TW Blog :: Entries for Surfing
Beauty in things exists in the mind which contemplates themDavid Hume
Surfing in the Jungle
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Exactly a week from now I will be lieing on a bed in the town of Arari on the southern rim of the Amazon rain forest, no doubt with the magnified sound of insects keeping my mind alert as the hour draws close for my first encounter with the Amazonian Pororoca.
We are travelling as a European team of six tidal bore surfers - three from the shores of the Severn here in Gloucestershire (Steve the Wizard, The Owl and myself) and three from the French Mascaret (Colas brothers - Yep and Fabrice, and Bruno 'no bend is too far' Boue). Our guide and host for the trip is Serginho Laus one of the pororoca pioneers and regular competitor on the Pororoca championship tour, who has himself set up surfing trips on the Mearim pororoca for travelling surfers. However this trip is special, being the first international gathering of tidal bores surfers from the three (alaska excluded) major river communities. Serg has visited France, Fab and Bruno have visited the Severn, and we have visited the Mascaret. Now we will congregate on the shore of the Mearim river, heralded to be the cleanest, hollowest and glassiest of all Pororocas with current expectations for a wave ranging from 1 to 3 metres in height travelling around 25 kilometres per hour. Just got to watch out for those nasty little critters in the water.
It has been a monster of a trip to plan, and massive thanks to Yep for putting out the call. But now the tickets are booked, the blood has been immunized and the training is complete. We just wait for poroc-poroc to roar…
All photos courtesy Serginho Laus. They may not be reproduced.
And for anyone in the local area after a more sober tidal bore experience, look out for Inside Out in the west country next Monday (7th March) where Steve guides presenter Niki through her first attempt on the Severn bore. We will be hovering over the Atlantic at that time.
Posted on Mar 02, 2005 at 06:28:00. [Comments for Surfing in the Jungle- 0]
Surfing the Cribbar
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No not me - I wish! But early December saw a run of large swells hitting the south west of England as K2 repeatedly breached 30 feet and local high pressure provided offshore winds. None better than December 9th - the day the Cribbar went off. These photos on the BBC website show that British waves can occasionally compete with Hawaii, Indo and the rest.
Posted on Dec 23, 2004 at 04:15:29. [Comments for Surfing the Cribbar- 1]
UK2K Up For Grabs
Also relates to Peregrinations
Back in 2001, I joined forces with Donny at Still Stoked Longboard Skates to cut more than 50 hours of surfing, skating and travel footage aroung the British Isles into the 2 hour feature UK2K, A New Wave Rising. The film was the first pure British Longboarding film to be released in the modern era of longboard surfing, and following some rave reviews it rapidly became a cult classic.
It is hard to recommend a film that I was actively involved in making, but even now I find it as watchable as the first time the entire cut was run, backed by an impressive soundtrack - and an entertaining interlude featuring myself and fellow bore riders! If you missed it the first time round, one of the original copies of A New Wave Rising, which are now becoming very rare, is currently available to bid on at Ebay.
Posted on Nov 14, 2004 at 22:08:37. [Comments for UK2K Up For Grabs- 0]
Seven Wonders of the West
Also relates to Peregrinations
A couple of weeks ago I was pleased to hear that our local surf break had been shortlisted for the forthcoming BBC's Seven Wonders of the West. Of course, the Severn Bore is more than just a surf break, it is the spiritual soul of the local area and the most impressive of many tidal bores scattered around the British Isles. As a surfer I always feel very priveleged to have the opportunity to ride on the bore tide.
With the river almost swollen to bursting point at Gloucester,
our expectations had been low until the impending change in weather was predicted early
this week. So, with Steve's usual boat skipper unavailable I chose to substitute my
board for the helm to guide the film crew around the Severn Horseshoe Bend while Steve
rode the most powerful tide of the year, propelled by the surge created from the intense
depression off Ireland - my barometer had fallen by 30 millibars in 24 hours.
Over an inaccessible stretch of the river we captured footage of the bore ranging from three to six feet, while I managed to keep the cameraman, Joules, and presenter, Amanda, relatively dry - even when we got trapped behind the head of the tide with a looming 4 foot whelp close to breaching the stern!
I followed up the next morning with a relaxing two and half mile surf to wrap up what has been a surprisingly good year of tidal bore surfing in which I may have come close (or possible breached - no logs to confirm this) the 100 mile mark for the first time in 8 years! The current form suggests there may be further tides in November, but from experience this is the flooded month. Still, there is plenty to look forward to in 2005 as the confluence between perigee and syzygy get back on track.
The Severn Wonders of the West will be going out on regional television on Sunday November 28th.
Posted on Oct 30, 2004 at 19:50:29. [Comments for Seven Wonders of the West- 0]
My Magic Carpet
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Finally got hold of a photo of my custom Magic Carpet which was shapped by Mike at Atlantic Surfboards. At 7'1" it is going to be quite a change from my volan glassed Nine Plus 9'6" and Guts 10 footer. But as Mike describes the board himself -
…a carpet is a longboard with about 2ft taken out of the middle… Mike Peet, Atlantic Surfboards
This board is a beauty, lightweight yet with plenty of volume for paddle power. It has a rounded pin tail, well rounded nose with adequate rocker for nose riding, and, is finished with a deep red resin tint. The only dilemma I have now is catching a quality swell at the right time to give it a test run.
When I picked the board up at the end of August, North Devon was unfortunately under attack from persistant onshore winds. On surf-ari with Goop and the Wave Selector we made the most of a bad lot, and were rewarded on our last day with an easing wind at Putsborough. I still didn't feel the conditions were good enough to wax up the new stick, and settled for a few waves on my Nine Plus instead.
Congratulations to Dan who after much perserverance and arduous paddling over four days got his short board take-off wired on the last two waves. And of course Goop for taking the biggest wave of the day, a rogue 6' wall that wiped out the bay, and surfing it all the way to the bar!!
Posted on Oct 17, 2004 at 19:42:00. [Comments for My Magic Carpet- 4]
