So i went and had a check at the BSC demo day today, and from what i could see, it was another huge success. There was alot of frothing grommies, and plenty of "older" guys checking out the latest and greatest boards. There was alot of pro's around too endorsing there boards and generally helping out with any inquiry's people may of had.
Will post pictures later of the event.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Sneaky Swell
So Thursday was a hoax and the charts were showing a brief pulse of SE swell on friday but , none of the charts really picked up on it and no one paid any attention to it. Was pretty bummed that there wasnt anything because the waves have been average for the last few days.
So friday morning i was down at the local early to get some shots of the sunrise and to my suprise at a 5:30am high tide (unless the local is big it doesnt really have a decent barrel at high tide) there were some really nice open pits coming through at around the 3-4foot size with a nice and light westerly wind grooming the main peak's. There was no one on it except for Butt's (local photographer) frolicking in the water with his rig taking some soul session shots.
Knowing i had another 2hours before the tide droped even futher and it would turn on, i stayed and took my shot's only to have my brand new memory card break on me after 1hour 30mins of shooting. This was quite anoying as i was not able to post any of the pic's i had taken, and there were some keepers on it aswell.
Went home and got my gear and returned to still find no one on it and the waves were still good, mayb even better than they were when i saw them. As i sutied up a local surfer came and had a chat to me and decided he'd come and get a few waves, always good to share the waves with someone early morning --> *insert jaws theme *.
My first wave was an absolute screamer, as the tide had droped faster than i had thought it would. I took off on the main peak behind the rock's to have the first section barrel really fast, i took the high line only to have the second section go dry causing a step, now while riding a barrel this isnt the best thing for you as you loose your rail and most of your speed usually. But i just flew right over the section and managed to make this really long second section barrel. There was some really good early morning light which made it even more sweet, the water was a light green colour, felt like i was riding through a bottle of mountain dew.
As the morning went on the word spread that there was actually decent waves and the crowd consistantly grew, but not to a point where it was frustrating , just a group of mate's going wave for wave.
There was only 1 other wave of the session that was really memorable and worth posting. Every wave has its own set of local chargers and one of them was out today. As i was sitting out there i hear someone whistle from the rock's (which means paddle because a set is coming) and i see this really wide set coming through (thanks the 15second period south swell) and i was the only one in position for it. It was already feathering on the outside, it was going to close. Not really wanting to pull into the closeout onto the dry section i decided to start to paddel over, only to have one of the local chargers shout "GO Booger". There is only 1 response when someone call's this, so i turned around and threw myself over the edge of this closeout to have the reef go dry while i was freefalling. I managed to land the drop, pull an extremly tight bottom turn and have this gapping wall of water engulf me. Luckly the foamy caught up with me and i managed not to hit the bottom to hard or it could of been a very different outcome.
At about 12:45 the wind swung NE which killed the swell at this particular spot and i decided i to call it a day.
So friday morning i was down at the local early to get some shots of the sunrise and to my suprise at a 5:30am high tide (unless the local is big it doesnt really have a decent barrel at high tide) there were some really nice open pits coming through at around the 3-4foot size with a nice and light westerly wind grooming the main peak's. There was no one on it except for Butt's (local photographer) frolicking in the water with his rig taking some soul session shots.
Knowing i had another 2hours before the tide droped even futher and it would turn on, i stayed and took my shot's only to have my brand new memory card break on me after 1hour 30mins of shooting. This was quite anoying as i was not able to post any of the pic's i had taken, and there were some keepers on it aswell.
Went home and got my gear and returned to still find no one on it and the waves were still good, mayb even better than they were when i saw them. As i sutied up a local surfer came and had a chat to me and decided he'd come and get a few waves, always good to share the waves with someone early morning --> *insert jaws theme *.
My first wave was an absolute screamer, as the tide had droped faster than i had thought it would. I took off on the main peak behind the rock's to have the first section barrel really fast, i took the high line only to have the second section go dry causing a step, now while riding a barrel this isnt the best thing for you as you loose your rail and most of your speed usually. But i just flew right over the section and managed to make this really long second section barrel. There was some really good early morning light which made it even more sweet, the water was a light green colour, felt like i was riding through a bottle of mountain dew.
As the morning went on the word spread that there was actually decent waves and the crowd consistantly grew, but not to a point where it was frustrating , just a group of mate's going wave for wave.
There was only 1 other wave of the session that was really memorable and worth posting. Every wave has its own set of local chargers and one of them was out today. As i was sitting out there i hear someone whistle from the rock's (which means paddle because a set is coming) and i see this really wide set coming through (thanks the 15second period south swell) and i was the only one in position for it. It was already feathering on the outside, it was going to close. Not really wanting to pull into the closeout onto the dry section i decided to start to paddel over, only to have one of the local chargers shout "GO Booger". There is only 1 response when someone call's this, so i turned around and threw myself over the edge of this closeout to have the reef go dry while i was freefalling. I managed to land the drop, pull an extremly tight bottom turn and have this gapping wall of water engulf me. Luckly the foamy caught up with me and i managed not to hit the bottom to hard or it could of been a very different outcome.
At about 12:45 the wind swung NE which killed the swell at this particular spot and i decided i to call it a day.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Yes You ---- > Grow Up
New Booger Film being made as we speak by Whitey and Jake stone called Grow Up.
The Films Website:
http://www.growup.com.au/
This is a new and fresh film and i cant wait to see the final product and i will most certainly be buying it and going to the premiere if possible.
Here is the trailer:
The Films Website:
http://www.growup.com.au/
This is a new and fresh film and i cant wait to see the final product and i will most certainly be buying it and going to the premiere if possible.
Here is the trailer:
Grow Up bodyboard preview from jake stone on Vimeo.
BSC Demo Day Plug - Post being cut off for some wierd reason.
2 LOCATIONS! SYDNEY | MANLY BEACH, SATURDAY 31ST OCTOBER 2009 GOLD COAST | DBAH BEACH, SUNDAY 8TH NOVEMBER 2009 ________________________________________________________________ COME DOWN AND TEST THE WORLD'S BEST BODYBOARDS FROM...
________________________________________________________________ PRO RIDERS | WINCHESTER, CHRIS JAMES, SINGER, EWAN DONNACHIE, HARDY, NOVY, PLAYER, KINGY, SHOWELL, STONE, BUNTING AND MORE WILL BE THERE FOR DEMONSTRATIONS AND TIPS! ________________________________________________________________ AND IT'S ALL FREE! REGISTRATION REQUIRED. 8AM TO 2PM AT BOTH LOCATIONS DOWNLOAD THE DEMO DAY FORMS BELOW CONTACT BODYBOARDERS SURF CO FOR MORE DETAILS ________________________________________________________________
Cant Wait For this to come along, ill sure be there testing out all the new boards. I am putting this up on my blog to get as much publicity for the event as possible. It would be great to see heaps of support for this company as they have supported us over the years!!! Its free as well. "Free is always the best kind of event!" |
2009_BSC_Demo_Day_Forms.pdf
Mug Shot (Click To Open)
©This is a shot of me in the barrel. (CLICK TO OPEN)
All Picture Credits go to the amazing photographer Ian Buttler "Butts"
This is a shot of me a few weeks back on a smaller but extremely fun day.
©This is a shot of me from behind the barrel while i was driving through. (CLICK TO OPEN)
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
The Saving Grace Of Text Messages
Im always the one ranting and raving about why people text around when the surf is on, but for once i was happy that it was happening as i awoke to my phone vibrating off my bedside table.
The Message read : Point good 3-4foot . That was all that was needed to get me out of bed in a flash and get my wetty and board and head for a session with some friends.
I arrived to find the crowd's enormous, but to my relief they were mostly Mal riders and shoulder huggers which both don't go well with a reef/point break.
After spending a week with good waves and no crowds and going back to Sydney to get average waves and big crowds it was overly frustrating. I managed to get a few waves before the tide was to low and caused the reef to go bone dry. This was booger hour- "where the surfers cant really ride the waves because of the reef". I stayed around for another 30minutes getting some really dry slabs before i came off on a bigger one to have my knee's cheese grated by the reef, i wasnt to phased as its happened numerous times , and besides the crowd was getting even bigger.
"Chick's Dig Scar's"
The Message read : Point good 3-4foot . That was all that was needed to get me out of bed in a flash and get my wetty and board and head for a session with some friends.
I arrived to find the crowd's enormous, but to my relief they were mostly Mal riders and shoulder huggers which both don't go well with a reef/point break.
After spending a week with good waves and no crowds and going back to Sydney to get average waves and big crowds it was overly frustrating. I managed to get a few waves before the tide was to low and caused the reef to go bone dry. This was booger hour- "where the surfers cant really ride the waves because of the reef". I stayed around for another 30minutes getting some really dry slabs before i came off on a bigger one to have my knee's cheese grated by the reef, i wasnt to phased as its happened numerous times , and besides the crowd was getting even bigger.
"Chick's Dig Scar's"
My New Steamer
Well my last 2 steamers have been officially worn out as the leg was torn off the last one on a particular day. (Note: there was a lot of broken seams already on the leg, and holes as well)
This new one from BSC is feeling just right on me and at only $130, it was a steal, really happy with this purchase.
here is a picture of it:
This new one from BSC is feeling just right on me and at only $130, it was a steal, really happy with this purchase.
here is a picture of it:
A Week Up The Coast 4th -10th October...
So I headed up the coast for a week with the family to the Port Stephens Area. I was after a week filled with no work/study , lots of waves and a chance to get some photography done. I usually go away with low expectations for surf in this area unless its really big because this beachie is renowned for sharks and really unbelievably bad banks And may i say this week was one of the best i have had in a while at this particular beach break. Swell didn't go under 2foot and the biggest it got was 6foot, and there was a few decent peaks to be had for everyone around.
Here is a little run down of my little adventure and the waves i caught:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday: Arrive up the coast just in time for the NRL grand final. Sit down with my brother and my dad for some "Man Time" and enjoy the usual football game, abusing the refferee, and commenting on how if we were on the field we would be doing such a better job than these trained proffesionals
Monday: Wake up with low expectations on the surf front to stumble up to the beach to find there is a nice and peaky 2-3foot swell hitting the primed banks. There was not a breath off wind and this saying will describe the conditions "as smooth as a babys bottom". ahahahah.
I manage to score an uncrowded peak and find myself pulling under and into these glassy curtains of water and having time stand still untill i am brought back to reality by either getting closed out of making the time warp/machine we call the "barrel".
This continued on for another 3hours untill the tide got to high and the banks had to much water on them and the waves went Fat.
I decided to call it a day
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday:
Prior to this day i knew it was going to be by far the worst day for waves, but i was determined to surf in any condition. It was sunny and there was no wind with 1-2foot swell peeling to the shore. So why not take advantage of these conditions from the usual onshore conditions we are usually faced with.
I suited up and was paddeling out to a peak and as cliche as this sounds i saw a black shadow moving near the other peak about 15metres to the left of me, only to have a guy on a surf ski shout shark. This was a wake up call for me and the other 4 surfers near the ski as they turned and paddeled in with super human strength and speed. I did not stick around to find if the shark was going to leave as it was only a small swell, but later that day i was talking to a local fisherman who said it was a really big bull shark. Yikes
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday: (The Day Before The Big Swel Was Due To Arrive)
Days before a swell event are always filled with anticipation and happy times. Today was no different as a 6foot south swell was expected with offshore winds at my beachie to fill in by the afternoon.
I woke up and did my weetbixs like a typical aussie and went round to a mates house who was staying up near me. This guy is an on and off booger who i converted a few years ago, he is not super confident and i have been edging him into bigger waves for around 4 years now. After much discussion and reasurance that it was not going to be huge till later this arvo, i managed to get him down for a boog with me and my brother. It was a super clean 2-3foot swell that was on the rise. Perfect to edge him into some bigger ones as they came through.
For the first 2hours i just swam around with my fins on helping my brother and mate on technique and helping them ride the waves alot better. The looks on there faces when they were getting some 100m rides on these little grinders was great, next best thing after catching waves is helping someone else catch them.
Then it was my turn for some waves, the next 8 hours involved me and my mate and my brother catching these wedgy peaks with a few other locals surfers. Including many breaks inbetween ofcourse. (My mate is a diabetic so he has to constantly be watched and eat otherwise he might go for a sleep with the fish's)
One highlight was when i got an inside grinder and managed to hit the side wave front on coming at me and i did one of the bigest back flips of my life. It was a super good feeling landing it aswell infront of some surfers who then commented on how good it looked.
After a super long session i decided to call it a day as my ankles were bleeding from my flippers rubbing so much.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday:
6-8foot South swell(with bigger bomb's occasionally), with 90km/hr Offshore winds and outerbanks breaking = not a day for a paddle in booger.
Today was an enourmous effort to get out to the break. I toughened up and decided to give the beachie a go as the winds were tearing into the reefs/points.
This session involved me duck diving, taking bomb sets on the head, and a sweep faster than you can say cheese. I managed to get 1 wave and that was to get back in after 45mins of paddeling. It was worth a try but without a jet ski i was not going to be getting many waves out there today.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday:
Today delivered the good's, 4-5foot south swell, light offshore winds and some nice banks from yesterday's swell. The main peak was a grinding right that was really fast and powerful, BUT, not to fast to be able to make the long barrels that were available if you waited for the right one.
I got a lot of decent waves today but none that would stand out in my memory bank of "Michaels Waves" - "The Brain"
A Picture Of Me Taken by my Dad - A Frog Legged Reverse
My Little Rant From Today
The crowd's all came out of the nooks and crannies today as there was so many people on the waves, one thing about surfers and boogers is that they all tend to be like sheep, they see a peak with a lot of people and assume that, this wave is the better one because everyone is on it. But if they only stopped and watched for 5minutes they would realize that not only is it more crowded and inconsistent that 100m up the beach there is about 4 better peaks with litterally no one on them. I was once like this but have learned my lesson numerous times and paddeled out to an empty peak.
But my sheep theory came into action and gradually people would paddel out to me and then my peak would be overcrowded, so id move again. And it would get crowded again. By the end of this cycle i had paddeled so far up the beach i couldnt really see my gear. (was ok cause all i had was a towel, sunscreen and wax.)
RANT OVER
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday:
This was the last day of my north coast adventure and i was determined to milk all the waves i could get. The swell was on the decline and the wind was around , so i decided to go to a back beach to find a clean 3-4foot swell. The weekend crowds were out again. Post Cont Bellow:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Before i continue this post id like to differentiate between north coast weekend crowds and sydney crowd's:
Sydney Weekend Crowd's : Invasion - To Many To Count
Sydney Weekday crowd's: still quite alot of people, just bareable.
Coast's Weekend Crowd's: Can count with my fingers and toes
Coast's Weekday Crowd's: Can Count With My Fingers.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cont:
I managed to get some reasonably gaping barrels at this beachy today, and as the tide got lower so did the frequency of the bowling waves. Wave after wave in crystal clear water, quite tropical , and not a house in site, the way soul surfing should be. I decided as i had been booging prone all week to hit up the DK and double knee. Im quite a kook at dk with my overly large stealth flippers on so it was qutie an achievement to pull into some barrels dk. What was more fun was kneeboarding on the bodyboard, its so easy to steer the board and do big hacks and reverse's, and a different perspective in the barrel is always a plesent change.
This went on for another few hours before i headed back to sydey.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And that was my week up the coast
Here is a little run down of my little adventure and the waves i caught:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday: Arrive up the coast just in time for the NRL grand final. Sit down with my brother and my dad for some "Man Time" and enjoy the usual football game, abusing the refferee, and commenting on how if we were on the field we would be doing such a better job than these trained proffesionals
Monday: Wake up with low expectations on the surf front to stumble up to the beach to find there is a nice and peaky 2-3foot swell hitting the primed banks. There was not a breath off wind and this saying will describe the conditions "as smooth as a babys bottom". ahahahah.
I manage to score an uncrowded peak and find myself pulling under and into these glassy curtains of water and having time stand still untill i am brought back to reality by either getting closed out of making the time warp/machine we call the "barrel".
This continued on for another 3hours untill the tide got to high and the banks had to much water on them and the waves went Fat.
I decided to call it a day
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday:
Prior to this day i knew it was going to be by far the worst day for waves, but i was determined to surf in any condition. It was sunny and there was no wind with 1-2foot swell peeling to the shore. So why not take advantage of these conditions from the usual onshore conditions we are usually faced with.
I suited up and was paddeling out to a peak and as cliche as this sounds i saw a black shadow moving near the other peak about 15metres to the left of me, only to have a guy on a surf ski shout shark. This was a wake up call for me and the other 4 surfers near the ski as they turned and paddeled in with super human strength and speed. I did not stick around to find if the shark was going to leave as it was only a small swell, but later that day i was talking to a local fisherman who said it was a really big bull shark. Yikes
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday: (The Day Before The Big Swel Was Due To Arrive)
Days before a swell event are always filled with anticipation and happy times. Today was no different as a 6foot south swell was expected with offshore winds at my beachie to fill in by the afternoon.
I woke up and did my weetbixs like a typical aussie and went round to a mates house who was staying up near me. This guy is an on and off booger who i converted a few years ago, he is not super confident and i have been edging him into bigger waves for around 4 years now. After much discussion and reasurance that it was not going to be huge till later this arvo, i managed to get him down for a boog with me and my brother. It was a super clean 2-3foot swell that was on the rise. Perfect to edge him into some bigger ones as they came through.
For the first 2hours i just swam around with my fins on helping my brother and mate on technique and helping them ride the waves alot better. The looks on there faces when they were getting some 100m rides on these little grinders was great, next best thing after catching waves is helping someone else catch them.
Then it was my turn for some waves, the next 8 hours involved me and my mate and my brother catching these wedgy peaks with a few other locals surfers. Including many breaks inbetween ofcourse. (My mate is a diabetic so he has to constantly be watched and eat otherwise he might go for a sleep with the fish's)
One highlight was when i got an inside grinder and managed to hit the side wave front on coming at me and i did one of the bigest back flips of my life. It was a super good feeling landing it aswell infront of some surfers who then commented on how good it looked.
After a super long session i decided to call it a day as my ankles were bleeding from my flippers rubbing so much.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday:
6-8foot South swell(with bigger bomb's occasionally), with 90km/hr Offshore winds and outerbanks breaking = not a day for a paddle in booger.
Today was an enourmous effort to get out to the break. I toughened up and decided to give the beachie a go as the winds were tearing into the reefs/points.
This session involved me duck diving, taking bomb sets on the head, and a sweep faster than you can say cheese. I managed to get 1 wave and that was to get back in after 45mins of paddeling. It was worth a try but without a jet ski i was not going to be getting many waves out there today.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday:
Today delivered the good's, 4-5foot south swell, light offshore winds and some nice banks from yesterday's swell. The main peak was a grinding right that was really fast and powerful, BUT, not to fast to be able to make the long barrels that were available if you waited for the right one.
I got a lot of decent waves today but none that would stand out in my memory bank of "Michaels Waves" - "The Brain"
A Picture Of Me Taken by my Dad - A Frog Legged Reverse
My Little Rant From Today
The crowd's all came out of the nooks and crannies today as there was so many people on the waves, one thing about surfers and boogers is that they all tend to be like sheep, they see a peak with a lot of people and assume that, this wave is the better one because everyone is on it. But if they only stopped and watched for 5minutes they would realize that not only is it more crowded and inconsistent that 100m up the beach there is about 4 better peaks with litterally no one on them. I was once like this but have learned my lesson numerous times and paddeled out to an empty peak.
But my sheep theory came into action and gradually people would paddel out to me and then my peak would be overcrowded, so id move again. And it would get crowded again. By the end of this cycle i had paddeled so far up the beach i couldnt really see my gear. (was ok cause all i had was a towel, sunscreen and wax.)
RANT OVER
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday:
This was the last day of my north coast adventure and i was determined to milk all the waves i could get. The swell was on the decline and the wind was around , so i decided to go to a back beach to find a clean 3-4foot swell. The weekend crowds were out again. Post Cont Bellow:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Before i continue this post id like to differentiate between north coast weekend crowds and sydney crowd's:
Sydney Weekend Crowd's : Invasion - To Many To Count
Sydney Weekday crowd's: still quite alot of people, just bareable.
Coast's Weekend Crowd's: Can count with my fingers and toes
Coast's Weekday Crowd's: Can Count With My Fingers.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cont:
I managed to get some reasonably gaping barrels at this beachy today, and as the tide got lower so did the frequency of the bowling waves. Wave after wave in crystal clear water, quite tropical , and not a house in site, the way soul surfing should be. I decided as i had been booging prone all week to hit up the DK and double knee. Im quite a kook at dk with my overly large stealth flippers on so it was qutie an achievement to pull into some barrels dk. What was more fun was kneeboarding on the bodyboard, its so easy to steer the board and do big hacks and reverse's, and a different perspective in the barrel is always a plesent change.
This went on for another few hours before i headed back to sydey.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And that was my week up the coast
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