When we arrived at the launch site I was informed that the wave was about a 30 min boat ride away, it was at this point that it sort of dawned on us that, being winter, we actually only had about 2-3 hours light left. A frantic panic ensued to get the boat and Si’s ski launched and as the boat was ready first, Gill, Lloyd and I jumped in and we started to head out of the harbour. As we left the little inlet where we had launched we met two guys on a ski coming in. ‘You’re never heading out there in that thing?’ One of them chuckled. ‘It’s Fu*king massive out there,’ said the other. It was at this point that I noticed they didn’t have any boards with them. It turns out that they had been caught out by a set and lost two brand new tow boards off the side of the ski before they’d even ridden a wave. It was at this point the little voice inside my head, something that rarely ever gets any attention, started whispering, ‘this is a bad idea, it’s not too late to turn back, you’re driving, if you say no then they’ll have no choice.’ Obviously I ignored it and off we went.
Mar 18, 2011 | Categories: The Noughties | Tags: archive, beach, big waves, blog, boat, bodyboard, dory, Gower, GSD, history, hooted, hooting, IOW, Isle of Wight, James Ranson, jet ski, Langland, Legend, Lloyd Cole, longboard, Massive, New Zealand Slide Magazine, New Zealand Slide Surf Magazine, New Zealand Slide Surfing Magazine, people, photo, photographs, portrait, RIB, Sailing, Slide Magazine, Slide Surf Magazine, stoked, surf, Surf Trip, surfboard, Surfer, surfing, swell, The Noughties, Thurso, Tom Fisher, tow board, Trip, Veconian, Vectonian, Wales, waves, Welsh National Champion, wetsuit, wightsurfhistory, Windsurfing, Winter, y-bocs | 2 Comments »
There were little pockets of surfers scattered around the Island all experimenting with surfing in their own ways
Feb 09, 2010 | Categories: The Sixties | Tags: 1960's, 60's, beach, Belly Boarding, Ben Kelly, boat, canoe, Canoes, Captain Cook, Captain James Cook, Colin Burgess, Cook, Cornwall, Culture, Duke, Duke Kahanmoku, fibreglass, Fishermen, Geoff Gardner, Geoff ‘Ned’ Gardner, Glyn Kernick, Great Western, Hawaii, Hawaiian, Hutch, Insurance, Jimmy Dix, John Ainsworth, Kauai, keel, Keith Williams, Kevin Digweed, Lord Louis Mountbatten, Matavai Point, Mike Hutchinson, Mike ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson, Ned Gardner, Paddled, Pat Morrell, Pip Staffieri, Polynesia, Prince Edward, Roger Backhouse, Russell Long, Sid Pitman, Sue Backhouse, Susan Ellis (Backhouse), The Sixties, Towan, Waikiki, Wave riding, waves, wooden board, wooden boards, Wooden Surfboard, wooden surfboards | 1 Comment »