They Wanna

"Girls just wanna have fun" Sung Cyndi Lauper way back in the 80's when by all accounts women surfers were a real minority in the surf. Less so all the time though, which is great to see. 

"The booming surf school industry introduces another 250,000 newcomers (and rising) to the waves each year, more than half of them female."

Tim Baker in High Surf (2007)

North

Recently Katherine and I headed up to northern NSW and southern QLD hoping to ride some long lined up point breaks. We got well and truly skunked (mostly anyway). We did get one okay day for our longboards at The Pass, but it seemed like every man, woman and child on school holidays was there at once.

Fun on Foam

"After decades of riding variations of basically one standard board, the average Aussie surfer has now decided that anything goes."

Surfing World 294 (2009)

Blown Out

Not the wind, the light. On this March morning I took a few shots as I walked onto the beach without having twiddled the camera knobs yet... So they're a bit blown out, but I still like 'em. That's often how it looks as you squint through the morning glare, talking story under the pines.

David Platt

I met David out in the surf recently. Smooth surfer. I got out just in time to take these photos of his last wave. David has a great blog here featuring his meticulous surfboard restorations. Well worth a look.

Tube for Goog

Saturday morning on last weekend's annual charity surf comp Tubes for Googs.

One

Sometimes you only need one smoker to make the session. My favourite shot from April so far.

Easter

I spent the Easter weekend up in the Port Macquarie region. Had a few fun rights at this cruisy beach break.

Joni

Every now and again I'll be featuring a 'surfer joe' I know or meet on the beach. I've been meaning for a while to do a profile on Joni. He surfs a lot and surfs well. Whenever I see him surf I see someone who really surfs for the pure fun of it.

Joni Dytor

Surfing since: Pretty much 2006, I surfed before then but not really. I was 16 and everyone surfed in high school, now days not so much which kinda sucks.

Likes riding: Planks with 3 little fins on them, nothing fancy. I like dings and holes as well, they go faster.

Likes to surf: Long right handers like the Maldives.

One day: I'd like to surf the Andaman Islands near India and I really want to get to Papua New Guinea too.

Along the way: I've learned if you stay out long enough you get sunburnt... and that people are happier when they surf - except the angry ones who totally rip in 1' closeouts : )

Straight

Mid last week. It was a bit straight and closey but there was enough to make it worth a paddle.

Floating

When I was learning to surf as a kid (I'm still learning of course), I once proudly declared to my mum that "I did a massive floater in the surf today!". She didn't immediately share my enthusiasm as she thought I'd been polluting the ocean... 

Remembering this misunderstanding I found this cool page riptionary.com It's full of surf terminology past and present, from technique and equipment to culture and more.

Blue Day

Wade

I try and take shots of every 'surfer joe' out there, but some guys just keep turning up. This is Wade, he  surfs a lot, catches heaps of waves and rides them really well. 

Kids in the Corner

After school before daylight savings had ended.

Just Dessert

It looks like Jake got what he deserved but it's hard to know how fairly Harris ended up on the inside... 

Harris 1

Jake 0

Late Gold

Late afternoon, early Autumn.

Cool short surf flick here.

Whoops

Azza. Living, learning, swimming. You're in good company mate, here's what Derek Hynd had to say on the matter:

"A lost art in surfing is the bloody swim to the beach... getting washed in and thinking during the swims. Aside from the aerobics, the minute or so is easy time to reflect on what you did wrong."

Surfing World 296 in 2009

April

Although she had her moments, March was a bit of a let down as far as classic Autumn conditions. Some great April mornings this week though, and more to come hopefully.

Old Mates

What's a drop in between friends? Especially when it's knee high!

The Most

Making the most of marginal conditions.

Straight

Bee line for the beach.

Disappearing Act

More March magic, it's the same session as the empty wave posted last Wednesday. 

Try

Try again. Live and learn. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. All of that. I'm a slow learner, it was a full year before I was consistently standing up and riding across open waves. I reckon that not far down the track this grom will be able to make waves like this with his eyes closed.

Single Fin Yellow

Single Fin Yellow is the title of a cool longboard movie by Jason Baffa. The guy above was having heaps of fun on his own yellow single fin on a late sunday afternoon recently.

Better

Better late than never. Californian Fred Wardy described surfing as "freedom and youth rediscovered" (Surfer Magazine Vol 46 No. 8 2005). Starting out (and maybe finding his inner child) on the shorey at Terrigal. 

Under Cover

Summer cover up. They said there was no surf this day.

Team Valla

My good mate Sage Joske shapes and surfs on the Mid North Coast. Like his father Paul, he hand crafts beautifully refined surfboards. Sage was in the area late last year with his two team riders Brett and Jack. As you can see they're on the more graceful end of the 'surfer joe' spectrum. See what Sage is shaping and surfing at his Valla blog.

Beach Vibes

Creeps

Sun creeps through the blinds. Rise & surf.

Fun Park

Fun park for groms. No better way to while away an afternoon. 

Three