furry dude

this little fella came running down the road to me yesterday, glad i had the camera

this morning

focus

nick - focussed

considine

lee, making sections...

a month

nearly a month has gone by and no posts, although ive been taking plenty of pictures.

Ive been having a few good solitary surfs, getting amongst it before the crowds descent on our litle town for the summer. Surfed this morning down the beach a little way, a few nice peelers, small but zippy.
Fun times

this year

is different to the last, as it should be...but its been a hard year. Full of challenges. The sea has always been there.

one from a summer i remember fondly

a few of my favorite people

this was the same little group of people that met in an empty camping ground on the beach, prai da guincho - portugal. The surf was wild that day - so beer, wine, barbequed fish and a lunar eclipse filled the day/night - and I met my wife.

So a few years later, the four of us, and a few others, got together in bournville, the birthplace of caburys, and me and the now missus tied the knot.

Good times.

shapes and waves

With Instagram, ive been neglected the blog of late, in fact if shaped another 4 boards since I posted up ed's shred sled - so I thought i should post up a little of the recent work.

Ive refined my log, and have a template now that really works for me, a heavier surfer, with a harder edge in the tail giving it plenty of release, but still holding enough in the face of the wave for noseriding. Here it is mid way...

I kept the deck patches rough, with strands of black pigments 6oz falling on the deck, the like the rough finish, its a little different to the neat cut edges. I put a leggie loop in 6oz glass on this one, as I'm thinking I might sell it one day and someone else might like to use a legrope, and I made the fin from Paulownia - based loosely on the fin I put in Eds stick - i like the way the wider fuller fin feels, forcing you back down the board for nice turns.

All in all, im pretty happy with it, paddles nice too.

Ive also made a shorter board for myself and said goodbye to fast eddie. Its with mixed feelings that I let it go, and im sure i'll regret it one day, but its stayed in the family so to speak, so i know its gone to good home and will get ridden not just gather dust.

In replacment i;ve shaped myself a 7'6", im not sure what, I put a few templates together, played with them, with some ideas I had around tail shaped, and gave myself more edge - lots of width for a board so short, but brought down the volume, and its the best thing ive ever shaped, it really does "paddle like a longboard" every board ive ever bought thats claimed that, never has but this thing, just glides... hardly any rocker - super wide, it flies...

All in all, im pretty stoked with how my shaping and glassing is coming along. I had intended to stop, but Sean (The Brown Shed) sold me half a roll of cloth yesterday, so Im commited to another 100ft of surfboards! - still i need the practice - Seans boards astound me, and his glassing is something I cant ever imagine being able to even come close to.

As for the other interest, ive been snapping a few, but have been enjoying shooting waves that have noone on them, or shorebreaks. heres a couple:

ed's shred shed

Ive shaped a new stick for my best buddy from england who should be arriving on these shores in feburary for a few weeks. I surfed it at poss yesterday and it goes good.

Heat and the sea

Nathan Oldfield has a new flick - and it looks all kinds of awesome...keep em peeled for the release.

sea stoke

raz fresh foam

five

Last night was a gift - me, lee, crusty...
CLICK THE NAMES FOR THE BLOGS...
One of those magic sessions, catching waves in silent gratitude for the first 30 minutes. Then an lull to chat. You can still score the most well known point on the coast, on a weekend, on a beautiful afternoon, in near solitude.

Here's Lee

taking photographs

In the light of having a few photos rejected of late, ive been thinking about what makes a "great" photo. Its obviously subjective... and this is something im slowly learning. If you want to publish, if you want to sell, then maybe you dont always shoot what you love, but love just shooting, and to capture, to stylize.

Im fond of taking pictures of loggers, of people i know, of unmolested waves. But these are for me - and most likely dont appeal to many beyond me, and the subjects.

So yesterday, i shot some white pointy boards, going vertical, throwing spray - and i love what i came up with 500 pared down to 3 - they most likely wont appeal to anyone, so sit on my desktop, for me to look at, admire what some people can do with a bit of foam and fibreglass and a decent set of balls.

heres one...

woma

speeding

pommie

greg

gregs big guy shortboard rips - i rode it at boings yesterday, immediately i want one.

Heres greg on its maiden voyage - Dave Boyd knows how to shape a goodun!

Dave Boyds website

#44

throwing shapes

light(ness) of touch

a moment of weightlessness

cheater 5

travels

A chopping board, made by Lauras brother when he was at trade school many years ago, and a really good penknife.
Theres not much more needed on a trip of the kind we have just undertaken, however, inevitably I packed more than necessary. Again, lesson 1, travel light(er).
I have the T-shirt, but am a sucker for perceived convenience.

The night before last we slept in Mystery Bay. Its a spot i've overnighted before - a strip of bush next to a creek, 100m from two bays, facing in slightly different directions, but neither this time delivering the goods - alas.

Still, a good campfire, practicing our whittling and knife throwing skills (for what I dont know, but im sure it has some deep signficance for a life we are yet to lead) was a good enough way to spend the evening - and now I sit in the warmth of a cabin, having had a poor nights sleep, and wish I was back out under the stars. In a few hours we begin our journey home, this trip has been a good one - surf, food, the search for that elusive "good" coffee in every other state than VIC - which was as sucessful as it was not - and the road, ive enjoyed the road so much this time. My wife makes the greatest travelling companion there is, no complaints with long drops, handy with a hatchet, and patient with my many diversions down bumpy tracks and walks over windswept dunes for "that" wave, that was as elusive as the coffee.

like i said, a good chopping board and a decent penknife are all you need, (and a hatchet for the wife, if she chops wood like mine)

A day of two halves

What a day, more to come on narrowly avoided bummer moves, however silver linings, empty caves beach, 2ft of clean swell and a skinny dip with a little shark! What a day...

Movement

The day starts early in Byron... We're hitting the road for points south, as the splendor crowds pull in to town, we roll out. I have a new tarp, hatchet and penknife, so am equity to deal with whatever life can throw at me.
I'm hoping for a splash at angourie on the little board, if not, I'll fish and built a fire. Simple things.

Hinterland

A man let us walk around his garden...

Noosa to Byron

So we woke this morning to a tiny noosa, and overcast skies...funny, I'm sure ti tree would have been fun, but after coffee... The road felt more appealing, drove through surfers just so I felt relieved to leave, and wound down the coast to snapper/kirra, was offshore and predictably crowded, so a parmi on the deck of the surf club sufficed... That's where the shot below is from, killer lookout.
So now I lie rested in the back of the van, waiting for the better half to shower, listening to The Pass unfurl along it's loooong point. Tide is too high right now, but dusk should be all time, keen to bodysurf here. I figured the crowds would be worse, fun peaks and noone really riding them. Fingers crossed it drops a little overnight, a foot less and it looks like it'll be awesome.

Noosa mornings.

This morning I scored noosa 1st point, with two other loggers and me. The swell was small 1-2ft but glassy. I've missed surfing in boardies... The locals were super friendly, shooting the breeze in the carpark, few tips, "workers coffee" get you your morning livener for cheap.
I could not surf again this trip and go home happy, but I won't... I'll surf again later, and regardless, it'll be good

little rincon

nick racing one, and robbie hitting one, glad i got out the water to shoot these dudes

seriously rad - the butterknife peacock

from the "Thomas" files...  http://surfersgarden.blogspot.com.au/

surfing...and

my surf last night was one of the good ones.

I got home from work a little early, the lucky ones who had the day off had had their fill, the beach had quietened, and the wind had gotten good - a gentle NE, grooming the small waves, a few peaks up and down the beach. the tide was a little full, so the backwash was creating some speedbumps to nagivate, but as the afternoon became early evening, the tide pulled out, and things got good.

I was left of boat ramp, my favorite little spot at main when its small, getting those loooooong runs down to the far stairs.

Shared a few with a quiet, understated super logger, Robbie - robbie has a quiet elegance when he rides, picks his waves well, and is quick and nimble on his feet, and a super dude to boot - fun trading waves and talking boards with someone who likes their equipment refined but simple.

We both had a little handplane session after too, which was nice...i love the feeling that a good bodysurf gives you, so different to surfing, but easily its equal.

So, im fueled up, satisfied, but not completely, because can you ever be?

Now, i have tomorrow off - and the forecast is for 2ft and NW, so im eager and excited and hungry for some more...and this is dangerous - expectations are the mother of all fuckups.

Since no post is complete without a pic, here's me and the missus, waves or no waves, she's the constant joy...

check the rad cardigan - pommie's stylin!

face on the photocopier

straight shooting

winki air

some dude was boosting some great airs at winki, and landing them...which is always nice

lee

great light this morning, and some fun made of the tiny peelers - lee, doing his thing

greg

charges when the surf is on

yesterdays colour

the cold place

sure delivers the goods

Another fine day

another backyarder

raz has shaped a log ~ its REALLY nice - here it is, with its proud creator - Go raz!