I spent most of last Thursday morning watching Josh shaping my new board. From his hands sprang an amazing Long Fish Simmons, mixing the best elements of the Skip Frye design with some of his own design touches. She looks great and all the details make sense – I’m sure it’s a keeper!
Josh Hall finally arrived in Lisbon on 22 November to kick off the Portuguese leg of his European shaping tour. Thankfully, the following day dawned bright and blue – a welcome change from the rain and clouds of the previous week, and perfect conditions for a trip along the coast.
Our final fortnight in Portugal was a blur of surf, fishing, barbeques, bonfires, good company and good bottles of wine, all crowned by three days of modest drives through Spain via the medieval university town of Salamanca to stormy Bilbao to await passage home aboard ‘The Pride of Bilbao’.
The idea of getting a shaper from California to Portugal is nothing new – previously I’ve collaborated with other factories to get the likes of DJ Kane, Jeff McCallum and Malcolm Campbell over to Europe – but I’ve never sorted one out on my own. Until now!
I had the best surf of the trip so far this morning; in fact, I’m at a stage on my surfing path where I’m able to say I had the best surf of my life this morning!
Sometimes I feel compelled to leave my work and start something new, something I love, instead of something well paid. I guess this happens to most of us, but who has the courage to see it through? We all have good excuses not to; I know I do – I have to support a family.
Al-Jazira Al-Arabiya
Mat Arney hooks up with old friends on the Arabian Peninsula.
Homeblown talent
An encounter with a British company doing something special with surfboards.
Still So Numb: Iceland
Ian Battrick and Tim Nunn take a journey around the North Atlantic isle.
The Hebrides: A photo essay
James Bowden experiences life in the slow lane on the far shores of the British Isles.
Local Hero
Jimmy Newitt pays homage to one of South Devon's treasures - not a break but a surfer who stands tall in the crowd.
Post-modern punk
Chris Preston chats to Neil Randall of if6was9 about his radical take on traditional board design.
