Friday, May 28, 2010

Weekly Snow Cap , I mean Re-Cap !!


So we ended up doing six flat days but then good old surf city turned it all back on again on monday.From about lunch time monday the swell started to really pulse and by dark was in the 4-5ft range. The bigger the swell got the more favourable the wind became!!
Waves were enjoyed by most of the hardy crew including Rich Barry's marathon 5 hour session. Frosty literally snapped his paddlestick and had to resort to shortboard tactics to which Neil Tyson commented... "See, now doesnt that feel a whole lot better!" -
Peter Hay was ruthless taking whatever came his way in an animalistic clinical kind of way, the older boys had a winge about crowds because they kept pushing eachother too deep and Birdy flew back to the Glen and surfed in solace.
The groms came out after school and stirred the pot.
The work crew came out after 4 and by then it was heaving on the inside rock ledge.
Night-time....

A few frothers hit it up again tuesday but it was only a dream and the windchill factor made it a rather bad dream....

Anyhow, winter just came and king-hit us yesterday and pretty soon we will all be looking for excuses not to surf..... Snowboarding theres a good start....

Bye Bye!!!

phoam surf blog: :: VID :: Cold Water Classic 2008

phoam surf blog: :: VID :: Cold Water Classic 2008

Thursday, May 27, 2010

May Photo Comp Near End.


A reminder that may's photo comp only has a couple days to go so if youré keen to win a free t-shirt then go to the "Comps" page for finer details. REMEMBER TO READ CRITERIA!!
About 16 submitted so far so hurry up !!!

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Quotes of the week:

Some funny ones coming through the grapevine this week so I thought Id
let you guys in on a few...

: "My missus is on the corner too, she just doesnt know it yet" - Anonymous Kayak Guide

: :What? ..havin a movie night at city church?? what is this... Nelson Lord Riders??""- Karne Harmon

: Hey when I was coming in from snaps last night it was totally dark – and there was some freak rolling about in the gravel in the carpark, totally in the nude, still at least he didn’t have any mud in his crack.- Anonymous voyeur

: "Has anyone got the time?" - Cindy Mose...... reply "If you've got the place!" - anonymous

Monday, May 24, 2010

Grommets Travel Issue Warning!!!

While many of us tend to take the easy way out and head to Schnappers for a quick dip, Its time to take notice of the ever increasing and upcoming emergence of the younger Nelson generation of surfers.Travelling abroad and exploring Nelson's less conquered frontiers you can chuckle all you want but in a few years time its these guys that are gonna be doing all the laughing!!!

(above) Gavin Stones and Matt Pennycuick finding the search.

(above) Jimmy Tyson losing his Bean.

(above) Joe leeper , taking time out from the goats.

(above) Jackson Gregory , styling out...

(above) ....scared !!!!
(

Feelings of Self-worth and pats on my back.

I was told the other day from someone that the above title of this post is the reason why I dedicate my time to this website/blog.
I scoffed it off at the time but then it sent me into a brief moment of self reflection upon in which I asked myself the question..." Is this why I do - do this thing? ".

Surfing in general is very self-absorbent and I guess in someways by running this blog I do get some kind of return and notoriety from it but at the same time I get a general feeling of happiness when I see and or hear of other people getting stoked from it.
I enjoy writing stories fact and or fictional and I love roasting people thats for sure!

When I lived back in Australia , Boardriders Clubs were a great way of bringing people together and having a good time. As far as this blog/website advertising surfing in Nelson and adding to over-crowding I dont really buy into that either as I have footage of Snappers and Rabbit Island 7 years ago with 30+ people out..... I think cell phones and Internet surf forecasting sites have a far more devastating effect on "over populating" the surf and this is totally evident on the days when they get it wrong and you get to share the lineup with only a lucky few...

I guess in summary what Im trying to say is ..... everyones entitled to their own opinion but Id sure as hell rather share the surf with 30 people I know and share a laugh... than 30 strangers with poor surf etiquette.

I roll around naked in the new gravel in Snappers Carpark every night.........

Catch Ya's

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Cable Days- Marco Edwards and Rich Barry

A couple of quick clips caught from a couple of sundays ago.
(below) Marco Edwards Heading to THE DUNGEON!!

(below) Richard Barry gets a great last wave of the session.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Kaikoura Cold Water Classic- Entry Forms now available


A gentle and simple reminder that the Kaikoura Cold Water Classic is just 3 weekends away now (June 4th-6th) and entry forms are available here -http://www.sisa.co.nz Already half a dozen Nelson crew entering which is fantastic and the more the merrier. A great couple of days with great waves, entertainment and good people.
Its not about winning and losing its about having a good time and testing yourself a little.... 70 percent luck 30 percent skill.....!!!
The clock is winding down.....

Monday, May 17, 2010

Money Back and Night Surfing at The Glen??

Hello again people!! - Some early week boredom and net surfing has led me to a couple of ideas regarding surfing in Nelson. First of all though I am happy to announce that Nelson City Council has re-embursed our Boardriders club for the carpark job at Snappers thus making it "free". Not only does this leave us with money in the kitty it also gives us the ability to throw some more gravel at it when need be. After the phenomenal amount or rain received over the weekend it is great to see the carpark holding up and the pre-made rutts actually had a channeling effect with the water running off to the north end of the carpark..
The decision was made not to grade and roll through fear of thinning and creating a skid pan for boy-racers. Its a little bit lumpy I agree but at least you dont have to stand in shit mud anymore!

So a while ago at one of our first meetings an idea was thrown around that could actually come to fruition the way the club numbers are growing and this idea is .......NIGHT SURFING!!!!
Think of how many times we miss out on waves in Nelson because the stupid sun goes down or hasn't come up yet!! The idea over a year ago was to get some powerful floodlights to light up the ideal location being The Glen.......

Anyway, Im just planting the seed but I am absolutely sure its a possibility and below is a clip of night surfing at Brighton in Christchurch last weekend...
Feedback most welcome !! (double click clip to open in full window)

New Photos


Still awaiting a few more shots but some new ones up on the photo page so check it out......

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Weekly Re-Cap -Surf City Stories

Greetings Surflings!!, and isn't it about time we were well and truly rewarded four the inconsistency of the last 18months?!!. This spectacular low which has been bringing us swell on and off for a week is amazingly reversing in a clockwise motion and lining us up again for the weekend. In actual fact on saturday night it will basically be back in the position it has been in twice already!! Bizarre.
So, I guess strolling back through the week brings me to Sunday where literally everywhere was on fire, from 5ft Snappers where the morning glassy session was one to be most remembered with "real life" tubes going down. Standouts on this morning included Chris Saunders, Andrew "Skip" Ridderhoff and even Scotty Edwards deserves a mention with his no-holds barred wave warriors tube and off the top attacks.

Within a couple of hours the crowd began to get a little ridiculous. Ive been told to mention the "etiquette" of surfing this week and I guess it comes down to being rational and either calling the wave as yours if your inside or telling someone to go if your not gonna'make it... Snappers has a section on the takeoff and quite often waves are wasted from people pushing too deep. Surfboards are dangerous weapons in the water as proved in Wellington last year so just take a bit more care. There are plenty of other spots to surf around the place when Snappers is that size too... so be open minded. No point going surfing if it just leaves you frustrated and angry now is there?


Snappers cranked all day Sunday along with Cable Bay , The Glen , Delaware bay and even Ruby Bay...
Olin Pilcher and Jesse James also lucked into The Cut on the lowtide,,, out of a Rubber Ducky naturally.

Monday was on again with some leftovers up for grabs, Russ Bruce and Rachel Hills dominating the fading conditions.

Moving through the week brings me to yesterday (thursday) , where an epic session went down at the cut in the morning. Heaving tubes testing the likes of Fitzy, Keni, Scotty , Russ, Hylkema , Nige Keeley , Olin and myself....
So many Beatdowns and broken boards but a session to be remembered for a long time. Not sure if Keni has removed the stick from his butt yet after snapping it off on a mis-timed paddle out..... funny stuff boys, funny stuff.....

The afternoon saw Jeremy Pooley and "tow partner" towing into the cut.

Looking good again for the weekend so stay tuned for some more surf city action!!!

-Peace

Thursday, May 6, 2010

The life of a Nelson frother....

So it begins early week with the 7-day forecast charts showing signs of promise for an upcoming swell. Once this seed of optimism is firmly implanted in the brain it gradually takes hold like a disease and before you know it you find yourself checking forecast maps and swell charts at any time you can, hanging out for that next 12 hourly update like a junkie waiting for his next fix.
Approaching the middle of the week it looks inevitable that a swell for Nelson is most definately on the way although the amount of let downs you have endured should have you not counting your chickens before they hatch but the excitement out-weighs the past and within two days of a predicted bump up from flatville you are well and truly a blithering mess of adrenalin fuelled surf stoke.


Barely able to concentrate on anything but this swell, its a day away and you are alreading waxing and/or de-waxing your board and punishing yourself watching surfing movies over and over again. Hang on a minute.... maybe the swell has come early!,, so you rush down to the beach only to find that it is still flat and even though this totally compliments the forecast you begin to feel a little confused and woozy.
Back home again and you have turned your wetsuit in the right way and even dried out the inside of your booties. Checking your leggie string and fins and everything is set to go.

Now you sit and wait..... how will you get through this one last night???

After what seemed like an eternity of pretending to sleep amongst some vivid surf nightmares of backwards wetsuits and broken surfboards you awake and find that its only 4am and will not get light for nearly another 3 hours. None of this matters anymore because you are up and ready eating your breakfast and watching some more last minute surf media and you know that before long all your Nelson surfing desires will be fullfilled.

Its sometimes a long wait between surfs here in Nelson but when it is on....... I wouldnt want to live anywhere else!!!

- See you in the water.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Oneill Cold Water Classic - Kaikoura

An early notice of the upcoming and final event on the South Island Surfing Association calendar year.
The Oneill/Kaikoura Cold Water Classic will be held from June 4th-6th.
Great to see a strong interest from Nelson crew already in this contest and the more the merrier with divisions including longboard and womens and "over-agers" and the like !!
Always a great weekend and great entertainment both in and out of the water with the Kaikoura township providing many evening events.
Still a solid 5 weeks away so put your thinking caps on and let us know if you're keen and if numbers are high enough we may even hire a mini-bus or something radical like that!!


Entry forms to be released in a couple of weeks time.

Weekly Re-Cap

So the week that was huh? The week where we can all raise our heads in hope that Nelson, "Surf City" , is well and truly back in action and ready to meet our wave starved demands.

Tuesday saw our first decent rainfall in ages and everyone on the search mission. The strong north/northeasterly wind keeping everyone slightly confused along with tides that just didnt want to co-operate however some waves were had with Chris Saunders, Gary, Jimmy McKay and Jackson among the frothers tearing up The Glen later in the afternoon as Conal Parkes , Frosty and a couple of Blenheim boys scored Cable Bay doing its magical wind thing.

Fitzy, myself, Jason Hylkema and Greg Law did the wild goose chase and ended up missing everything!!.

Meanwhile Dunedin Rob, Olin Pilcher and another unknown took the little ducky over and scored some heaving outside cut at a solid 6ft.


Wednesday dawn saw some mega-frothers trying to beat the tide at Snappers but it was the tide that won overall and after lunch that day some nice waves in the 2-4ft range rolled through Snappers. A massive influx of grommets in the water helped along by "Q"'s Nelson College Surf Team.
Great to see fresh local faces in the water as some of the elders of the tribe have departed and gone their seperate waves! Changing of the Guard some may say.....
Friday , saw a glassy norwest windswell generated by high winds north of seperation point and out in the Stephens coastal area, Snappers was once again pulling out the fun times with the usual suspects all amongst it.
So, the water is cooling and the lows are forcing their way up into the Tasman and looking ahead the future looks bright!!!!

Just When you thought it was over someone grabs you by the cucumber 🥒

What’s really going on .....