as when ever I tried a new sport or activity I could use either hand, then decide which I would prefer to use. so now I play cricket left handed, baseball either, football either, rugby either, surfing I favour lefts but can surf either, I wont go on!

I will come back to this subject another day 'as usual I am going on too long'.
I even got a lovely email yesterday from the editor of the magazine I write about surfing for. apologising as with all the summer events to be listed they would be needling more space so could I limit my piece to between 1000-1500 words. I wonder if that would have happened if I had been allowed to write left handed.

vw camper >> for me surely not!

I know that I have mentioned vw campers negatively before and as I child I spent hours and hours in one touring around europe. I must have been through france countless times on the way to spain or italy before I was even old enough to drive never mind leave home. for that experience I am extremely grateful to my parents. but sleeping in one even as a small child for any length of time is not that comfortable.
found an interesting article on guardian unlimited detailing the vw campers that I know about.

the vw camper is still inextricably linked with both surfers and surf wannabes. as an adult I have never really wanted one, preferring to have a big car with the idea that a big car will probably be more fuel efficient, time effective, and more comfortable on all the long journeys we actually do than a vw camper, however looking at these pictures I could change my mind! well I would have to be very rich as well, and that is hardly likely.

anyway carol pointed be in the direction of this website verdier really worth a look if only for the flash work and the music.

surfing >> moby picture >> Go2

I don't want to turn this blog an extension of my surf web site surf98, but I have to include this picture as I like its composition so much.
it is not a picture I took myself rather a picture I would have liked to have taken. my man on the north coast 'moby' took it this morning it was amongst a few pictures he set to be included in the forecast page of the site. the fence is the border of the golf course at fistral beach, newquay, cornwall. so the picture is taken from a good distance away.

what looks like a black dot is a surfer waiting for a set wave to take, gives the waves a scale.
whilst on the surfing subject I have to say I have been surprised at the positive comment already for the first article in the new magazine I mentioned in yesterdays post Go2. I am sure that a few will have bad things to say but that goes with the territory when you write you views down in ink!

sorry for another short blog today but I seem to be extraordinarily busy at the moment (this is a good thing).