CLOUDS OVER PERRANUTHNOE

Today the clouds were more interesting than the waves.

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SURF POLITICO

The sea has always been a great leveller - and this is very apparent when you go for a surf on any of Sydney's beaches.

Three things become clear as soon as you paddle out; 1. The line-up is busy. 2. The line-up is generously populated by all sorts of random people. 3. The majority of the line-up surf better than you!

After a typical dawny, that guy who was out there shredding on his 6'4 fish may get changed into an expensive suit, jump in his Merc and head into the city where he is the head of an international business. Or he could just as easily be heading straight for the bottleshop and spend the rest of the day getting wasted. In a country like Australia where the surf culture is virtually mainstream there's no such thing as a typical surfer.

Tony Abbot, Federal Leader of the Australian opposition (usually prefers going right!)

Downunder, even the Leader of the Opposition likes to go for a splash before work. Pic courtesy: Sprout Daily

WHERE DID THE TIME GO?

I really should have done this years ago. Oh well, it doesn't matter, there's a reason for everything and I'm just so glad I'm doing it now. Most days I get up early and the first thing I do is look out of the window to see which way the wind is blowing. That's important you see, the wind makes all the difference I've discovered. Then I go downstairs quietly, trying not to wake Pat and turn on the computer my grandson set up for me last year. That's another thing, I would never have dreamt about getting a computer, but all the people in the car park were talking about 'webcams' and 'online forecasts', and I wanted to find out a bit more. So, I usually make a pot of tea and log onto Magic Seaweed - what a funny name that is - to plan where exactly I'll be heading for in the Berlingo that day. It all started a few summers ago just after I retired from my job as a primary school headteacher. I was walking the dog at the beach and I was watching a chap trotting across the sand with his surfboard. What struck me about him was that he was such an ordinary looking middle-aged man - grey haired, bit overweight - yet he looked so energised as he splashed into the sea, and he also looked joyful somehow, there was a happy shine to him. It was then that I decided to try and find the old plywood belly board we used to play on with the children when they were younger. I knew it was still in the garage somewhere. Well, that was only the beginning I can tell you. I soon realised I needed a wetsuit if I wanted to stay in for longer and it wasn't long before I got bored with the belly board and got myself a boogie board. I can't begin to describe the thrill of whooshing across those waves! It was wonderful. For a whole year I'd go to the beach in the afternoons with my boogie board and catch wave after wave. I told all my friends at the social club, hoping some of them would join me, but they just shook their heads laughing, saying I'd always been a bit of a wild one. I didn't mind going on my own though, and to be perfectly honest, I think I preferred it that way - this was something I wanted to master by myself. Which of-course led to me getting a proper surfboard of my own. I was quite nervous when I went into the surfshop, but the young man was very helpful and I came home with a beautiful pale green 9ft board. I soon discovered it's not as easy as it looks - wrestling that thing out through the breakers can really be a task some days. And on more than one occasion I gave up, so relentless were the waves I couldn't even get out past the white water. I certainly felt the aches and pains on those days, but at least it helped me to sleep, I hadn't felt so exhausted in years. But it was all worth it when I did eventually make it out and managed to catch my first unbroken wave. Oh, it does make me smile seeing all the young ones turning up in their little cars, four or five of them all crammed in with boards piled up on the roof. Boys and girls together, stripping off in broad daylight - not in the least bit shy or self conscious, I envy them really. Even though no-one takes a blind bit of notice I tend to hide myself in the back of the Berlingo while I'm getting changed, it's a bit warmer too - that's my excuse. I had a lovely time today, the sun was out and the water was smooth. I caught a really nice wave and a girl on a longboard gave me a big cheer as I rode past her. I must say that did put a big smile on my face. I really love doing this now - going surfing, imagine that? Anyway I'd better get going, I told Pat I'd make him Shepherds Pie for tea, that's his favourite.

BLUE FRIDAY

Minty clear day on Friday, with no wind and a couple of feet of clean swell.

Yes, that is sheet ice on the beach in the middle of the afternoon!

Photo: Roisin

LINDA SHARP

Linda Sharp, Britain's most sucessful female surfer.

Great little clip of Linda Sharp in Port Talbot, Wales - with Rory Gallagher soundtrack too!

WOODY

Good wood at Mount Hawke.

I haven't been to a skatepark for years, but after chatting to a couple of old sk8-m8tes recently I decided to dust off the board and give it a go. It's Winter here, so the only option was an indoor park. Luckily there's one not too far from where I live, and it had just been refurbed with lots of new wood. I have to admit that even the smallest ramp looked deathly to me, but after hesitating for a while on the deck, I bit the bullet and dropped in. Yeah, I was really sketchy, but it felt so good to be rolling again and I managed NOT to break myself, so maybe I'll venture back next week for another session.

TWINZ!

Amazing portraits of twins.

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AGGIE

A walk across the cliffs...

Looking north across Blue Hills with a splash of gold.

Man and his man.

Lots of colour even in Winter...

Photos: Róisín

SEALED

A New Years Day walk at Godrevy. A closer look at those 'rocks' on the beach...

The resident seal colony sleeping off their NYE hangovers.

DOWN THE HOLE

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

ORANJ

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...

JUST LIKE EVERYTHING

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LIVING COLOUR

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

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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.

LEAVE A MESSAGE

Not subtle.

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.

QUOTE

e.e.cummings

JOURNEYS

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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.

TFI

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...)

S COAST SILVER

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

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.)

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.

JUST DO IT!

OCTO

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

BLIZZARD

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

CORNISH CLIFF

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ROOFTOPS

Lower East Side Rooftops - 2011

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

SURF>BOOKS

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

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.

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.

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 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!

SLASH!

Another Tumblr goodie...

I like aerial photos and I like frontal cutbacks.

TALKING OF BURLY...

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...

CLIFFWALK

A walk along the cliffs last night...

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CROWDED SEA

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!

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...