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My last two New Year's Resolutions have been to win money playing poker (2006), and to win money playing poker (2007). It seems churlish not to resolve likewise for 2008, not least because I have yet to see much by way of achievement from the previous two resolutions, so I hereby resolve to win money playing poker, again (see the estimable Flush magazine for my efforts, if poker's your thing).
As for surfing, I'm off to Thurso for the O'Neill Highland Open in late April. This has been a cracking event for the past two years (and saw a few hands of poker played, in 2006), and this year I'm hoping to surf Thurso East for the first time. I might even resolve to paddle out and take a wave, come what may. I'm also resolving to get my younger son, Elliot, in the water as much as his brother Harry, and might even go so far as to say that I hereby resolve to acquire a longboard, for those small summer days.
Meanwhile, I am also resolving to wake up without a hangover tomorrow. This is arguably far more challenging than any of the other resolutions and its success, or otherwise, may affect the quality of my predictions for 2008, online tomorrow. Until then, vaya con dios.
Photo of the Highland Open 2007 courtesy of Timo Jarvinen and O'Neill.
I've mentioned Japan a bit recently, a theme which was started by Dan Watson's fascinating comments about surfing references in the fiction of Haruki Murakami. Another Japanese writer I've long admired is Yukio Mishima, many of whose works - for example, The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea, The Sound of Waves, Confessions of a Mask - contain some of the most beautiful, mesmerising and haunting words about the sea ever committed to paper. Japan is a fair old hike, but I've always wanted to go there and, thanks to this excellent piece on surfing near Tokyo from Richard Knobbs of Storm from the East, will have a fair idea of where to look for a wave if I ever make it. NB the awesome wave on the Mishima cover below.
Japan may not be top of your list for surfing destinations, but it has a thriving – and rapidly growing – surfing industry, together with WQS 6-star events and a host of domestic competitions. Situated in the Pacific Ocean and regularly blasted by typhoons (not to mention earthquakes), you can pretty much find waves the whole year round, from the crystal clear waters, tropical climate and white beaches of Okinawa to the frigid climes of Hokkaido.
If, like me, you’re based in or around Tokyo and you don’t fancy trekking four or five hours (each way) to catch some waves, your options may be slightly limited, but there are plenty to choose from. Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures offer the closest and most accessible options for people based in Tokyo: you could catch a train in the centre of Tokyo and be riding a wave not much over a couple of hours later. The trains are staggeringly punctual, relatively cheap and almost always incredibly clean, although they do get crowded and you may have problems getting a board over 7ft on one. Not to worry, as there are plenty of places to hire boards and wetsuits, especially in summer.
Shonan in Kanagawa prefecture has something of a ‘surf Mecca’ reputation and it does offer some very smooth, rideable waves which are perfect for beginner to intermediate surfers and longboarders, although they may lack the size and oomph needed for shortboarders. The downside is that, due to its popularity, the place gets absolutely packed in summer, you certainly wouldn’t want to swallow much of the water and the waves are very temperamental. Chiba, on the other hand, is a peninsula with literally hundreds of spots where you can surf. The area around Kujukuri is particularly popular as it has miles of coastline with pretty nice beaches and, consequently, plenty of sweet beach breaks – and a few reef breaks – to choose from. Some of the more popular spots in Chiba include Choshi, Katagai, Ichinomiya, Onjuku, Hebara, Kamogawa and Chitose, all of which offer reasonably consistent swell. Like all surf spots, Chiba can be prone to flatness and total mush, but it is surfable pretty much all year round and is best if you get there early. Crowding can be a problem, but you can nearly always find a spot and other surfers are generally polite. I have heard rumours of localism, but the only localism I have encountered is the locals asking me where I was from, lending me wax and pointing out rips and other dangers. Basically, as with any surf spot, be polite, show respect and you will get no trouble. Learning a little bit of the language will also go a long way towards getting welcomed.
Now, back to those typhoons… These massive storms whip themselves up in the Pacific and then, occasionally, smash things to bits on the mainland. They usually occur between May and October, peaking in August and September and, yes, they certainly bring waves. Despite what some surfers with mouths considerably bigger than their brains will tell you, it’s best to surf after the typhoon has passed, not during it. These storms leave some huge swells in their wakes, but to go out into the sea in 20ft mush with winds of up to 125mph is just plain daft. Typhoons cause hundreds of injuries and deaths in Japan every year and are not to be taken lightly.
Temperature-wise, the area around Tokyo has very hot and humid summers, so you will probably only need shorts for surfing in August, possibly springs suits from around May and up until late September. Winter gets pretty chilly, particularly in Northern Chiba in January and February, so you’ll probably need a 5mm full suit, boots and maybe gloves and a hood if you want to stay out for a long time.
One thing to bear in mind is that Japan is only slightly larger than the UK with a population approximately twice the size, which means that things get crowded everywhere. This is especially true in Tokyo and the surrounding areas; approximately 10% of the population of Japan lives in Tokyo alone. The result is that line-ups can also get unbelievably crowded in summer and there are many first-time surfers who may drop-in, get in the way, or hog the waves. A little bit of patience goes a long way – try to find a quieter spot away from the crowds or ask the lifeguards or locals for some advice. Remember, we were all beginners once. Japan offers some great places to surf with some of the friendliest surfers you’re likely to meet anywhere and, at the end of the day, the delights of Tokyo are still within reach.
Pictures courtesy of www.surfline.com. There's more on surfing in Japan at Surfline's page here.
One place I've always wanted to visit is Japan. Interesting culture, amazing terrain, remarkable literary tradition, great surf. Richard from Storm from the East has sent me some words on surfing in Japan, which I'll post later, but meanwhile here's an appetizer (well, it's an appetizer if big waves are your thing).
The late Peter Viertel - screenwriter, novelist and husband of Deborah Kerr, and, perhaps more significantly, the man who brought the first surfboard to Biarritz (whose waves he discovered while filming Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises) - did not make an appearance on this Lil Kim version of the Kool and The Gang classic.
Or did he?
Only just up on You Tube - and irresistible. Lil Kim version coming up (plus lyrics).
Here's a short story I penned a while back. A Surfer: Old appeared in Issue 62 of The Surfer's Path and takes its cue from one of my favourite stories about boxing, Harry Sylvester's A Boxer: Old (1934). 
Machter was weary. His neck hurt from the constant, up-raised, unnatural position into which he had forced it for so long that now, as he surfaced only to see that he was caught inside and would surely suffer yet another impossible beating, he started to wonder whether it had all been worth it. Started, but stopped, because as usual there was no time to ask questions, only time to upend himself, grab a lungful of air and scratch for the bottom, there to the world of silent trauma where maybe he would minimise, if not evade, the pain that was as unerringly coming his way as, a long time ago, his boxer’s left hooks and right uppercuts would find their targets.
The pain was as predictable as Machter’s response. Once ravaged by the ocean that he had loved all his life, an ocean that had only ever shown indifference (or was it disdain?) in the face of all his efforts to embrace it, he could only bob to the surface, catch his breath, look around, try to work out where his board was, assess how long he had before the next bomb imploded around him. How many times had he done this? How many times had he paddled out at Black Carn, and survived just such a disaster?
Continue reading "A Surfer: Old" »
Here I am, too ill even to walk to the end of the road, let alone get in the water. So what are my emotions when I log on to the likes of Magic Seaweed, Wave Index, Surfcore or A1 to see what the swell is doing and find that it's not much cop?
Well, it's the season of peace and goodwill to all men so needless to say I'm very, very disappointed for everyone else out there that the waves aren't up to much. I'd love nothing better than for everyone to be enjoying the ocean while I wallow in my flu and wouldn't feel even the slightest pang of envy if it was 4ft and perfect at Sennen right now. Honest.
What a Christmas Day it's been... Awoke early, thanks to younger son, as predicted. However, what was a mere cold yesterday had mutated overnight into flu or something close to it. Roused myself for presents with the family and manfully headed over to the Cove for the Christmas swim. It was cold, and my chest was heaving, and I started shivering even before it was time to disrobe... So no swim for me. Back home I collapsed and slept/shivered/groaned/wondered what I had done to deserve the worst illness I've had for about a decade (surely Surf Nation isn't that bad?) for three hours. I roused myself (that's twice in one day!) to cook the turkey, only to find that it hadn't defrosted. Agreed with Karen to have Xmas Day - the new and improved version complete with meal - tomorrow. Walked the hound - for at least 50 yards - and felt exhausted from the exercise. Collapsed again. Awoke, roused myself for a remarkable third time, watched TV, logged on, checked my emails, and found that over in East Anglia they're a hardcore crew, no doubt immune to mere colds/chest infections/manflu/pneumonia and happy to swim in 8C waters complete with biting wind (NB: over here in the west, the sea is still a balmy 11C).
For here, thanks to Neil Watson, are some images of the Xmas Day swim at Lowestoft. Barking mad, the lot of 'em. I mean, fancy getting your kit off and going for a swim when, unless my eyes deceive me, there's a wave on that there beach... 
There was a nice wave today at Sennen Cove but, alas, last minute shopping duty killed off any hopes of a surf. If truth be told, the cold I've acquired in the past couple of days meant - for once - that I wasn't too upset about this. Shopping now done, and presents (mostly) wrapped, I can enjoy a quiet night and prepare myself for the rigours of tomorrow. They include:
1. Being woken up very early by Elliot, who, at 10, is old enough to question the existential reality of Father Christmas but not so old as to be immune from seasonal hyperactivity.
2. Heading over to the Cove for the Christmas Day swim. I am not at all sure about this - wetsuits are prohibited and I have a bad cold (did I mention that?). But I'll give it a go, with Harry and Elliot (their Mum is currently opting for the 'Someone ought to wait in the car with a hot flask of tea' option). If you're in the area, the swim starts at 10.30; best to get there half an hour or so earlier.
3. Cooking the Christmas turkey, even though my cold is sure to have got worse having swum in the Atlantic in just a pair of boardshorts in late December.
4. Extending joy and goodwill to all men before over-eating massively and collapasing, glass of red wine in hand, on the sofa.
5. Despite my very bad cold (That's enough about your cold. Ed.), hauling myself out of my slumber to walk Rio, the family hound.
6. Arriving home from said walk to a round of applause from all the family for being so Herculean in the face of my really rather nasty, er, cold.
That's my Xmas, anyway. Most of the above will happen but one of them may not. No matter. Tis the season to be jolly so to all who've dipped in and out of this blog over the past year, Happy Christmas and all the best for 2008. The excellent festive image is courtesy of Peter Robinson of The Surfing Museum.
I got home from an enjoyable surf at Sennen Cove this afternoon to settle down and read the Sunday papers. In this story from The Sunday Times, I read of the death of La Jolla pro surfer Emery Kauanui, killed when five young men allegedly followed him home and beat him to death on his doorstep.
Surfing rarely makes the print versions of the UK nationals, but this story, filed by John Harlow in Los Angeles, reported on the underlying tension that led to Kauanui's death, that of the clash between what are described as "members of California's two most enduring youth tribes - a professional surfer and rich white boy 'gangsters'."
Later, the story runs as follows: "[Kauanui] was a surfer 'dude', good-natured and relaxed and thus a natural irritant to the 'townies', La Jolla's disgruntled and bored children of wealthy computer and biotech entrepreneurs, who hate surfers."
Does anyone know if life in La Jolla is really so stark?
1. Investigate the contents of your garage/shed/van and donate beaten up, unused or spare surfboards (as well as fins and leashes) to Paddle 4 Relief. Thanks to Chloe Hubbard of www.thisisnorthdevon.co.uk/surfing for telling me of this excellent way of helping the children of Sri Lanka, still recovering from the 2004 tsunami.
2. Go to church. It'll keep the relatives happy and you can secretly pray for swell.
3. Make an omelette the Surf Twisted way. Top secret footage appears below.
4. Dress up as Santa and Go Skateboarding like original British pro and still ripping Danzi. Here he is captured by Darren Burdell - but where?
5. Ask Stef Harkon where the shots of Danzi were taken. Stef, what's the name of that gallery with the awesome skate installation?
6.De-wax and re-wax your board. It's fun, and quite good exercise - especially if you sing Christmas songs at the same time.
7. Pop into Chapel Idne and consider which board to buy for grommet son.
8. Pop out again, wallet intact, and leg it to Woolworths. After all, he's not too old to appreciate 10 packets of pick 'n' mix, is he?
9. Return, chastened. Of course he's too old and if he's ever going to get anywhere as a pro surfer, he needs a decent board. Eye up boards and prepare to take a leap of faith.
10. Contemplate the nature of faith. It is, surely, all about surfing. For example, my last three surfs have been acts of desperation. I have paddled out into non-existent swell, having deluded myself that there is enough of a wave out there. Each time, I have been disappointed. And yet I still have faith. Even now, as I make ready to venture into another flat to six inch ocean, I am optimistic that some swell will arrive.
11. Read some Murakami. Thanks to a recent comment by Dan Watson, I now
know a lot more about the hip Japanese novelist's affinity for surfing. Curiouser and curiouser, and well worth checking out.
12. If you're really desperate, post a review of Surf Nation on Amazon, commenting on its subtext of renewal and catharsis so welded to this time of year (You cannot be serious. Ed.). But remember, following a
recent revision of its policy (pioneered by me) Amazon now only allows positive reviews of my
books. So be nice!
Should lifeguards be on duty all year round? Hannah May, one of West Penwith's lifeguards and a freelance writer, thinks so - not least after a recent trip to Lanzarote, during which she and her brother, also a lifeguard, helped save the life of a tourist caught out by a strong current.
Lanzarote was a fine vantage point for the curious coastal antics of the holidaymaker. One day at La Santa, double overhead rollers were breaking on to the rocks with a bevy of snap happy tourists playing skipping stones uncomfortably nearby, seemingly oblivious to the lingering threat beyond.
Several days earlier, my brother and I had to drag a German tourist from the water when the current proved too difficult for him to navigate.
I spoke to a local who told me that drownings occur frequently, but remain unreported to the masses - supposedly due to fears of the tourist industry suffering as a result.
Back to Cornish waters, and the beaches in my service were displaced of Lifeguards at the end of September. I have since been surfing, observing the throngs of people still flocking to the coasts and wondering about capability and accountability.
The decision to relieve the guards of duty flows from the received wisdom that at off-peak tourist periods there are fewer people in the water, with most of those in the sea being locals who should, and usually do, have some knowledge of the area and prevailing conditions.
But this is not as straightforward as it seems. The surge in popularity of beach culture, particularly surfing, means that the Cornish ocean is a busy Mecca in the local and urban escapists’ map. The urbanites are known in some quarters as DFLs (Down From London types) and their frequent weekends away, combined with the school holidays and the year-round availability of water sports, means that there is little reprieve for the ocean.
Even in winter it's a fair bet that many people in the water aren't locals, and so knowledge of the sea and prevailing conditions cannot be assumed. So should the seasonal lifeguarding be replaced with an year-round presence?
In my view, yes. The RNLI has recently announced that it will be assuming management of the beaches in West Penwith. While it is expected to run a longer season than we've been used to, I believe that the time is right to end post-summer
lifeguard absenteeism. It may seem absurd to place lifeguards on beaches where in a
stormy blizzard they may not see a soul for days. However, it is dumbfounding to hear of yet more avoidable deaths - for example, the recent tragic cases in Portugal and Spain - as a
result of the sea’s powerfully unpredictable ways. Most surfers I know
have had to assist struggling water users in order to avoid tragedy
(and some on more than one occasion), and many lifeguards' skills have
been called into action while off-duty. If they were on duty full-time, I’m positive
such dreadful events would be less common.
Costing lives is a difficult process, and need is different from worst-case scenario panic. It means money pulled from other places, and priorities are notoriously difficult to define. And, of course, people need to exercise their common sense. If they avoid dangerous-looking oceans, ask the locals’ advice and proceed with utmost caution, the risk of a tragedy is minimized. But there's no cure for drowning. We can only talk in terms of its prevention. Having a full-time lifeguard service might cost more money, but it is surely worth it if even one life is saved as a result.
Pictures courtesy of Hannah May. If you agree with Hannah, please post a comment here.
I'm indebted to Simon Jayham for this picture of The Gill. Check Simon's excellent blog for the circumstances behind this rare celluloid image of the man known for his encyclopaedic knowledge of surf spots everywhere. But, as someone once said to me, be wary of opening emails that you might receive from him...
News came in late last week that the much-vaunted artificial reef at Bournemouth now has the official green light. I was not alone in thinking that this had already happened, for Alf Alderson, author of Surf UK: The Definitive Guide to Surfing in Britain (which he's currently updating) was swiftly in touch, saying that officialdom truly moves in mysterious, and very slow, ways, given that identical news had been released a few months ago. Be that as it may, is the Bournemouth reef a cause for rejoicing? Here's Alf with his thoughts.
Many moons have passed since I last surfed the Bournemouth area, under the guidance of hot local kneeboarder Martin Corr (are you still out there Martin?). I had made the unwise decision to spend some time forging a career in London (I lasted less than a year with that ill-conceived project…) and Bournemouth was one of the best options for getting a wave if you had the great misfortune to be based in that over-crowded, over-priced corner of the country.
But it wasn’t much cop to be honest – crowded, mushy and pretty shapeless, on all but two occasions when I surfed there it really was a case of making the best of a bad job as you slalomed your way through fishing lines dangling from the pier and boogie boarders and kooks clogging up the inside.
But this is all set to change. The Bournemouth Tourism press release promises a doubling in the size and consistency of the waves on the new reef, to be built 225 metres offshore at Boscombe – so good will it be that the waves will be ramped up to a ‘grade 5’ on a good swell (apparently Pipeline is a ‘grade 8’, but I’m not sure where this grading system comes from). Indeed Paul Clarke of Bournemouth Surfing Centre says it will be “…the nearest thing to an Atlantic roller this side of Cornwall” (what about Kimmeridge, I can’t help but ask…?). Whatever…
This is all going ahead thanks to the input of Dr. Kerry Black, an expert in artificial reef design and development who has also been involved in similar surf reefs in New Zealand and Australia.
And on top of the super new break at Bournemouth, surfers visiting the area will also, after emerging from a sesh on their grade 5 peaks, enjoy a veritable surf cornucopia of designer surf pods (don’t ask me…), a surf ‘academy’ (no mere surf school for Bournemouth), and a ‘surf-themed retail outlet’. I have to say that latter phrase sent a cold shiver down my spine – Top Shop meets Pipeline. Lord help us…
Right then. This being a blog forthright opinion is clearly called for on this new development in the world of UK surfing, so here’s what I think…
I’m resolutely old school, and whilst that leave me unsure about the wisdom of tinkering with Nature to create waves, I’m all for more quality surf on wave-starved areas of coastline like the English Channel. Although I have to say that it does take quite a stretch of the imagination to see Bournemouth’s surf suddenly doubling in consistency and size – it seems to me a pretty common scenario on the south coast is two-foot and onshore; well four-foot is better but onshore is still onshore…we shall see, and as the author of the upcoming third edition of Surf UK I will certainly be making the journey to the reef when it opens to see what comments it’s worthy of in ‘the definitive guide to surfing in Britain’ (ahem…).
But I seriously do wish all involved in it the best of luck.
However, we then we come to the associated onshore developments in conjunction with the reef. I’m sorry, but for us old schoolers this simply has nothing – I repeat nothing – to do with the surf experience. I’m sure I won’t be alone when I say surfing is about enjoying quality, QUIET waves with just a few mates, chilling out on a lovely beach afterwards, then popping into a nice pub for a pint before heading home, thoroughly stoked and surfed out.
The idea of designer beach huts (the ‘surf pods’), a surf ‘academy’ and God help us a surf retail outlet is truly hideous. Why not just call it Kooksville and have done with it? The ‘real’ surfers who are making the most of the reef will be lost amidst a sea of wannabes and poseurs in the shallows, the ‘pods’ and the ‘surf-themed retail outlets’ convincing themselves that yes, I’ve hired the gear and bought the t-shirt so now I’m a surfer.
I could go on – I already have for too long – but in a nutshell the reef idea is innovative and deserves to work. But what a shame it has to come with all that’s worst about 21st century surfing and living tacked on to it. ‘Surf-themed retail outlet’? – as Father Ted would have said: “Feck off!”
For more info on the reef at Bournemouth check out www.bournemouth.co.uk. Meanwhile here's some footage of what it'll be like - without an onshore...
Here's Cassandra Murnieks with an update on events so far at the Billabong Pipe Masters.
It seems that Mick Fanning isn’t perfect after all. After securing the world title in Brazil last month, the Australian hadn’t lost a heat all year, but he fell victim to wildcard Laurie Towner in his first round heat at the Billabong Pipeline Masters. Even so, Fanning still advances courtesy of being one of the four top scoring 2nd place finishers.
The newly crowned World Champion is now looking forward to a fourth round match up against Hawaiian Ian Walsh. He hopes to win his first Triple Crown and is currently sitting in third place for the title.
“Winning an event here in Hawaii is always something you want to do,” Fanning said. “I really want to win the event here. I’ve been close here so many times, but have never done it. The Triple Crown as well, I’m still in the running for that so there’s a couple of things going into that event. I want to have fun and enjoy it but still want to win the event.”
Four-time Pipeline Masters champion Andy Irons isn’t in contention for The Triple Crown after missing the O’Neill World Cup at Sunset Beach to get married, but he has become the man to beat for the Pipeline Masters title. Irons posted the highest heat total of the day, a 17.5 out of a possible 20 and landed the first 9-point ride of the event.
“It feels awesome to get out there,” Irons said. “After Haleiwa I flew home, missed Sunset, got married, and have just been waiting for his event for about a week now. It’s nice to get the ball rolling, and to start the heat off with an 8.33 and a 9.17 was a great start.”
Irons faces TJ Barron in heat one of Round Four, and is looking to defend his title and secure a second event win of the year. “It’s the last contest of the year and it was a pretty slow year for me,” Irons said. “I had a bad start, an okay run and then a pretty bad ending. With this being that last event of the year I want to go out with a bang. This is one of my top three favourite events of the year. I’m just taking it one heat at a time.”
Surfing legend and six-time Triple Crown winner Sunny Garcia created headlines in his first round heat when he was pulled up on a double interference call alongside Brazilian Neco Padaratz. The two veteran surfers clashed in the 4-5 foot waves and Garcia’s emotions overflowed after the heat when he tried to approach Padaratz in the competitors' area.
Garcia finds himself out of the contest, which yesterday became a lay day owing to the declining swell. Emotions of a different kind also ran high this week, as 1999 World Champion Mark Occhilupo retired having been eliminated in the third round. So ends the longest career in pro surfing. Respect.
Photos courtesy of ASP World Tour
Look at this picture of Sennen Cove today. Beautiful, isn't it? Yes, indeed. Only I couldn't go surfing today. Why not? Because I had to forsake my daily dose of oceanic endeavour for singing Christmas carols. Yes, singing Christmas carols.
I wasn't at all sure about this, not least when I turned up at the Cove this afternoon to behold such exquisite lines. But there in the car park was Peter Robinson, who should have set sail for Brighton after popping down last night to discuss ideas about a permanent home for his excellent museum and to catch up with me, Russ Pierre and Russ's lovely wife Gill. A fine few pints were had in The Old Success but I'd said my farewells to Pete at 1.30 this afternoon. Like a masochist, shortly afterwards I was unable to resist checking the surf even though I knew there was no time to surf it, for duty (in the form of attending my younger son, Elliot's, school carol service) called. And there was Pete, about to paddle out.
Duty felt rather onerous as I eyed the perfection before me, itself perhaps a gift from a Divine presence to herald Christmas or maybe just a simple quirk of nature. Either way, all I wanted to do was go surfing, but it was impossible. "Don't worry, it's rubbish," said Pete.
I must have looked as dubious as anyone would be, so Pete offered this instead: "Think of the karma you'll be due by going to the carol service. Think of the karma."
A good call. But I'm glad there are no carol services tomorrow...
Photo courtesy of www.sennen-cove.com
A long time ago I wrote a short piece entitled "Surfing and Racism." I wondered whether surfing - yes, our beloved surfing - might just be the last refuge of the white colonialist. I had in mind the growing proliferation of boat trips to third world countries, undertaken by affluent whites who all too often had little or no interest in the indigenous population and culture of the places they visit, as well as the almost total absence of black surfers from mainstream surf mags (not to mention the fact, here in the UK and Ireland, that our line-ups are 99% Caucasian).
These ruminations provoked a lot of controversy. Indeed, one of the shortest posts on this blog became its most commented on. Most people contributed insightful thoughts, but one or two were clearly irked that I'd dared to question surfing's integrity in this way. Surfing, racist? No way, bro! You're the one who's racist even to think this! So ran the arguments of one or two Aggrieved of the Global Surf Community.
Well, guess what? I'm not racist. Racism is quite possibly the thing I loathe most on this planet. But I don't stick my head in the sand either. Surfing's not all upside - nothing is. There are real issues about racism in surfing. No doubt it's unthinking, no doubt it's not meant - and no doubt the majority of surfers are totally non-racist - but ask yourself: where are the black surfers in the mags? How many times have you seen a boatload of white surfers descend on Indo or the Mentawis and behave like ignorant jerks? When you get a nice slick travel brochure enticing you to part with your cash and go surfing somewhere exotic, why are you almost certain only to see white surfers as the embodiment of paradise? Where are the black surfers in our line-ups? (And please don't say "they can't swim, so don't like surfing," as someone once, astonishingly and outrageously, told me in all seriousness.)
Like issues with climate change - now being taken up not merely by Surfers Against Sewage but, at last, also by the surf corporates (as reported in this month's as ever excellent The Surfer's Path) - ignoring these questions doesn't answer them.
All of which makes me very interested in Whitewash: A History of Black Surfers, coming soon from Trespass Productions. Check out the trailer here.
At roughly 2.30 pm each day, I receive a text message. It reads in one of the following variants:
"Surf any good."
"Can we go surfing."
"Wot's surf like."
I am careful to avoid text-speak in my response, for the sender of these messages is Harry, my 12-year-old son. I don't want him to fall into a linguistic void and so make sure that everything I ever send him is exemplary in terms of its English. Well, almost.
"The surf is reasonable. I will pick you up at 3.30 outside the post office. Please learn how to use question marks. And send a message back proving that you know how to spell 'wot' in its real incarnation."
My phone quickly bleeps.
"Can mark come."
Again, I am deliberate.
"Yes, but he must be quick. Tell him to get his board and wetsuit on the double. And use capital letters for proper names."
Harry replies.
"K"
This, of course, is a truncation of "OK."
We meet, and go for a surf. Afterwards I stress the importance of good English, even in so impoverished a medium as the humble text message. Harry is not convinced.
"Dad, what's the point? Do you think Laird Hamilton cares about grammar? Or Kelly Slater? Good English didn't get them where they are today."
Irrefutable, to a point. How do I convince him he's wrong? More worryingly, is he?
The excellently named Jeff Kafka decided recently that he'd had enough of being typecast as either someone who wakes up one morning to find that he has turned into a giant insect or as a figure in a mysterious but rather enjoyable Murakami novel. So he ventured forth at Mavericks to kitesurf what is described in this footage as a 10ft swell. As you do.
Here's a great shot of Aileens from Roger Sharp at Slide.
Here's also another quality cover that never made it, also from the mind of Mr Sharp.
How are they connected?
If you go to Aileens, you should wear a hat.
It has, as astute observers will have noticed, been Very Big round these parts lately. This image, from Tony 'Where's that medical policy?' Plant, might originate from Ireland but it's a fair encapsulation of what the sea was doing in West Cornwall yesterday (minus the shape and form).
But a walk on the cliffs just now tells me that the worst is over. The wind has dropped and the wave period looks to be about 12 seconds or so. It's nearly high tide at both the inferior and the superior secret spots (meaning that they're now the domain of bodyboarders only), and the Cove remains something of a mess, but Magic Seaweed confirms what my eyes are telling me. Tomorrow an 8ft swell will be sweeping benignly to the shore, the wave period will be 11 seconds, and it'll even be sunny. Better still, the week is set fair for more of the same.
Sometimes, life is sweet.
The other day I was in Waterstones in Truro, looking for Matt Warshaw's Mavericks. I can't say who might receive this for Christmas (not least, because it wasn't in the shop) but I can say that I was amazed at just how many books on surfing there are these days. Truly, surfing has hit the mainstream (in Cornwall, anyway).
I was initially pleased to see my own book and, as is customary, started to tell nearby customers what an excellent read it is, as if I were a humble passer-by, anxious to impart wisdom. They all looked at me blankly and shuffled from toe to toe, as if strangely discombobulated by democracy (for freedom of speech is, as we know, one of its cornerstones). Then one of them, evidently feeling the need to enlighten me, declaimed as follows:
"Now look here, we know who you are. You're boring, an unqualified voice, and you don't do it for us. Your penchant for left-field narrative digression is ridiculous, your factual inaccuracies legion, your blur of characters nothing but a blur. Worse, your literary references are shoe-horned and as for your tendency to mention films here and there, well, the least said the better. It all smacks of desperation. We prefer our surf writers to know their onions and you, my friend, don't know yours."
Dear reader, can you imagine how I felt? OK, masquerading as an enthusiast might have been silly, but the shop's unofficial spokesman cut me to the quick. I went home, sobbing and stamping my feet in puddles, which made them extremely wet, and was tiresome after a while, but it's the gesture that counts, and decided to look on Amazon to see if anyone had said anything nice about the book recently. Can you believe what I found? I daren't say (Go on, you should. Ed). Do I have to? (Yes. Ed).
Well, here's the truth. It was more of the same! Hot on the heels of a savaging by Bill Dawes (he of Boards magazine) a nice chap from the Navy called James Bulpett found himself extremely vexed by Surf Nation. He says I'm not the authority I say I am (when have you ever said you were an authority? Ed), that mentioning films is a bad thing and that the book has loads of factual inaccuracies. He cites one, too, and albeit that it was one consequence of writing 105,000 words in three months (the others were dementia, alcoholism and the invention of Bloggish) it's a howler. Woe is me!
What is to be done about this? The answer is obvious. Customer reviews on Amazon must be changed so that Only Nice Things Are Said. If this policy is adopted forthwith by the excellent people at Amazon, I will lose three of the six customer reviews so far posted and leap from three and a half stars to five. Then I'll look much more authoritative and no one will ever know that the book is nothing but a blur of characters full of infelicitous film and literary references and lacking in any factual coherence.
Or maybe I should do what some other writers do and write my own customer reviews? Now there's an idea. You see, I used to believe in freedom of expression but that was before I started writing books. Now I think it's an outrage. For I say unto you: what good is democracy when a mere scribe is revealed to be nothing but an illiterate fraudster? I think, Bloggish, we both know the answer. So post your comments here - you're welcome to say anything you like so long as it is (a) nice and (b) an endorsement of my new campaign - to end Amazon's vile practice of enabling everyone to say what they like. Meanwhile look out for the next customer review of the book on Amazon - it'll go as follows:
Surf Nation is a very good book by an exceptional writer whose digressive, meandering and yet seductive style is uniquely mimetic of the surfing experience and reveals him to be a legend in possession of magical powers (and, we would wager, extraordinary appeal to beautiful women!) whose only legitimate rival is Marcel Proust but he was French and lived in a cork-lined room and no, that's not a shoe-horned literary reference, there really is something Proustian but give me a few minutes to think of what it is ... (c) Not Bloggish, Honest! (Not to be continued under any circumstances. Ed).
Sennen Cove was a bit unruly today... Photos courtesy of www.sennen-cove.com
I enjoyed this behind the scenes glimpse of the Transworld Surf Model Search, not least because it was filmed here in the far west of Cornwall just a couple of days ago. Honest.
A press release lands today telling me of the formation of the British Stand Up Paddle Association (BSUPA), at the helm of which is Olaus
Mcleod, whose journey to the Scilly Isles I wrote about a few months ago (back in the days of warmth and sunshine...). I didn't know that Stand Up Paddle surfing is officially designated 'SUP' but I guess this makes sense. All the more reason, anyway, to bring you this piece by the surfing barrister, Tim Kevan.
“Waterman is a term which is over-used and even abused.” So says Dave Kalama who, along with his friend and tow-in partner Laird Hamilton, is probably the greatest all-round waterman of the modern world. He explains his thinking: "The term waterman starts with a philosophy. It starts with ‘anything goes’. You’ve got to have your mind open to discover things….taking everything the ocean has to offer and recognising that if I take this piece of equipment all of a sudden these things are cross-referencing and advancing.”
Kalama certainly has the pedigree to make such sweeping statements. His grandfather was one of the best bodysurfers of the forties and fifties in Hawaii and took canoe-surfing to California, while his father Ilima was the U.S. surfing champion in 1962. As for the man himself, Kalama was a world champion windsurfer before becoming one of the pioneers of tow-in surfing at Jaws on his home island of Maui.
Continue reading "Stand Up Paddle Surfing with Dave Kalama" »
I've heard and seen Duncan Scott on the local media over the last couple of days. Naturally enough, word has got out about the waves recently ridden at Mullagmore Head in Donegal by him, Gabe Davies, Richie Fitzgerald and Al Meanie, and Duncan, a loquacious sort, seems to have emerged as the quartet's spokesperson (in this neck of the woods, anyway).
Amid the gasps and due reverence among interviewers, one question keeps popping up. "Some people would say you're irresponsible," says the otherwise perfectly pleasant interviewer, looking stern and concerned. Duncan deflects the fairly express criticism of his and others' decision to go surfing in giant surf with some well-rehearsed, and no doubt accurate, lines about having surfed all his life, understanding the sea, being well-trained for big-wave surfing and being experienced in such conditions.
It seems to me that there is no better illustration of just how cutting edge the Mullagmore session was than the "some people would say you're irresponsible" line. Likewise, the same question when applied to some of the landmark sessions at Aileens in the last two years. For the fact is that although surfing filters increasingly into the mainstream in the UK and Ireland - with the British Surfing Association estimating that there are now some 600,000 surfers in the UK, so I heard recently - surfing is still only filtering into the mainstream. It is simply not understood by the majority of people here, still less the media. The latter have absolutely zero conception of big-wave surfing and cannot but fall back on either gasps at the achievements of Scott & Co or a hackneyed "aren't you irresponsible?" take on what they're doing.
Elsewhere in the world, big-wave surfing is a known quantity. I wonder if local news media sidle up to Jeff Clark at Mavericks and accuse him of being irresponsible? Or whether Laird Hamilton gets similar flak at Jaws? I doubt it. Big-wave surfing is dangerous, but it's understood, and its pioneers and practitioners are accepted as pursuing their own quests for the K2s and Everests of the ocean.
Here, though, what Scott and the other big-wave chargers are doing is truly unique. There is no tradition of big-wave riding in the UK and Ireland, no infrastructure, no literary hagiographers waiting in the wings to wax rhapsodic about mystique and mythology. There are just some massive, and cold, waves that a small, brave and highly skilled group of surfers are willing - desperate, even - to take on.
Expect some more extraordinary tow-surfing sessions to go down this winter and next, here on the fringe of Europe. Expect the likes of Laird to turn up and appear in the water, to claim their place on the frontier of European big-wave surfing. But don't expect the "aren't you irresponsible" line to go away anytime soon.
Perhaps, indeed, it's right that it's there, however well understood surfing becomes. For over at Ghost Trees, a big-wave spot in Monterey County, one of the Mavericks pioneers died earlier this week. Peter Davi, 45, lost his board in big surf and was attempting to swim ashore, but never made it.
But like Scott & Co, he knew the risks. I suspect, too, that his willingness to accept them played a huge role in making him who he was.
Photographs of Mullagmore courtesy of Mickey Smith. See www.mickeysmith.co.uk
Last night I was meandering around YouTube, as one does, in search of new surfing footage. I came across the video shown here, one put together by The Edge
in support of the Eden Project's application for funding to continue
its evolution with the creation of a landmark third building. There's
more on this here, but the background is that in June 2005 the Big Lottery Fund (BIG) and ITV
announced a competition to find the winner of a £50 million National
Lottery grant. The search was on for a groundbreaking project that
would inspire communities to revitalise the areas where they live.
There were 33 entries to the competition. BIG
assessed the bids, identified a long list of 13 projects and in August
2006 awarded six projects development grants to take their plans
forward to the next stage. In October 2007 BIG decided that four projects would go through to the final. One of them is The Edge at the Eden Project.
For the uninitiated, the Eden Project is one of Cornwall's major
tourist attractions and arguably the leading success story of the
National Lottery. It's a fantastic, educative and environmentally
friendly space beloved by adults and kids alike. Moreover, it's done
wonders for the local economy.
You can visit www.theedge.org
to find out more and cast an online vote as to who should get the £50m
grant - and you can also savour the video below. While Duncan Scott and
Co are rightly taking the plaudits for their exploits in Ireland, the
footage here sums up the local surfing experience for most of us
(especially that nice looking wave that turns into a total
close-out...).
I'm still reeling not just from these shots and the surfing of Duncan Scott, Gabe Davies, Richie Fitzgerald and Al Mennie over the weekend, but by the fact that Tony Plant was in the water, swimming around with a camera, at the same time. Tony tells me that the wave faces were some 50ft. Bonkers, in anyone's book.
The pictures are by kind permission of Kelly Allen. See also www.drivendoc.com.
I'm not sure if Tony Plant was in the water swimming around with his camera at the same time that Kelly Allen took these shots, but if he was, he's mad. (Stop press: I've just heard that Tony was in the water. He is, therefore, officially insane)
Here are Duncan Scott and Al Mennie taking on what look to be the biggest waves yet ridden in Britain and Ireland. The session went down at Mullagmore Head, south of Donegal Bay, yesterday. Gabe Davies and Richie Fitzgerald were also in the water, tow-surfing the epic swell. Not surprisingly, the session was described by Scott as "unforgettable."
Photographs (C) Kelly Allen. See www.drivendoc.com
Today I ventured to the Badlands. This can be scary but my visit was all upside, for I became a member of the board of Surfers Against Sewage. I've posted on various of SAS's activities in the past, and am stoked to be a part of a group dedicated to ensuring that all beach-goers and recreational water users can enjoy a clean marine environment free from sewage effluents, toxic chemicals, nuclear waste and litter. SAS's next activity on the streets is just a week away, when members will join the Campaign Against Climate Change's Global Day of Action in London on 8 December. See www.sas.org.uk for more info.
I'll try to provide regular updates of what SAS is up to and if you have any thoughts or ideas on how to make our ocean environment a better place, please feel free to comment here or get in touch directly with Rich Hardy, campaigns director at SAS, or his colleague Andy Cummins (pictured here).
After my foray to St Agnes it was back to the far west, where, as predicted, just about everywhere was a heaving onshore mess save for Danger Bay. I duly paddled out with Harry and Mark. Danger Bay might just have been ironically named as such by Pit Pilot's editor Greg Martin, for it is to danger what Janice Dickinson is to diplomacy, but despite the fact that it's possibly the slowest wave I've ever ridden it was, as ever, good to be in the water.
The storms look set to rage for a few days, so no doubt there'll be some more dangerous sessions for us. Meanwhile, here are a couple of pictures of what the Cove looked like earlier, courtesy of www.sennen-cove.com.
 Alex Wade is a freelance writer who lives and surfs in the far west of Cornwall. Alex's blog will bring
you up-to-date news of our surf scene, what's on and where to surf, as well
as the best of contemporary surfing writing from around Britain. The aim is
to get you stoked and into the water as often as possible, because, as the
old saying goes: "Surfing is life. The rest is details."
About Surf Nation
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As for surfing, I'm off to Thurso for the O'Neill Highland Open in late April. This has been a cracking event for the past two years (and saw a few hands of poker played, in 2006), and this year I'm hoping to surf Thurso East for the first time. I might even resolve to paddle out and take a wave, come what may. I'm also resolving to get my younger son, Elliot, in the water as much as his brother Harry, and might even go so far as to say that I hereby resolve to acquire a longboard, for those small summer days. 
