Control

I was waiting for Dan Claws to shed some light on the opening interlude to my section in Pastiche, and unless you're into the band Joy Division, chances are you have no fucking idea what the hell was going on when you saw me smoking a durry and wearing a 70's post-punk outfit. Well as you might be aware, Pastiche has two competing meanings, the one that Dan played on the most was to pay homage to films (music and literary genres) that have influenced him. Joy Division was one of the bands, Control was one of the films. 

<3 Gas Bay + Cobbles

Matt roll

Veitchy Rev

Veitchy airing

Gas Bay - smoulder

Yours truly, cobbles

Gas

Cobbles Pit

Gas 

Cobbles

Fires, bowls and barrels the last few days. Spring is here...finally. More soon. Hopefully some better captions next time! 

Uncle Hardy

WANTS A WORLD TITLE!

Ranga

I've never really thought what it might be like to actually be a rednut. I mean, it must be hard copping the abuse growing up, all the name calling and such. It wasn't until I picked up issue #172 of Riptide that I realised for some reason - my hair has been transformed (by digital trickery!) into the foulest shade of orange! Check out the latest issue to see what I'm talking about!

mikemaxted.blogspot.com

Strangeways Here We Come

Yesterday was one of those days that will be leaving an impression on me for some time I'd imagine. The start of the morning was nothing unusual for Margs as the day started off driving around looking for waves - which in many cases can take up to a few hours. 

The near hitting of a crow in my car signified the beginning of a strange day as these birds are near impossible to hit yet alone kill. They symbolise a deathly omen on one hand and also considered to reap good luck if you kill one - because that feat is immensely hard. 

So I dunno what I achieved in the way of the cosmos but this act definitely gave way to a strange day to ensue.

After the many hours that I mentioned above had elapsed we somehow ended up at North Point to fun looking 3 or so foot of end bowl fun. Frothing to get out there I managed to lock my keys in the boot of my car - a helpless situation that I've never been in before! Luckily a door was open and I accessed the boot of my car through the middle seat compartment and fished them out with a stick. It would seem as though I had fallen victim to both bad and good karma, more of the latter as I ended up scoring some sick barrels in a short session out North's.

* * *

Post-surf grinds were consumed and made the call to head back up to Yallingup to a wave called Rabbits. It's a pretty heavy for a beach and can be so fun at times. After checking the less- than-inviting conditions for some time we made the strangeways call to head out there as it was slowly improving with not a soul in sight. Ben Veitch decided to go for a bodybash out at the shorey to the left of the break first while I headed straight out solo. 

I basically paddled straight out there to be greeted with rolling sets to dodge. That's when I heard Ben (about 50 - 60 metres down the beach) talking to some guy in a rather raised tone of voice. I couldn't see either of them and didn't really know what was going on and also had sets to deal with. Then about 5 minutes later I saw Ben run up the beach and started jamming his fins on for what I figured he must've seen a really good one amongst the closeouts that I was in. It was then at that point I saw a guy waving for help and yelling. He was in a rip and moving pretty fast. I made the connection between Ben and what had him in such a state and I started sprint paddling to this guy who had now stopped yelling - my first thought was that he was unconscious. I finally got to him and got him on my board - luckily he was ok just puffed and a bit rattled. After dodging more sets we made it safe and sound to the shore where he was basically speechless albeit very thankful and ok to walk himself out of the water. 

A bit startled, Veitch and myself continued to surf for a few hours with not another person in sight scoring some nice barrels and bowls. It's scary to think what might've happened to the guy had we not been there...

* * *

Nothing could further impress us after everything had happened already. Stoked and determined to making the drive home alive, I turned my non-functioning air con on which hasn't worked since I bought the car, and to no amazement it flowed cooly and nicely against our weathered and mildly tweaked minds. Icing on the cake - an amazingly strange and perfect day. Karma rules! 

Unridden one

Lucky one

Empty one

Heavy one

Nice one

Frames courtesy Nic Barclay//PURE

Pure

All good things that come out of WA start with 'P.' First it was Pastiche and now it's Pure; a debut video by WA lad Nic Barclay. 

He's a good kid and has his head screwed on tight, which is always a bonus if you're making a video. Namely because you know that 1) the production will be of high standard and 2) there won't be any annoying mistakes.

I've been filming with Nic over the past few days as the waves finally turned on. After what seemed like an eternal Winter in Margs, we've collected a bit of footage to play with.

Here's some scrap frames. For more head over to Nic's blog here.

It's Been A Long Winter

Fuckin ay... Too long to remember so I made a clip so that I'd never forget how shit it was haha. Not much of a tripod was used to film any of it so excuse the shakes! Looks like some fun waves on their way so stay tuned for some shots! yew

It's Been A Long Winter // Mitch Woodland from Mitch Woodland on Vimeo.