SORRY

8.6 Diamond Tail, wide, low rockered glider.

The first law of new-board-stokage states that the surf will be shite for the first weekend after taking delivery...

VERTIGO

Hi

G
oo
d
to
m
ee
t
yo
u,
th
an
k
s
fo
r
d
ro
pp
i
ng
b
y.
H
op
e
to
s
ee
y
ou
ag
ai
n
s
oo
n.

SURF IS WHERE YOU FIND IT

One of the most stylish surfers ever, produced a simple yet profound book.
Gerry Lopez is a genuine legend, yet with this book he also reveals himself to be very down-to-earth with a clear and simple approach to life that he says comes from his years of surfing experience.
The book is in essence a chronological series of stories, that as well as being autobiographical, also share Lopez’s philosophies and outlook neatly presented through his intriguing surf anecdotes.
And if there’s anyone on the planet that’s going to have a lot of interesting stories to tell it’s gonna be Gerry Lopez!
A simple pleasure…

ICONIC SURFSPOTS

Fort Point under the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco

The first in an occasional series of fantasy surf destinations around the globe where I've always wanted to paddle out and try and catch a few.

photo courtesy richbrenner

GUEST KALLER

Cealan, aged 9

BLUE VIEW

It's the last Friday before the clocks go back - one more chance for an end-of-the-working-week tipple at my favourite venue with a sunset view.

TXT-FACE

Three blockheads

I never use smileys or do winks etc with brackets and semi-colons in email, but maybe I'll start doing these little portraits instead...

Six lines of punctuation

BELIEVE

Just a dream I had last night...

SOFTLY SOFTLY

Porthtowan, 17th October

Last Saturday delivered a small, sweet swell. Hardly a breath of wind, long lulls and occasional 2ft sets under sunny blue skies.

SURFREADERS

I really like surfing and I really like reading - and you can't start doing either too early...

UNAMBIGUOUS

"going in?" "yeah, see you out there..."

"getting out?" "yeah, I'll catch one in..."

I love ambiguity, especially in surfing, for example:
When you're first getting in, you're also paddling out and then when it's time to be getting out, you're trying to get the last one in...

THE ARTFUL DODGA

Rodga Harvey, tailblock edger in 1978

Had a brief but fun sk8 sesh with Rodga Harvey on Saturday, he's been ripping for three decades, that's right people, skateboarding really well for over 30 years!

Rodga in 2009, still going strong!

Spex was also there (a legend in his own right)

Spex, Planet Rock ollie, mid 80s

JOHN PEEL

"This one starts a bit quietly"

John Peel will be celebrated in various ways at various places at various times this weekend - surely there should be an official John Peel Day.

DOGS

"Great view from up here"

We don't have a cat on a hot tin roof in this part of the world - we have a couple of collies near the chimney.

STICKY

Bring back stickers!

When I used to spend all my time skateboarding, stickers were a small but fun part of the whole scene. Everybody had 'em, companies produced them in abundance and they were usually cool designs too. We'd slap 'em everywhere, not just on our decks, but on car windows, ramps, fridges etc, etc. I always liked the little ones, they were particularly good for covert slappage.

They became almost a form of tagging; I can remember being stranded at Gordano services while hitch-hiking on the M5 and feeling heartened by the sight of Thrasher and Kryptonics stickers on the road side sign.

I uncovered an old cache of stickers in the attic last night. Somewhere in there are; Blender's Coffee Break, Zorlac - SUAS, Blockhead - Nothing is Cool, Gator, Bod, Lance, Jim Philips - Screaming Hand and I particularly like the Steve Claar rabbit.

Click pic for a closer look

COMING SOON

The shape of things to come

Something's cooking in Jolly Roger's shack…

NEW OLDIE

Kool Kar

My bro-in-law stopped by for a visit this weekend on his way back to Ireland with his new wheels, a 1965 Volvo Amazon. What a beauty!

SCENE IN THE DISTANCE

Looking south from Porthtowan to St Ives with Godrevy lighthouse on the horizon.

Clicky piccy to go large…

A to X

The Generation gap

In 1991 Douglas Coupland wrote Generation X and captured the zeitgeist perfectly, and now 18 years later he delivers Generation A.

As well as looking forward to having a good read, it's interesting comparing the two covers designed almost two decades apart.

K IS FOR...

Killer!

Went for a run this evening - it nearly killed me.

ps: note to self - don't run with mouth open. I inhaled a small cloud of midges and that nearly killed me too!

RHCB

Now that's what I call a Roundhouse Cutback

Sequence of Mick Fanning clearly demonstrating a full-bore frontside roundhouse cutback, I reckon Curren probably does 'em with even more style, but this birds-eye-view shows that Fanning certainly knows how to bleed some speed.

TRIG POINTS

Get your line ups sorted...

As the September swells start to roll through and Autumn brings more motion to the ocean remember to triangulate out there.

SURF MUSIC

Never heard of 'em, but I think I'd like this album

Old record covers are great - there's a wealth of visual gold out there. 1950s group The Surfers got nicely co-ordinated for this one above.

There was also another band in 1998 calling themselves The Surfers, (below) the guys in this combo were also quite good at actually surfing (Slater, Machado, PK...)

This one looks interesting...

TODAY

... nice day for it

Funny old day, not a lot going for it in some ways - but then I thought about it again and I realised - it's always someones birthday, it could be the best day of somebodys life and it's named after a mythological god! What a day...

COLOURS

Autumn sunset

Snapped this after a quick surf last night - trying to make the most of the light evenings...

MONOLIGHT

An old friend

LUBE JOB

Old board - new wax

Surfboards are very low maintenance, the occasional ding repair, a fresh coat of wax and you're up and running again…

SUBURBAN SURFING

Estimates suggest 80% of Westerners live in suburbia

For years I've fantasised over pics of pristine Malibu or perfect Kirra, however a little 'Google earthing' reveals that the view from the lineup is actually one of suburban sprawl. It amazed me just how suburban the surf destinations of California and East Coast Australia really are.
I still like to think of the coast as a kind of mellow wilderness area, yet statistically a hell of a lot of surfing is actually being done in Suburbia.

MURIAL - Did you mean to search for Mural

Hold yer line son!

West coast of Ireland, three years ago to the day.

VIEW FROM HERE

Lookin back...

My favourite type of view

NUMBERS

KERNOW ALOHA

He's always a happy chappy

This is Bruddah Eddie - he moved over from Hawaii to Kernow a few years ago to live at our place. He's an inspiration, especially at this time of year as our summer begins to fade. He never moans about the weather, always smiling, always happy to be here.

BENT SNOUT

Crunched my nose at G-bay tonight.

Hi-ho, hi-ho, off to the glassers we go...

SUNSET HAIKU

clouds washed by fire
gold sky above sea below
a day a lifetime

WASTING TIME

Team WOFTAM

I have to say that I believe surfing is totally pointless* and I have spent countless hours in the pursuit of riding waves. Probably adding up to a few thousand hours of my life. Could all that time have been spent doing something more productive?

I don't regret a minute of it!

*which is why I love it.

YELO

Yellow (not mellow)

The phrase "mellow yellow" appears in the first American edition of Ulysses, where it is used to refer to Mrs. Marion Bloom's buttocks... I can't stand the Donovan song of the same name. Neither am I fan of Coldplay. But I do really like yellow boards. This is my 6'8" shaped by Adrian Phillips back in 2004.

RAINDROPS

The best place to shelter from the rain

I really like surfing in the rain, I love the fresh, clean feeling of the raindrops compared to the briney sea. I like the effect the rain has on the surface of the waves... But you can have too much of a good thing, I want a little bit more summery surfage before the clocks go back.

BLOWN OUT

Three classics

It's a movie day.

ABH - August Bank Holiday

The Line-up

A man on his own in a car
Is revenging himself on his wife;
He open the throttle and bubbles with dottle
and puffs at his pitiful life

'She's losing her looks very fast,
she loses her temper all day;
that lorry won't let me get past,
this Mini is blocking my way.

'Why can't you step on it and shift her!
I can't go on crawling like this!
At breakfast she said that she wished I was dead -
Thank heavens we don't have to kiss.

'I'd like a nice blonde on my knee
And one who won't argue or nag.
Who dares to come hooting at me?
I only give way to a Jag.

'You're barmy or plastered, I'll pass you, you bastard -
I will overtake you. I will!'
As he clenches his pipe, his moment is ripe
And the corner's accepting its kill.

Meditation On The A30
John Betjeman

HOLEY MOLEY

Drop in!

Robin: "Gosh, there could be diplomatic repercussions if we fail this time, Batman."
Batman: "That's not the point, Robin. What's important is that the world know that all visitors to these teeming shores are safe, be they peasant or king."
Robin: "Gee, Batman, I never thought of that. You're right."
Batman: "It's the very essence of our democracy."

PEELER ENVY

Lefts, rights - I don't care, I just want some long walls

Think I've got peeler envy. Mostly beachbreaks in Kernow, and although they can light up quite regularly, sometimes I just want a long peeling wall to have fun on.

Image borrowed from chunnsreef.com

THE BEST TREADS

Get it right and it stays right

The only label you need on your feet. Vans have been making shoes forever (well, since 1966) and they still make the best.