Next Generation has Spawned.

Last year seemed a little sparse on the grom-factor and although not minding the uncrowded conditions it was a little sad to not see any young punks in the lineup. This year however is different.
Great to see a bunch of fresh new grommet faces in the water and even greater to see they have caught the bug pushing themselves into the colder months. Guys like Jack Mason, Jimmy Wright, Finnley Meekma, Colm Dubienic, Cameron Ford (Kaikoura import) and Tasman Andrews. Im sure theres a couple more worthy of a mention also but promising talent emerging to make sure our stock of local groms keeps pushing the hairlines of the older crew. Go Groms!

(above): This morning at Snappers....

Jokes aside, see you out there!!

Silent Assassin?

This kid is slipping quietly through the radar under the shadow of John John and Gabriel Medina, Kolohe Andino etc.etc.... Check out the clip (double click for fullscreen) and it will either make you wanna go surfing or give up.

Trapping Pests on Boulder Bank Day?

Hi Guys  and Girls

I’ve been contacted by Ivan Rogers at DoC Motueka, regarding a pest trap building day and subsequent deployment and management of approximately 130 traps set along the entire length of the boulder bank. This’ll be the first time the boulder bank has been conscientiously trapped for pests. 

I live at the Glen and work at the Cawthron hatchery down the boulder bank and have already set up a few DOC 200’s in wooden boxes to help keep the rat, stoat, weasel and hedgehog numbers at bay.  I’ve been doing this around the hatchery grounds for three years and have noticed a healthy improvement in stilt and gecko numbers in the immediate vicinity. There’s a load more plant, invertebrate, reptilian and bird species that will benefit directly from intensive trapping.

What we’re keen to do is to have a trap building day at the Cawthron hatchery one weekend and involve folk living and recreating around the area and who have a keen interest in the biodiversity and health of the boulder bank reserve.

Would someone from the NBSC be happy to represent the local surfers and come along to a meeting at the hatchery at 6pm on the 5^th June for a planning session? We’ll be looking for folk who’ll be happy to help deploy the traps after they’re built, and some who’ll be able to monitor and re-bait and handful of traps in their area on a monthly basis.

Keen?  Flick me an email and I’ll tell you more.Cheers,

Ellie

(email via nelsonboardriders at hotmail dot com)

Are Nelson Surfers too Nice?

A lot of dropping in going on over the last few swells and not too many willing to say anything about it and/or a lot claiming to not even realise theyre doing it.
Dropping in, or taking off on a wave that someone is already riding or paddling into is a cardinal sin in surfing.A wave setup such as Snappers can often lead to the pack pushing eachother deeper and deeper to the point where waves are even wasted as the guy on the inside actually has no hope of making it.
A bit of courtesy and common sense does not go astray and often the "taking turns" method works quite well as it does at a crowded skatepark. People already riding the wave need to give a shout out to the guy paddling on the shoulder to let them know they are all good for the wave and likewise if you dont think you're going to make it then perhaps call someone else into the wave.

An overseas mate and a travelling bunch of Kaikoura surfers said they were astounded at the anarchy going on out at Snappers and embarrasingly enough.. they are right. Imagine turning up to Kaikoura or Westport and dropping in .... you would probably have about half an hour before you were either on your way to the hospital or there was no air left in your car tyres.

Common sense and honesty. Are you really going to make that wave???,,, Are you being a piggy?..
and maybe that naieve guy/girl doesnt actually know they are in the wrong and needs some friendly advice.

We are a nice bunch of folk here in Nelson
and through communication we can all get along at the dinner table.

Photo Time

(above): Pete Randall, with poise, flair and style,taking control of things.

(above): James Laird burying rail.

(above): They say a picture paints a thousand words.

Great Photos Thanks:   -  Cameron Ford 2013-

Photo of the Week

Fun waves this morning and throughout the day at Snappers and over the hill with some solid sets on dawn unfortunately not prevailing throughout the day. Stand out surfer this morning going out to Graeme Bird whilst you couldnt wipe the grin off  Trans Blenheim/Nelson surfer Spencer Jones' face.

(above):Solid double overhead set this morning on high tide before Nigel cursed it.
photo: Bruce Wilson

Internet Forecasting vs Old Fashioned Eyeballing

A long time between swells saw the crowd numbers spike midweek a fortnight ago at Snappers with 25-30 in the water at one stage but then come the weekend Saturday arvo saw just 3 guys surfing fun 3ft Snappers. The situation kind of perplexed me at the time but then I made the connection once again and realised that a hell of a lot us rely heavily on Internet surf forecasting nowadays.
Excuses like "Im too busy to go and check it", often arises and another great one I've heard is "what? do you reckon there will be waves tommorow swellmap only says 2 out of 10"..
Leaves a lot to the imagination but the bottom line is that if you solely rely on what "the net" says , you are going to miss a lot of surf in Nelson as those mystical swells just roll on by!!
Take this week for example, 3 days of surfable conditions when big brother said it was flat.

(above): "Dave", sent in this shot of a fabled point somwhere along the Heaphy last week.
Some of you will know but you wont find it on the net.

Moving right along this week saw the closure of "sewer-side drive" the road leading from the first carpark at Boulder Bank drive up to Snappers forcing the hardy crew to walk for 10 minutes up to Snappers. Oh dear!!! If the road was closed permanently this walk would become the norm and would probably infact create a little bit of "beach culture" which we often lack due to the convenience of there being a carpark so close and the fact that we have no beach at snappers,

Rumours rolling about of epic solo sessions around the grounds through the week and those making the walk up to Snappers being rewarded for their efforts with the lazy crew graded out.

Food for thought,