Jon Wegener & the belly slide.

Cornwall & Devon goes to NYC. Wegener epicness. Paipo, bellyboard- whatever. They are fun. Madly fun. My initiation came via the mighty J. Isaacs of Cornwall and Sally of the Original Surfboard Company , both enthusiastic proponents of the bellyslide. What initially seemed like part of the sideshow proved to be much more. Almost any surf becomes rideable with a bellyboard, and a decent day is always enhanced by a few slides on the ply. At the end of this past winter, I swam out on a head high day with a board like the one in the top picture (at the NYC Fish Fry- stolen from Aquatic Apes) and turned a fun session into a magic day. The climbing tide meant the outer sandbar started delivering closeouts, not so fun on a 6' fish but on 4' of ply it was an absolute frolic- face peeling drops, ricochets off whitewater, cackling out loud. It was like being 9 again and having mad skills on the KFC foamy- utter oceanic joy. Jon Wegener's paipos are another strand of the same thread, absolutely lovely little craft. Jon is one of nature's noblemen too (largely due to the civilizing effects of his wife Rosa), and his efforts towards a truly green surfboard are humbling. It's definitely one of those moments when I'm proud to be a surfer.