Springstokedness

After a long run of overcast skies and rain, we finally have some small clean days of springtime wonder - not too hot and not too cold.

Steve Logan ready for his Mex trip.

Have a wet and blissful weekend stoking the stoke.

Brine brothers

Post session walk to breakfast - a couple of fellas I have surfed with since last century, affectionately known as The Old Goats. Big shout to the shapers - Dain Thomas and Ian Chisholm.

A Place Without a Postcard *

Peter Garrett  of Midnight Oil live 

"I've seen faces in the window

I've seen faces in the street

They walk and talk of nothing

I've known many restless summers

The sand dunes I imagine

A place without a postcard"

from Brave Faces on Midnight Oil's album Place Without A Postcard 1981

Today's post is dedicated to all those faceless souls from that "place without a postcard"in Indonesia who have suffered or perished in yesterday's tsunami. Our thoughts and prayers go out to you. 
And for those who think that faith without works is dead (James 2:26), here is the link to SurfAid International, a non-profit whose mission is to "improve the health wellbeing and self-reliance of people living in isolated regions connected to us through surfing".

Wet Sparks

Wet sparks shoot out momentarily as a pulse of energy that has travelled a thousand leagues dissipates on an isolated stretch of coastline, witnessed by one happy hanger of toes.

Hot dog "Bluey"

I was walking back from a nice session shooting a few mates with the old Nikonos yesterday when a big dog came over and greeted me. It seemed as stoked as I was to be strolling along the beach on a warm, sunny day. Later, after breakfast at the local cafe and sharing a few tall tales with crew, another dog came and greeted me and I got to thinking, that I haven't posted any surf pets, so here you go. Starting with the "Bluey" an Australian Cattle Dog or Blue Heeler, a smart and loyal pet. (Nikonos pics in a few days.)

Get Ten

It's a magic day today in Brinetopia. Sun is out. Birds are singing. And some time tonight a full moon will drive some of us nuts and some of us to the brine.

Here's hoping you scale up the stoke factor over the next few days - carving, airing, skimming, sliding, getting 5 or even getting 10.

Jack and Tony

Jack and Tony have never met but have had a big impact on me. They both ride surfboards - on the other side of the planet from each other - one in the north Atlantic and the other in the south Pacific,

Jack runs a fantastic blog called Salt Stained Eyes, where he showcases wonderful, surf related photos he shoots with cheap plastic toy cameras.

Tony is an amazing logger, artist and photographer who has loaned me his 1968 manual everything Nikonos II camera.

Thanks guys for your generosity and sharing spirit. Slide on! Middle shot is Andrew Dale on his Classic Malibu 9' 6" Jai Lee noserider model.
Mental note to myself: wear a helmet next time.

Sepia Stoke

After 35 years, I usually have a clear idea of how an image will look before I click the exposure button on the camera. But sometimes I even surprise myself. I love this shot for it's balance, harmony and evocation of old skool stoke. Thank you random surfer.

Kerbside Kleanup

Every couple of years, the authorities in Brinetopia declare "Kerbside Kleanup". It's a great opportunity to recycle, scrounge or re-aquaint oneself with the flotsam and jetsom that modern living attracts.  There is magic in the air. No sooner do you throw that old pile of wood you were saving for that project onto the kerbside, then somebody drives past and swoops it up.

Sweet recycling at the grass roots level - until a declared date when workers arrive and take away the stuff that nobody wants. And so while cleaning out an old wooden cupboard, I came across an A6 diary that my bank used to provide (for free) dated 1987 - when I rented a place right on the beach and rode a casual 10 minutes to work on my 5 speed mountain bike.

The diary had daily notes of the surf conditions back in the day. For this week in October 1987 the diary indicated:
"Excellent surf my place. Super glassy. Surfed The Pocket and Maroochy Pipeline. Nikonos of Richard Hughes. Sunny. Shares sliding. Bad storms - Uncle Ron loses roof. Impeccable surf at Sunshine Beach. Tape tapes of 60's for BBQ. Big night. Seedy. Rain Thunder. Quiet day. Black day stocks crashing."

Stieglitz and Stoke

Thanks to  the epic rains of the last few weeks the sky is impossibly blue and the fields impossibly green for a place that was in drought not so long ago. Not exactly perfect light for monochromes - way too harsh - but what the heck the weather and the waves have been excellent. Today I pay homage to Alfred Stieglitz, an awesome American photographer of the last century when using big sheets of monochromatic film was the only option to choose from. 

 "Photography is not an art. Neither is painting, nor sculpture, literature or music. They are only different media for the individual to express his aesthetic feelings… You do not have to be a painter or a sculptor to be an artist. You may be a shoemaker. You may be creative as such. And, if so, you are a greater artist than the majority of the painters whose work is shown in the art galleries of today."

Alfred Stieglitz 1922

Batten Down the Hatches (Fully Wet)

 

Strong Wind Warning
Sandy Cape to Point Danger, including Hervey and Moreton Bays. N'ly winds increasing to 25/30 knots south of Double Island Point from late morning, extending north to Sandy Cape and Hervey Bay in the afternoon and evening. Seas increasing to 3 metres, but to 2.5 metres inside Hervey Bay and 1.7 metres inside Moreton Bay.

 Courtesy Australian Bureau of Meteorology

Here comes the rain again. Last time we had one of those weather systems, we managed to get a few of these. Ben Nothling enjoying a backhand arm stall barrel.

Fingers crossed for a great weekend. 

Also this weekend, the Caloundra Mal Club are hosting the annual Fun in the Sun Teams Challenge.

Wach-tober

Long after the pictures have faded, surfers will share story about the young Californian who hung 10 in the tube and did handstands on the nose of his longboard one autumn at Noosa. Thank you Mr Wach.

Un-bleaking

My late dad used to say that any day when you actually wake up and are able to get out of bed is a good day, but all of this dreary, dark, rainsoaked weather finds me longing for clear blue skies and sunshine.

I hope these "un-bleaked" pics stoke my Brinetopian bothers and sistas until sunny days and clean walls return.

Stoke is for all

Stoke is for all. Whether you are a little kid hamming it up.

Or a kid with a new board ready for its first wax.

What is Stoke?

Some ponderings on Stoke to share with those unfamiliar with sliding, gliding, carving, tearing or rolling around in the Brine:
So what does Stoke look like? Something like this.

And how long does it take to get Stoke?
Well 10 seconds of this will probably do it.

Share the stoke.

Easy.

Clap Your Hands

Everybody who is glad it's Friday, put your hands up in the air.

Jaca-moff

The days are now longer than the nights and already we have had the first thunderstorms of the season as the jacaranda trees grow their annual veil of purple. I drag a sharp object across my face to remove yesterday's bristles and enclose my ten toes away from the light and any opportunity of getting wet, yet smile as I recall that session at Moffatt's.

Ancient DNA

The ride we enjoy tomorrow is built upon the ancient surfing DNA of all the wonderful shapers and surfers of yesterday.

Bovines, BOM and Bob

Bob Dylan once told me through a set of analogue headphones that I didn't "need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows". Not sure if the learned folks at BOM (Bureau of Meteorology) would agree but all I need to do is look to Nature to tell me what the weather and surf are up to.

Red clouds in the morning = sailors warning. Cows sitting down in their paddocks = rain today or tomorrow. Ants moving their colonies to higher ground = a lot of rain in two weeks. Storm bird calling all day and night = a solid week of rain. Cows crossing the road = empty surf.

Does the Ed Surf?

You've read the Editor's comments in a thousand surf magazines. But they never show the Ed surfing. I managed a brief chat with the editor of Australian Longboarder - Bruce Channon about the old Surfing World mag cover hero, Terry Richardson - the bonza riding tubemeister of the 'Gong and Bruce's old, amazing Century 650mm manual focus telephoto lens. And yes, Bruce is still stylish on a log.
And a drop knee turn later on the same wave.

Sea of Possibility*

As the poet Patti Smith once sang, there's a "Sea of Possibility" this weekend - from windwashed waves.

 to sorting the garden or walkin the dog

"The waves were coming in like Arabian stallions

Gradually lapping into sea horses"

Patti Smith Land/Horses 1975