Gravity

What goes up must come down. Not always according to plan, but probably like a close out tube ride - still feels good.

The Source

Turning back to the source.

Gromette

Could be a Layne Beachley or Steph Gilmore of the future.

Lefts

Some really fun lefts from an early Autumn morning.

Dan Santangelo

Trained my camera further down beach one morning to capture this text book roundhouse. Closer inspection revealed it to be the handiwork of my near neighbour Dan Santangelo. Dan's a local custom board builder, his shapes are under the feet of plenty surfers on the coast. Check out his sleds here. 

Grom Attack

Tidy grom hack.

Cross-Step

"Go get a big old longboard and teach yourself to cross-step. Not shuffle - but actually cross one foot over the other on the way up and down the board."

Nick Carroll lauding the longboard as all round surf improver in The Complete guide to Surfing Your Best Volume 2.

Surfing Is

"Surfing is riding a wave. That's it. Doesn't matter what on. It's just riding a wave."

Matt Hoy in Surfing World 292 (2008).

Hooting

Have you ever been hooted as you take the drop on a set wave? I have. Often I've face planted moments later. Thankfully not every time. I like to think I don't surf for anyone else's approval, but it sure feels good to get a hoot every now and then. The best is when your mate's on the shoulder hooting as you get spat out of a tube. And even visa versa. 

These days I have an aversion to large multinational surf companies, but one of them had a particularly 'true' slogan 'only a surfer knows the feeling'. Seeing another surfer get a great wave often makes us stoked because we know how it feels and we end up vicariously surfing their wave. I think that's why I enjoy watching great surf movies over and over again. Anyway enough raving. Hoot freely.

The Fan

"A fan of spray off a carving turn. Usually executed at the top of the wave face or lip. Makes a nice show for the crew."

As defined by riptionary.com, just in case you were wondering...

Rewards

"The trials reap great rewards when it all comes together."

Nathan Myers in Surfing World 291 (2008). Brett being rewarded for getting out of bed early.

An Uncrowded Beach

"Surfing is the endless search for an uncrowded beach, the perfect wave."

So said Fred Wardy in 1965 (Surfer Magazine August 2005). I'm pretty sure this is Wayne who re-tiled our bathroom recently. A speed run to himself on a beach not renowned for solitude. 

Red

Not Epic

It wasn't epic just really fun. Blue sky, warm water and plenty of waves to go around. Another recent Saturday in Autumn. 

Green & Gold

Stoked to call Australia home.

Friends

Nice to spend a quiet surf with a friend. Katherine and Cindy sharing a few slides at Terrigal.

Close Outs

Mid last week. Only three guys out. It was closing but they were having fun. That is the point after all.

Ace Air

Dippin'

Early morning head dipping.

Two

Only two out on this fun little reef last month.

Saturdays

Recent Saturday morning. Weekend warriors delight. Pinch and a punch too.

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!