Water, Water Everywhere And Not A Drop To Drink
Hijinks On The High Seas… And Beyond
Category Archives: Tech
anarmandaleg (WAX)
My first session here was at Bondi. When I got off the bus, I ducked into some news agent, figuring, Hey, we’re at Bondi; every shop must sell wax. I was correct.
However, I did not anticipate that when the guy rang me up, he would ask me for $4.95 (AUD, of course). I said, “Pardon me, good sir?”
He said, “Yes, you beautiful, young lady, I said $4.95.”
I scoffed.
He said, “How much you usually pay?”
“Like a dollar fifty,” I responded (scandalized).
Now he looked scandalized. “Well… uhh… give me $3.95.”
I said merci and chalked it up to a small store, a captive audience, and some good, old-fashioned gouging.
That is, until the next time I happened to check the price on wax, and it was still somewhere around five bills. I accosted my US-born, fellow surfer of a landlord and he laughed and simply said, “Yeah, everything here is expensive.”
Fair enough. At least I can say I haggled my first Aussie bar of wax. And won a 20% discount.
Masculine Ferry and Foam Boards
In wandering around Sydney and its glorious suburbs, I have been advised many a time to take the Manly ferry from Circular Quay. To MANLY. Seriously, everyone I’ve met has told me to do it. So today, I finally did. I did not bring my board because, quite frankly, I didn’t feel like lugging it on the bus and the ferry and for a walk of indeterminate length. When I got there, I learned that you could rent a foam board for $15/hour, which would be roughly equivalent to the cost of eggs on toast. Worth it! I love to Wavestorm! Who doesn’t? It’s like all the best things about surfing, except being able to turn your board and duckdive. Today, on my pink BZ, I was reminded how much those things occasionally matter–especially when there’s some freaky rip-roaring current and the sea is suddenly composed entirely of whitewater. And not to be a whiner, but just about every time I find myself on a longboard (or carrying one) I say, “Ugh. This is why I’m a shortboarder.” Not because longboarding’s not fun; just because I’m lazy. The boards themselves weigh about as many stones as I do, and paddling out is a bitch. Anyway, I have also decided that while BZ may be the Escalade to Wavestorm’s Suburban, Wavestorms are lighter, more maneuverable, and generally, better. In my opinion.
Stay tuned for the wallet debacle that is WAX in the land Down Under…
Soul Shaper: Check Out Rich Luthringer on The Inertia
Click here.
SURFER: Can Sunscreen Actually Cause Skin Cancer?
Check out my scandalous sunscreen story on SURFER.
World Cup and SUP (Dude?)
First things first: I watched the Australia – Germany game yesterday (DVR, I love you) and I’m only going to say that it left me sobbing. Ok, maybe not sobbing, but shaking my head, at least. 4-0? Unwarranted red cards? For shame.
Now that that’s out of the way, I can tell you that I SUPed for the first time yesterday, too. My roomie and I rented the boards from a guy in the harbor who gave me a quick lesson before sending me off into the strong westerly winds. I hit a docked boat. After that, all was good. If you haven’t tried it, SUPing is kind of a mix between canoeing and longboarding. It’s weird because you stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, side by side, so the stance is totally different than surfing, but once you get used to it, it’s actually so much fun. And a really great workout.
Dana Point
Wax Nostalgic, Prophetic, Organic
He races below the lip, gathering speed. A quick backside turn. A vertical ascent. Jordy Smith goes airborne. He crouches and grabs both rails, fins to the sky. A complete rotation finds him back on the lip, right at home, though facing the wrong direction. An easy 180-degree spin and he’s back in. Smith’s rodeo flip, the rodeo flip, caused quite a ruckus. Befuddled surfers the world-over watched that clip, and thought, I want what he’s having. In terms of wax, of course. Didn’t they? Well, they should have, because the maneuver wouldn’t have been possible without wax.
At 10 million bars a year, surfboard wax may be the sport’s most underappreciated essential. Though often lauded for its olfactory magnificence, wax is rarely the topic of enlivened conversation — or any conversation at all, for that matter.
The GO PRO Aesthetic
As we’ve all noticed, I’m sure, GoPro videos have been popping up like crazy. Well, I’m just going to say this: I think GoPro has revolutionized the DIY surf video. An average kid who straps a camera to his head is no more a videographer than someone who point-and-shoots him from the sand, but the GoPro aesthetic is something new(-ish). The perspective is interesting. This type of video allows non-surfers to experience, if not what we feel, then at least what we see. Those of us with mediocre ability may vicariously rendezvous with black diamond waves in top-shelf secret spots. The usual film standards still apply (clarity, composition, editing, choice of musical accompaniment) and some GP videos are better than others, but they’re almost universally fun to watch.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
more about “Cy’s Sunrise Lefts | Korduroy – DIY S…“, posted with vodpod
Water, Water Everywhere And Not A Drop To Drink 