Stevie Gee

Stevie Gee- He's English, and does art I like. Enjoy it, as I'm doing a last minute mission out of town so posts will be light to non-existent for a couple of weeks

Compsand Surfboards

Errands took me south, and that is always a good excuse to visit Jeff Beck and see what he's got cooking. Foam compsand this time, layers of dense foam core vac bagged around EPS to make an insanely light and apparently very lively feeling blank. Jeff's done a couple of wider single bump shapes and says his pretty happy with them. The bonzer is the more traditional wood skin on EPS and is for sale. It's 6'2" x 19 3/4" x 2 1/8". Jeff said it works great, he's surfed it for a while (it looks brand new though- these boards are seriously bulletproof) and now it's going to fund new experiments. $450 which is a good deal. Inquiries or interest can go to Jeff via his site here or via me at info @ foamandfunction.com.

Stoke (Tomo & Fins & Today)

Mark Thomson, one of the single most surf stoked people I know, charging a couple of nice little peelers with some new camera mount he's apparently got grafted to his fin or embedded in his foot. Brilliant stuff, and I love the trippy fogged out shot. Not only is he up for a surf any time, he's a bit of a wave magnet. On the trip north to the Santa Cruz Sacred Craft we drove unhappily past crappy waist high Rincon and grumbled at each other for the rest of the way, only to see Tomo and Dan the next morning and find out a couple of hours later they'd caught it on a better tide and building swell and had a nice session in chest to head high stuff, Mark catching a screamer in the cove. The fins belong to Chris in Hawaii, who's equally stoked. He's a serious experimenter and has owned an incredible array of sleds- some he keeps, some he moves on to facilitate the next experiment. He's also got this fin quiver to play with and actually manages to rotate through them it seems. I'd be useless with that much choice, but it's great to hear his opinion on what's good- I'm getting enthused on some new fins. Better yet, I managed a surf today after weeks of bad timing, crap waves and ugly winds. It was by no means pretty but I caught a few waves and even managed a turn or two through the bump. It's a weirdly joyous thing, an hour or so sliding around a bit awkwardly in cold water, and I'm a far more contented person. It doesn't take much, one halfway decent bottom turn or a little speed run around a mushy section and you're reminded of why you persist in this folly.

Hokkaido

Cold but empty- looks amazing. Photos are by Fujio and the lucky gent in them is Kenichi Miyashita, all via Mackie. In case you didn't see the previous post's comments, this may be worth a look:

A number of organizations (Rockstar, Global Fund for Women, Sheshday, Real Surf Trips, Win4Causes) are working together to support a new surfing movie being filmed starring world class surfers Sofia Mulanovich, Ornella Pellizzari, Simone Zea, and Paige Hareb. We are doing a charity auction ending this Sunday your blog readers may be interested in. It's an all expense paid trip to Playa Negra, Costa Rica for a week of the best surfing and involvement in the movie and meet the women.

Do let me know if you would be able to help spread the word for this on your blog and if you need any more information.

The auction is here: http://lastclck.com/surf1
It's a sweet deal and currently less than 50 cents.

Flexboard

This is currently sitting in my front room, en route to Hawaii. It's a truly amazing piece of work, total surfboard design madness. About 6'3", stringerless EPS and carbon fibre flextail. Huge thanks to Chris for being stoked enough to order one and to Mick for making it. I'm thoroughly happy to be able to sit and stare at it for another week or so, but I want one already- maybe it's time to sort out some overtime?

Spirit Of Akasha

"The more I thought about it and talked to Alby, the more I realised that the spirit of Morning of the Earth hasn’t really changed — it was about people enjoying an activity that interacts with nature, which as surfers, we still do today. One could look at all the negatives associated with the modern activity, or we go about trying to make something that reflects the positives. I still find myself kicking out of waves stoked — clear of thought, pondering the beauty and freedom our pursuit affords us."

Spirit Of Akasha is the new film project from Albie Falzon and Andrew Kidman, and looks quite spectacular, a deserving descendant of 'Morning Of The Earth'. Check the site, and we'll definitely let you know things like release dates when they are announced. It's a sad bit of synchronicity that MP should pass away while this was being finished, but it can only add to the mans amazing legacy. Photos above are courtesy of (top to bottom) Albie Falzon, Jon Frank, Andrew Kidman and Mikey Smith.