As a tribute to “the Dale” and all the guys that made it to S.C. I bellyboarded a wave on my spoon. turns out the guy from buyyourpicture.com was there and snapped some shots.
http://buyyourpicture.com/gallery73/ find pics 7479-7483.
Works really well as a bellyboard. It was my last wave, almost got cramps, went down to my belly and just riding into the cove as far as possible.
Pushing down on nose to flatten rocker for speed. At least a 100 yard ride. Real similar to a mat at that point.
At the moment I am in the Denver airport, i just couldn’t wait to check back in. i really enjoyed meeting, surfing, and living with this groupfor the past week and a half. what an amazing trip. the mat clips look great Soul, glad they turned out so well. i learned more about how to ride a mat in one day from James than in the previous 4 months of surfing!! i’ll be home by midnight on the east coast.
thanks to the entire santa cruz, ca community for taking us in and treating us like family (particularly the boys who own and operate the sandbox @ rockview/sewers)
oh yeah, Verde, the green spoon is now in the possession of MarkGnome and headed to San Diego for further testing. I’ll be back soon enough to reclaim it, and in the mean time it’s back to the Outer Banks to continue the mat exploration.
Jamie
I do believe Jamie’s got a serious case of California Dreamin’ Heh-heh. He got the best mat ride I’ve seen in person so far. Had the privilage of paddling over the shoulder as he dropped in way late under the lip on approx 7-8 foot hollow face (ruler feet). 1/2 way down the face the lip hit him square in the back and his body acted like a sail picking up the wave energy and the mat translated it into a down the line squirt for glory.
See ya when you return, J.
Geoffrey
Like Jamie, I just got back… exhausted. I had my first real shower, shave and change in 10 days. Thank you, Miami, for the heat! Ice cream headache’s gone and the NorCal chill has finally left my bones.
There’s so much to tell and literally 4000 fotos to work thru, plus vid that my bro Scott will be editing – Dale gets the first copy.
Along with the surf, which never stopped pumping, the greatest thing, bar none, was the guys who were there. I have a long long list of thankyous and props. I took notes. As soon as I catch up here I’ll start posting, especially pics.
Preview… It was all about mats but Run, Dudley, Mark Miller and I also did what we could on spoons. These are frame grabs from a spot just down the street from the house that had its moments. Flex lives!
yeah doc, that one was fun, still haven’t seen the photos, but i’ll take your word that it looked as good as it felt.
i’m back on the EC, fully jetlagged and amping to get back to Hatteras for the next swell. i left verde with the san diego crew with full intentions on retreiving it in person this spring, just in time for the southern hemi to start firing again.
great to finally meet and surf with you, cross-country matting all the way down the pleasurefull point several times over.
i never did see the standup that i clipped at the knees while highlining @ 2nd peak, i bet he’s still pissed, what a wave.
in my airport fog, i forgot to thank our sherpas for the week. Mike @ Moss, John Manss, John Bailiff, and the oh-so-dialed Scott Wessling. (Scott, if you’re reading this, chop-chop with the videos, i can’t wait to see them clean and edited.)
peace
I want to say some thanks too. Words cannot express how cool these Swaylockians were: JDBailiff, not only a real talent on a mat but a wealth of information and a big contributor to group dynamics–his wife Suzi is very cool too; Dudley Perkins aka Jamie, my right hand man and a natural host, his stoke is DEEP and his matriding is advancing by leaps and bounds; run (Derrick Madison), the Ambrosian wine in our midst whose surfing on anything and everything from a mat to an 11’8" was inspirational and whose generosity is undeniable; markgnome Mark Miller, same deal: he can ride anything and did, and did it with so much San Diego soul!; John Mellor, wife Laura and super-intense border collie Ripley, for bringing a veritable museum of boards, mats and models for us and all visitors to examine, not to mention getting one of the best waves of the gathering, a replica of the silhouetted Kenny Hughes wave from our poster; Ken McKnight, whose stoke, experience and slide show, not to mention his dialed-in matriding, was an unforgettable one-day gift to all of us; James Soulman Souwell, absolutely one of a frickin kind, fresh way of looking at reality, hilarious comments, and perfect matting; Lance Smith, photog and partner in crime of Ken & James, whose description of the cold at Marina will live on in eternity, to whom I also wish a speedy recovery from the knee/leg problems that have kept him off his kb; Carl Olsen, who brought over his radical edgeboard and left it for us to testride or modify as we saw fit and who looked over all the vehicles with the appreciation only a shaper can have–good luck on the new spoon; Dr S (Geoff Levens), who reinforced the atmosphere of camaraderie, generosity and stoke in a big way, carefully observed everything, and who I wish had been there for ten days, not two; Peter Costello, elder mat-statesman of SC, great sense of humor, really good rider and once again–one or two days was not enough; and Tyler Coon, a self-described Swaylurker, an unstoppable matster, and one of the best guys you will ever ever meet–five star, like his friend Craig–thanks for the six-pack and the footage our eyes were privileged to see. Thanks again, Rick kikstart Motolla, for that poster!
The Sways guys who almost made it and I didn’t have the privilege of meeting were Rooster (Mike), Bill Viergever, Dr L, “Matt” (not sure which one), John Hall, John Hughes and Scott Hirsch, who will now go down in history as Elbow Boy.
Two other things need to be said. On the way home my 19-yr old asked me why surfers are so cool, why you don’t find the same thing in other sports. Not all surfers are cool, but he meant each and every one of the guys he met in the course of that week. He felt no generation gap. What a tribute, and coming from a kid with a skeptical eye that knows BS when it sees it.
Secondly, as I was talking to Ken about the photos and footage, he mentioned that he always runs his stuff by Dale first because “Dale is God… at least for all of us.” haha Dale was the reason for this season.
"On the way home my 19-yr old asked me why surfers are so cool, why you don’t find the same thing in other sports. Not all surfers are cool, but he meant each and every one of the guys he met in the course of that week. He felt no generation gap. What a tribute, and coming from a kid with a skeptical eye that knows BS when it sees it. "
This does say something about Master Luke! He just seemed like one of “da boyz”. Fit right in. Easy to relate to. Good upbringing, Anakin (now that Luke has come over to the dark side and gotten the KB stoke,…Bwa-ha-ha)
and a BIG thanks to swaylocks !
how else could we on the other side of the world from santa cruz get to see photos and video fotage of the gathering , almost as soon as it happened ?
AMAZING , really , when you think about it .
so thanks heaps everyone for the photos and footage from the event .
…sounds like there will be future runnings of this event eh ?
cheers
ben
…just one question …
how did the “locals” handle having an ‘invasion’ of kneeboarders and mat riders at “their” break , was everything okay ?
I just wanted to note that once again, I was stunned by the level of craftsmanship amongst the Swaylockers at this little gathering, I was slightly embarrassed- my spoon was crude in comparison to all the others at the gathering- made me wish I had spent some more time making it look nicer- I was certainly schooled by MOW’s finely tuned flawless flex machines! I also wanted to say that I saw a 12’ plus example of Ambrose’s incredible handy work! I believe it was Run’s board! Awesome. It was great to meet all of you guys! -Carl
Unsticking this one, great to see so many people enjoying each others work and abilities…
Well done!!!
Thanks…
I was slightly embarrassed- my spoon was crude in comparison to all the others at the gathering
You don’t need me or anybody else to defend your work but let me say it anyway: you chose to start out with the most sophisticated, subtle, and unknown knee machine on the planet, and you documented every inch of the build. You assembled a Lamborghini, mold and all, while the rest of us are still putting together Volkswagens. Well done, bro. Thanks for bringing it by.
I promised pics and have six cd’s sitting here but my program won’t open any of them all the way–frustrating. I’ve got to dig up some help, so if you’re waiting, hang in there. In the meantime, I’m a broken man. I surfed 50 hrs in 50 degree water in a week, as opposed to maybe 10 hrs in 80 degree water in the previous two months. It’ll take another week before I’m functioning normally. If you’re over 50 and from FL, you’re feelin’ my pain.
Let me see- you’re asking us FL guys over 50 to feel sorry for you because you surfed your brains out in great waves while we had knee high, MOW (hey, that’s a pun!) infested wind slop over here. OK, I’m working on it :).
Dude, you’re right – I’m a whiner.
I sure had a great view of some of you kneelos at work today 
Paddled out to MIddle Peak around 12:15 pm with Cj3 & SuperfatPat - all the kneeboarders were in the slot. Due to the contest, nobody was in the water except contestants and some kneelos (with great atitudes) who’d already been eliminated…
Some sets were swinging wide & I was lucky enough to grab a few of those. CJ & Pat live there and definitely inspired me to work a little harder at reading the water at high-tide. The slot was working really well for the kneelos - just the right size barrell (even saw a roll!) - and then it backed off right below the cliff so they could throw a couple turns & score a few points.
Clear, sunny skies, nice swell, clear (cold) water, and minimal crowd…what a great place to be alive.
Thanks for the sandwich, Christian - I really needed that
“The slot was working really well for the kneelos - just the right size barrell (even saw a roll!)”
…that’s unreal , Ben !
was anyone filming or photographing there , by any chance ?
cheers
ben
… I wonder if that was by any chance mike novakov doing the “barrel roll” thingy ?? …
I’m working thru these pics by Joel in no particular order and will pass them along as I get them. I hope you’re as stoked by the reality of the Dale as you probably were by the idea.
(Day 7) Tyler Coon of Oahu takes on Monterey Bay
great to see ,
THANKS ‘MOW’ !!
[No doubt the new mat forum will see these too , eh ?!]
cheers
ben
…i LOVE it when people post their photos here !!
SSSSOOOOOOO BITCHIN!!!
the embodiment of my stoke parameters.
thanx MOW.
…ambrose…