mondays

5.9' @ 9 seconds
wind WNW 7 to 10 kts
water temp 40.5 °F
air temp 39.7 °F

waves -well pretty damn good if you ask me.

paddled out at a quarter to six. black was already there -says he paddled out and it was too dark to see if it was workin.

well it was workin.

I got one of the longest waves I've had in weeks.

he got out before seven and for the next forty five minutes I had it to myself. I looked around in awe. I let a few go by me so I could feel myself bob up and over the lips while sitting on my board. I tried taking off deeper each time and got stuffed about half the time. the smaller ones were better -way better. but I kept paddling over in front of the boulder and waiting for the ones that had the overhead take-offs. they'd line up far to the west and as I popped up and looked down the line I knew there was now way I'd make it.

funny how confidence plays tricks on you. towards the end of my time in the water I fell on a few and the ones I caught I'd squander. so my mood turned from the elation of the first wave to self pity for falling off perfect waves.

and the whole time the marvel that is a sunrise in the Maritimes was unfolding in front of me. black and white ducks flying low and some landing in the line-up, oblivious to the swells. down east I could the plumes coming off the backs of swells breaking on the beach. the sky mostly clear finally after days of low slung clouds and the grass green like emeralds and growing finally after a long long winter.

now I am ready for work.

que comida!

simmering rice with saffron, shrimp, and chicken stock with white wine


finished and cooling with digby scallops, squid and shrimp. under the seafood is chicken, fresh spicy chorizo, olive, capers and other secret goodness. this was a dinner request for Blacks birthday. we had a few beer as well.


my little B is making her favourite wrapped food. chicken tamales. we had to scramble all over town to find the husks.




food weekend

happy birthday Black

one year older means you possess a bit more wave knowledge, more endurance, and probably become a little more curmudgeonly.

thursday surf

JB picked me up at 5:15. we were in the water before sunrise. the waves were small but secret sandbar plain sight number 5's was doin its high tide thing again. warbly and shifty. not as good as the last time I surfed it. still if you got on the ones that walled towards the east you could make the inside section. just a few little pumps and huggin the steep little face before it closed out over the cobbles and dry sand.

maybe one day I'll get to the point where I go and look at it and decide it's too junky and go home. for now though if I think I can ride it then I'm on it. and now at work having already had a full day I feel at peace and completely happy.

Peta

good morning

was in the water at 6 this morning. took my log and surfed a right point. the waves were consistently waist high but it was a mixed swell and the peaks were scattered. there was a slight northwest wind when I first got in the water and it gradually increased but caused no harm. high tide was at 5:30 so the waves were a bit mushy. after about an hour and a half I came in. I looked over at the little sandbar that was working at high tide a week ago and sure enough it was workin again. it breaks right on shore but there's a fast wall for about twenty or thirty yards. I won't show up at high tide again without my shortboard.

rode my bike in to work and was at my desk by 9 and I've already had a full day.

danger

fires are done. some folks lost homes. sad yes it's true. luckily most who lost homes were the city's rich and elite. they can rebuild. one guy on the news almost started crying over the loss of his 6000 square foot home. waaa.

surfed saturday and sunday with Blacks. nothin epic but a blast nonetheless and my shoulders and back feel like I got a work out.

if you've taken a few waves on the head then you must certainly know what this green bandit is in for. the wave is California's infamous Wedge. click on the photo for the full 100.

"scrub it kook."

fires

here's two shot's take by my friend KK from her balcony yesterday. the fire is still raging.

Halifax on Fire

this is the best photo I could find of the fire which started late this afternoon on the west side of town. it's completely out of control and spans five miles. the winds are howling and the rain looks to hold off 'till mid day. definitely a stressful time although we are clear on the other side of the city. lots of people are evacuated and many have lost homes in just hours. crazy.

the story is here

almost...

... if I'd stalled a little higher in the pocket and stuck my mitt in the face a little deeper then maybe I'd have heard that fabled sound. foiled again but soon I'll find it.


phil taylor photo

Jaimal Yogis and "Salt water Buddha"

A couple months ago Jaimal Yogis sent me a copy of his soon to be released book. Actually the book is out on Friday. Often I've wondered if I relate to others based on generational similarities (music, art, current events, etc.) or sheer coincidence. Perhaps it's a mix of the two. Saltwater Buddha however resonated with me in so many ways it's uncanny. Here's a short clip about the author and the book. I'll be writing a more detailed book review on Phoresia.org in the coming week.

spring and the joy of crowds

was in the water by 6:30 on Saturday morning. would've been there earlier had I not checked some spots for which my hopes had been too high considering the tide and receding swell. there were two kids walking down along the path to the point when I was suiting up. normally I make the paddle through the bay to warm up as it were but I chose to pick my way along the rocks instead with the high tide lapping my feet. out at the point there was some morning sickness and all around weakness. the lefts coming off the point were short but steeper and probably a little bigger since they were heading right into the headland over the shallow weed covered rocks. after an hour of grovelling and small kine turns I thought the better of it and headed in.

the lot was almost full and scores were suiting up. I said hello to a couple of friends and made my way to the blue flame to take off my wetsuit. as I looked out over the boardwalk I could see a little left reeling off some secret sandbar and crashing right on the dry cobbles. I figured I'd give it a try since it was still only 8 am and damn it looked rideable. stepping out through the impact section reminded me of Spanish House or Wabasso -with a heavy wall coming fast and impacting on the shore. after that though the paddle out was minimal. I picked off the first one and popped up and just pumped and raced down the line as the waist high take off turned into a chest high vertical wall. the quad held like it does and each little pump coaxed more speed out of her. (I should give her a name fitting of her prowess.) finally I kicked out over the closeout before I was deposited on dry cobblestones. a guy watching from the stairs say my first wave, ran back to get his board and sat right on top of me the whole time. "this is beach break" I thought as I tried to push him a little deeper each time knowing that he wouldn't make the drop. didn't hamper too much to have him there and he took a few on the head and eventually went in. after a few more the tide filled in and the left became a closeout. should've been here an hour ago.

Saturday was the warmest day since last September signaling the end of winters grip. I have now completed three years of winter surfing here in NS. my shoulders and back have gained paddle stamina. my wave sense is as good now as it was in 2001 when I lived in Kona and surfed Pine Trees each evening after work. most importantly though my confidence has improved which sometimes can make the difference on a late take off. I'm as stoked on surfing now at 33 as I was when I was 17.

each spring it's become increasingly crowded in the lineup -even on early mornings during the week. it's easily noticeable here because mostly we have points and reefs, waves which tend to have a maximum carrying capacity. I must admit that I underestimated the surfing population before I came. but there has been a core surf community here for a long long time and they especially must be feeling the pressure of the increased crowds.

I was thinking about how to feel about crowded surf since it's been a long time since I've experienced it. there's really two ways to look at it. I can allow myself to get salty and jaded about a bunch of beginners letting go of their boards in the lineup or I can transcend it, focus on the horizon and work on improving my surfing. I learned how to surf in Brevard County on the shores between Cocoa Beach and Melbourne Beach. It wasn't uncommon to be in the water with fifty plus surfers, many who could surf better than I ever will. when crowds are all you know it's not a bother. so as look forward to riding my 9'6" at the reef or my quad at the beach break I have to remind myself that the original heads should get priority and that my outlook on the situation can make my surfing life fulfilling or less than half-empty. as always I got to give thanks for this life of riding swells upon the sea.

now I'm off to work.

had to steal this one from Crooked Arm as it's perfect for today's thoughts.

dawn patrol

Marine Forecast

Winds
Issued 03:00 AM ADT 24 April 2009
Today Tonight and Saturday Strong wind warning in effect.
Wind south 30 knots diminishing to southwest 20 near noon and to west 15 this afternoon. Wind backing to south 15 near noon Saturday.


Waves
Issued 05:00 AM ADT 24 April 2009
Today Tonight and Saturday Seas 3 metres subsiding to 2 early this evening and to 1 Saturday morning.

earth day = humans day

what am I doing for earth day? well I rode my bike to work in the pissing spring rain. please hold your applause. riding my bike to work is not going to "save our planet."

this may get a little ranty so cool your boots.

We’ve been getting duped for a long time with this earth day bullshit. Now everyone is “green” and every company offers a “green” product line. You can pledge monthly tithing’s to save: whales, wolves, hawks, beaches, frogs and trees. Hell you can even pledge to send some poor belly full of worms kid in a developing country to school. You can put their picture on your fridge and smile each time you go for your next beer. But really what it all boils down to is saving our own asses.

Before I get too cynical let I re-direct.

We are animals. Unlike other animals like iguanas in the Galapagos Islands, we do not speciate. This means that we are not limited by geographic location as we can adapt to live in any part of our earth. Like the iguana, we have a habitat which needs a basic level of natural functioning to support the life of the iguana. Any radical changes in the Galapagos sea iguanas’ environment and it will die. This is the same for us. However, because we can adapt so easily, and we can eat and digest just about anything, our habitat is not as easily derailed as say that of a really specialized animals like the marine iguana of the Galapagos.

All I’m saying through the above obvious statement is that we need to be honest with ourselves and with the language we use. We are destroying our own habitats. Some have destroyed theirs so completely that it doesn’t support them any longer and they must rely on aid. Haiti is the perfect example. I won’t waste any virtual ink on the blaming game as to who is responsible for the most damage to our habitat (we all know it’s the developed countries). The bottom line is that if you shit in your cage then you gotta sleep in your shit.

So what is the answer? How do we fix things? According to some it may be too late but perhaps the most powerful thing anyone in a developed country can do to help preserve their “own” habitat is to radically cut down on their total consumption of resources. I will leave it that as I intended this to be more linguistic discussion than an ethical argument about consumerism environmentalism.

Happy Humans Day!

style: danny MacAskill

I spend a lot of time on my ass either behind my desk at work or in the evenings at home after work. but there is one lesson that I learned from years of skateboarding and the same lesson has been re-stamped in my will after the last three years of steady surfing. the only way to achieve anything is to put in the work and to be present and engaged during the process, learning from mistakes and successes. in the last few days I've been more sedentary than usual due to a lack of waves. I ran on the weekend and finally busted out few calisthenics yesterday. however,that is not even enough for maintenance.

luckily I found this newly posted gem. danny macaskill is amazingly fluid. he's like a mix between ryan leech and chase hawk. if your into cycling or human mechanics or will power then you'll appreciate this video. now I'm off to do some stretching.

stick out your chest: the book Chavez gave Obama

and not your ass

OK so some people think that the Hawaiian surf culture can take localism too far. that they use violence too easily. but what else is a people to do? the video below is very interesting and features a member of Da Hui reading an open letter to the people of Tahiti encouraging them to stand up against Billabong and the ASP and demand to be able to take a greater part in the contest both as competitors and organizers.

why? because it is their land, their wave, their culture, their capital interest and their sovereign right. I truly and sincerely hope that the Tahitian's take heed and move to force the ASP to comply.


this brings me to another point. I have often lamented here that the internet has questionable benefits in terms of human and personal relations. but the same way as Da Hui video will influence many so has the photo and story of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez gifting a communist book to America's Barak Obama.



the book is "Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent." in the book author Eduardo Galeano explores the "various facets of Latin American history according to the patterns of five centuries of exploitation."

exploitation may seem like a harsh word to some North Americans, especially if you are a good law abiding citizen who works an honest wage and takes care of his family. but we need to open our eyes to the vast desert of social and environmental destruction which we are leaving behind in our wake of over consumption.


Chavez is brilliant in this public propaganda stunt. by this simple gesture he will effectively educate thousands of Americans in the way of economic and military exploitation that the US has been so successful at inflicting on Latin America. I hope that the Tahitians too will take back what is rightfully theirs and demand a major share in the earnings of the western companies who are exploiting Tahiti's natural resources.

reggae vibes de pon blogger

for all you lickele reggae vibes fans don forget to check pull up selecta for the best in old and young reggae videos

learnins

go and come

drove 710 miles from Fenway stadium in downtown Boston to our front door in Halifax yesterday. this morning the rising sun shone through my window at 6:30 waking me before the blasted beeping nightmare of an alarm.

I'm glad to be back in Canada where the greater good of the people is valued above that of the individual. thanks Canada for having me.

so I leave you with one of Canada's grandest musical performers

new hampshire beach break

B and I drove for 10 hours yesterday and arrived at our friends house just as the tide was going low. I suited up quickly and grabbed my fish and ran the two blocks to the beach. I had not surfed a beach break since New York last fall. the waves were small and a little weak but two or three turned out to be fun. I'm not one to complain about rideable surf. it was fun to be in slightly warmer water and to surf with no leash without fearing the rocky shores like back home.

I walked down this morning at sunrise hoping that there may still be a small pulse left. no luck. but I did find this nice video clip for ya. not sure what the soundtrack is but it sounds like Orange 9mm.


Fresh Fruit for Rotten Vegetables from Surf Craft Media on Vimeo.