Nelson Boardriders

Strong Nelson Showing

2012-02-05T12:51:00.001-08:00

The 30th Anniversary Go for gold surfing contest went down in awesome surf conditions at Cobden over the weekend with the Nelson Contingent competing well.
The first day saw near perfect 3ft Cobden with a few of our crew making semi-finals in divisions whilst the others missing out by the most narrowest of margins. Joe Leeper particularly unlucky needing a score of a mid 4 but time ran against him with sometimes lully sets.

(above): Marco "alofa" Edwards, smashing it.

Jackson Gregory surfed amazingly on Phil Stanton's old NSP shortboard (wtf?) In his junior heat but unluckily had a near impossible draw with current south island top 2 Cody mcCusker and Hugh Ritchie, posting 7's and 8 point rides. Liam Buttner also faced the wrath of the close judging calls missing out by o.3 pts on progressing to the semis in the juniors but the harshest decision of all fell against Jackson in the longboard semi-final missing out on making the final by 0.01pts........
Final standings for the boys below
Liam Buttner: 9th Juniors
Marco Edwards:6th Juniors,24th opens
Jackson Gregory:5th Longboards, 9th Juniors,
Mark Nichols: 17th opens,6th seniors
Joe Leeper: 17th Opens

(above): Joe Leeper laying down the law.
A massive special thanks to the sponsors who helped us out with travel costs including Hogeys Surf, Bruce Design and Build and R&R Sport,
(above): Jackson Gregory Swagger

Shit Surfers Say

2012-01-20T10:12:00.000-08:00

Saturday Snappers Footage

2012-01-16T01:17:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning at Snappers although looking rather average was captured on film by the man himself Bill Evans.
For a copy of this flick us an email and arrange or drop off a disc.
Some stills coming soon Stay Tuned........

New Year, New Direction.....

2012-01-05T11:18:00.000-08:00

Welcome to 2012.... and if you follow the Mayan calendar welcome to our last year, the last page, the grand finale. Many different authors and prophets point to the year 2012 bearing some kind of cata-chlysmic event so lets make the most of every day just incase !!!
As the title suggests a few changes this year with the club more so looking for input from others as to what is exactly up with Nelson Boardriders as a club. What do we want it for? A few of the tribal elders getting their feathers fruffled at the thought of occasional club contests all be it fun ones of course. The younger ones searching for more in the club perhaps more finger pulling from them? A sometimes general stalemate in club motivation quite often coinciding with flat surf conditions.. and just a general wanting from myself for others to get more involved.

Its pretty easy just to say "ÿeah its a stupid idea having a surf club in nelson anyway" , but at the same time..... is it? Perhaps more club action during these flat spells may keep the motivation lingering longer.....
As stated on the old website version, Nelson Boardriders was created to provide unity within our surfing commmunity, there are no alterior motives regarding popularisation or promoting of surfing in Nelson.

From a personal point of view 2011 saw the development of Blenheim Boardriders and a big congrats to those guys who have really "got their shit together", I personally felt a little embarassed at the lack of commitment to our club compared with theirs.
I mean, our club members paid money to join so surely they must want some kind of voice?? Or then again maybe expected something for nothing???
At the same time as once stated by Dunedin Rob, even if the club sits around and does nothing its good to have a body of people together so that if ever anything does become a problem in our surfing community then we do have a voice and a leg to stand on.

Anyhow, its your club too so dont be afraid to get involved.

A quick correction of results from our club comp before I go with Levi Maxwell actually finishing 3rd in the opens not 4th. Relegating Mike to 4th. An apology from myself as these results count towards the Nelson/Marlborough points series.
Included are some photos from a semi secret destination. Although the destination is not that secret, you will have a semi of a time trying to get there !!!

Peace.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-21T10:17:00.000-08:00

Seasons Greetings everyone, A big thanks to all club members who have helped out through the year, through rain, hail and shine and helped keep the "surf city" dream alive.
At the end of the day its all about having fun and thats exactly what we do.
Theres no point going through life being all angry and claiming to be the local of everywhere now is there!
Theres always another wave, another day, and thats what keeps us coming back.

Whatever your plans this festive season be it a trip down the coasts or just hanging in Nelson make sure to put a smile on your dial. We look forward to seeing friends from the past appearing back on our shores ( yes Brett that means you ) and we look forward to surfing in less to no rubber. Just to kick things off it looks like Huey is throwing some Cyclonic action straight up into our holidays and the frothing has already begun.

Look forward to the New Year and from myself personally thanks for tuning in.
Loving it or hating it a year average of 70 hits per day aint' bad.
A last thank you to John at Hogeys for his ongoing club support.

Peace Haóles

"Quotes" of the year.

2011-12-08T20:15:00.001-08:00

As we head into the festive season lets look back on some of the lighter sides of
Surf city life with these undeniable quotes of the year.

1: "Isnt it amazing how the older you get, the more attractive older women become"..- by anonymous.

2: "I just like the suggestion that I might be stoned" - anonymous

3: " Fuck Slater, Imagine me out there !!!" - Gary "Kelly" Miller

4: "Oh wow this board is a lot like my Webber" - Richie "Vass" Barry

5: " Is that what everyone is saying?? " - Russ Bruce ,

Club Comp a wet success...Full Story

2011-12-06T00:19:00.000-08:00

Despite the inclement weather a hardy crew pressed on through piss-sisting rain on Sunday and despite a few late withdrawals everyone present managed to enjoy themselves in weather only really enjoyed by Ducks and Surfers in that order.
The call was made on thursday night to run on Sunday rain hail or shine so it was suprising to see the amount of late withdrawals with people texting from the warmth of their beds asking "whats happening"... Anyhow, bitching aside the day went off without a hitch once again and the hardy crew reaped the rewards of a long day at the bank.
Jackson Gregory's mum Jeanne never let the groms down constantly arriving throughout the day with comfort tools including hot water bottles, Hot drinks and Toasties for this effort she even recieved a spot prize! A makeshift Cadet heat was held after 4 guys under 16 turned up from Blenheim and although the boys struggled in the lineup they were all stoked at their first introduction to contest surfing.

The mornings waves were an inconsistent 1-2ft but by the turn of the tide the swell started to jack around midday and the wind dropped leaving the finals to be contested in lumpy but glassy 2-4ft with one Bomb set coming through in the open final destroying all competitors and a few hundred muttonbirds left everyone a little spooked also.

Unfortuneately Olin Pilchers BBQ never got to be lit due to the weather and a makeshift presentation was held in the carpark afterwards. A massive thanks to Hogey from hogeys Surf and Miff and Alina from R&R along with all those who helped on the day.......You Know Who You Are!!!!!

(above): Blenheim Boardrider Levil Maxwell(right) and Nelson's own Geoff Noble making light of the dull condtions in the judging booth on sunday.

Summer Schnapper Classic Results

Longboard: 1st Geoff Noble (Nel)
2nd Levi Maxwell (Blen)
3rd Jackson Gregory (Nel)
4th Wesley Smith (Nel)

Masters35+ : 1st Richard Norton (Blen)
2nd Hamish Simpson (Nel)
3rd Paulo Devia (Nel)
4th Barry Kingston (Nel)

Open: 1st: Mark Nichols (Nel)
2nd: Richard Norton (Blen)
3rd: Mike Lindstrom (Blen)
4th: Levi Maxwell (Blen)

Junior U20: 1st: Mike Lindstrom (Blen)
2nd: Jackson Gregory (Nel)
3rd: Marco Edwards (Nel)
4th: Ash O Donnell (Ble

Counting Down

2011-11-11T11:34:00.001-08:00

Thats right, the onset of summer is upon us with soaring daytime temperatures and unfortunately this generally means a drop in consistency surf-wise as the low pressure systems travelling through the Tasman Sea tend to get herded further south by warmer land conditions.
However all is not lost with a good Norwest blast looking to line us up later in the week.

We are still looking at holding another club comp before the year is out and the charts are being hen pecked at everyday waiting for the planets to align with a weekend swell so keep an eye out for a call to be made within a week out, this time will most likely see a bigger event with sponsors willing to jump in at all angles including R&R Sport who have already offered up big money value prizes along with ever faithful Hogeys Surf.
Learning to surf? Want to learn to surf? Also this summer will see a couple of "fun" days held at either Tahunanui and/or Rabbbit Island with myself and Cindy Mosey, much like the Mothers Day event earlier in the year so if you wanna give it a crack or just improve yor confidence in the water then keep an eye out for that too.

Thats about it for me.
Pray for waves!!

Around the Grounds!!

2011-10-28T22:47:00.000-07:00

Hey all whats been happening? A lot of busy-ness and excitement going on round surf city at the moment with all sorts of mad stuff going on.
Weve had a couple of minor one day swells to keep our lips wet and the water is warming up super fast so we are starting to enjoy our time in the water more now.(above): Original Nelson Boardriders circa '67

Conal and Ana Parkes are soon to return to our shores after a 6 month sojourn through South America with Conal insisting that even when Puerto Econdido was 6-8ft he still craved the smell of the poo ponds, Stevo Devoe's smile and some hearty Snappers action.
Bruce Wilson snuck off to Indo for a fortnight scoring 10ft Balian and the like but hey he missed out on a couple of 3ft windswell's back here so his loss.
Jeremy Pooley is back in the water after a nasty boat accident saw him nearly become craybait, a couple of new sticks under his belt to boot most likely has him rabid with froth.
(above): Bruce dialing up some Balian..
The Cape Classic went down in Westport over the Labour Weekend also with Sam Dunfoy from Kaikoura taking it out, myself the only entrant from Nelson was a bit dissapointing especially seeing as the Blenheim crew sent a 5 strong team, but well I guess pushing your surfing is not everyones piece of cake.
Theres nothing more humbling and than getting your ass kicked!!! and you always come back stronger!!(above): A picture paints a thousand words...
(above): Just up the road from the Westport Comp zone the emptiness was sickening.
Whats that I hear you say?? What Club?? Well next weekend we look set to finally have another get-together and invites to the event location will be emailed early in the week. Thats right a club get-together next weekend...most likely on the Saturday.
Any of you who are interested in joining a "core" club committee other than myself and "The Treasurer" could you please do so via email asap.
(above): More terrible conditions for Bruce whilst in Indo.

Surfs up.....Sometimes.....

2011-10-14T01:51:00.001-07:00

(above): Jackson Gregory, now thats how you ride a Longboard.

Here comes the weekend and although no waves forecast for it the water is warming up with the air temp and the forecasts look good again.
A quick reminder that the 21st Cape Classic will be held next weekend with plenty of people heading and even "eloping" to that one. Entry forms available via this link
http://www.surfingnz.co.nz/entry_forms.htmhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
(above): Bruce Wilson enjoying his new Barron...Aboriginal Spray...

.. After the 4 day feast of waves last week we finally have some photos coming in so if you would like a copy of the 3 sessions from monday and tuesday last week... get in touch via contact page.
What else is happening,,,,?? Well ummmm the Nelson City Council has revoked its decision to build a skatepark at Stoke so lets see everyone band together to try get it built down at Tahunanui Beach in place of the old ramp.,...which no longer exists.
(above): Andy Riley wackin it...

Rumour Mill
An email from Spud Brown informs us that he is still alive and well residing in Christchurch and terrorising Sumner,,,Tim Gemmell shaped some great boards in his carpentry course so hopefully we see them in the water before he heads to France...CHristchurch import Tristan Yarrell has also bailed to head overseas to be with his wife in Brazil...Graeme Bird scoffs at shoulder pain to surf epic Snappers ...mysto Surfer Scott Edwards makes his first appearance in the water in 3months and even more mysteriously blows up spraying random punters in the face. .. Not to be outdone D.J comes out of the woodwork for his first surf in 10 years,,,,,, stranger than fiction I know but this is Nelson after all....
...oh and Frosty..... well, where is he?? Last seen pouring buckets of whitebait down his waders somewhere deep west.......
(above): D.J. -First surf in 10 years... not bad young son !!!!!
(above): Neil Tyson, forever young.
Check the photos page for some of the better shots from Bill and Tristan and keep checking it cause I have to decipher them from 5000 photos which is no easy task be assured..
(above):Blenheim Amper Hamish Simpson exposing finnage.
(above): Scott Edwards doing what he does best .......

Remember. for 5000 photos drop me a line and a disc..... thanks again.

Got Rain, Got Swell?

2011-09-29T11:10:00.000-07:00

A severe shortage of the above mentioned looks set to end as a couple of systems line themselves up ready to attack the Nelson region over the coming few days.
We should see some rain by afternoon on Saturday and keep your eye on the prize in the wave department too. Local crew have been travelling though with Bruce Wilson scoring Awatere earlier in the week and Keni "Radeke Samo" Duke hitting up Kaikoura whilst Gary Miller has bascially made Kaiks his second home.

A quick heads up for Labour Weekend with the 21st Cape Classic being held in Westport as with most 21st's on the coast Im sure this ones gonna be a cracker! The weekend falls early this year round about the 22nd to 24th which is probably about the same time the Wallabies will be taking the world cup back home on the plane with them.

Have a great weekend.

Blenheim Comp Footage

2011-09-27T15:48:00.001-07:00

Blenheim Club Comp Held at Kekarangu!!

2011-09-19T00:39:00.000-07:00

A little bit too much south in the swell forced the Blenheim Boardriders club comp (Nelson Boardriders Invitational) to be held a little further south at Kekarangu on Saturday where clean 2-4ft righthand runners were on offer. A perfect location for a fun competition and land base lounging the day was a complete success. Only 3 of us Nelson-ites managed to pull finger and head over but we were all sucessful reaching semi and finals in some divisions.
The talent pool was surprisingly high and there was some amazing surfing going down. Tristan Yarrell formerly of Christchurch and Blenheim's own Rich Norton really pushing the envelope.
(above): Marco Edwards Backhand Hack
(above): Tristan Yarrell laying it on.

As the day wore on a hideous Northerly devil wind rapidly deteriorated conditions but fortunately most of the business had already been done.
A big thankyou to Blenheim Boardriders for the invite and sponsores including Hogeys Surf with 100bucks worth of vouchers as Spot Prizes meaning you didnt have to be Kelly Slater to come away with something as well as the Dive Shop and Dirty Harry's surf shop in Picton.
Surfing is quite often an anti-social event and these loosely called "competitions" are just a great way to get everyone together and hang out at the beach is what we all love to do.
Anyone interested in upcoming events contact Nelson or Blenheim Boardriders and someone will point you in the right direction.
Thanks again,
(above): Bryan Bailey
Results:
Open:
1st Mark Nichols (Nel)
2nd Rich Norton (Blen)
3rd Tristan Yarrell (ChCh/Blen)
4th Adam Nicolle (Blen)

Juniors:
1st Mike "Ratty" Mike Lindstrom (Blen)
2nd Vaughn smith (Blen)
3rd Marco Edwards (Nel)
4th Brayden O'Donnell (Nel)
(above): Leif Christenson, on his way to making semi's in his first ever event.

Finally Some Waves!!

2011-09-12T22:27:00.000-07:00

(above): Dougie Nickolaison Piggin it hard.

After a long wait somwhere around the nine week mark, we were greeted with a solid swell late weekend and into Monday and even some leftovers today being Tuesday.
Sunday mroning had everyone scratching their heads wondering where the heck the waves were with most forecast models calling 3metres in the bay, but up until late morning it was virtually flat. As midday hit so did the swell and it picked up rapidly with Cable Bay being the pick of the spots late sunday evening with favourable winds and solid 6foot sets and a lucky crew of six scoring the goods. Surfers included Bruce Wilson, Glen Richardson, Mike lindstrom and Ash O Donnell. Sunday morning saw a lucky few scoring more Cables whilst the midday sunday sesh saw Snappers surfed by the local Snap crew.
(above):Emptiness is solitude.

The Blenheim/Nelson Boardriders club comp is on standby once again for this weekend although conditions at this stage look marginal but stay tuned for a call probably on thursday.
The Blenheim/Nelson Boardriders club comp is on standby once again for this weekend although conditions at this stage look marginal but stay tuned for a call probably on thursday.

Froth-Dogs Predictions.....

2011-09-09T19:04:00.000-07:00

Froth-Dog senses tingling, salivational and rabid frothing expected.
The drought is Broken.... Froth-Dog is free....." Arrrooooooooooooooooww"

Blenheim Comp Postponed.

2011-09-06T15:55:00.000-07:00

Due to lack of swell the Blenheim Comp has been moved to the follwing weekend waves permitting.Sept 16-17th.
Hang in there.

Brokeback Bar.

2011-09-04T15:20:00.000-07:00

Check out these shots proving that you can always find a wave in Nelson out on "Broke-back Bar".....here we see Raefe murray, Mike Frost and Wazz Mitchell having a fun SUP session but remember and keep in the back of your mind that sometimes, just sometimes.... It gets mighty lonely out on that bar......

There is No Surf in Nelson.

2011-08-29T12:10:00.000-07:00

The truth is finally out. After convincing ourselves over the past decade that there was actually rideable waves in Nelson the delusion has worn off. There actually isnt any surf in Nelson and this whole Nelson Boardriders Club and website has all been a hoax which began on an April Fools Day about 6 years ago. Many thanks must go to the photographers or "photo-shoppers" as we should more correctly name them for helping us create this false surfing community. A special thanks would go to Hogey at Hogey's surf for showing us that you really do not need to go surfing to maintain that wholesome healthy Surf Image. It truly is a great feeling parading around with boards on your roof knowing that you dont actully have to dip your toes in that oh so icy cold water.Anyhow it has been an amazing enjoyment running the dream of a utopian surf city and from now on its all paddlestick boards and kite-thingy's.
Dont say you werent warned......

Entry forms For Blenheim Comp

2011-08-25T00:24:00.000-07:00

Now available following this link..
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B8DCfcr9a-biNWQ1Mjc0NWEtYjlkNi00MDljLWI1OWQtMTZjMWQzMzJmNzdk&hl=en_US

Blenheim Boardriders Club Comp Invite.

2011-08-23T01:05:00.001-07:00

Thats right, the Blenheim Boardriders Club have organized to hold a club comp on September 10th OR 11th (sat/sun)in Blenheim, location depending but it will be in the Blenheim area and all Nelson Boardriders Club Members are invited to compete.Mike "Ratty" lindstrom is just doing the finishing touches on entry forms and they will be made available shortly. This will be a classic inter-club comp with no multi million dollar cash prizes or anything but more a chance for our two clubs to mingle and we hope to return the favour here in Nelson late September/early October with another Nelson Club Comp.
Stay tuned and many thanks to the Blenheim crew for the invite.

WARNING: Longest Nelson Flat Spell Imminent.

2011-08-18T12:09:00.000-07:00

If memory serves me correct we are on the verge of the longest run of flat days in this so called surf city in the past decade. Sure there may have been a half a foot groundy but Ive seen half foot groundys at Lake Rotoiti.
The west coast looks amazing this weekend and some left0vers out east but...oh so cold!! Either way, get outta' town cause they're aint jack happening here!!!!

ENjoy.

HoGEYS NEW STORE

2011-08-16T00:51:00.000-07:00

Hogeys New Store opens this weekend. with a sneak preview friday evening and all Nelson Boardrider members are invited to join in the fun with $1000's of bucks worth of spot prizes free drinks and the like!! See you there!!

All is Calm.

2011-08-09T00:27:00.000-07:00

In Nelson that is...... a painfully drawn out flat spell has once again left everyone wondering if the last 3 months were just a dream and infact Nelson really is a terrible place for a surfer to live. "Theres no surf in Nelson". The phrase thats like a cheese grater to the eardrum. We all know it, sometimes we disclaim it yet quite often it is true.
I have thought of a way to get through this flatness though and that is to write a list of why its good that there hasnt been any surf lately....

1: It gives us time to appreciate when we do have waves.

2: It gives us time to actually do some work so we can afford petrol,surfboards
and wetsuits to actually go surfing.

3: It brings peace in our relationships at home.

4: The water is probably below 10deg now so who wants to go in the water anyway..

5: Having been so long in between waves we can all appreciate the thrill of
learning to surf all over again.........ahem.

Im sure that the above list has most likely failed to lift your miserable surf starved spirits but as we all know in Nelson, supreme surf city...
.......Its looking good later in the week !!!

Stick it out,

NEXT DECADE

2011-07-30T19:06:00.000-07:00

A video summation of the trip to Westport in early July, combining Buller and Nelson Boardriders together.... sit back and enjoy.

Best Winter Ever?

2011-07-18T12:28:00.000-07:00

Well its probably about time to raise the above mentioned question and I will back up with a poll acrosss the page but realistically we have been riding on the crest of the most consistent autumn/winter in recent memory...(above): Paddling out to empty mid-morning Snappers, you cant beat that feeling.
. Now unless my memory is relatively short I have never in my 9 years of Nelson residence seen such consistency in surf in Tasman Bay. It all began late April and continued to pump throughout May at least 3-4days a week with La Nina sub-troppo low after low forming in the North Tasman sea, May also going down in the history books as the wettest on record in NZ. Lets face it, we barely managed 2 days in a row without rain and the ground is still ridiculously sodden. That brings me to the next point, about 2 weeks ago I thought our lucky run was at an end but then a "super-system" reared its snow saturated head and bellowed down 7-9metre swells out west with enough raw power to wrap its way into Tasman Bay and like I said, just when you thought it was over ...Tasman Bay went on a 9 day straight swell bender....

(above) more emptiness.
Its been an awesome run and for those of you who have been out of town the whole time YES , you have missed what is turning out to be the best winter ever.
For example the shots in the post were takin on the 7th day of last weeks bender and there were no more than 4 guys in the water all day because lets face it,,, we're all just a little bit sick of this surfing thing anyway!!!
Surf City, Nelson. Its a way of life and really be honest.... you wouldnt wanna be anywhere else.....(above): eternal grommet Bill evans the master at work.

Photos courtesy of Mitsu-San~~

Wipeout Sequence of the Year???

2011-07-17T12:33:00.000-07:00

Just in the process of uploading a heap of photos to the much neglected "photos"page so have a click over there and check out possibly wipeout of the year...

Scholastic Photos.

2011-07-17T12:20:00.000-07:00

(above): Joe Leeper hiding from the glare of the camera lens.
Just a selection of photos from the boys scholastic trip to Westport a couple of weeks ago. Thanks to Andy Lukey for these shots.
(above): Marco Edwards in his heat with a quick 1-2 combo!

(above): Joe Leeper flying high.

R.I.P Andy Harrington 24/6/1980 - 10/7/2011

2011-07-11T22:48:00.000-07:00

It is with great respect and sadness I would like to announce the passing of one of our own Nelson surfers and fellow club members.
Andy Harrington, a much respected surfer both skillful on the board and behind the camera lens will be sorely missed by all of us. Living the dream Andy got his pilot ticket last year and had been living and working in Indonesia, complications from a viral infection over the last week led to his sudden passing yesterday.
His funeral will be held next week and our thoughts and best wishes go out to his family and good mates at this time.
Rest in Peace mate.

Bruce and Keni's excellent Adventure.

2011-07-08T12:22:00.000-07:00

Last week Bruce Wilson and Keni-Duke decided to chase a largeclean swell "somewhere" between Greymouth and Westport, here is photographic evidence of 127mile going all the way to the beach yo!!!

STOP PRESS: Nelson Boys impress at West Coast Scholastic Trials!!

2011-07-04T01:54:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend a team of Nelson surfers attended the West Coast Scholastic surfing trials in Westport. All 3 Nelson boys college entrants made the team with Marco Edwards finishing 2nd overall, Jackson Gregory 3rd and Rory Dubenic equal 5th...
The boys are now placed to attend the National Scholastic Surfing Championships in AHipira, Northland in October.
A few other Nelson crew tagged along to Support the boys and it was evident that the Buller and Kahuna clubs certainly felt the heat, with a free-surfing situation on the saturday evening going down at the tip-head with Joe Leeper blowing up on his first 2 waves laying the gauntlet down to the Coast crew...... Full story and movie to come.
Stay tuned....

Tahunanui Last Summer

2011-06-26T13:23:00.000-07:00

Eurotub from pinchmysalt.tv on Vimeo.

Boardriders Club Comp - The Full Story!!

2011-06-20T01:03:00.000-07:00

(above): THE WINNER!! -Scott Edwards
Apologies for the delay in getting this story through as we had a few technical difficulties along the way!!!!

-Nelson's first known Surfing competition-
-Sunday July 5th 2011...

It had always been spoken about yet often figured incredibly hard to plan.
The inconsistency of surf in Nelson and not wanting to interfere with anyones much sought after water time always posed a problem but with the last couple of months incredible consistency and dissapointment of not being able to attend the kaikoura coldwater classic this year, what started as a joke, a seed from the plant "what if?"- gradually turned itself into an amazingly successful event far exceeding anyones expectations. In reality the whole thing was only put together between a few people on a friday night and by the sunday we saw up to 70 spectators and 30 entrants in the inaugral Schnappers Classic 2011 !!!! There was a $500 prize pool up for grabs and spot prizes in each division making sure everyone was in with a chance!!
(above): Vaclav(Vinnie)Nic, scores an early wave in the first open heat.
(above): Sol Hayes-Martin going all skate in the juniors finishing 4th.
Three divisions....... Juniors, Longboard and Opens with the opens being taken out by Scotty Edwards who scored a "buzzer-beater" and snatched victory from Mark Nichols with third being so close a countback conceeded the 3rd position to Marco Edwards (Scottys father ;-) .....with Keni Duke-Hetet just missing out finishing 4th,
Marco also took out the Junior Division which was a massive 8 man heat/final with ROry Dubenic coming in second and Ash O;donnel from Blenheim close behind in 3rd.
Longboards were dominated by Kitescool owner/operator Warren Mitchell on a borrowed "tunnel fin" .....

(above): Juniors winner Marco Edwards high speed shralp
Olin Pilcher BYOB ( bring your own bbq).... cooked up fresh Snapper fillets at Snapper along with Oyster fritters and a few crew enjoyed a relaxing bevvie or two.
VAclav Nic endured wipeout of the day made famous later in the week scoring the backpage of the Nelson Mail and the terrestrial wipeout of the day went to Carlton Cj Barton who's exploding plastic chair routine was much more than hilarious.
(above): Olin "Big O" Pilcher with his own version of fried Snapper.
The whole contest scene will never takeover Nelson no matter how hard you inhale but it was absolutely amazing to see how much everyone enjoyed the day and helped out with everything.
Id like to especially thank Aaron Lyttle and Sophie, Barry Kingston , Briggsy and Johnny Hoges for their support ...
its a boardriders club... Its for fun,
Thats what we did.
(above) Blenheimist Hamish Simpson brings it round.

Glen Skatepark Officially Opened.

2011-06-14T11:12:00.000-07:00

Well when the waves dont co-operate you can always go smack up some concrete and now thanks to two young guys from The Glen you can now do this ... at The Glen.
The boys formed a petition and recieved over 5ooo signatures and although the Park has been complete for a couple of months now, sunday saw the official ribbon cutting..
If your in the area go roll it !!!
Awesome effort Colm and Finn!!!! (apologise for the name goof up boys)..

Club Comp Amazing Success.

2011-06-05T17:49:00.000-07:00

Nelson's first ever surfing competition, albeit a friendly one went absolutely off on sunday exceeding anyones expectations as it seemed to manifest itself into one of the most fun days
anyone has ever had sitting and surfing on the boulder bank!!.
Quick results below with full story and results to come.

Longboard: 1st Place - Warren Mitchell

Juniors: 1st - Marco Edwards
2nd-Rory Dubenic
3rd- Ash O'Donnel

Open: 1st - SCOTTY EDWARDS!
2nd-Mark nichols
3rd- Marco Edwards
4th- Keni Duke-Hetet
5th- Hamish Simpson

Resting Period!!

2011-05-19T16:33:00.001-07:00

(above):Russ Bruce as always...devastating.

As the title suggests we have almost had a little too much surf in the last few weeks if there ever is such a thing with most of us feeling a little sore, stiff and tired from surfing our absolute hearts out as we know in Nelson, you definately have to make hay while the sun shines...
Various sessions at Snappers, too many to be counted have been documentated by our beloved photographer Bill Evans with a disc produced detailing these days between the 3rd and 12th of May... if you would like a copy of this disk because if you surfed these days you are most likly captured then please contact nelsonboardriders at hotmail dot com to arrange a copy.

(above): Tak'e"San" Maeda and Jimmy Mack's Snap attack...

Keni Duke's big 40th bash was a great success with great food and great stories with Scotty Edwards keeping everyone captivated with his magic tricks. Olin's kai-moana had everyone shucking and the dancefloor was later lit up by Linda, Sinead and Kenis revival of Boney-M's classics.
(above): James"Laff"Laird's speed float.

Rest up folks, and get some work done because as we know in surf city.. the next swell is always just around the corner.......

Kaikoura Coldwater Classic.

2011-05-17T12:51:00.000-07:00

Hi guys and yep its that time of the year again with the Annual Kaikoura COldwater Classic surfing competition set to roll on June 3rd-5th (Queens Bday weekend).
An early heads up and an encouragement for all Nelson crew keen to compete and/or head down to spectate. A common assumption is that you have to be a pro surfer to compete which is not the case at all with guys and girls of all different abilities getting in there and giving it a go. Its great self-discipline for your own surfing and you always come out of it with an enlightened mindset plus its great to see the level of surfing out there in the big south.
Entry forms will be made available soon through the SISA website and for anyone whos half keen and would like more info whether it be for competing or spectating feel free to contact.

Mongo's

2011-05-13T11:17:00.000-07:00

Through the Roof !!!

2011-05-09T18:39:00.000-07:00

A quick 1,2 sequence of Brandon Kingi going through the roof at solid Snappers....
Photos: Bill Evans

Whats really goin' on.

2011-05-09T16:23:00.000-07:00

(above):Andy Riley, Swagger in Motion.
SO, photos, photos and more photos. Its raining visual entertainment!!!
Sunday , sunday saw the mothers day/ girls surf day go off at Tahunanui Beach with a solid 3ft swell pulsing in whilst elsewhere, well.... where do I start??
(above): Scotty Edwards, loving life.

(above): Whats really goin on.

Scotty Edwards, Dean Briggs, Andy Riley and Uncle Chop-Chop all headed over the way and scored at a location that is often frowned upon as not really a wave but nontheless the boys managed to get a couple in. Whilst the hardy crew tackled Snappers at a chunky 6 foot.
(above): Scotty sratchin that record.

The next morning saw a beautiful leftover swell in th 3ft range forcing many to be late for work and school.
Heaps of photos to come so stay tuned.
(above) TrB's Briggsy forgetting all about Kahuna's
(above) Happy happy Joy Joy.

*All photos courtesy of Raefe Murray... Legend Raefe. Legend.....

Mothers Day/ Girls Surf Day!!!!!

2011-05-06T13:30:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!! Tommorow is Mothers Day and Cindy Mosey has organised a Mothers and Girls surf day down at Tahuna Beach meeting at the Statue at 10:30am !!!
This is a fun day designed for the mums and girls who dont get into the water much and/or would like to try and give it a go and everyone is invited.
Any husbands/partners with spare boards are encouraged to loan and we look forward to seeing everyone there.
For further info please phone: Cindy 9295501 or Mark 5465062

Go Girl Power !!!

New Winter Rubber !!

2011-05-06T13:26:00.000-07:00

New winter rubber has arrived at Hogeys in Hardy St with Billabong and Oneill wetsuits gloves, booties and hoods all ready and waiting to sooth that winter chill plus for the remainder of May all Nelson Boardriders club memebers recieve a massive 30% discount on these items and if you take a 600buck wetsuit into account then thats incredibly generous so get your freezing butts and there and get Rubbered Up!!!!!

*proof of membership may be required!!

Quick Wrap.

2011-05-05T00:32:00.001-07:00

So we all got excited for the monday/tuesday predicted swell and once again swellmap let us down 12 hours out, constantly changing its forecast over the 2 days making me wonder the validity of such sites if they can change their "mind"" somewhat restoratively or hindsightedly within 6hours of real time. I mean what is the point??
Monday saw a nice yet inconsistent 2-3ft swell rolling in shared by a few luckys in the middle of the day becoming much crowded for the amount of waves later. Then
come Tuesday saw a boost in swell with some guys stepping out of the picture and recieving heaving shacks over at Whangamoa Bar, word has it was breaking like Hossegor in France....

A couple of photos above and below from Bill Evans of the only real standout surfer of the swell, Rachel Hills. Taking it apart. You go girl!!!
i have 27minutes of footage from tuesday afternoon if anyone wants a copy and about 600 photos all courtesy of Bill so hit me up if you want copies...

Keni Duke's big birthday bash is coming up soon so look out for that one ,,, its gonna be hella-fat.

Catchya Next Swell...

Its not Ok.

2011-05-03T18:01:00.000-07:00

Froth Dogs Predictions.

2011-04-28T12:24:00.001-07:00

" Froth Dog's senses are tingling - Extreme Frothiness warning - expect Intense beard of froth to grow over next couple of days ""

Around the Grounds.

2011-04-27T11:52:00.000-07:00

(above): Nelson Boys , Jimmy mack, Nick Morris, Rory and mate

Are you tired of waking to find only 1-2ft grovel? Do you feel frustrated after surfing small waves which leave you feeling unfullfilled? Well there are now two remedies, which are, (1)either leave Nelson or (2) Stick around because "next week" is gonna pump right???...... aaahhh the line we live by ,gotta love it!!!

So straight into it I have got my hands on some photos of the Grommets bus trip to Blentown, Kaiks and beyond and also a couple of snippets from a debaucherous west coast trip on good friday,,,, If it wasnt so good it would have been bad.
(above):Marco Edwards- high speed hack

(above): Jackson Gregory , slip-streaming.

Rumour Mill: >>
...>>>Which two guys scored pumping slabs right in the heart of town last saturday while everyone either grovelled The Glen, or stayed home crying that it was cold and onshore??>>>>Who drove straight from Christchurch to Snappers point in the middle of the night only to Arrive early Sunday morning to 1ft onshore Snappers???>>> How come no one else has seen the or a shark???>>>>Who is the local bodyboarder who has taken up stand-up surfing a month or so ago and has now overtaken his mates who have been trying for 2 years???, watch this space.>>>>>> Which Richmond surfer drove to Snappers early monday morning and didnt wait for a set driving home thinking it was flat while some of us surfed for 4 hours......and last but not least who is the local surfer seen in the wee hours of the morning eating lollies and listening to Leanord Cohen............ The truth is out there.....
(above): Marco laying some rail at Meatworks.

Quotes of the Week:
>>>>"I did not come on this road trip to smell your ass">>>>"I checked it this morning it looked small">>>>>"Whats this texting everyone to tell them the surfs on"-replied with- "your the one on the paddleboard"....

Hoppy Easter!!!!

2011-04-22T12:37:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter Everyone and let all of those who decided to stay in town be blessed as there is a 2ft swell on the rise with things looking great for the next 48hours!!
Last weekend saw everyone hangin themselves out to dry waiting for a swell which hardly eventuated then at the last minute when everyone had just about given up on it kicked on the sunday morning at 3-4ft but super hightides left everyone even more frustrated.Cj Barton, Mike Baker and myself shot the gap and headed over to Whangamoa to surf some beachies and were later joined by paulo Devia and Vaclav Nic from Columbia and Checkoslavakia respectively with Paulo coming a cropper on the notorious "Scar Reef" or "Two Ducks" reef point meeting the rocks and coming off second best.There was a shark attack the previous afternoon at Snappers check the story here but from a distance it seems the poor shark was only defending its territory from invading North Islanders.
(above):L-R Cj Barton, Captain Underpants, Paulo Devia and Vaclac Nic on the road to nowhere.

It is school holidays and the grommets are out and about with Jackson Gregory loading up his bus with a crew and heading over the east coast last week scoring exceptionally good waves in both Blenheim and Kaikoura. ALthough I am still waiting for the photographic evidence of said waves!!
Be sure to check out the Buy Sell area of the site as things are starting to move and thats about all, nice one, see you later , Ciao!!!

NEW!! - Surf, Buy, SeLL!!!....

2011-04-08T18:29:00.000-07:00

After numerous requests Ive finally created a page where all us local boys and girls can pawn off our no longer needed surf gears or look for something or swap.Those who remember the old site there used to be a buy,sell swap area there. So please email your lists of goodies to nelsonboardiders at hotmail dot com and will be sure to publish them asap... Now thats networking !!! Oh and anyone who has a never ridden before mR twin-fin I would love to swap it for Scottys old bodyboard...chur.!!
Link to new page up the top there somewhere!!!

The Truth is "Out there" !!

2011-04-07T18:25:00.000-07:00

..Ahem, have a great weekend people!!

Bruce's Bits !

2011-04-04T14:29:00.000-07:00

Bruce's Bits: When hes not dressing up floppy-eared bunny rabbits and tucking them into dollys beds Bruce likes to head down the west coast and hook into some of those mysto rivermouths between Greymouth and westport below and above is some of photographic evidence....

Rumour Mill: >>>> Who is the local surfer due to turn 40 in May and is gonna chuck a big party with all Nelson Boardriders invited???>>>>Who were the lucky few to yet again score waves whilst everyone else thought it was onshore???>>>>>>Nelson surf once again turned on the shit-tap for a Jono Harris visit>>>>> How come the back bar at Tahunanui is possibly the best place to ride a SuP in the world yet only a couple of part time suP riders surf it?? and last but not least what newly found boardriders club turn around and throw it in the face of the guy who bought surfing back into the mainstream in their town??? Had to be said boys... had to be said......

BBR Final Club Comp: Buller Boardriders are holding their final club comp of the season on saturday the 16th April in Westport and invite all nelson Crew to come join in the fun for a small entry fee of 5 bucks per head.. Ant Hema the classic quote master pulling out all stops with lines like "This is the Final Showdown" . Once again everyone invited for the day and lets hope in final showdown style its a "Backdoor shootout" at nine mile.

Thanks again

The Tides of Change.

2011-03-31T19:07:00.000-07:00

Have you ever noticed the way things evolve in Nelson surfing or are you just happy to get a wave when we randomly do??

After spending some 4 weeks out of the water It has given me time to look back across the whole planeshape of surfing in Nelson and I have noticed some interesting patterns and evolvements.
Although we are constantly exciting ourselves over the prospect of "the next swell", when this swell has/had arrived we often feel let down and or if not, exhausted, as it often seems like the anticipation has spent up all the energy so that by the time you're actually out there surfing it becomes somewhat anti-climatic.
Yes, surfing in Nelson can be extremely Tantric, but on the flipside of all of this generally there is a feeling of friendliness amongst everyone that you dont find anywhere else as we are all just happy and relieved to be getting waves.

Claims that it is more crowded nowadays have to be intercepted with the reverse statement of "Is it more crowded these days"??.
Note the crowd shuffle..for example, every year a new cluster of grommets start emerging but then again every year an earlier generation moves on either to University or overseas.
Some people move to Nelson for work and become an addition to the lineup but at the same time another leaves and the ones that amuse me the most are the constant haters who stand up high on the Boulder Bank and moan and groan about the surf in Nelson are the exact same ones that you will see checking it a day break the next day....

Those who continue to live and surf in Nelson religously all deserve a golden handshake as it can be utterly frustrating to say the least but at the same time when the surf is on you really wouldnt want to be anywhere else.
I myself would fly back from Indonesia to surf Nelson....but then again Ive never been to Indonesia!!

If you have read the above words and have taken anything out of it then you are an eternal Nelson frother and love surfing in Nelson or it really is April Fools day....

Hope to see you in the water...

Hogeys Hardcore Hardware Sale!!!!

2011-03-15T21:29:00.000-07:00

John from Hogeys has just advised me that he just recieved a truck load of surfing hardware acessories including leashes and fins from FCS and a heap of new style deckgrips.

All up to date NelsonBoardiders members (you know what we mean) will recieve a massive 30%

discount on these items just by saying the magic word which has been emailed to all current subscribers whilst the rest of the lagging crew shall recieve the generic discount and slap on the back. Booooyaaah!!!!

ANALOG NOW DVD COMP

2011-03-15T21:15:00.000-07:00

Once again the boys at TrB's Skatshop have jumped in to help relieve our surf starved souls with a surfing DVD giveaway!! All you have to do is go into the shop and answer this question and the DVD is yours!!!

Question: How many times do you need to fold an average piece of A4 copy paper in half to reach the moon.?? If confused use this formula P*2^n

Have fun kiddies!!

Marching On

2011-03-06T20:43:00.000-08:00

Howdy people and welcome to the month of March and with the high water temperatures at the moment it looks like we will be milking a few more weeks out of summer just yet! Forwarding through the charts it seems there is still some cyclonic action up there too and who knows what Huey might throw our way. A good couple of weeks of wave action with Cyclone Atu throwing a small yet mechanical swell into the bay the week before last and then last week this was accompanied by a double swell! (what does it mean !),with some lucky boys scoring some afternoon madness at an undisclosed location.
Rolling into friday saw a chunky norwest swell spreading the crowd at Snappers.
Jeremy Pooley, Otta, Rich Barry and myself sharing the lefts whilst Russ Bruce, Olin Pilcher , Nige Keeley and Brandon "I would kill that wave" Kingi, killing the rights, Brandon returning back to Nelson for some more treats.

The next day saw some leftovers and it was great to see a bunch of young frothing grommets out there getting amongst without wetsuits looking a little bit hypothermic but the pure stoke keeping the internals combusting. (above)Michael Carlsson from Sweden and his first ever surf at Tahunanui Beach.
A boardriders meeting/ get together is planned for this coming saturday and members and guests alike are most welcome kicking off at 4pm (please note time change) for a sit down meet then a BBQ to follow. If you havent recieved and email and would like to attend you know how to contact us for details.

Thanks again.
(and yes I kow you cant enlarge those photos, ahaha)

Quake Relief Jam

2011-02-27T20:53:00.000-08:00

Trb's SKateshop are holding a Skate Jam this friday night with a bunch of raffles and stuff going down, BBQ etc.etc.
Your appearance will be most accepted!! Maybe even a "king of the bowl" for us old boys!!

A thought for Christchurch.

2011-02-22T10:11:00.000-08:00

Just a quick message of support for those of whom have been affected by the devastating earthquake. From all Nelson surfers and greater community we wish you all the best at this dark moment in time.
-Kia Kaha.

Postcard from Conal

2011-02-22T10:06:00.000-08:00

How "s it going, It"s good reading your blog site & catching all the surf news from home. Hopefully you score some waves soon but summer is the season for travel.

Enjoyed the cyclone story/photo's and while you write bout graveling the car park with a eye ahead to the wet season here I am on the coast of the driest desert in the world. Arica has not had rain for years, the area is one big sand pit. We have travelled up the coast of Chile from Pichilemu scoring waves along the way. From Coqumbo surfed Totoraillilo Bay which was a fun small right. At Chanaral a small coastal town besides experiencing our 5th earthquake, the biggest been 7.1, I surfed Porto Fino while another right it had more size and punch to it. In Iquique got to surf a city break i5 minutes walk from our accommodation.

(above): Not Conal slipping into a heavy Arica slab.
Enjoyed our days here and the break, a fast breaking left, either gives you a drop into oblivion or a adrenalin filled ride out on to the shoulder.Getting a wave was a challenge with all the bogie boarders ruling the roost. I have seen my fare share of broken boards from Pichilemu to Arica and 2 more were broken in my time here. I surfed El Gringo in Aroca yesterday and will spend a couple more days surfing the break made (in)famous a couple of years back with the ASP Rip Curl Search contest. Certainly conditions are not the same but surfing a 4ft left. While surfing there yesterday the tow in surfers headed off down the coast on their jet skis, no doubt with local knowledge finding bigger options on the open coast.

Hi to everyone !!! -Conal

Snappers Carpark Re-Surfaced!! / Club News!!

2011-02-12T11:13:00.000-08:00

Thats right folks, once again the club funds have been put to good use with approx 30 cubic metres of AP40 gravel spread across the carpark out at Snaps. With such a good response from people after the last drop it was only natural that 8 months down the track we got it done again before winter sets in. Although quite coarse under foot this allows for quick fast drainage and deters munters in cars trying to do donuts and burnouts as this will most likely wreck their cv joints in one foul swoop!!
Special thanks goes to our mate Lyall from Burgess&Crowley who really went out of his way to spread the stuff. Obviously thanks also goes to Burgess&Crowley themselves and keeping it local the gravel is cut from the backside of Mackays Bluff off the Cable Bay Road!!!
(above): "My Grandmother can surf better than you!!!"

In other club news Andy McDonald and his team at "WetKiwi" have jumped onboard the NelsonBoardriders train and Andy currently has a bunch of fashion design students in Auckland fighting over a design for a club t-shirt.We look forward to the result with all members of the club recieving T-shirts at incredibly discounted prices.
An end of Summer "Club Meeting/BBQ" will be held on March 12th with an actual sit down discussion lets call it an AGM at 3pm sharp with BBQ and Carry on to follow.
Members will be emailed location location.

-thanks
(above): Dont stop till' you drop!!

(above): Sorry mate but there had to be a sequel!!

Back to the Grind!

2011-02-08T10:09:00.000-08:00

Good morning peoples and as the title of this post suggests its back to business for most of us as we unwillingly settle back into our daily routine after a warm and generous silly season.
Waves? what waves? is basically the theme set at the moment as we seem to be once again stuck between a large chain link of high pressure systems.
Keeping things exciting,, "Blenheim Boardriders" are go with Hamish Simpson and Mike"Ratty""Lindstrom re-developing the club after it faded away through the late nineties. Bleneheim Boardriders are now officially affiliated with SISA and we look forward to some good old fashioned Top of the South rivalry along with some comradery at the same time!! Im sure that together with Nelson we can put it to the more "known" surf clubs of the South Island Circuit!!

Keeping on the subject the OCEANA GOLD "Go for Gold" Contest is set to roll in Greymouth on February 25/26 so check out www.sisa.co.nz for details and entry forms.

Keeping it "clubby" Nelson Boardriders would like to and need to hold a club meeting in the near future to discuss direction and projections!! and we look forward to some suggestions for host venue details etc etc.

Yibbida Yibbida Thats all Folks....

So where the bloody hell were ya??

2011-01-24T10:09:00.001-08:00

Best waves for years at Snappers and theres no one out??? 6-8 foot barrels and not a soul in sight...
Its funny how things turn out now isnt it !!

We all know that most of us love Snappers even at the worst of times and some of you even get a little touchy amongst the crowd... but where was everyone at high tide on wednesday when Snappers hid from the wind under the high tide shadow of the Boulder Bank....

* photos courtesy of Raefe Murray, at least someones on the ball !!

Design a T-Shirt !!

2011-01-23T13:31:00.000-08:00

Homegrown clothing company "Wet Kiwi" have decided to come onboard and sponsor the Nelson Boardriders Club which is a blessing in disguise as we have been toying with the idea of a club t-shirt/apparel range for a while but were looking for a design thats simple and eye-catching.... so for those of you with that flare for design and graphics we are looking for a Nelson Boardriders t-shirt design with the successful designer of course recieving a free T!!! Send your entries in a.s.a.p as were keen to get this puppy rolling and of course these t-shirts will be for members only!!!

A question of Etiquette?

2011-01-22T11:02:00.000-08:00

Once again the topic above raises its ugly head as crowd concentrations over the last swell saw some heated moments out at Snappers. I got told to mention it on this blog so here are some attempts to water everything down.

Basically if you see more than a dozen people in the water and there are only 2-3 wave sets then if you do the maths its not hard to work out that waves are gonna be pretty hard to come by. Sure everyone has the right to surf where they wanna surf but just remember some table manners. There are always other spots breaking when Snappers is on including the first carpark, the Glen and even some other mysto spots if your willing to search.
When Snappers is really on, then you will see the more skilled come out to play and if your not that competent on a board then perhaps you should be honest with yourself and surf within your capabilties either sitting wide or surfing elsewhere. Dropping in is an absolute no-no... although if you are on the inside and you see someone looking like they are going to drop in then give out a shout and yell "yep" cos if you're on the inside its your wave (unless you paddled out inside of everyone wink wink nudge nudge).No point crying someone dropped in if you didnt call them off the wave when they attempted it... Share the wealth too, you dont turn up to a bbq and put all the food in the boot of your car and drive home now do you....!!

(above): I mean seriously, where else does this happen??....

Snappers has always, and will always be a frustrating place to surf when its perfect
as it just breaks in one place and only shifts slightly. If you blatantly, naievely and/or ignorantly disobey the basic ground rules of Surfing then you most likely will find yourself in a heated situation and at the end of the day thats not why we're out there is it>??

Now sit back and check this clip from 6 or 7 years ago when it WASN"T less crowded!

*(please note):This post was requested by concerned members of our surfing community and is by no means my own personal view or means of "giving instructions"
(Pun intended Pete!!) 90% of the time I score good waves with just one or two others , so it is possible...

More Great Photos !!

2011-01-19T10:06:00.000-08:00

Ive got stacks of photos flooding in from the last few days so please visit the "photos" page and check out the amazing work of Bill Evans and Andy Mac including this beauty of Rabbit Island below....

Around the Cyclonic Grounds.

2011-01-18T21:57:00.000-08:00

(above): Marco Edwards,Cab Shiraz at Cables.

I could go on and on about the last few days events but here is a quickfire spill...

Saturday saw the first signs of the Cyclone(s) swell with a 2ft pulse around midday followed up on sunday by a more solid 3ft which ran into monday morning before late in the morning an explosive pulse saw the swell kick to a solid 6ft with Bruce Wilson , Russell Bruce, Rich Barry, Jeremy Pooley and Keni just to name a few sliding down into some bombas with both Russ and Theo breaking their boards...."They dont call it Snappers for nothing".

(above):Russ Bruce, building speed.....
<

The next morning saw a mediocre 2-4ft what seemed like leftover swell before a "re-boot"in swell saw it jack once again to a steamy glassy 4-5ft with Snappers basically as good as it gets and although the crowd was slim through the middle of the day with myself, Glen Richardson, Gavin Stones, Liam buttner, Jimmy mac and Marco all reaping the rewards, the crowd quickly swelled with Shawry and Ralph from Westport making a guest appearance with Shawry throwing himself out of some heaving lips on his longboard and sticking them much to the amazement of the crew.Action packed highlights included Take-San and Olin pilchers collision and Jimmy Mac's accidental drop-in on Keni leaving him fearing for his like ...hah... Paulo "Parcero" Devia even managed to snag a couple in the morning keeping it native with some solid gaffs

(above): "Frothy"Joe Leeper,, chucking hunks!!

Later that afternoon it was rumoured 2 guys surfed an indo-esque like Cable Bay to themselves at a totally playful yet solid 3ft, (head high).

Then this morning came and a lucky few guys scored some amazing tubes and a mystery guy turned up and watched the boys getting brutal shacks before turning around and walking briskly back to the carpark with tail between his legs ,,,,, you know who you are but we dont !!

boys scoring this mornings goods including Marcus Roebuck, Paul Chop-Chop, Jeremy Pooley, Ross Burdon, Ben Robertson and Bruce Wilson .

Anyhow enjoy the photos and get ready for some more tropical nonsense in a week or so!!

*All photos courtesy of Dan Gregory. Awesome shots mate!!! Sicko.

Marlborough Surf Comp Results

2011-01-18T21:09:00.000-08:00

Although the venue made a late move to Sandy Bay in Kaikoura leaving some people in the lurch as a lot had decided not to travel to Blenheim in the first place as it was forecast to be flat.
The show rolled on with results below and a full story to follow.

Results: Open Men .1st place Richard Norton2nd James Spence 3rd Levi Maxwell 4th Bryan Bailey
...Under 20's 1st Jackson Gregory (Nelson Boardrider)2nd Mike Lindstrom 3rd Tarik Tekin 4th Marco Edwards
:Best wave of the day went to Richard Norton.

Congrats to Jicko ripping it up!!!

(full story to come)

Get Ready.

2011-01-16T09:37:00.000-08:00

(above): Even if your parked at the superbank on the goldy during a cyclone swell, you still know where your heart lies. Brett Thompson, trying to check "the real"Snappers through his binoculars.

Gday everyone, you all know whats coming Lets do this.

Rabbamoana and Rubanesia....Happy 2011 !!

2010-12-31T11:21:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!!!! Wishing everyone the best and brightest future for 2011.
>Cracking the whip and moving straight into this new decade I thought I would start with a reflection of last tuesday's huge windswell. Heavy rain, massive slips and the biggest floods in 150 years in Golden Bay , this storm also brought with it one of the largest swells we have seen in couple of years although unfortunately it mellowed out quite fast due to a blustery souwest change although it was this combining factor which set Ruby Bay and Rabbit Island on fire with a blaze of offshore cylinders that had everyone rubbing their eyes in disbelief infact I even broke the arm off my sunglasses from taking them on and off so many times and had a sore arm from pointing at the ridiculous non-sensical barrels spitting up and down Rabbit Island. This is no joke. Anyone will tell you this was Rabbit Island on steroids.

(above): Ruby Rights
The swell had peaked earlier at about 11am with (in hindsight) solid 8-10ft waves breaking along The Boulder Bank, then after midday as the souwest came up you could see the spray coming off the back of the waves from the highway between Nelson and the Glen giving you an idea of the size.
Not to be out-done the sleeping beauty Ruby bay awoke with some real size leaving everyone stunned in its wake.
Classic Quotes from "Big Tuesday": "This is just like Aramoana"- Andy Riley reffering to Rabbit Island....."I thought I was in Indonesia"- Rachel Hills reffering to Ruby Bay...

(above): Left hand runners at Rabbit Island.
Not sure about Ruby Bay as it can get amazing during Cyclone swells but everyone I have talked to agrees hands down this was "The Best Day Ever"at Rabbit Island, the quick offshore changing leaving the swell still broken enough to explode onto the sand with spits literally huffing left, right and centre.

(above): Leif Christenson riding a mini-mal and slotting into a Rabid gem.

(above): Ruby Lefts.

* Photos supplied by James Marshall and Rach Hills ANYONE WITH MORE PHOTOS PLEASE SHARE !!

Love it or hate it, you cannot deny that when there is a good swell running in Nelson, you wouldnt want to be anywhere else in the world! You know this!!
Thanks to everyones support for this site/blog over the years (6 years now) The sitemeter quite often averages around 55-65 hits a day believe it or not.
Your only on earth for a short time so why not share the fun instead of being all uptight!! (puns directed!) and wasnt it great how Huey chucked a slip across the road the other day so none of those Blenheim boys could get here!!!! Apart from Richard Norton who was here already and tearing the bags as normal.
Wishing you all a Happy New Year once more!!
now lets see these Cyclones ,yeeewwww -peace!

Seasons Greetings from Ana and Conal!!

2010-12-20T09:26:00.001-08:00

We´re still having a great time in Pichilemu but beginning to think of where we might go next - somewhere further south is all we know at the moment.

We had a lovely weekend. On Friday we spent the day at Punto de Lobos; Conal surfing and me lazing on the beach trying not to get sunburnt. On Friday evening we went out with another couple from our hostel (French guy and Mexican lady) for a few beers We sat at a table by the roadside and watched the scenes go by. Then Adriana offered to cook us a mexican dinner back at the hostel so we went to the supermarket to buy supplies.. While there we experienced our first South American earthquake - only a short sharp one, but the earth moved nevertheless and I didn´t like it one bit. Anyway, back at the hostel we had Chilean wine and Mexican quisadillos (tortillas stuffed with cheese and vegies) and Irish salad (in other words, I made a salad). It was a good night and we got to bed at 1.30am. Our new (younger) friends went out to a club but told us the next day that it wasn´t that great.

The night life doesn´t get started until about midnight here. Conal and I are usually tucked up in bed but because our room is directly off the living area, the front door and the outside deck we here all the comings and goings. We usually sleep okay regardless but I´ve been awake at all hours and enjoy listening to the chatting, the laughing and even singing. The place usually gets quiet at about 5am and then we´re the first to rise - at about 9am we make our breakfast and go out to sit on the deck and watch the world go by.

On Saturday night it was La Ola Cultural here (The Cultural Wave Carnival). It started at 6pm with groups of drummers going through the streets. There were 3 different drumming groups, dancers and balloons - very colourful, noisy, happy. The drummers were having a great time and everyone on the streets were tapping their feet, dancing and smiling. It was fantastic. At about 8.30pm a series of bands started playing - I think they were all local bands judging from the way they were talking with their friends in the crowd. They were all good - one sounded contemporary/traditional, one was PUNK!!!, one was heavy metal, the last one to play were a bit jazzy. We really enjoyed ourselves, it was a great atmosphere - and all free entertainment.

We had another small earthquake yesterday. Afer the big quake that hit Chile in January a tsunami hit the coast here and the sea surged up the street as far as our hostel - the locals are still a bit jittery about it and I don´t blame them.

We cook for ourselves most nights. Last night we had a big pile of potatoes and omelette - the potatoes were lovely.. There's a great bakery near our place where we buy amasados (bread rolls) fresh from the oven - fantastic. We've been eating them with honey, nutella, peanut butter, etc - no vegimite:( We have a supermarket nearby too so we pop in there most days to buy stuff for dinner - rice, lentils, cheese. We haven´t eaten out much yet because we don't know what to order and there don't seem to be many vegetarian options but we'll get the hang of it as our grasp on the language improves and our confidence to talk to people! The empanadas are great and at only 1000 pesos each (about $3.50), a good snack.

So - that's all from us for now. We've updated the blog and mangaged to put one photo up. We'll keep working on that - we think that some of the computers we use are pretty ancient, very slow and uploading photos is a bit beyond them.
If you don't hear from us again before the weekend, we wish you all a happy Christmas and send our love from peachey Pichi.
Ana & Conaldo xx

Sh!T Story!!

2010-12-14T22:54:00.000-08:00

Have a read of the below article in the link here and check it out good reading to give you a story behind the smell we all love to hate because we all know when its offshore!!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/features/4459766/Behind-the-sewage-plants-big-stink

Here comes Santa!

2010-12-14T10:05:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to everyone that sat through what must have truly been one of Nelsons longest flat spells ever! It seems the theory of relativity is about to work in true fashion as every action has an equal and opposite reaction with the weather maps starting to line up almost dreamlike for the festive season. infact, one could almost become suspicious that someone out there is playing a cruel sick joke on us poor Nelson surfers!!!
Now, touching wood and not giving too much else away I decided to flick back through the photo albums and put up some classic photos to wet our apettites.

Just a quick note that Dean and Matt Duncan have opened a new skatehop in Hardy Street near Everyman Records, be sure to pop in and say G'day as the boys have opened right in the heart of Nelsons prime time retail boiling pot~!!

Rumour Mill:
>>Which Delaware Bay local sleeps through the glassy morning session eventually awoken by his brother because the internet told him it was going to be flat the night before despite basically being able to see and hear the surf from his house???!!>>Who is the local surfer/artist who once again leaves town right when the surf begins to pump??!!>>>Which Wakefield surfer likes to surf right in front of the carpark at Snappers just so everyone can see him and he can be closer to the smell of the ponds??...and last but not least, the "hand-board bandit" has been sighted so beware of talking heads!!!,,,

Santa Claus is coming to town and this time he's bringing a surfboard.

Why have a Club??

2010-12-09T09:58:00.001-08:00

The question in the title of this post "why have a club?", is quite a simple one really and the answer is currently being perfectly illustrated over the way in good old Blenheim. Agricultural (eg: vineyards, dairy farms) in the greater Blenheim/Marlborough/Awatere Valley areas have successfully won permission to semi-dam the Wairou River to conserve water for livestock and crops thus reducing the outflow of water to the sea. This will have a devastating effect on 2 local surfbreaks in the area but the proposal will steamroll ahead despite protest from Forest and Bird and a couple of minority groups. You see its all about numbers and having a voice as a group of individuals with common interest. Im not saying that a bunch of surfers would have been able to stop this development but a larger group of protesting individuals from different angles may have had a leg to stand on. (above): No More??

How does this relate to Nelson??, there has been a couple of near misses for the local surfbreak over the last couple of decades none of which I will go into now but one thing to watch importantly in the news right now is the problems they are having with the sewerage settlement ponds at Snappers. I was stunned yesterday to see a dfozen or more men in white "nuclear" coveralls patrolling the area and hand releasing buckets of chlorine out of an aluminium dinghy into the ponds.
Without scare-mongering it wouldnt take much to call the whole area major health risk and shut the gate at the main road. Something to think about and as always I welcome your opinions, voices and concerns so please feel free as I will publish nearly anything!!!
Sometimes its not just about flash cars and cool stickers.
Jokes aside,
Many Thanks.

Andy Irons R.I.P

2010-12-07T10:49:00.000-08:00

Of course we all know of the tragic and untimely death of Andy Irons but id like to share share this truly moving video piece below.
R.I.P Andy
Andy Irons Tribute by Surfer Magazine

A Change in The Air??

2010-12-06T20:25:00.000-08:00

Greetings once again everyone and is it just me or is there something different in the air today?? Sniff Sniff, thats right, its raining!! Looking forward through the isobar charts it looks as though our poor surf-starved souls are about to be replenished not just once but multiple times over the next couple of weeks and pretty soon every King Neptune and his Stand-up Paddle Board will have something to cheer about whilst riding Ruby Bay howlers.

Its definately been a long time between waves for our local shores but thats not to say we havent been getting out and about with local crew spreading far and wide throughout both coasts. Liam Buttner and Joe Thornton have been doing covert West Coast missions along with Ashleigh Trainor and Tali Vidal whilst Joe Leeper, Marco and Jacko were seen hanging out with Boy-Racers along the tip-head strip. Jackson has just bought himself a 20 seater bus so look out for a dodgy tall guy selling icecreams in the Snappers carpark. Keni Duke-Hetet and myself have been keeping the arms in check doing afternoon paddle missions up and down Tahunanui beach and looking like Baywatch stars as we enter and exit the water whilst Bruce Wilson has been doing missions over to the Blenheim area just so he can drive really fast staring into the rows of Grape Vines as they "flicker" by!
Expect to see a strange guy with flippers and a thing stuck to his hand out in the surf now the water as warmed up too....

Last but not least we bid farewell to Karne Harmon who's off to Auckland to drink as much Monster Energy drinks as he can and Conal A.K.A "Con-Dog" and Ana Parkes who embark on a 6 month long "holiday" to South America. To keep us in the loop Conal is trying his luck at Blogging and to follow their mission follow this link here
Adios AMigo's
Blog also available in "Favourite Blogs"

Bring it on

Silly Buggars.

2010-11-30T10:22:00.000-08:00

Click on the link below to see our own Joe Leeper frolicing in the Kaikoura shorebreak.
What began as a joke turned serious when Joe found himself struggling to get back onto the beach to which he described as a totally humbling experience.
Respect the ocean.

The Other Side

2010-11-28T11:29:00.000-08:00

Greetings Surflings! Now It has been a long and torturous wait for waves here in Nelson of late infact I think this could be the longest flat spell I have endured in my 8 or so years of residence here. I remember we went 5 weeks without a swell about 6 years ago but this crazy never-ending high pressure ridge we are stuck in seems set to smash that with no real swell since around October 15. For the super desperate there are still the odd seabreeze windchop swells which fill in the afternoon on an incoming tide but this is strictly longboard action only.
In hindsight it has been hard to deal with but there is almost a definite end in sight with the first significant change in this weather system beginning early next week. Keep the faith.

(above): Keep the faith! (There is actually someone in this tube if you click and enlarge)

With all this non-action here in Nelson its great to see everyone getting out and about and one particular area in mind has been getting its fair share of good waves of late and a few good photos are starting to filter back. Remember its not that much of a mission to "The Other side" be it either west or east and sometimes you never know unless you go.
(above): Un-named east coast break going Nato.

(above)Scott Rewi demolishing Korimiko cheese factory lefts!!

(above) Photos courtesy of Bruce Wilson and Sarah Potts(pictured in front of heaving lefts!). Thanks again,.

Flatville Continues.....

2010-11-05T12:23:00.000-07:00

Unless you were super keen and desperate this week we still have not got a swell above the 3ft range nor lasting more than 12 hours. I guess it could be determined on what you consider surf as there was a couple of "rideable" days this week with Wednesday night dishing up one of those peculiar windswells whereby Tahuna Beach is bigger than Snappers whilst Thursday afternoon kicked up to about 2ft of "real" swell but this was quickly quashed overnight by the Devil-wind....
Anyway, moving along there is still hope with the sea surface temperature climbing so rapidly it is easily 3/2 weather and an interesting looking system hatching later next week off Woolongong,Sydney right in the "Weather bomb" nursery.
The tropics are already active with near Tropical Cyclones forming already and I mean hey, Its only November!!!
If you dont know Surf City, Nelson by now then you will learn that it loves to play these games with your head only to rain swell when you least expect.
Looking outside the box an incredible looking east swell starts lapping the east coast mid to late next week so keep that in mind if your feeling the itch.
If unfortunately like myself you are injured than laugh it up because wedont really care that theres no waves now do we!!!

please Click on Bill Evans's awesome Collage below to enlarge!!!

Thanks.

Club Photo

2010-11-02T11:30:00.001-07:00

"The Bold and the Beautiful"
-Group photo from last weeks BBQ for copys of prints contact me as Bill took some 75 photos and they are all of outrageous quality.

De-brief....

2010-10-29T12:19:00.001-07:00

(above) ninemile doing its thing

Aloha people and welcome to yet another exhuberant rant about the surf-city we all love to hate. Firstly just a run down on whats been happening in on the surf front and this aint gonna take long because thats NOTHING!!! Its been flat!! The only real news I have is that early last week Stefan Menzies and Simon Pooley went for a leisurely grovel at Delaware Bay and whilst sitting their chatting Stefan eyed a long black shadow lurking beside him and just before he had time to poop in his speedoes' next to that shadow a good 20-30 foot of water began to rise as "Big Mother" Orca gave the boys the big crinkly eyeball as they power-pooped there way to shore.Once over the initial shock the guys watched in awe as the pair (mother and calf) cruised the bay and gently returned to deeper water.
Without getting too down about the current state of surf related weather in Nelson , NIWA and Metservice are both predicting an early summer directly related to the persisting La-Nina weather pattern meaning above average sea surface temperatures over summer with the increased chance of Tropical Cyclone or ex-tropical cyclones making landfall in NZ. CYclone analysts predicting at least 12 of the grunters developing in the south pacific this season!!! ....
If its ever gonna happen again,, its gonna be this summer!!!!

Cape Classic Result - Last weekend saw 6 Nelson/Blenheim "nelsonboardriders" surfers compete in the Cape Classic with some good results going down. The first day saw tricky conditions in the 4-8ft range whilst the sunday settled down to a lully 2-4ft with some exciting surfing action.
For full results check the SISA website and for the Nelson crews results check below and theres also some good photos there too courtesy of Raefe Murray.
Open Mens: Igor Ishida Coura and Jason Hylkema (equal 17th) Mark Nichols (equal 9th)
Senior Mens: Hamish Simpson (equal 9th) Mark Nichols (equal 5th) Junior Mens: Marco Edwards (equal 9th) Masters: Hamish Simpson (equal 5th)and finally THE MAN of the day Mike "Ratty" Lindstrom finishing 3rd overall in the Cadets (u/17) division. An epic result and a taste of bigger things to come and incredible incentive for all the young Nelson/Blenheim groms
(above): Rip-Bowl at NineMile.
(above) Peanut Gallery on the Rocks
(above): Beauty and the beast
All photos courtesy of Raefe Murray
>

Hogeys Container Clearance!!

2010-10-27T22:26:00.000-07:00

-The spill is below but basically Hogey bought a whole heap of gear reeaaalllll cheap!!! - but dont worry its not off the back of a truck!!!

The massive Container Clearance starts tomorrow 1pm. Come nab yourself a bargain... Everythings 50% to 70% off. Jeans for both guys and gals $60 or 2 pairs 4 $100. Mens Knits $50 or 2 4 $80. Bikinis from $29, boardies, tees and sings. School bags, wallets, caps and beanies, all 50% to 70% off. All the big brands, inc ONeill, Electric, Quiksilver, Roxy, and more... Two weeks only. Open daily next to the Bead Gallery on Hardy Street. Make sure you get in quik cause it's gonna sell out!

Stop Press: Strong Nelson showing at Cape Classic

2010-10-24T12:11:00.001-07:00

Full story to come but the Nelson Crew that entered in the Cape Classic have done the region proud with strong finishes across most divisions with the standout going to Mike "Ratty" Lindstrom taking out 3rd place in the Cadets. Fellow Blenheimist Hamish Simpson making it to the Semi-Finals of the masters whilst myself bowing out in the Quarter Finals of the Open mens and semi-finals of the seniors... Jason hylkema and Marco Edwards and Igor Ishida Coura also standing out in their heats, the Nelson Boardriders crew definately caused a stir amongst the regular ranks.
Stay tuned.

Bored River !

2010-10-21T11:01:00.000-07:00

(above): Aaron Lyttle setting up the tube~
A couple of weeks ago Aaron Lyttle and Ben Fontaine decided to take their boardrideing skills to new levels hooking up to the Nile Street bridge during heavy flooding and catching a few stationary waves!! Rumour has it that on one wipeout Aaron got tumbled down the rocks for a good 100 metres or so , hence the helmets.
Looks like heaps of fun and im sure there are heaps of spots where this could be done yet keep in mind the extreme dangers of a flooding river and always prepare yourself even anchoring a rescue line downstream as a backup.
~ (above) Ben Fontaine backhand snapback!!

Rapid Fire Update:

2010-10-20T11:34:00.000-07:00

(above): Inside Mangamanu doing its thing!!

Good morning Rabid-Frothers and welcome to this weeks spill about Surf City and the like.
On the Surf front there was a semi exciting windswell last sunday/monday which saw some awesome grovelling going down from The Glen, to Delaware and to The Cut with harsh Northwesterly winds corrupting the swell. Leftovers on monday saw some average Snappers being surfed and a couple of other spots firing. (above): Olin Pilcher Craning for the pit whilst Russ Bruce cracks the top off another cold one!!
Last friday a gang of Nelson boys invaded Mangamanu in Kaikoura and scored the goods whilst a few days before that Aaron Lyttle and his airport crewman tried their luck off the Nile Street bridge. Enjoy the photos and I wish you all a safe and enjoyable Labour Weekend.
All Sick Photos: Courtesy of Jeremy Pooley.
Peace.

Froth-Dog's Predictions.

2010-10-20T11:24:00.000-07:00

Cape Classic: Froth Dog predicts a little bit of morning sickness Saturday evolving into an allround pump fest - *Special Froth-Dog link for Westport - http://magicseaweed.com/Westport-Surf-Report/117/http://

Nelson in General: Froth-Dog sees an abnormally large amount of Cyclone activity this summer season. Feverish Frothing Expected. *Sneaky Froth-Dog Cyclone story.

http://http//www.stuff.co.nz/environment/4251189/Cyclone-alert-points-to-tough-summer

Its all Happening!

2010-10-11T22:25:00.001-07:00

(above)UPDATED MONDAY Latest map for Saturday's first day of Cape Classic.

forecast glorious weather and a final reminder of the 20th anniversary Cape Classic. Next weekend, Labour Weekend, 23-24-25 October.
Its going to be huge with about 20 or so people from Nelson heading down.
The long range weather forecast shows a big fat high looming over the country so expect sunburn, too much surf and possibly the most awesome time you can have before the Mayan calendar ends.

On the swell stakes, last Saturday morning saw a chunky windswell roll through with everyone getting waves at various different locations. Its great to see people exploring their options. Rumour has it some science guys were ripping up the cut early saturday!! Rabbit Island was surprisingly good also and standout of the day was Russell Bruce, talk about an energizer bunny...... !! Say no more!!

On saturday night Nick Bygate and the rest of his "BoyZone" mates decided it would be a great idea to ride a mountain bike really fast down the church steps in town with most of the boys ending up with one injury or another. Nearly as good as the time Nick burned his skateboard on a fire to summon the next days surf but when the surf was crap the next day couldnt go skateboarding.....

Anyhow,enough meaningless dribble looks like waves late weekend, and Summer is looming!!

Froth it up.

Photo of the Month(s)

2010-10-11T11:46:00.000-07:00

After much deliberation the winner of August/September's special limited edition Burton Open T-Shirt is Johnny Valentine with this sick interpratation of Jason Hylkma's "Beni-Hana".
Keep up the good work Johnny!!!

Photo Apology

2010-10-05T22:44:00.001-07:00

Apologies for kooking the name on this photo.
It was actually Blenheim shredder Mike"Ratty"Lindstrom and NOTJackson Gregory... apologies to both boys!!

(above) Blenheimer master grom"Ratty" mixing up some Snapper bowl.

The Flatness is upon us........

2010-10-02T11:46:00.000-07:00

(above): Gavin Stones amazing message from the heavens

Judging by the title of this post its not hard to work out that as far as weather outlooks go, things are looking pretty bleak for a change in Surf City. Could it be that an end to our consistent run of waves is drawing to a close as the day time temperatures warm up and the fronts seem to get "melted" away, or is this just merely the first decent blocking high pressure system we've had in months and perhaps its time to actually dry some stuff out and relish some good old fashioned sunshine.... Either way as Olin Pilcher once bitterly put it, "You live in Nelson - get used to it" !! (above): Marco Edwards eyes a tasty Kina

So, on the surf front, a quick "flash in the pan" windswell thursday saw the local "hüi" milking The Cut dry and with some heavy shipping traffic that day it was definatly a "no-nonsense"", paddle across as Brandon Kingi found out , claiming that he was glad he was wearing his brown underpants. On a quick note, Brandon returns back to hit Titahi Bay stomping grounds next week and we will miss his devastating hacks but wish him all the best and look forward to seeing him early in the New Year!! Chur Bro!!

Later in the arvo on Thursday the Glen's own "bra boys" turned up the heat in the solid conditions with Marco, Rich Barry and crew pushing the limits. Solo effort goest to Liam Buttner who scored some "rather surprisingly" nice Cable Bay after lunch on thursday all by himself. Rory Dubz claims to have been pulling backflips on his booger but Im not sure if getting sucked over the falls upside down actually counts?? Remember Roz, you talk it you walk it!!

Friday morning saw everyone looking a little gutted as the un-forecast westerly change blew up about 9pm Thursday evening and pretty much demolished the swell from Thursday leaving a whimpering 1-2ft cross-chop fest at Snappers, a few die-hards tested the conditions including Jeremy Pooley, Justin Fletcher and Nelson Girls Tali Vidal and Ashleigh Trainor.

Finally lets hope that the easing of the weather patterns is not a sign of a let up in waves and look forward to some rapidly increasing water temperature in weeks to come !!

Mahalo.

Cape Classic Entry Forms Now Available !

2010-09-25T16:04:00.001-07:00

The Cape Classic 2010 is looking good. 20 years of the Cape Classic with $7500 cash and more sponsors product up for grabs.King Kapisi and The nNomad for the after party and T Bay with a nice a-frame bank forming we are set to go. Get down, over or up to Westport for the Best Classic yet. Hope to see ya all there......
Please visit the following link to download entry forms.
http://www.sisa.co.nz

Around the Grounds.

2010-09-20T12:06:00.000-07:00

(above) Blenheimer shralper Mike "Ratty" Lindstrom's tail-drop floater.... apologies to Mike and Jacko!!

-A busy few days of action as a giant carousel of a weather system has been blasting our shores with icy cold west southwest conditions. A huge westeryl swell in the 7 to 8 metre range with enough legs to wrap into Tasman Bay as kept our surfing desires fullfilled and good to see everyone surfing a variety of locales spreading the numbers thin.

(above): Scotty Edwards and Brandon Kingi exchanging blows.

Friday saw a building onshore swell which seemed to "unbuild" itself in the afternoon with the size dropping out along with the wind but Saturday the huge west swell flooded in along with the lowest snow dump of the year. Brave souls ventured into the water at Snappers including a rejuvinated Jacko Gregory, Keni Duke and a plethora of Nelson College Groms.

Nearby some clean offshores were in enjoyed by Jamie "mini" Sumner, Brandon Kingi and Spud Brown. (above) Solo Tanifa Sand Surfing.

Pelican Island

2010-09-19T15:18:00.000-07:00

-Retracting away from Nelson counter-culture Graeme Bird, Mark Nichols and Bruce Wilson broaden their minds and horizons..

- Graeme's crayfishing brother had often told us of his missions through Cook Strait in rough seas and his stories of secret reefs and fabled point had often tantalised our taste buds and finally on Sunday we broke free of city that binds us and went in search of the mysterious "Pelican Island". Everything seemed so wrong leaving Nelson whilst it was recieving a solid swell but at the same time we were all very excited at the prospect of finding something new....

-Arriving in Picton with boat and boards we really did look out of place with the random old timers joke to us "pretty big waves out there" , pointing sarcastically at the mill-pond like conditions, I dont know but when "non-surfers" point out lack of swell it really gets my back up but we shook it off with a laugh all the same.

Punching out of the sounds in Bruce's pimped out IrB felt pretty good until halfway to our destination we realised that we had lost a surfboard and had to spend the next hour searching for it. Anyhow, after back-pedalling we quickly regained the pace and as soon as we hit open ocean I kept having these visions of those highspeed jet-boats doing backflips as Bruce was merciless on the accelerator.As Pelican Island came into view our excitement turned to deflation as the heavy 5metre swell forecast didnt seem to be penetrating the island outer reefs and thus only allowing a small amount of swell into the bay. Somewhat "anti-frothed", we reluctantly suited up and had a grovel in the 1-2ft waves on offer.

-Despite the lack of swell and the realisation that perhaps Pelican Island wasnt the dream ride we were all hoping for we all had an awesome time and there were plenty of "high fives" at the end of the day. The old saying "half the fun is getting there" truly was the case this day and despite the odd over-exaggeraton its great to get out and about and smell that salty air....

thanks again,

Weekly Re-Hash!

2010-09-14T11:54:00.001-07:00

So, whats been going on in Surf City this week I hear you ask??.. well, once again more waves for a start with a nice 4ft groundswell pulsing in overnight Saturday and all through Sunday with glassy conditions all morning making it confusing as to where to go!
Just about everywhere was pumping with Rory Dubz scoring Cable Bay all morning to himself as if he had found himself in some kind of surf utopia!!! A few crew scoring some average Delaware but Snappers once again reigning supreme with some solid 4foot plus sets rolling through with standouts being Neil Tyson and the dual wave riding of Scott Rewi and Bruce Wilson.
The Nelson girls College crew dominated Tahuna as Julian Clark and Rachel Hills dominated Rabbit Island.

(above) Rory laying a Cable...

Poor old Jackson gregory had to sit this oine out as he has sprained his ankle badly whilst you guessed it....skateboarding!! Only a matter of time boys!!
A few crew also tackled Rincon that morning including Scotty Edwards and Chopper Shipwrights.
Another large disturbed Northwesterly pattern oin the way so hang on to your hats as it starts to get angry on friday!!!

Quicknote: Buller boardriders will be hosting a boardriders comp on OCt 10th and have invited Nelson Baordriders and Blenheim boys for a bit of a pre-Cape Classic practice session. Entry fee is a couple of sausages and a loaf of bread.

Later Bols

Master K

2010-09-14T11:46:00.001-07:00

Finally released after nearly 6 years behold...(double click to open in new window)

Cape Classic Reminder!

2010-09-09T12:09:00.000-07:00

Follow event on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=147675308593227&ref=ts

A quick reminder to everyone that the 20th Anniversary Cape Classic Surfing contest is being held on Labour Day weekend late October. Roughly about 7 weeks away so for everyone who is keen to attend and/or compete NOW is the time to start organizing with entry forms and flyers becoming available next week from Hogeys Surf .
This is destined to be The Biggest surfing event ever held in the South Island as 20 years is quite an accomplishment for any event.

Stop Press: Old video clips released.

2010-09-09T11:46:00.000-07:00

Please visit the 'clips' page for a bunch of new/old clips from the never released "Summer of o5" Nelsonboardriders DVD. Big thanks to Daryl Way for coughing up the goods and stay tuned for more including an epic session at 8ft kahutura to the tune of Metallica Master of Puppets!!!

Crazy Times.

2010-09-07T22:17:00.000-07:00

-hi Everyone and first and foremostly a big shout out to everyone in Christchurch this week. Complete madness following the massive quake on Saturday morning with more and more aftershocks still rattling everyone. Well known surfing families the Joyce's and Mc Neill''s both completely losing their houses in the Kaipoi district and our thoughts are with everyone affected at this time. (above): Ashleigh Trainor and Tali vidal, Tandom Surfing!

Surf News:
-On the surf front we are still bathing in this glorious La-Nina weather body and the frequency of swells is almost unrivelled as it has barely been flat for 4 days over the last 3 months.
Keni Duke has arrived back from the Nth Island after a 3 week holiday and also bringing home with him a fresh new quiver of boards. Ben Robertson has also returned back from Wellington commenting on how much he enjoyed watching the swell forecast for Nelson over the last 3 months whilst he was stuck in Wellywood...NOT!
Basically there has been so much surf going on I dont even know where to begin nor itemise individual surfs but I guess a couple of surfs out at The Cut definately worth a mention, some good days at the local Snap-Attack and The Glen has been a haven for grommets of late.
Buoy-Bank at the western-end of Tahuna has seen an invasion of learners which is awesome to see them utilising such a great beginners wave. Everyone has been getting their share and nw as the water warms up its damn near a Surfers Paradise!!

(above) Tali Vidal scratching over a chunky Snappers Peak

Rumour Mill:
>>>>>>Who is the local grommet, that no matter how good the surf is, still manages to sleep through his alarm every time??>>Who are the Nelson College Girls who put the boys to shame tackling 8-19ft Wharareki??>> Which god fearing local church pastor just leaves his board at The Glen on the grass then drives away hoping to return to find a new one in the morning??>>>>WHo can actually afford a 4500 dollar wooden malibu??>>>> Which Blenheim surfer keeps pushing for a Blenheim Vs Nelson surfing contest despite only having 4 Blenheim surfers to Nelsons 50..!!?? and last but not least......Which local maori surfer is ripping up his floorboards to make a hungi??? The truth is out there... (above): Nelson Girls College showing the Boys College how its done!!

(above): From now on we leave eachothers cars alone huh boys?

Thanks Again.

Lost Board??

2010-09-06T03:56:00.000-07:00

Are you msssing something???
Contact via this site for details.....

Shot!

2010-08-31T03:24:00.000-07:00

Not sure who took this photo but its a beauty!!! (above): Presumeably James "Laff" Laird ...charging

More days, More waves...

2010-08-30T01:41:00.001-07:00

Kia Ora and welcome to Spring 2010!! - It seems our wishes were granted around May this year as a consistent swells and above average air and water temperatures have left us thinking that this winter is right up there with 2008 and even rivalling the "back in the day" era where rumours were that the surf was super consistent all the time......"man""!!
Since early May the longest we have been without at least a 2ft swell is 15 days and seeing as that 15 days fell smack bang amongst some really cold weather it was not like we wanted to go surfing anyway now was it!! So now as the temperatures begin to rise both in and out of the water lets hope our good luck continues! (above): over-rated wave...

Rumour Mill: Olin Pilcher and Rob Holmes both have welcomed newborns into their families and somehow still managed to slide a few waves in and many congratulations to them both>> Neil Tyson 'tip-toes' out of house for the earlies making sure not to wake grommet son Jim, nice work Neil!!>>Take Maeda ( snow patrol bus) wears a 3/2 throughout winter, now thats hardcore!! >> Russ bruce blows fins out doing bottom turns >> Distraught surfer crucifies surfboard but now doesnt have a surfboard to ride>> The ever elusive Rich Barry has been seen tearing waves to shreds on all sorts of equipment>>Pregnant surf chick has a heaving chunder in the Snappers lineup>>various people spend 2-400 bucks on season passes to Rainbow only to go up for one day >> Scott Rewi has returned from Indo but is now to scared to enter the icy realm of New Zealand waters,,,and last but not least No PADDLEBOARDER FOR 75 DAYS!! Hoorayy!!!

(above): Scott Rewi slipping into Indo''s version of Snappers!!

Laters!!

Im a Surfer

2010-08-29T00:45:00.000-07:00

Nelson vs Blenheim: A surfing contest??

2010-08-24T11:59:00.000-07:00

(above) Jeremy Pooley, kickin it Moose Style

Expressions of interest are welcomed after Blenheim surfer Hamish Simpson approached me in regard to perhaps holding a Nelson Vs Blenheim surfing contest to be held either in Nelson or Blenheim depending on where the swell is that weekend and before all you non-contest types get your hair in a mess the logistics of how and if it could be done in Nelson has been sorted and you most likely wouldnt even notice a thing...

Hamish assures me he has a few guys interested so Im putting the idea out there and perhaps this could be a warm up for the Cape Classic.

20th Annivesary Cape Classic

2010-08-24T11:50:00.000-07:00

An early heads up that the 20th Anniversary Cape Classic will be staged in Westport late October (labour weekend) This is set to go down as the biggest event the South Island Surfing Circuit has ever seen with organisers already laying down extravagent prizemoney with 1st place opens rumoured to be a lazy 2grand!! This event is sure to attract attention from more mainstream North Island competitors and media in general with dollar amounts like the above mentioned but not only that the widespread entertainment planned for this event is amazing clearly making this an event not to be missed. Buller boardriders cordially invite everyone to make the trek down to "The Bay" and help celebrate a truly wonderful achievement and with commentary once again from Westports own Julian Young....why would you wanna be anywhere else!!