Grown Man Business

So, it takes a real man to craft a board from scratch with his bare hands, and then paddle it out in triple overhead surf and put it to the test.

Case in point: Senor Daniel P. Hess, pictured below with legendary SF Bay Area foam and wood-carving hero Marc Andreini, admiring the bottom contour and rail-line of one of Danny's bonzers.



And Senor Hess putting a 9'6" pintail quad through its paces in maxing San Francisco -- steep and deep, behind the peak. This, ladies and gentlemen, is some real grown man business....

Click on images for larger views.

California Gold

So the colonists labeled California "The Golden State" after they stole the land from the Native Americans, and despite their ethnocentrism, they chose a name that makes complete sense.

Here are some photos from our fall and winter of 2007-2008, all taken from Santa Barbara to San Francisco, 350 miles of California coastal gold. Enjoy.

Cape Town -- Final Days

We arrived in CT without a hitch --- the storm passed and the offshores returned, allowing us to get in the water one last time before boarding our flight from Cape Town to San Francisco via London, a 30 hour travel marathon.

The Journey Home --- Road Trippin'

Our journey home began with a quaint 8 hour drive from J Bay to Capetown. We encountered a radical rainstorm at sundown on the eve of our departure, so we took refuge in the small coastal hamlet of Wilderness. We saw raging seas just before dark, and anxiety set in immediately --- did we leave J Bay a day too soon?!

Bye for Now, J Bay

Well, like the old saying goes, "All good things must come to an end." After nearly 2 months at Jeffrey's, Moni and I bade our farewells: to our friends, to the sunrises and sunsets, to the surf-checks from the Supers deck, to Woolie, to the aloes, and to the endless walls of joy. So long J Bay, we'll be back (boo hoo, sniff, sniff).

AVG from the water

Of course, the days we dream of, read about, hear about, and lose sleep over, are the sunny, beautiful, perfect point break days, days such as this one captured by Cape Town photo maestro, Allan Van Gysen.

Flat Day Fun -- Part II

Other flat days were spent in the tidepools, looking for octopus and other sea creatures. The waves at Supertubes break over a submerged lava shelf. On flat days at low tide, much of this lava shelf is visible. This shelf is not only responsible for Supers’ endlessly steep walls; it also makes for amazing natural aquariums that host all kinds of sea life including the unsuspecting sleeper set that occasionally rolls through unannounced.