Man, I gotta get another Board & get back into it..

Alva had a *****en fro too..

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Tony's a pretty good surfer, too. We surfed together one day in Baja, after we helped he and his buddy get their VW van out of deep sand. (The ol' pull the handbrake trick worked like a champ ..)

I love waking up and finding a beautiful woman surfing beautifully across my monitor.
Another good one from Magic Seaweed :

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SURF'S UP HERE FINALLY - fish going for a swim today ! WOOOHOOO

Nice video JCF.....we have a small swell and I will be getting wet a little later....happy fishing!

Bugs:

https://scontent-b-mia.xx.fbcdn.net/...48326767_n.jpg

Any idea where that is, Baz? .. it looks a lot like Big Lefts, Sprecklesville outer reef

The surf was very nice, 8 ft faces, clean , light offshore winds. Long overdue and I surfed until I couldn't get up off the board.
The fish was just amazing - should be getting the copy Larry Mabile is shaping for me this week.

The thing I keep thinking about though;

As I was paddling back out to the lineup I noticed a young girl who seemed a little bit out of her element in what she later called "mountainous" waves.
She was drifting close enough to a small pack of young males so as not to be all alone but it was obvious she did not want to get too near them (harmless though they seemed).
I positioned myself on the other side with her between and kept an eye on her.
She would paddle without a great deal of conviction at the occasional wave, way out of position, too far outside to catch anything.
She drifted in at one point and a medium size set approached - the largest wave of the set headed right for her - she was in the perfect spot, and she turned, but I could see in her eyes she was not so sure she really wanted to paddle or catch it.
I called out - you HAVE to go ! That wave has your name all over it !!!
She gave half a grin and the look in her eye changed to one of determination and - she caught it ! Made the drop and rode it till she was a speck on the beach.
I gave her a thumbs up chakra and she paddled back with a visible aura of energy and confidence - and a HUGE grin.
She went over the falls a couple times after - got caught inside as a big set came through - but I did not see that look questioning whether she should be out there return.

I have seen that happen so many times giving lessons.

Best feeling I have ever gotten from surfing.

Hi Geary,

It's the late great Kiwi surfer/shaper Allan Byrne - not sure what the spot is - I got it from this August news article about his recent and unfortunate tragic death.....R.I.P. Allan.....

Surfing world in shock as board shaper Allan Byrne killed in Bali motorbike accident

No Cookies | The Courier-Mail

I wonder if that was Tweez....?

Seriously though....GREAT story JCF....a lot of stoke there as well as the kind of karma that represents the best of what our lives are supposed to be about.

Thanks for sharing and glad you had some good surf for your fish! ;)

That's sad. I had a Byrning Spears board at one time.

Ha ha! Totally, Baz. I read the story and I was like,"that's me! That's me!" Similar story when I was out surfing my third time or so. Woman out there, long time surfer, older lady. Dark leathery skin, blonde almost white bleached from the sun, still in the teeny, and i mean TINY bikini. She was cruising pass me all day. Every once in a while she would give me a thumbs up or smile. One wave she did just what JCF did... Yelled at me to get up. Just get up! And I did! And she cruised right by me in her easy way. :)

Saw this over in the random photos file and knew it needed to be here, too. He's not surfing, but he looks like he thinks he is. :D

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1380177647.jpg

lolz.

Ha ! .. he's got more style than me

Did you guys see this story about the local Tahitian who dropped in on a tow in surfer from Hawaii?

Tracks Magazine - The Surfer's Bible

Check out both videos on the page.....

All I can say is my board was stolen the night I was leaving Tahiti, I'm sure by locals. I never surfed with any of them while I was there and there was no need to rip me (and an Australian who had his stolen as well) off. They can have the place as far as I'm concerned...

Sorry to hear about you losing your board, Baz .. unfortunately, "borrowing" stuff has been part of Tahitian culture for eons. You go to a friend's house for dinner, you like something, and he's pretty much obligated to give it to you. Not to say night time thievery is OK, but can't be judged in the same black & white terms as here in the U.S. They just look at it as you not caring enough about your stuff to guard it next to your bed.

Tow-in is another story. We all know the rules. When paddling surfers are in the water, they have the right-of-way. Some flexibility is allowed if you pick off perhaps a single wave out of every 2nd or 3rd set of waves, or the lesser waves in the sets. Most certainly if you're an obvious visitor. I don't blame the boogie boarder for his actions, and I'm sick of the pros' attitudes. My son surfed Tahiti a lot, and would never have acted like that pro.

Well Geary - my friend and I took turns every 15 minutes checking on our boards. We had both completed a week's stay and were having a bite to eat while waiting for our early morning (2:30am) flights out. The boards were atop a rental car parked right on a main street around the corner from the diner. It wasn't about sharing - it was out and out thievery.

The good news is I saved the $80.00 tariff from Delta for carrying an over sized bag on the leg from CA to FLA. Air New Zealand to their credit, didn't charge extra for their leg, BTW. Also the board that was stolen was merely a clone to the original that I still had at home. It was a very sweet 6' 6" Harold Iggy shape. So I had another clone made when I got home. I will always hang on to the original and surf on the clone...as odd as that sounds.

All that said I totally agree on what you said about the tow-ins vs. paddle surfers. We have a similar situation here at the Inlet when long boarders sit outside and hoard waves. That only happens for a short period before they get dropped in on...we have our own karma standard...

New ESPN 30 for 30 segment on Eddie Aikau. I watched part of it Monday night but need to see it again and watch the whole thing....this part here was also mentioned in the classic film "Bustin' Down the Door". :cool:


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