Stoke

A short conversation my mate Eric had with  Bob from Moe in Victoria about surfing….NICE…I am sure you can relate to the FEELING
 


G'day mate,

I used to carry around in my wallet various things to read or look at as a sort of life-raft .
One of them was a description of walking back from a surf at Foots in San Remo on a hot summers day with a  light northerly in my face, the sand and rock, the gentle hiss of small waves inside the bay, the clear  sun speckled water, the blue sky with wispy cirrus cloud way up there, the smell of salt and kelp, the freshness and the " aliveness" of it all.
When I think of it it still makes me feel  a sense of wonder and joy and awe at this world we live in and how incredibly fortunate we are to live in this astoundingly beautiful and free country and to be able to do the things we do. I've heard it described as " an attitude of gratitude" and is something I strive for.
This reminds me of another little note I kept, amongst other one liners that reminded me of the magic of being alive .
It came to me one day when in that hazy mental space that a really good surf creates, and to me it  describes the feeling of surfing a great wave
........" Flying on the face of Nature's fury".  ............... it still  makes my heart race remembering so many fantastic waves and magical days.
It's impossible to describe this to a non-surfer and have them feel as we do. There's an essence of the universe we are in tune with on days like the one you've described

Hope we both have many more of them
Bob





Was reading tracks this morning and just a small piece of useless information / question came to mind…what were you doing on your 29^th birthday??...why I ask is… this was the last day that Michael Peterson surfed…he came out of the waves at Merimbula packed his car and drove straight north suffering from schizophrenia he thought Martians were following him and that there were no other cars on the road…the police arrested him on a bridges in Brisbane and put him into Boggo road jail…he liked it there cause in jail there was NO more pressure to be MP…
You ever get a song stuck in ya head ?? well I do… and today it is a line out of pink floyds animal album….”And any fool knows a dog needs a home, a shelter from pigs on the wing”……In my mind symbolic of MP’s struggle..




Saturday morning …the sun rising over the headland …shadows lengthening …the air getting warmer…a slippery track down a grassy paddock …in the distance the spray of a wave…no one around, deserted ocean…all the waves for just me…the steep take off…the fast clean barrelling walls…the TOO deep take off into air …the bouncing along the rocky bottom…being held down…no one to see you…no one to save you…pure bliss…coming up and LAUGHING…does it get any better than this ?.

Da bolt

Paul Newman…Coneely's Reef

stoke

Deep with a Paipo


























Rob Slater sent me these pics from the other day of me filming Chayne out at Wrecky….Thanks!










Looking Back at You


















I turned 50 the other day and with been so busy with work and such, have not taken the time to actually soak this fact in….frigging hell, I made it!
Many thanks to all my Family members and Friends for the kind words and pressie’s , especially to my wife Cathy who has shared 33 years of them!
Had a extra surprise today when I caught up with the Eric ‘Da Bolt’ at Cuddie Shop…the whole staff (3) lol and the cook , came out and sang me ‘happy birthday’…..nearly brought a tear to this old mans eyes!