Hossegor Perfection

Best Line-Up I've seen for the last couple of months.

Victorian Dreaming

Got these pics recently from my buddy Simon... Don't you wish you were there... with a really warm wetsuit.

Sydney.

So after Aussies I went and spent some time in Sydney.
Jess and I brought a Disposable Camera for the day.
And we went into the heart of the city and had a look around.
Here are a sample of our results.

Tim + Volta + Indo = Fun

Tim Mouten having fun on his Styrofoam/Epoxy Volta in Indonesia recently.

Light Chasing

Brett Caller, light chasing on his Valla log.

My Buddy Joe - Having Some Fun

My friend Joe ordered a custom 9'3" Longboard quite a few months back now. It's not a log, and not a High Performance Longboard, but somwhere in between.

Says Joe "I'm really enjoying the board. I like the functional blend of old and new. It can be surfed a bit more traditional and upright, but has the ability to make sections that a log probably wouldn't. But that doesn't mean I'm still not dreaming and scheming up my next longboard! "

These pics are of Joe on recent raodtrip up the coast and taken by Jason Smith. Jason's got a sweet blog with some interesting pics. Click here to take a look.

Highs and Lows of WQS

I've been travelling in EuroLand for the last 4 weeks chasing the WQS. The waves have been pretty horrible and I haven't been having much luck but it's moments like this one in the Azores Islands off Portugal that brings back things back into perspective. The waves didn't get over 1 foot the whole time I was there but the scenery was a perfect 10!

Brother Heath

Heath Joske from crustylapel on Vimeo.

A little bit of info on my brother Heath and what he's up to. Film by Russell Pell.

quik quiz with brett

ST surf images have just put together a little interview with Valla team rider Brett Caller. click HERE to check it out.

Jack Lynch is Aussie Champ

Jack won the Australian Junior Longboard Titles at North Haven yesterday. I drove down for the day and watched the final where he caught a couple of quick waves at the start, took the lead, and then held it during the entire heat. It was great to see Jack's flowing on rail surfing on his 9'0" HP Longboard. Well done bro.

Pic is by Duncan Macfarlane of Jack logging earlier this year.

Logular.

As a goofy footer, learning to ride logs on the east coast of Oz is pretty much an all right hander affair. Epic points like Noosa the Pass and Crescent are amazing and allow us to fine tune our back hand although when given the chance we like to jump all over the forehand tip time. Pic by Stsurfimages

Coloured Glass

Spent most of today Glassing. Generally I'm adding colour to the resin with tints and pigments. It can get sticky, its a fumy job, but its one I enjoy.

I love how the colours react with each other, I love how you have to think things through before you start... plan a course of action. And I like that once the catalyst goes in the resin... you are fully committed to that course of action - for better or worse.

There is a lot that can go wrong. Recently I mistimed a glass job and the resin gelled in the pot when I was half-way through. I got the glass down but there was some air around the lap. I ended up making the customer a completely new board... and that log will become my new board shortly.

But when everythings timed right and comes together its a nice feeling.

Pics: Angela Raab

More Flux

Some more pics from my recent NZ trip

Winter Skies

Its Winter here on the North Coast of NSW and it's a beautiful time of the year. Regular offshores with cloudless skies and deep blue days can make it hard to stay put in the factory.

There's a stillness and calm associated with this time of the year too which I really enjoy but is hard to identify. Maybe it has something to do with the shorter days and longer nights... I always seem to get to bed earlier. Its like nature has pulled her curtain down... everything feels... stiller. There's no noisy Cicadas or Mosquitoes like summer. And I like it.

The pics above were taken around this time last year by Angela Raab. I love the skies in these pics... it has those wintery colours... that sense of stillness and calm.

Rock-hopping

Negotiating the rocks and the cold in NZ recently. Pic: Brad Wittaker

New Vibe for Steve

Steve came to the factory last weekend with his son Zac to pick up his new 6'6" Twin Keel Vibe which he's been waiting patiently for! I was really happy with the blue tint and white pigment combination.

Happy fishing Steve.

Inspector vector...

Heres a Tom Woods pic of me sliding around on Sages vector at the pass last year. I don't have my own yet but  I manage to snavel Sages one every once and awhile and it is all ways a super fun experience. I guess it's like you get all the feelings of riding the Alaia although its so much easier especially for us goofy footers on our back hand. I was fortunate enough earlier this to get to go back to New zealand and slide the Vector on some super fun lefts at Raglan, how I wish we had some left points here on the east coast of OZ.

Custom Single Fin

A youny Wayne Barnes checking out his custom Single Fin sometime in the 70's. I love how shiny the board looks in the pic on the left. Note the deep concave when the board is on its rail (pic on right). Scanned straight from the Valla Surfboards family album.

Flux - New Zealand

Some pics from a New Zealand Trip I got back from a few weeks ago. I was fortunate to be involved in Surfing/Christianity based documentary being developed at the moment called Flux. I travelled to New Zealand with a diverse group of 8 surfers and hung out for 10 days. Was cold but we got some cracking waves.

Valla Virgin

Well, This is my first blog as being a part of Valla Saltwater Constructs. I'm frothing to be a part of the team on here as I'm loving the material Sage and the boys put up for us to geez at. I'm over in Newquay at the moment for a WQS and it's about as WQS as life gets, meaning, tiny dribbly waves, thousands of people on the beach and everyone paddling over each other to get that one elusive score. It gets a bit annoying at times! This shot is from back in 2004 on the first wooden hawaiian board Dad made with Tom Stone on my first real trip to Hawaii! It was a real privelege to see the making of the board and Tom was always trying to involve me in the process as he thought it super important to pass the skills of making these amazing boards down the line.