Waiting Game

I don't have a whole lotta patience. I suppose it's a problem. Ten minutes into a movie and I'm outta my seat searching the fridge for food, or cleaning out our hallway closet. I can't seem to sit still. So as you might imagine, I suck at waiting for waves. Take last Sunday for instance. It wasn't working when we arrived, but you could tell that it wanted to. You just have to be willing to wait. But after standing outside for what felt like forever, I climbed back into the van, ate an apple and tried to take it easy. Goddamn if I ain't impatient! Fast forward five minutes and I'm pulling on my Patagucci and paddling out. Was one, maybe two foot tops. But we found a few fun ones - the wife, the walrus and I. Maybe it would've been better if we had waited awhile. Maybe just a few more minutes. But minutes ain't really my thing, man!

Ponzanelli & Calvani

First part of a short film that highlights the rather unlikely relationship between Bing Surfboards owner and shaper, Matt Calvani, and Alessandro Ponzanelli, an up-and-coming Italian logger.

Worth One Wave

Sometimes you have to ask yourself, is all this worth one wave? The wool lined wetsuit, the seven-mil boots and the lobster claw gloves. The rain and the wind and cold water. Is all of that worth a wave? Because you never really know what you're going to get. Maybe it looks good when you get there. Maybe the wind isn't working. Maybe the tide is on it's way out and the intervals are pretty alright. But then you paddle out, and the wind comes from the west and the sets shorten up and you stay outside to avoid getting cleaned up. That entire time you have to keep reminding yourself that it'll be worth it. That one wave, when you get it, will make everything alright.

And so it went this weekend. Only the wind was working in our favor - it was offshore all afternoon - and the waves were alright. Head high when we first went out. Decreasing in size throughout the day. I surfed a pig, ten foot and feral. Big bottom turns to tight spots and toes toward the nose. Switched sticks with my wife and surfed her Silverspoon. She struggled with the wind but found a few. When we called it quits the tide was on its way out. We headed into town for some supper, pretty good pizza, then back to the beach before the sun set. A few beers in the back of the van. Rain on the rooftop. Can't complain.

Summer of the Cat

Sixties style short film from our friends at Gato Heroi that highlights a handful of their boards, as well as a summer full of small surf. Featuring Robin Kegel, Cody Simpkins, Tyler Warren and Alex Knost.

Whole Larder Love

My friend Rohan wrote a book. A cook book. A grow it, gather it, kill it and then cook it kinda book. You see, Rohan lives in Australia, a place seemingly unaffected by the Nancy Drewness that has overcome a great deal of this country. So he grows his own goods, fishes for his own fish, shoots stuff with his shotgun and then cooks it all at home for his family to feast on. It's simple, really. But I suppose that's the idea behind the book. Simple recipes, seasonal stuff, locally sourced.

Rohan also runs a blog, from which his cookbook takes its title. On it, Rohan documents his cooking, hunting, fishing and harvesting, as well as his life on a small spot of land in the southeastern part of AUS. I bought his book for my wife, who, although unable to both kill and cook much of what we eat, seemed to appreciate the simple culinary style that Rohan writes about in his book and on his blog.

Click here to learn more about the book.

Autumn Evening

Mikey DeTemple surfing a 7'5" Christenson Flat Tracker somewhere along the Central Atlantic coast.

Fickleness

Fall is fickle. You never know what you're going to get. Rain or shine, wind or waves. Maybe some kinda combination. Really makes you appreciate all them good days. When you drive from spot to spot in search of swell and stumble onto something - like waves and nota whole lotta wind. It just makes it that much better. We weren't sure what we were getting ourselves into last weekend, but we knew we had to give it a go. Shortly after we settled on a spot a squall rolled in. Joe and Karissa climbed into the van and we started to watch Cycle Savages. But I'll be damned if the sun didn't show up. And the wind went away. So we suited up and surfed until five or six. Then headed to the Bushwhacker for a beer.

Total Enjoyment

"Surfing has been my life. It’s all I've done. It really doesn't matter how big or small the waves are. When you are out there surfing you are really competing with yourself. Let’s say you are in a bad mood and you go out surfing, you catch one good wave and it makes your whole day – heck, it makes your whole week. Surfing is just there for total enjoyment. It gives you peace of mind. Physically it’s good and mentally it keeps you focused. For example, if you are bothered by something and you go surfing – it’s a release. You can forget about everything. It’s just very, very enjoyable."

- Donald Takayama

Click here to read Glenn Sakamoto's interview in its entirety.

The Greaser

Short bit of film featuring Matt "The Greaser" Chojnacki, courtesy of our friends at Deus Ex Machina.

The Baddest Man Alive

What I've been listening to lately...

Stoke Harvester Stimulation: F/W

Looks like there’s all kinds of new stuff on Stoke Harvester. Topo Designs, Almond Surfboards, Patagonia apparel, The Surfer's Bible and a few new fins. Anyhow, after browsing around a bit I put together this lil’ collection of some of my favorite stuff. Click here to see what's new this winter.

Farewell to Summer

Mikey DeTemple and Kassia Meador bid farewell to the warm summer waves at Montauk, on Long Island's northeastern most seaboard. Brought to you by The Endless Bummer.