A lot of Westcoast Locals have chosen to ignore Tropical Cyclone Victor, the resounding theme and rationale being that the waves are pretty good right here in front, why waste the gas? I've been doing the same. It hasn't been easy, there have been moments of greatness on the East Coast over the last week for sure, daily phone calls to the east to check in, but it seems as though the sea-breeze has kicked in most days at midday.
Out West has just been fine. There have been good waves everyday for weeks now, us Westie's have been surfing a lot! Yesterday the surfboard was finally shelved in favour of the water-housing. It actually wasn't the best conditions, but it was time to start shooting.
Hard to leave home with this happening just down the hill
TC Victor making his presence felt on the westcoast yesterday...filling the water tanks and watering the gardens
Local leather goods purveyor Greedy giving it the ol' 1-2
Happy Greedy, surfed out Greedy
Even though the swell had eased off yesterday there were still a few to keep you honest
Our World Surfing Champion, the legend, the GC, Mr Ian 'Ratso' Buchanan in the rain
The mighty Lion
Second generation local, bar owner and model Chris 'Powelly' Barron
Powelly's blue steel
Greedy burying rail very nicely
It'll stay like that if the wind changes mate :)
...and more of this today too... ohhh the achy bones...
MP- Untold
Here's a great book, if you get the chance to grab a copy, it's well worth a glance. I reckon that quick glance will drag you in and before you know it, you'll be hooked. The premise of MP Untold is that when author Sean Doherty was finishing the Bestseller MP, he had interviewed Michael Peterson's competitive rivals and surfing mates. Sean was left knowing only half the story was told. MP Untold goes a lot deeper; Sean interviews Michael Peterson's closest friends, girlfriends and family.
Cleverly, Sean has constructed the first person accounts into a timeline of MP's life, the result being a honest, but not quite tell all biography, of one on the world's best surfers and his ultimate undoing with drugs and mental health. It's a tale of tragedy but it's also a wonderful account of family bonds and life long friendships. As MP was a must read, MP Untold is even more so; and it is beautifully illustrated with a mix classic MP images and never seen before photos to boot. Published last year, you can suss it out more HERE
Beached AS- Then And Now Is Back!
There's a book storage facility in Northcote, thousands of boxes of new books are indexed, palletised, and fork-hoisted onto giant, industrial metal shelves that tower over you in the double storey vaulted building. Somewhere in that organised tonnage of papery goodness was 4 boxes of forgotten Beached As- Then and Now books. They have made a lair of the author, the title is not sold out at all, there's a special reserve of 64.
Did you miss out; where you one of the people that contacted me to get your copy? Well it's back and you can view and purchase it HERE