When A Man Is Tired Of London, He Is Tired Of Life

I can definitely see what Samuel Johnson was getting at although it is a bit of a drive to get some surf, not that the old bloke was worrying too much about that in 1777 admittedly.

Scenic Cornwall

It really was stupidly beautiful, even in the slightly grey weather. Best of all, there seemed to be a little wave of some sort just round the corner from nearly everything. The people were fantastic too, very entertaining and hospitable. One of the best was Mat, and he has an excellent blog called An Tor Orth An Mor. Well worth checking out, he's a great photographer and does some interesting stuff.

I Spy Surf Riding

'"Like to go surf-riding?"
If an Englishman asks you this during your stay in Britain, don't take it as an invitation to Australia or one of the Pacific Islands. He is far more likely to be thinking of Bude, Newquay, Padstow or one of the other beach resorts along the North Cornish coast. For there you can enjoy all the exhilaration of skimming shorewards on the crest of an Atlantic breaker as it rolls inward, white with foam, to meet the sandy shore.
As a New Zealander, I discovered this for myself when I went down to Cornwall to see how the surf beaches of Britain compared with those of my own country and of Australia. I had read Press reports in which Australians had compared those Cornish beaches not unfavourably with their own world-famous resorts at Manly and Bondi- and, as one of them pointed out, there are no sharks in Cornwall!
So I hired a surf-board from a tanned old Cornishman with sea-blue eyes and a friendly smile, and enjoyed the familiar thrill of being swept up by the breakers onto the sands. There was a good surf running that day, and I revelled, too, in the grandeur of cliffs and rocks whicj reminded me of the West Coast beaches of my own Auckland."

From the July 1955 edition of 'Coming Events in Britain' and it says it all better than I could. Images from Sally Parkin's amazing surf-riding memorabilia collection, some of which will be making it's way to these shores soon. 

World Bellyboard Champs, 2013

Sorry about the lag in posts, I've been back in rainy old Blighty having the time of my life, largely focused around the Bellyboard champs (Or Surf-Riding as it should be more correctly called.) I slid in wool, hung out with a fantastic Cornish crew and wish I was still there. Posts will be thick and fast for a while, there's plenty of images!

Full Speed Junior

Proof positive that mats are not just for us old geezers- that's 5 yr old Jake Thomson ripping at Lennox. His Grandad is the always frothing Mark Thomson, and that's his new kid's model mat he's selling. Brilliant, and Tomo will be up in CA at the Sacred Craft/Boardroom/whateverthehellit'scallednow selling his goods, so another that's another reason to stop by. Especially for those who always like posting anonymous comments pouring scorn on Mark- stop by and talk to him directly rather than obliquely through a somewhat unimportant and unconcerned blog. I have no problem with Tomo, he's one of the most hardcore and involved surfers I've ever met, he's a damn good shaper in his own right and he's passionate about progression with his designs. Like all serious mat riders, he's absolutely evangelical about the experience and will belly slide as his preferred way of making use of a quality wave. There's definitely something in what these mat guys are so excited about.....