Safetosea

A couple of weeks back I had an out of the blue email from the Chairman of Stoke Appreciation Society, the wonderful Eef, of Monsterboards.org.


Those of you who don't know Eef would do well to go to that gentle place, his blog full of the happiest skulls and crossbones, tattoo motifs and scary stare-y eyes. He is, in my humble opinion, one of the great surfers of the world, if only because he seems the most appreciative of what he has. Onshore, cold, slop... week in, week out, and when the waves get overhead he shits himself, but take a look at one of his movies or his flakily beautiful paintings and you know he's found a happy place inside.

But I digress.

Eef perceptively noticed I was perhaps a little down, and offered to 'up my stoke' by sending me one of his hand boards.

Yesterday it arrived.

My stoke was upped. Oldest son Joey was very generous with his expletives when he saw it, so much so that I can't print what he said here and he was sent to his room without his supper.

Try that with a 6'2" 94 kilogram 17 year old.

I'm a brave man.

Eef. You're a legend. Thank you.

So to other legends.

The day before yesterday, in a desperate attempt to get a wave after a waveless weekend brought on by duty and a wedding, I did an early morning run with my Australian Chamber Orchestra pals, Richie and Julian,in the hope of catching a new but fleeting swell before a big wind shift. Alas, it beat us, the waves were crapp ( so bad they needed two p's)... soooo we popped in to say hi to Maurice Cole, and allow Richard T to order a board.

When we arrived, MC was in the final scrapes on Ross Clark Jones' new tow board for Jaws.

His fifty foot and over board.

It was a leaf.

5' 11" by three fifths of fuck all.

And it was quite ... beautiful.

Shots: Richard and Julian from the ACO gas bagging with Maurice, (ie listening without getting a word in edgeways) Eef's Great White Handboard, and RCJ's Magic Carpet to Hell.