Westie perfection all week
Summer and Autumn are our time. It's the time the swell drops enough, long enough for the iron sand to groom itself into scollops and holes along the coast. The gutters fill in and unlike east coast beach breaks which generally are short and snappy, we get sand formations which create 200 metre long rides, more often than not there are a lot of cutbacks involved, nursing the wave, waiting for a decent section to rear up. Barrels are rare, but not out of the realm of possibility. It's been a very late start, January was inconsequential, frustrating in fact, February was slow to start, faith was being tested. But here we are, two weeks into a run of offshores and fun. In full disclaimer, I've been surfing lots and not really capturing the best sessions.
EPR revelling in the warm summer sessions
Dune Kennings finding ramps
Local fremlin Leia Millar smashing it in grom corner
Gabi Paul inspiring the next wave of Piha grubs
10 year old Indi Corcoran up from the BOP this week to compete on the Billabong Grom Series Finale this coming weekend at South Piha
Aramis Goodwin...literally floating a boat last Saturday during the Annual Keyhole Single Fin Comp
Blades of old
Bean, Mischa and Dune heading out to do battle. Check out the comp round up and more images on the Keyhole Facebook page HERE
Last week's full moon made for some crazy tides, that combined with our coast's sand accretion meant Lion Rock was left high and dry
Didn't this used to be the take off point when Old's Man's Peak was a wave???
From Lion's feet to the Nun
The Aotearoa Surf Film Festival 2020
Yes indeed, EIGHT YEARS! It is an honour to be one of the founding judges of the ASSF. Over the 8 years of selection I have seen some shit, like actual crap, hours and hours of it, hoping, willing the short films to have a glimmer of stoke. And then there are the shinners; the films that amp you up, the stories well told and inspiring, the diamonds in the rough. The whole concept of the ASFF is to foster new talent and encourage NZ filmmakers. And then showcase that work to you in the national touring roadshow. It's a good night out.
The ASFF is the brainchild of Nick Stevenson, he's the driving force; Nick "I say it every year but we really have had a step up in the amount of film submissions from kiwi surf filmmakers, and the quality gets better and better. Likewise I think our film program this year was super competitive, some hard decisions on which came through but I think there will be something for everyone in the mix. Also we have freshened up the format so we are returning to many places we haven't been able to the last few years, so Dunedin, New Plymouth and Nelson, pretty excited to be returning. Our new Tour Manager Louis Murphy Harris will be holding down the fort on hosting/MC duties, he'll be on the road putting on the screenings each night and chasing waves by day, with a rotating crew of the rest of us tapping in to help. That is the heart of the festival and why we set it up, to get to every nook and cranny and surf community we can each year, also to sample a few waves whilst we are doing it. Pumped to see everyone at the festival!"
The dates and tickets are HERE just scroll down the ASFF website.
From The Galleries
Selling out or buying in? I say buying in, the now classic Piha Bar Barrel shot is the official signature image of the 2020 Piha Pro... you are going to see it all over the show, and yes the copyright release was very fair :)
Check out the image better HERE