Safetosea

A couple of snaps from last week.

The first shot is from the rehearsals for the Coff's Harbour performance of Musica Surfica. How cool is it to see a 12 foot alaia on the stage of a classical music concert?

The second is a "fuzzy from up the back shot" taken during the performance. The orchestra is performing live to a choreographed edit of the footage we shot on King Island. The audience of 600 loved it and the reaction has been the same right up the coast. We're all slightly stoked to say the least.

Also up the back in the projection booth was Jack McCoy, who afterwards said it was the best surf film he'd ever seen. Not sure about that Jack but it's nice to hear it said. In truth it's very different surfing with some very different music. It changes the way you see this thing we love to do.

One thing that really helped was a stroke of genius from Derek. Together with Louis Thorn the ACO AV guy, they made a variation on an early edit I'd done, super slowing down the footage we'd shot. It was so brilliant I barely changed a thing on that section. Thanks guys... it made the show.

Typical bloody Derek. He'll steal anyone's thunder given half a chance.

To end this entry I'm going to quote him from something Richard Tognetti has read to audiences as an opener to every night of the tour. Derek wrote it quickly when pressed to explain why he chooses to ride finless. I think it is quite profound... but don't tell him I think so.

“To surf free friction, or fin free, primarily forces the surfer back to the core. It is an act of homage to thousands of years of wave riding. It’s a return to an unpredictable wild side in a sea of conservatism. It is a test of composure in delivering the upper hand to nature. Most of all though, it’s just a frontier feeling of being untethered and unguided that brings fun to the fore, and fun is the key.”