Kool x Kool

electric

kool aid

acid test

Woodsman

The man who showed many of us what wonder wood and water can provide - Jacob Stuth with a grainy quiver. Stuthy runs an interesting blog called Coastal Bamboo covering

"Farming for the future~bamboo, 

vegetables, fruits, nuts,flowers, 

herbs,natives, bees, boer goats,

 dorper sheep, freshwater fish

 (silver perch, Aust.Bass, yellow belly) 

Red claw crayfish. 

Cabinet timber , reforestation, 

rehabilitating weed infested lands, 

carbon neutral lawnmowing"

Electric Alaia

The spirits of Kesey, Leary, Dora, Duke and the ancient alaia sliders arrive at First Point Noosa.

Want to make your own wooden board. Try Ryan Burch's method here.

Resolution 2011

I only have one resolution for this year and that's to diligently back up my computers each day - a lesson learned a few weeks ago when the laptop's hard drive decided to quit.

Here's a few samples of work that I didn't lose. Praise the backup and have a great weekend.

Holy Wood

Jacob Stuth holding the alaia he rode in Thomas Campbell's movie The Present. When you observe him from your own board out in the water as he happily paddles past on what looks like a submerged plank of wood and then a moment later catches a bomb, flexing the board through the crowd, getting barrelled and making it out, you realise the prowess and finesse that Jacob brings to this ancient art.

Wooing would be wooden boarders

The crew over at Wooden Surfboards are organising a bit of "show and tell" wooden board day in two weeks time. Here's the deal:
"So if you have built a wooden board of any kind , shape or style and would like to share the experience with others then bring it along. Also if you have a great looking board of any age or style to share bring it along , whether you built it or not." 

"If you would like to know more about wooden boards of any kind and the various methods of building them. Then this is the day for you to meet some very talented people to talk to. We will gather in the park across from the beach at Currumbin Alley on the Gold Coast once again." 

"Remember it is a non competitive and non commercial get together."

The Splinter Group

The only wooden board that I've tried was one with wheels rolling down the bitumen hills of Brinetopia, so I have no idea what they feel like to ride. Came across this quote in the Surfer's Path from Koa Enriquez describing the wooden glide: "We surfers crave that feeling of racing along a wave and this rockerless design really trims out and moves. It's surprising how a small wave will get you going and - hey! Stoke is where you find it" Looks like the unknown rider below would agree.

Closer to home, a tip of the briney cap to the team at Wooden Surfboards whose blog has some stunning pics and articles on the art of wooden surfboard building. Love their clever use of the phrase "splinter group".

World Wide Wood

The sun seems to have slept in this morning. Even the kookaburras across the creek at the back of the Brinecave were slow getting their laugh together before the cloudless dawn. Must have been because of the new moon and solar eclipse.

With the new lunar cycle, thought I would start a new series - World Wide Wood, and who better to start that than Jacob Stuth and alaia wooden board at First Point Noosa. (Peace sign is from bits and pieces of our garden.)

Luddite x 3

Woodcut print by Alex Gillies 2010

Luddite 1:  member of the social movement of British textile artisans in the nineteenth century who protested – often by destroying mechanized looms – against the harsh economic climate and changes produced by the Industrial Revolution including degrading working conditions in the new textile factories. The principal objection of the Luddites was to the introduction of new wide-framed automated looms that could be operated by cheap, relatively unskilled labour, resulting in the loss of jobs for many skilled textile workers.

Luddite 2: An exhibition of woodcuts and prints by skilled artisan Alex Gillies. "The medium of woodcuts hasn’t really changed in more than 500 years; it works, so why mess with it? A lot of my pieces focus around old forms of technology that I dearly love – my typewriter, old hot rods from my grandparents’ generation, bicycles – stuff that doesn’t need replacing every 12 months." Alex Gillies More info here.

Luddite 3: One who wants to take a lo-fi approach to their Brine Time by enjoying hand made boards and hand-planes created using eco friendly materials and ancient, traditional processes eg wooden handplanes, alaia. More info from Handplane Goodness and Tom Wegener Surfboards and the Wooden Surfboard splinter group!

Harry's Yellow Board

We were out surfing Johnno's on a very clean and extremely crowded arvo a few weeks back and said "G'day" to former champ PT - Peter Townend. One of the crew cheekily asked PT if he had any free surfing tips. The joking reply came back "Catch a wave and don't fall off." That afternoon in that crowd there was one local guy who was catching waves and not falling off better than just about all the rest - Harry Roach, on his yellow log, sans leggie. 

Harry: First Point Autumn 2009

Harry with family and friends after picking up a cheque for winning the Old Mals Event at this year's Noosa Festival. And his short board riding? Check out Mike de Temple's movie - Picaresque. Alaia? Yep nailed that too on the cover of one of the Aussie surf mags a few months back.

Kook to Kook

"We all start this journey as a kook. And sadly if we travel it long enough we end it as kooks, " was the realisation I had the other morning as I shuffled off to queue for a bus that may or may not turn up on time to take me to work.

We start as enthusiastic kooks with plenty of energy but not a lot of skill. We get better. Fall off less. Learn to read the mysteries of the brine. We eventually become competent surfers.

We maintain the stoke with bigger, hollower and faster waves. We do road trips and exotic dawn patrols. We have a quiver of boards for different conditions. We can hang ten or flick a gravity-defying backhand reo. We can surf all day with just a fuzzy drink and a chocolate bar to sustain us.

And then we peak. 

Our energy drops. 

We start to tear muscles. 

And one day we are the oldest kook out there.

Then as I'm standing in the peak hour smog, I recalled surfing with a bloke who was 79 and a former champion surfer.  He didn't look real pretty and probably wasn't sponsored by any surf labels. He wasn't jostling wih the dozens of crew in the packed peak and he wasn't getting a lot of waves. But he was out there. In the brine. Getting amongst it. And he was stoked.
He seemed happy watching the flash, the arrogance, the agro, the beauty and the style that was all wrapped up in that surf session as younger, fitter surfers zoomed past or sprayed him, creating their own memories of "back in the day".

But what I noticed, as we were having a yarn, was that about every 15 minutes a wide set wave would clean up the pack on the peak and close out most of the outer bay allowing the old timer to get his own inner hoot going. He'd catch these wide ones. and with minimum of slash. glide his hull along the wave in perfect trim. And then I figured he probably took a while to paddle back to his spot after having such long rides. Enough time for a rest and a watch of the action and then another wide closeout. Wow! He had the crowd and the place wired. Maybe the folks we think are kooks are just playing possum and scoring some of the best waves of the session!

Oil x Wood

Took this one more than 30 years ago when film was the only option. When oil was plentiful. When we drove big V8's with pintail single fins strapped to the roof with stretchy straps that sometimes broke and would whack you in the head. When nobody was riding wood.

What will it be like in 30 years' time?