Long Beach 2007-01-08 11:33
Tearing it up in the old man's back yard, this kid should be paid to carry the Lifestyle logo. He's leapt to my lens far too many times not to be noticed by surf aficionados. I was trying — in pretty lousy light — to use high ISO to good effect. It didn't work. This kid's surfing's a damned side better than the above shot of him.
Speaking of which, my education in matters surf-related has been given a boost by finding The Swell Guys, a quality, local publication well worth subscribing to — feeds offered. A year has passed without my picking up on the seemingly False Bay-loaded surf set, and their coverage of spots such as the Reef is top drawer.
I'm referring to photographs here — there are a couple of heavyweight SLRs doing duty but, hey, it's ultimately down to the guy who pushes the button.
Finding Darryn Cuff and Timo Chaplin's short, Cruizing Asphalt, was especially pleasing as — besides The Swell Guys keeping sidewalk surfers in the loop, I'm pretty sure Darryn put together my boards at Peter Wright's Corner Surf Shop close on eighteen months ago.
The old-school board with the 70mm Krypto Classics went to a friend on his 50th birthday, Darryn, but my longboard continues to keep me carving the long hills. I've yet to find that 3km run though...
Mauling the old-school board with Zonker on some flat tar this past weekend, we had some Agulhas locals giving us pretty weird looks. "Old men on boards," they probably thought — disparagingly.
Well, fuck 'em. Life's too short to not go skating…
Which, I think, is where I started. Tich Paul is an old man, isn't he?
