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.