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.
Dont Jump Off the Pier
A brief history of surfing in the north-east of England.
Forty Bonzer Years
Malcolm Campbell lists fourty notable things to represent the forty years of the Bonzer.
Mission: possible
Portugal explodes onto the global big wave circuit.
Thirty thousand
Richard James shoots a surf trip of 30,000 kilometres along the west cost of Africa.
All in Hand
When it comes to surfcraft there’s a newcomer making waves
A Few Smooth Lines
Chris Preston interviews Sydney's Matt Chojnacki
The train to Taghazout
Mat Arney attempts to hop aboard the slow train to Morocco, boardbag in tow.
Single Fin Serendipity
The unusual return of Bobby Owens' magic board.
Nature on display
Chris Burkard’s photographs are about the scenery being the star of the show.
Peterson Threebeard
All aboard the good ship Peterson Threebeard
Surfilmfestibal 2011
The surfilmfestibal festival attempts to connect the global surfing community
Walls of Perception
Ben Thouard joins Oxbow in search of adventure and virgin waves.
