Hickory Nines

It's definitely been one of those weeks (or two). The need to earn a living, the howling onshores and to top it off my first arse kicker of a cold in years. Not a huge amount of fun anywhere in that lot. Yet, I hate to admit it, the internet has come to my rescue with the discovery of Hickory Nines. It's an English site that basically documents stuff that's, well.... good. The people putting it together have good taste, it hits all the bases I like- photography, film, music, food, coffee and of course surfing. From a very deep well of quality stuff I've pulled a few photos by Shayne House of the Slyder Cup paipo selection. There's much more there, go check it out.

Ozzie Wright

No disrespect to the pro tour guys, but the really crazy cutting edge stuff is happening far away from judging stands and sponsor's booths. I understand if you think Ozzie's manic antics seem a bit spider monkey on PCP at times, but check out the Indo footage at around 10mins. That is some quality wave riding there my friends.

Andrew, Paul & Gerry

 

What you have there is the new fish Kidman is building for South Australia's own Paul Whibley. The template is Andrew's take on his beloved Frye, which was basically a take on the Lis. Serious pedigree happening there, and board shows it. Paul is a classic, he's got a very tidy quiver of high quality and somewhat left field boards, so he had top notch ceramicist Gerry Wedd immortalize them on a teapot. How much cooler than an instagram page is that?

Wayne Lynch

Yes, it's a movie from a clothing company but it's about Lynch who is unreservedly an inspiration and has been since before I could shave. Ignore the undoubtedly portentous and overwrought moments of narration and watch the surfing which was game changing stuff.

Attention Australians!

This 6' x 21" x 3" Mackie flextail is for sale here on Gumtree for $350 which insanely cheap- someone please buy it, or buy it and hold on to it for me as those dims are about perfect! Deal of the month without a doubt.

Epic!

via Sideburn.

Captain Goodvibes

Never have I been happier to see a package from Torquay. I finally got around to springing for the Captain Goodvibes compendium from Flying Pineapple, and it is a work of some genius. Tony Edwards' creation graced the pages of Tracks through the Seventies, and became a somewhat legendary icon for a certain breed of antipodean surfer. I discovered him in the eighties, and loved what I saw- madly psychedelic and precise art (Edwards was an architectural draftsmen unsurprisingly) with a demented and morally bankrupt narrative thread when there was a narrative thread at all. And it all featured a indestructible surfing pig. Years on it's great to see again and realize just now much more was going on than I ever saw, and the good Captain, the 'thinking man's fuckwit'- he's better than ever.  If you have any interest in the decidedly non-mainstream threads of surf culture, this book becomes an essential item.

Mackie For Sale- 6'3" Stub

Over the last few years of helping Mick Mackie sell a few boards in the Northern Hemisphere, I have accumulated a little 'show quiver'- basically boards that Mick made so people can see one in the flesh as it were. Usually I tend to pick boards I like, and on occasion wind up 'testing' them which means it's now used and i may as well keep it. Currently I'm sitting on 3 boards that have at various times come extremely close to being 'tested' and I'd like to not do that. Better to move them on and maybe get a few new ones to show? Preferably boards I don't want. Anyway, here's the first deal:

6'3" x 21.5" x 2.75" Singlefin Roundtail Stub

Serious s-deck and bladed rails on this thing, and a flexfin that Mick hand foiled. Simple outline, but the foam distribution on this thing is amazing, and it's glassed with a volan deck patch. Beautifully crafted board and it's going to be a complete screamer down the line.

It's out the door for $775 which is a great deal given the current exchange rate.

Email info @ foamandfunction.com if you have questions or interest.

Dean Dampney Pt. 2- Mackie

Dean Dampney's photos of Mick Mackie at work.

Dean Dampney Pt. 1

Dean Dampney is a photographer based in Ulladulla, NSW Australia. I came across his work as he'd taken some great shots of Mick Mackie's boards, and it never fails to impress me. He's three I poached from his site, they sort of sum the pastime up quite neatly for me- the joy, the wonder and the expectation of the joy and wonder. Onya Dean, nice work yet again.

The FreeRide Voice

This is one of my new favourite things on the internet. A group of Australians have decided to try the waters and launch an independent, online 'publication'. Yes, there's plenty of content out there, every halfwit with access to a computer has a blog (myself for instance), but I never tire of it. It's like one giant, online dawn patrol parking lot. I drink my coffee, I groan at the state of the waves, I laugh at the outrageous statements and brilliant yarns, I scratch my stubble appreciatively over someone's new board and I haven't left the house. This however, is a step beyond. Cohesive and simple, it's about the writers really. Australians absolutely live surfing, the beach and the coast are so much a part of the life back in the Lucky Country on a daily, ingrained level and The FreeRide Voice is so far a fantastic expression of that. They care about every aspect of it all, they take Professional Surfing seriously and yet manage to give it the respect (or lack thereof) that it deserves, and they apply the same exacting critiques to the blokes down the local. And they do it with fantastic literary smartarseness. It's a good read, go back through the archives and dig- Derek Hynd's there, Steve Shearer is there, intelligent commentary on women's surfing, the economic woes of the mainstream culture and the zeitgeist of Parko is there. It's good. Support them.

The FreeRide Voice

Jeff Beck

 

 What you see here is not just a big room full of very interesting surfboards, it's the future home of nice big epoxy dedicated glassing bay. Things are afoot at Ninelights, including that extremely racey little compsand Twinzer and a quite big Mini Bob. Visiting Jeff is always an interesting day out.

Alessandro Puccinelli

Absolutely stunning wave images from Mr. Puccinelli who I discovered via Rebecca Olive's excellent blog. There's a colour palette in these photos that is making me very happy. Sorry about the layout glitches here, Blogger keeps changing my attempts to centre images and make things look tidy.

This Is How Fine Surf Movies Get Made

 

Kidman and Mont Mercury have been working like dogs to bring you surf entertainment. Mercury was later served more indignity when he was left standing around LAX by an idiot. It's a hard life being a surf star. Picture by the lovely Mish.

Flexspoon

 

A Flexspoon that Hawaiian Chris had built for himself by Roberts Surfboards. Absolutely beautiful work on this thing, it's an incredible piece of hand built craft- there's a noticeable flex in it, that spine is a great idea and the fin set up is great. Chris has a serious archive of interesting boards and a really good knowledge of what works which makes him a pretty useful resource at times. I volunteered to go and collect it from Ventura which was entirely self serving. It meant not only did I get my hands on the boards, but I managed a fun surf, a quite informative chat with Robert and a stop at a favourite Mexican restaurant in Oxnard on the way home. Not a bad way to spend a day off.

Used Surfboard Deal

Couple of Rob Royal's 4 fin personal rides he's letting go, both look like they could be a lot of fun. Top is a 5'6" PU/PE (I like that shape a lot), bottom is a 5'8" epoxy. They're barely ridden, in Santa Cruz and only $225 each without fins. That's a couple of very good scores for someone. Email him at royalsurfboards@gmail.com.

unnecessary

8'6" Parmenter widowmaker (in Hawaii), complete madness to take this out in the waves it's built for, but it's a beautiful piece of craftsmanship.

Joel Fitzgerald

Joel has been off the radar a bit of late, but the son of the Sultan has not mellowed any on the surf front as proven by these photos. (Lifted from the excellent Deus Bali blog- those guys seem to be having as much fun as it possible to have at any given moment, and they photograph it well.)

Joel was a crucial part of why Litmus was just so amazing on release, charging slab reefs in Ireland, waves most of us had never even dreamed of yet alone seen at that point. There's still copies of the film available and if you don't own this classic, you should. Especially since this is the last time it'll be offered at $15, shipping included thanks to the post office basically doubling the shipping rates, apparently in an attempt to drive the last of America's small businesses into the dirt. Email info @ foamandfunction.com to order or tell us something entertaining.