Euro Fish Fry '08

Well, I must say that I am more than excited for this...

Last year's in the UK was great. I am sure this will be superb.

Keep posted here for more info:

Fish Brotherhood

Local knowledge

Boxing day 2007, secret spot, Exuma, Bahamas

Am stuck without a boat this year, so have to make all my missions by car until the cavalry arrives friday. After that, back to the usual reef passes I have been missing for years. So, checked some inshore reefs in an area no one looks. Found a fun 2-3' left working with the normal crowd.....

the first boards of my out island quiver to be dug out. 6'10" egg, and a 6'2" assymetrical single fin, more suited to those hollow reef passes.

And then a cold one watching the sunset. All begs to know, "Why did I leave again?"

dey coming bouy...

Junkanoo 2007

Exuma, Bahamas

Much like carnival in Brasil, these groups make their own costumes out of paper mache, and carry these ornate creations while dancing and playing instruments. There are groups of dancers, brass bands, and huge goat skin drums so loud you feel it in your heart.

Big sense of African roots this year.
This groups' theme was Love
It starts at 4am on Boxing day, and goes on until the sun comes up. Everyone dancing, laughing, and generally having a great time. And, these groups make these costumes with money out of their own pockets. Now, if I could only get the music online for you to hear...

When the last of the group passes, you jump in behind, shake your things, and this is called 'rushing,' but its just plain fun.

"we go rushing, we go rushing through the crowd..."

eh man, i gone....

After 16months of very little sun, and no water temps over 12C(mid 50s F)

its time for a vacation to warmer, less crowded, and more familiar climes.

Happy Holidays to everyone, see you next year!

Yes I, Mungos HIFI, Glasgow?!

Mungo HiFi

One thing about the UK,

they love their dubplates...

California - UK?

1964 Ford Falcon, in the UK. Not only that, but not even close to the beach!

Now on Ebay. I can't belive how clean it is! Never seen one this clean in CA!

Another great one from Mani

Goes psssshhhhhhhhh....ka-koww! when you shred it on the breaking combers!

The Swallowtail Society

We as surfers have such a great history, and such charismatic characters in our midst.

Thank god we are not like other sports.

Logs

Made a couple logs for the guys at Orange Bus.

just need to glass...

Scenery

Somewhere in the UK...

My New Favourite Quote

"Damn. That thing's about as "retro" as next week. "

from the carbon DVS fish thread

when is the store gonna open?

I want my copy!!!!

O.C.D.

daydreams....

levitating rock in the harbor, Gtown, Exuma...

Mysto Brasil, and no I'm not telling where....

this winter's work

Reclaimed timber drying out(from being in the rain) to turn into my 1st wooden board. As my real job is in the building industry, I have access to several commercial dumpsters. The amount of waste from a building site is criminal. These timbers are used solely for the base plates of scaffold to rest on so they don't sink in the mud. Now, new health and safety regulations declare them too narrow to use, so the builder has put 2 pallets of this wood into a dumpster. They say it will get recycled - basically turned into chipboard some kind. To me, that's wasteful at best. So, with any luck it will be transformed into a 6' +/- quad pod.

The other projects are 2 longboards for local Internet gurus OrangeBus. Picked the gear up today, and they are some seriously stoked guys.

Looking forward to these.

man i miss floripa...

which way to go...
e ai? matadeiro, 2005..

man, i miss that board...

speed and the lack thereof

wonder what all that stuff in the back is...?

tweakin' part 2

I love Aps3000/AKUShaper...

Am lucky enough to have a pallet of 7x3x7ft timber fall into my lap.

Well, its re-claimed timber off a building site, destined for a skip. I couldn't let it go to waste, so am going to attempt some chambered wooden boards. Due to the added weight, am thinking I will need to pull some outlines in, to make it easier to transition from rail to rail.

Normally, this would involve hours(and wasted paper/card) of figuring, but within an hour, the templates are tweaked, and no trees were hurt in the process.

6'2" zappy quad

heavily inspired by the pods i love, and the lazor Zap!

wide in the tail, for that fishy flat spot coverage
but with double concave for lift and drive.

just need some resin and cloth...

Fin making made simple

I 'stole' this from Hi-Shred, but in the spirit of backyard boards - and all surfboard building really from a rebellious and necessity vs invention stand point - this is classic advice:

"The fins are made with unidirectional roving-- one way strands. Saturate the roving, place it in a plywood female mold, cover it with a matching male insert, and jack up a vehicle over it to squeeze out the excess resin."

Now go make some fins!

STOKED!

Bring on the winter...

Patagonia Wetsuits

Long Winter Nights

Passing the early dark days....

Painted the bottom of my 5'6" with some poster paint,

covered in clear lacquer, with pink pinline to keep in touch

with my feminie side.

busy, but fun nights...

Nothing like making a mess...

tweakin...

Just can't leave well enough alone,

I decided to pull the outline in a bit in the tail...

Rides....

I really like this van, but don't think it would fit on the UK roads...
Bigfoots ride?
High(as in back away from the bong) aspirations...

Irmao de Sangue

Jeff Lopes doing some R&D

I'd say this guy should know if the thing works or not, hey?

No Respect

I have always thought contest surfing was, well just not my thing. I always thought that surfing is a very subjective 'sport' and difficult to judge. Well, today I found out how hard, by being asked to do judge a pro level contest here in Newcastle. The difficulty in assigning points to a certain ride, and then remembering all the waves before, so you can be fair to everyone in your

scoring, is much more difficult than it seems.

The other thing is that guys livelihoods depend on your opinion weighed heavily on my mind as well. The perspective of the judges makes it hard to tell just how difficult the turn was, and sometimes I think rides were under/over scored. Just depends...

Anyway, I take back what I have said about contests, and judges.

However, it still isn't my thing...

Alma Pura

http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=KuUccl5rTX8

sent to me by Jeff Lopes

doesn't get much more true to soul...

santa comes early

gotta love the combo of static charge

and damp climate...

Happy Days(well nights really....)

Dust! Yeah baby, and not the Columbian kind...












Kept the rails thin, but round















6'6"x21x2 5/8
Low density EPS
1/8" ply stringer











Slight single to double.

Bonzer inspired, 2+1

Just have to wait to get paid to buy the

resin and cloth....

You've got mail...

After a shitty day on the slave-ship, came home to this email from a

friend I made a board for while in Brazil:

"Alright Mate,

Hows it going? Where are you living now?

Thought I'd let you know that I am in phuket now surfing some fun waves.

The fish is still working its magic.

Laters Mark"

Always nice to hear your work is appreciated.

latent potential

From one stage to another...

Man, I'm glad to have a workshop again...

Ether

New book by Andrew Kidman of Litmus and Glass Love fame.

Can't wait to get a copy....

New Meaning of Water Hog

this pig was spotted swimming with some boaters

off one of the cays at home in Exuma...

Progress...

Sorry for the lag in posts. Am moving house, and setting up a new workshop.

More soon!

More Vans

I know this isn't a car/van blog, but I mean, like..

Shazam! Those are cool!

Who knew, Toyota?!

A Simple Plan

Winter is coming, and will need a step up for those big, cold, 5mil and hood, days.

Never been a big fan of tri fins, but am thinking of giving the 2+1 another go

but, with admittedly a more widowmaker/hull fin placement.

Hope to be in a new flat, with garage in 2 weeks, and will be quickly

covering the floor with dust...

Drifting on a cloudy sunday afternoon

Drift

Really digging this Ezine