More Verve

Above water shots by Tom Woods.

Whenever the waves get a little more punchy I gravitate towards my Twin Keel Verve.

Logging with Jonathon

Recently I was down at Torquay and happenned to read 'Jonathon Livinston Seagull' which I enjoyed and was touched by. It impressed upon me the importance of rising above the mundane and following your heart.

Angela Raab took these shots a few months back and the segulls remind me of Jonathon. I can relate to the passion Jonathon has of flying. As a surfer I am consumed by my passion... life makes more sense when I'm surfing. And there's something so beautiful about logging... drifting, swept along by the wave. Maybe its a little bit like flying.

Valla Volta

I ride my Volta more regularly than any other board I own right now. It really makes surfing fun in mediocre waves, especially when they're a bit full. Above pic: Angela Raab

Above shots of the Volta by Patrick Trefz. This beachbreak is just down the rode from where I live and was quite fun this day, especially since there was only 5 of us out along the entire beach.

Agave Shape & Glass

A few more pics of the Chambered Agave board my father Paul Joske finished recently. A beautiful looking timber and very light. I'll post some more shots of the finished board soon.

Summer loggin..

Earlier this year Sage made me a log and at the moment I have really been enjoying slowing down and just feeling the slide.

This image was taken by Ben from the website In Byron Bay today.

Logging at Dusk

I love heavier, single fin, traditional style Logs and I love surfing from afternoon to night, watching the colours float across the sky between waves.

Pics: Angela Raab

Tom Woods

Friend of Valla Surfboards... photographer Tom Woods. Tom amazes me... every time we shoot he always seems to get some sweet shots. The surf can be mediocre and you can surf bad and he'll still get something. Tom's also a really genuine guy.

Check out his website and blog.

Above pic by Angela Raab.

Brett Caller x 8'9" Alaia

This is Brett on his 8'9" Traditional Valla Alaia. I was out this day and I can remember paddling over the shoulder of the left where he is hanging five on his alaia. Very cool.

Brett seems to be able to ride any board, and ride it well. And every time I see him he's getting better. A talented guy.

Agave Board Construction

Here's some construction pics of an Agave board my Father painstakingly crafted for Peter Fillmore who lives at Apollo Bay. A lot of work but the finished board came out gorgeously. I'll post some more pics soon.

Budding Paulownia

Dad harvested his Paulownia trees a few months ago now and they're piled up in a corner of our factory. They are out of the sun and supposed to be drying yet they keep budding and sending out new growth. Every week Dad walks around and pulls the new growth off.

Wise Words...

My father always placed great importance on the bottom turn which I think has affected my Brother and my surfing.

I'm riding a stringerless styrofoam Volta quad which has a parallel outline through the back end allowing longer drawn out turns. The shot was taken by filmaker/photographer Patrick Trefz a couple months back now. Check out Patrick's blog here and his website here.

Alaia Fun with Eli

My friend Eli Jacobs called in a couple months back and we took out some Alaia's at Nambucca Main Beach. Eli lives on the Gold Coast and rides his Alaia at Snapper and Greenmount when the desire takes him. I've seen him get some really sweet rides. Eli's in Hawaii right now hopefully having a ball and stroking into some solid ones.

Both Alaia's are 7'4" and based off boards my father (Paul Joske) saw in the Bishop Museum. Eli's board is made from Paulownia and I am holding a Red Cedar Alaia dad made for himself. The surf was chest high, sloppy, and bumpy this day and really hard work. Eli got some really good rides while I was struggling. In the end Dad's Alaia corked me in my bicep and I had to come in... I could hardly drive home and couldn't work for two days. Haha what a wimp.

Holga Pics

These are some random pics Angela Raab took with her Holga camera. Check out Angela's work at http://angelaraab.com/ I really like her stuff.

Stirling's New Ride

I recently finished a beautiful blood red Verve for my good friend Stirling a couple weeks ago. The five fin boxes allow for a quad, 2+1, and single fin setup.

I hope you're getting some sweet rides bro and hope to see you in the water on it again soon.

Lady Glide

This is Katherine Hall, proud owner of 2 Valla longboards (Yellow 9'0" & Blue 8'6"). Katherine's only been surfing for a couple of years and as you can see from the pics she's loving it. I got to surf with Katherine and her husband Joe a while back at Scotts Head and it was great to see how quickly she was improving and how much fun she was having.

Valla Fishes on Mesurf

The guys over at Mesurf have some info on our Fish colab with TCSS. Cheers guys and thanks Jim Mitchell & Ben Waters for all your help. Check it out at http://www.mesurf.com.au/ProductDetail.aspx?id=1097&name=valla-surfboards-x-tcss

Last Saturday

So last Saturday
I caught a lift up to Main Beach
to have some surfing activites
with Sage
I was able to ride
one of Sage's latest designs
as well as the HP log and new
Verve fish

Here is a picture of Sage
and his latest creation

Heathy J....

So Whats been happening with young Heath? No he has not fallen off the planet. Heath has been very busy this year fighting his way up the rankings of the WQS. Due to an awesome effort he recently made it to the final of the 6 star Santa cruz Oniell cold water classic and for those of you that don't Know this is a very big deal as now in his first year he is place at 35th with a few events still to come. Good on you mate we're all very proud of you keep up the tidy work.
this pic was found at www.life.images.com

high n tight

Brett Caller getting one last surf in Coffs before heading back to Byron. This pic taken yesterday morning (wednesday) at one the town beachies. Noseriding his Valla log

Pic: ST Images

Joy..

I headed back up the coast yesterday to meet up with my good buddy and great old mal rider Issac Fields in hope of some runners at the Pass. Check out this perfect 10 that Ben from In Byron Bay today snapped up, Not bad not bad at all.
The water was so clear and there were these perfect little shooters on the inside so I took out my 8'9 Alaia shaped by Paul Joske to go for a slide. I love taking the Parallel stance on the timber but there comes a time when I just like to go prone, What a joy.

Woodsy

So this morning I did some shots with STimages, the man normally behind the camera Tom Woods found him self swapping the lens for his Volta Valla fish which he was absolutely flaring on. check out these pic's that his wife Sherrin took at macca's.

Caller rippin on a sunday

Brett Caller's contest record improved again today, taking out the Old mal divison of the East coast challenge and then coming second to Jared Neal in the open 9 foot. He was on fire in his semi this morning where he scored this little tube ride. I fired off about 8 shots before he came shooting out clean and then into the floater that is pictured below. The new Valla HP is going really well for him.

photos: ST IMAGES

EPS....

Recently I have been really enjoying riding my Valla HP long board shaped by Sage.
Its exactly 9'1 and made from EPS, such a joy to ride. I have been riding my HP when it's really crowded on the beachies around Byron because it allows me to get a bunch of waves and still throw some tail.
This Pic was captured at Tallows beach the other day by a local photographer. He has a website called Soul Arch you should check it out.http://www.soularch.com.au/

Volta

Here is a selection of photographs taken by Keith Novosel.
I am riding a "5'7" twin fin Volta Fish
The foam was shredded by Sage

Phoresia Interview

My friend Mick Sowry did a little interview with me for the guys over at Phoresia. If your interested check it out at http://www.phoresia.org/?p=463

I met Mick a couple years back now down at King Island where he was making the 'Musica Surfica' documentary. A great guy and a better man then me braving Victorian winters each year. For more info about Mick check out his blog at http://safetosea.blogspot.com/

Alaia x Lis Fish

This is a stringerless Alaia-Fish hybrid I finished about 3 weeks ago now and its really been a lot of fun. Long drifting turns and spins at will. The idea was to explore some of the inherent design attributes of traditional Alaia's in a medium I'm familiar with (foam) but with some of the control structures of the fish (swallow tail, Lis rocker, tiny keels). I actually never expected it to be so much fun to ride. Stoked.

A Surfing Sunday

On Sunday the family and I ventured out of Scotts Head
to Sth Valla for the Logger Heads Club Comp.
We met Sage there and after our heats Sage and I
decided to move our surfing adventures to Main Beach.
Sage trimmed across the clean faces on his Log.
while I frolicked on the new HP Log.
This board surprised me greatly,
this board looks different!
Its like, the kid in skinny jeans and a v-neck,
in the middle of a football team -
it stands out!
It surf's really well.
holds in on the nose,
while still being able to manoeuvre.
Sage then swapped for his new 4 fin Verve Fish.
And proceeded to hack and backside 360.

After a quick lunch at the Joske house
we continued down to the factory,
to look for possible templates for a new Log.
We ended up with about three different templates
meshed together for an outline
that I was very happy with.
At about 9'7 1/2" x 24" wide
this board should be a ripper.
Overall it was a very worthwile day spent.




Checking out the new colourway for the Verve

First look at the HP Log

Sundays Quiver

Joe Hall - Taming the Beast

First surf at Scotts Head on his 17kg, 10 ft Paulownia Log.

Joe's New Log

Joe picked up his new 10 ft chambered Paulownia log recently, painstakingly crafted by Paul Joske over 115 hours. Note the beautiful Californian Redwood fin. It weighs in at around 17 kgs for very smooth ride.

Smoke and Mirrors

Pics: Angela Raab