mesurf in a lucky country

Regular readers of this might know that I am partial to a bit of surfing. And sometimes writing about it.

I was recently invited to contribute a few pieces to mesurf, a website produced for surfers by surfers.

I have been following the mesurf project since about the launch and love their work so it is pretty flattering to have been asked.

The first piece about Australia and surfing is now up: Lucky Country

For anyone coming here from mesurf for the first time, you might like to check out:

in your place

morning yearning

tempting fate

amongst the waves

For anyone else, I suggest you check out mesurf for information on all aspects of surfing from news, features, fitness, technique, profiles, interviews, the latest surf product releases…. oh and occasionally me.

amongst the waves

It has been a big week in surfing.

Hawaii has seen one of the biggest swells in years. Right in the middle of the prestigious ‘Triple Crown‘ too. It was so big that they even ran the ‘Eddie‘ for the first time since 2004.

They must have known about my eardrum trouble as my invitation didn’t come through.

Either that or it got lost in the post…

Not me. Not this morning - Hawaii - picture via www.coastalwatch.com

Actually that must be it as I am pretty sure they are unaware of my lack of ability in anything over 6ft, over sharp reef or with an audience.

It is a shame the swell and competition didn’t come a week later really.

Because in the other big surfing news of the week, this morning in Sydney, I returned to the water.

Obviously the conditions here were remarkably similar to the North Shore of Oahu. 1-2ft weak NE swell on a high-tide over soft sand versus 40ft monster swell over razor sharp reef and volcanic rock.

So pretty much identical.

But it was a beautiful morning which had sunshine, friends, using the new board…

Oh and earplugs.

morning yearning

How do you spend the early hours of your morning?

I am partial to sleeping. I’ve spent a few working. And of course on occasion, I have still been drinking from the night before.

But out of all of them, I think I like this way the best.

Waking up with or even before the birds and getting to the ocean. The effort made to experience it tends to be rewarded.

The light, the water, the people…

The image above can’t tell the whole story and even the full gallery would struggle.

With me still being landlocked on doctor’s orders after tempting fate, I saw my friends get some fantastic waves.

It was a different perspective from the usual. But then another perspective is always welcome.

And it still looks good from every angle.

tempting fate

Fate is a fickle beast at the best of times. Lurking unseen around the corner, watching your every move and ready to pounce at the right opportunity.

You can lure it out easily enough. Take children anywhere near water without a change of clothes or perhaps take a glass of red anywhere near white carpet.

At other times you can not so much tempt it as flash it, call it something derogatory and ask it to come and have a go…

Now there is a counter-argument.

That there is no such thing as fate, no predetermined course of events, no fixed natural order to the cosmos.

Whatever is at play – chaos, fixed order, bad luck or even Alanis Morissette-esque ‘irony‘, there is some poetry in the natural order of things described below:

All waxed up and nowhere to go

Saturday: Buy a new surfboard ready for the usual summer conditions of NE windswell and variable winds.

Sunday: Get excited about new board, wax it up and look forward to using it.

Monday: Big new south swell, go for dawn surf on regular shortboard, get a few, see a big one coming, swing around, late takeoff, vertical freefall, mess up the landing, fall side of the head first with 6ft plus of water piling in on top.

Result: Burst left eardrum, whiplash and a little concussion (if the nausea was anything to go by).

Now patched up and out of the water for the best part of a month with a northern-hemisphere family Xmas coming straight after. This board is going to stay dry for a while yet.

No big deal in the grand scheme of things…

…and still, worse things happen at sea.

trip advisor

Having spent the long weekend a few hours south of Sydney, the usual thing would be an in depth trip advisor-esque review.

A run down of the place, accommodation, food and attractions.

So here it is:

South Coast NSW is good.

in your place

There are a lot of things ready to put you in your place in this world. Good job too. Everyone needs reminding, some more than others.

One of the most effective reminders of my place in the world is the ocean.

Beautiful, nurturing and giving, it welcomes every morning. It offers to take you as you are and then deliver you reborn onto the wet sand.

Always moving, always changing; the swell, the wind, the tides, the sand underneath. A constant state of flux and rhythm.

Occasionally whilst visiting you get to meet the locals. Fish dart underneath. A penguin pops up in the rip. A sea lion appears out of the fog. Dolphins show you how waves should be addressed. Even a passing humpback stops in the bay to remind you how small you really are.

Often though, all it takes is the ocean itself. It doesn’t even have to be big. Attempting to dive below, swim within, or glide on top, you are just another collection of particles in the current.

Sometimes you are granted the illusion of control but even a little wave can put you exactly where it wants.

Such a human quest to find something bigger than themselves. We will look in the strangest of places before looking at the very thing we came from.