My Own Surfing Thread!

[Craig T]

Murphy's law and surfing:

Drive down…get in wetsuit, start to paddle out, starts pouring rain, onshore winds kick-up, totally blown out. Screw this…Head to the bar for a Scotch. Warm in the bar, stiff drink, waves glass off, soft onshore comes up, and it's looking good. Get back in sandy wet wetsuit and go back out? At 30, for sure. At 55, not a frikin chance. Order second drink and sit by fireplace.

[Baz]

Don't feel bad, Craig...I've never been very fond of cold water myself.

As I get older my threshold for enduring cold water goes higher and higher. Right now it stands at 65 degrees!

Did I mention I don't like wearing anything more than a short sleeved spring suit?

[Baz]

At "Domes" Puerto Rico - Christmas vacation 1973

[Bill Douglas]

Yep, nice wave but that drink looks even better.

[Baz]

At my parents house in Florida with the board I took to PR....

[Craig T]

Great vintage pics Baz. I think we may have touched on this, but I had a Gerry Lopez lightning bolt of the same vintage. Instead of the swallowtail, it was a pintail. I'd give anything to have that board on my wall.

The water here is still 5 degrees above mormal due to El Nino, but still below 70. It was actually nice to get some rain and cooler weather. We need it badly.

[Geary]

Originally Posted by Baz

At "Domes" Puerto Rico - Christmas vacation 1973

Hmm .. Little known factoid: The original name for big wave spot "Jaws" on Maui was "Domes" .. named for the dome house near the turnoff.

[Geary]

My tow-in partner riding a spot on Maui that we pioneered in '96 ..

[Baz]

WOW! That's a HUGE left!

[tevake]

Nice clean conditions Geary!
Must blow you away to see what happens these days as soon as a good big swell shows up. You had it sweet, congrats

Cheers Richard

[Geary]

I'll always remember that morning .. The inside (where we had to retrieve our boards if we wiped out) had an 8' gnarly reform over a boily reef. Lots going on in the water that day (although not nearly as scary as the first time we rode it).

[tevake]

Is that Log cabins on Oahu? Windsurfed that area a few times.

Cheers Richard

[Geary]

No, we just called this place "Big Lefts". It's a Maui outer reef break, about a half mile out. You can only tow into it, as the take-off spot isn't fully defined. I'm sure someone's given it another name by now ..

Last December mid-week at this little ski area, no one else showed up .. had to go it alone ..

[Baz]

Another great shot, Geary....looks like fun!

A very good friend of mine local pic taken in the 80's. He and I used to surf together almost daily back in the 70's - I remember a discussion about how to kick our boards out after we finished on a wave in fact...lol. His last name is Lane and when he visited Australia they called him "Lois". He surfed in the pro circuit for a few years but his claim to fame has always been surf art. I've posted some of his stuff here in the past. He's had a couple operations and some joint replacements so doesn't surf quite like this anymore but when he did - he charged.....

[Geary]

Baz, I'm curious about all the Lightning Bolt boards on the east coast .. Did Gerry have a distributor over there in the early days?


1st chair !!

[Baz]

Yo Geary - I'm not sure if he did or not. I know some of the boards with bolts weren't "official" Bolts, if you know what I mean. It was a popular design to add to your board needless to say. I also believe it added a couple extra horses to the propulsion system.

Here's a pic of my friend JL doing his thing.....

[Baz]

from SURFING Magazine on Vimeo.

[Craig T]

Nice Teahupoo Vid Baz, thanks! I loved the moody French-Afro music.

Growing up surfing in mid-70's, Pipeline was the pinnacle of extreme surfing and an untouchable break to us mainlanders. Wow times have changed. Teahupoo knocked Pipe off the map and made it just another inconsistent North Shore local's break.

One thing that amazes me about Teahupoo is how delineated the reef is from the channel. The wave location is so predictable at any size that those spectator boats can sit just a few feet from the pitch. Try that at Pipe, or even my local break on a big day, and those boats would be caught inside by set waves on a regular bases.

[Baz]

AWESOME pic of Lopez, Craig! The master! Agree with all you said above....things are different now for sure.

Another piece of art work by my friend, JL:

[Baz]