Monday 26 December 2011

DOWN THE HOLE



A festive pint in the Ship Inn, Mousehole...

Sunday 18 December 2011

Thursday 15 December 2011

EARLY SURF WRITING

Lieutenant James King pretty much nails it, when describing Hawaiians surfing in the late 1700s. Taken from his account in the final volume of Cook's Voyage to the Pacific, 1784.


Click to embiggen...

Thursday 8 December 2011

Monday 5 December 2011

LIVING COLOUR

Great set of images from Library of Congress archive: 1930s-40s in Color


.



..



...

Thursday 24 November 2011

ROADRIDERS



Road Rider 4

Yep, it's Neil Blender, Adrian Demain, Doug 'Pineapple' Saladino and Hagop riffing!


And how about these Blender designed boardshorts for Vans...



Blender inverted.

Wednesday 23 November 2011

LEAVE A MESSAGE


smoking kills
Not subtle.

Friday 18 November 2011

LOVE - FIFTYFIFTY



More than meets the eye.

Quirky photos from Frank Kunert - with a 'little' bit more going on than it seems at first glance.

Tuesday 15 November 2011

QUOTE



e.e.cummings

Sunday 13 November 2011

JOURNEYS



///

My father began his journey in Dar es Salaam, East Africa, escaping political unrest and hungry for new horizons. My mother, orphaned not once but twice during the chaos of war, grew up a quiet rebel and eventually linked her dreams with the 21 year old immigrant, so exotic in the staid HA5 suburbs of North London in the 60s.

Young love coupled with a desire to escape prejudice and boredom set their sights south and westward, away from the dirty city aiming for the open spaces and simpler ways.

By the time they got as far as Plympton, a small working class suburb just a few miles from the Devon/Cornwall border, my mother was heavily pregnant and with the promise of employment nearby, they halted their exodus and made a nest in a small flat by the railway just off the A38. This was my birthplace. I remember a sandpit and a tumble down the stairs, the rest are but kodachrome memories in black and white. Me on my father's Triumph, my mother looking impossibly young next to a mini-panelvan. Two years was enough time to save for a deposit on a house and they upped sticks again to follow the setting sun.

First port of call was a caravan in a field overlooking an estuary. A sweet summer drifted by of weekend drives viewing cottages for sale in villages with unfamiliar yet friendly names; Playing Place, Lamorna, Laity Moor. Finally they found what they were searching for in Ponsanooth, £2000 for a neat bungalow in a cul-de-sac on a corner plot with fruit trees in the garden. This became home and almost immediately a sister arrived, followed by two cats and a dog.

As I was growing up we spent nearly every weekend exploring from Lands End to the Lizard, coast to coast. Long days on empty beaches, walks out across the moors, picnics amongst the minestacks. These are my childhood memories and I often wonder now just what it was that made my parents choose Cornwall. They had no family in this part of the world, no ties to draw them, why not Wales or Scotland or even New Zealand?

Like many from that generation my parents did little more than paddle in the whitewater or brave a quick dip in the sea. I have a photo taken in 1967 of them walking on the beach at Godrevy. They must have taken notice of the waves that day, could there have been surfers out I wonder? Was my father never tempted to join the men and women riding the waves? Maybe he was just happy to have journeyed this far, to be at the edge, feeling the salt spray on his face.

Saturday 12 November 2011

TFI


friday sesh
Friday.

After years of painstaking research I can finally reveal that the best day of the week to go surfing is on a Friday. (or sometimes a Sunday...)

Sunday 6 November 2011

S COAST SILVER



Got some South Coast action this weekend - there's something really satisfying about surfing S Coast.

Tuesday 1 November 2011

FOTO



Wow!

Incredible photo from Jim Russi. He has a new book out.

(I'm not so keen on some of his more 'glamorous' photos, but this one is a killer.)

Sunday 23 October 2011

BLU @ GWITH



Watched a few heats of the BLU Sunset Surf Classic from the cliff on Saturday.



There was some corduroy for the event.



Nellie decided the approaching collie was much more interesting than watching Ben Skinner in the final.

Thursday 20 October 2011

Monday 17 October 2011

OCTO



October has delivered some stunning days, with a few waves too... (Saturday @ Godrevy).

Thursday 13 October 2011

BLIZZARD



Blizzard the Husky pup by Frank Hurley, Antarctica 1914-1916.

Monday 10 October 2011

Thursday 6 October 2011

ROOFTOPS



Lower East Side Rooftops - 2011

I really like these very urban yet serenely beautiful paintings by Kim Cogan.

Friday 23 September 2011

SURF>BOOKS



I have no idea what's going on here - but I like it.

Wednesday 21 September 2011

OLDEN DAYS

If I could choose a fantasy superpower it would be 'time-travel' so I could go back in time and hang out at the same beaches where I hang out now, but before the crowds...

Anyone recognise this place?


1890. Fishing boats pulled up on the sand & shorefront gardens.



1893. Distinctive cliff-line hasn't changed (but skyline has).



1935. This'll give it away...



1960. Daytrips to the seaside.

Monday 19 September 2011

FALLING LEAVES



Millais - Autumn Leaves.

As Autumn leaves settle once more, I'm sorry to see Summer fade away, always too short. Seasons change, hold tight to the light for a few more weeks. By then I'll be ready.

Thursday 15 September 2011

FINLESS WONDERINGS



Derek Hynd drawing lines.

Nearly 10 minutes long but worth it to hear Derek Hynd describe his thoughts and feelings on how going finless has opened up new possibilities for his surfing...

Sunday 11 September 2011

SUNDAY ROAST


Swell wrapping around the headland.


... and still working through the high tide.

ps: UK Open Bodysurfing comp was on & folk were bodysurfing 6-8ft!

Friday 2 September 2011

SLASH!



Another Tumblr goodie...

I like aerial photos and I like frontal cutbacks.

Thursday 25 August 2011

Wednesday 24 August 2011

END OF THE ROAD


Teahupo'o...

I'm not really interested in pro surfing - but have to admit that I am interested in seeing this place go off in the next day or two...

Friday 19 August 2011

CLIFFWALK



A walk along the cliffs last night...



..



...

Thursday 18 August 2011

CROWDED SEA


Dead Sea pool
China's 'Dead Sea' indoor swimming pool, can accommodate 10,000 visitors at once.

Went for a little surf last night, and when I say 'little' I actually mean 'tiny'. But there were a few mini peelers to be had, the problem wasn't catching waves, the bigger issue was trying to swerve a path through the crowd!

Friday 12 August 2011

SOUP KITCHEN



February 17th 2008.

This pic of R going out for a clean winter session a few years ago is hanging on our kitchen noticeboard. What are the orangey streaks on the print? Let's just say that one day there was an incident with a pan of tomato soup...

Wednesday 10 August 2011

BALMY PALMY


palmy
I'm quietly obsessing about palm trees at the moment.

Tuesday 9 August 2011

WAVESHARE


dolphin drop in
... another tumblr pic.

Wednesday 27 July 2011

AWOL


gone surfing
See ya in a couple of weeks...

Monday 25 July 2011

THROWN IN THE TOWEL


ray pettibon
.

My faithful old beach towel - faded & threadbare - finally got retired at the weekend.

This Raymond Pettibon towel would surely make a fine replacement.

Do clickage if you wanna read the little writing at the top.

Sunday 24 July 2011

BELOVED



Forever.

Parts of Kernow have been rubbed smooth and characterless by the many millions of 'relocation' pound notes that were used to transform Cornwall into a handy suburb-by-the-sea for wealthy urbanites. But there remains a place that despite the braying crowds of incomers is still resolutely itself; quite scruffy, a bit rough around the edges and often just a few inches away from anarchy.

It's a place of high unemployment matched by equally high self-regard. A place where three generations from local families still live. A place that knows its own place, in fact.

A small village in a coastal valley where a handful of simple beachside flats - built over forty years ago - are still to this day occupied by low wage-earners and those on benefits. Not pretty buildings by any means, but they're certainly not the generic, unimaginative, over-developed, over-priced 'lifestyle' apartments that have appeared in almost every other coastal town.


Circa 1955.

Unlike so many other similar spots up and down the coast that have become empty places, occupied only occasionally by owners that live many miles away. This understated little settlement has quietly carried on being home to its inhabitants.

It also happens to have been blessed with a beach that consistently manages to produce some of the best beachbreak waves around. But beware, the best of those sweet, steep waves will not be freely available, for they will nearly always be ridden by the best surfers - those who happen to live within striking distance - and they will be on it every time there's a hint of swell.

But it's a special place to me for all the above reasons and more, and I fucking love it.

Friday 22 July 2011

ENZED WATERFALL


Go-oooooooo!

Nice little set of photos from the land of the long white cloud.

Thursday 21 July 2011

THE BIG BLUE


big blue
Jean Reno as Enzo

Should watch this again as well..

Wednesday 20 July 2011

37°2 LE MATIN


bettyblue
Betty et Zorg

Must watch this again - makes me feel like Summer again...

Tuesday 19 July 2011


Photobucket
i'm thinking about it...

Monday 18 July 2011

FOXY


fox pounce
via tumblr