Posted on February 18th, 2012 in inkydeep by inkydeep
It was wet, cold and miserable this afternoon so an ideal opportunity to plug away at some of the pesky admin chores that needed doing.
To ease things along I let iTunes shuffle select tracks out of our music library. Occasionally tracks cropped up that reminded me of summer; sunshine, time on the beach, warm water, sand between my toes and after work surfing… so here are three songs that had me summer dreaming this afternoon…
Kings Of Convenience – Misread (From the album Riot On an Empty Street, released June 2004) –
The Loose Salute – The Mutineer (From the album Tuned to Love, released June 2008) –
Since I left You – The Avalanches (from the album Since I Left You, released April 2001) –
Posted on February 14th, 2012 in inkydeep by inkydeep
Two new videos give an insight into the world of kneeboarding and the incredible surfing carried out by this rare breed.
From korduroy.tv; “Legless – InnerView”, released 25 January 2012;
“Forgotten performance pushers of the surfing world, kneeboarders have long been edged to the outskirts of surf culture. In isolation they’ve been blowing up for years despite snickers and jeers. In this episode of InnerViews we catch up with the modern heart of the kneeboard movement in the lonely industrial town of Wollongong as a steadfast few quietly kneel their way through futuristic lines…”
Also from korduroy.tv; “Knee Power – Sea Movies”, released 26 January 2012;
“Brothers Troy and Chayne Simpson have been pushing the performance barriers of surfing for over a decade. Check out this edition of Sea Movies as they dismantle wedges and walls in Indo and Oz.”
Posted on February 14th, 2012 in inkydeep by inkydeep
Last week we were stoked to be given the opportunity to guest edit the wonderful Hickory Nines blog – “We’re an evolving collective; surfers, nomads, picture takers, grinders, readers, writers and creatives. Each and all of us have different stuff that piques our individual interests. Stuff we think, and hope, you might like too. So, this is us. An eclectic bunch with a soft spot for seawater.”
Noting the variety and the quality of previous posts it was quite a challenge to maintain that high standard and hopefully our posts were of interest to the readers of the Hickoy Nines blog.
Posted on January 21st, 2012 in inkydeep by inkydeep
On the last Saturday of every month a small group of willing volunteers carry out a beach clean at Fistral Beach in Newquay. At times the task at hand can be daunting due to the high volume of rubbish and because it is just not possible to remove the thousands and thousands of tiny pieces of plastic from the beach by hand.
However we are aware that the marine rubbish that we do remove will hopefully not go back into the ocean and the food chain. As a surfer and beach goer it is always good karma to give a little something back.
The Fistral beach clean is run under Keep Britain Tidy’s BeachCare programme. BeachCare organiser Neil Hembrow has compiled some stats from the first fourteen beach cleans and it is interesting to see what has been collected and the comparisons between Fistral and other beach cleans.
More on the BeachCare programme can be found here. The next Fistral Beach clean is Saturday 28 January, details below;
Posted on January 18th, 2012 in inkydeep by inkydeep
Most weekday mornings over breakfast I catch up on the surf related news and tweet about those items I think may be of interest to those who follow inkydeep on Twitter. Every now and again I find something that really stands out. The Daily Mail’s website today carried an article with a title that demanded to be looked at – “’Apocalypse Later, Surf Now’: Surfers ride out the end of the world in latest video to sweep the web”.
From the Daily Mail; “With the Mayan calendar counting down to the end of the world, plenty of us might wonder where we’d like to be on doomsday.
Imagined through the eyes of a fearless surfer, the scenario set the scene for an eerie video that’s sweeping the web.
Shot in Sunset Point, Los Angeles, ‘Apocalypse Later, Surf Now’, created with footage from a GoPro camera, uses visual effects to bring the world to a fiery end on the waves.
Set to a moody track called ‘The Whales’ by The Mermen, the two-minute clip opens with a dark scene as a surfer paddles through calm waters toward a cluster of oil rigs rising from the water like locusts.”
Posted on December 26th, 2011 in inkydeep by inkydeep
On checking our email on Christmas day we were in a festive mood only to be informed that the version of the software we use for blogging (putting up posts) on our website had a vulnerability that had been exploited. We had no option but to immediately take the whole site down to upgrade the software (to resolve the problem) which has resulted in a busy few days re-creating the website from scratch.
Fortunately we had put together some basic contingency plans for an event such as this but it was not until we were faced in dealing with an actual problem that we realised it wasn’t the best time to find out what worked and didn’t work in our plan.
However, it is all sorted now, and we now have a new motto (borrowed) ‘be prepared’.
Posted on December 6th, 2011 in inkydeep by inkydeep
Take a bracing walk on the beach – or even better join in a beach clean…
Watch The Triple Crown of Surfing events – Ideally from the beach (maybe next year *dreams*), however if you haven’t managed to get to Oahu you can catch all the action online…
Drink hot mulled wine – (just take… 2 bottles of red wine, a sliced up orange, 4 cloves and 2 cinnamon sticks, chuck it all in a pan and slowly simmer for about 15 minutes – enjoy!)
Posted on December 1st, 2011 in inkydeep by inkydeep
In 2009 the surf artist Ben Cook created a print design called The Toxic Paradox; resembling a pressed flower, surfboards form the petals, with wetsuits the centre. On his website Ben provides the following for the design; “The issue of toxic plastic surfboards and petrochemical derived rubber wetsuits in the marine environment goes against surfing’s ‘green’ image. It is this ‘toxic paradox’ that inspired this piece of work – a flower head made from collaged surfboards and wetsuits.”
The surf film Manufacturing Stoke explores this paradox and the thorny issue of sustainability in surfing.
The trailer starts with a surfer reminding us that “Surfers are as blessed as any body on the planet, in terms of the things they get to see, the things they get to do”. We are then also reminded (and maybe for some informed) of the environmental impact of our sport; the materials used for much of what we wear to surf, use to surf and surf on are environmentally toxic.
We are happy to promote this surf movie because not only does it challenge us to think of our choices as surfers but also how we as inkydeep operate; how to be as ethically and environmentally sound as possible.
Released in May 2011 the film can be downloaded through thesurfnetwork.com.
Posted on November 20th, 2011 in inkydeep by inkydeep
For the weekend warrior living in the South West, this weekend gave us an opportunity to sample the swell that surfers had been frothing about during the week. Saturday morning revealed corduroy to the horizon…
Posted on October 30th, 2011 in inkydeep by inkydeep
On Wednesday we tweeted about the big surf being forecast for the weekend.
The swell duly arrived on Saturday and then built over the weekend. Having not been able to watch previous tow in sessions at the Cribbar reef, it was a joy to spend some time this afternoon watching the tow in teams do their stuff. At the time the photographs below were taken, magicseaweed.com had forecast 13’ waves at 13 seconds with the breaking wave estimated at 15’ double overhead.
Posted on October 22nd, 2011 in inkydeep by inkydeep
In the surf film Seaworthy, Heydon Bunting talks briefly about how as a kid playing in the park he wanted to go on everything; swings, merry-go-round, see-saw etc. He then concludes this segment with the words “its all good… and its how you get the most fun out of the park”. The outstanding surfer then demonstrates this by surfing small and large waves on a variety of surf craft.
Isn’t that what surfing is all about, having fun in the ocean and being open minded to try all sorts of surf craft?
At the recent World Bellyboard Championships, held at Chapel Porth in Cornwall, we couldn’t help but notice the huge fun surfers were having simply being propelled to shore on their wooden bellyboards. We decided there and then that we simply had to get a bellyboard to add to our modest collection of surfboards.
We approached Traditional Surfing Co to seek their advice on the best board for novice bellyboarders. The standard model was the one for us of which we are now proud owners. We are particularly delighted with how good the screen print of the inkdeep icon and logo text is that adorns the nose of the board.
Now we are all set with our bellyboard to help us “get the most fun out of the park”. More info on Traditional Surfing Co and their products can be found on their website – http://www.traditionalsurfing.co.uk/
Seaworthy – Heydon Bunting: “This is an excerpt from Seaworthy, a surfing film by Nathan Oldfield. This section features Heydon Bunting pursuing a more engaged surfing experience through riding a wide range of wave sliding toys.”
Posted on September 20th, 2011 in inkydeep by inkydeep
We are thrilled to announce the launch of our second collection of organic t-shirts.
The new designs are available in our online shop. We have a new page titled “id” http://www.inkydeep.com/id/, here you can find details of the artists and the artwork which appears on our new t-shirts.
Posted on September 17th, 2011 in inkydeep by inkydeep
We were delighted this week to receive news and a photo from Craig a friend of inkydeep about last weeks IVYLIVE music festival.
Craig explained to us that he was comparing the festival, introducing Reef on the main stage during Friday night whilst wearing one of our t-shirts. Then on the Sunday shortly before Sandi Thom was due to go on stage, Sandi’s manager put out an alert to find some harmonicas as they had forgotten hers. It just so happened that Craig had three of his own with him. Luckily these were the exact keys Sandi needed so she was quite made up. The photo is of Craig and Sandi five minutes before she went on stage at the festival. We are not aware of one of our tees being worn in front of so many people, so we are very stoked.
Posted on August 30th, 2011 in inkydeep by inkydeep
Sunday 4 September sees the ninth World Bellyboard Championships taking place at Chapel Porth in Cornwall.
It is thought that the British ply bellyboard may have been copied from Hawaiian Paipo boards. This National Trust event has previously attracted over 200 entrants from as far a field as Australia and San Francisco. More on the event can be found on the events website – http://www.bellyboarding.co.uk/
The joy of proning in on ply bellyboards is told in the wonderful short surf film “The Life of Ply”;
And a short video on this years World Bellyboard Championships, filmed and produced by Sideways Cornwall;
Posted on August 13th, 2011 in inkydeep by inkydeep
A little bit of surf history; this surf film trailer of 8 minutes and 33 seconds features Kye Fitzgerald surfing big Bells Beach on a 6’5” pin tail. Here is a surfer with wonderful skill carrying out beautiful functional manoeuvres; bottom turns, cut backs, top turns all demonstrated with a soulful style not often seen.
From the creators of the film; “During the epic World Tour event at Bells in 81 a massive swell hit the Torquay Surf Coast. Making the 81 Bells event one of the most memorable in history, because of the waves, and of course, the turning point of Simon winning the event on one of the first Thrusters.
Before Simon made the final and eventually winning, he had to start his charge against Bobby Owens surfing Nick Carroll’s board shaped by Terry Fitzgerald. Bobby was under gunned at the event like most of the surfers there at the time, so Nicks board was his alternative, handed to him by Terry himself. The heat went down and is regarded as one of the best heats surfed by Bobby and Simon, and, the first man on man heat the world tour judges had to judge – Single Fin V Thruster .
Bobby was never going to beat Simon on that day , Simon was on Fire. But Bobby did go on to win the Trials and was regarded as one of the best surfers at the event, powering on Nicks 6’5 Pin Tail.
Today the 6’5″ pin tail has resurfaced, and, under the arm of Kye Fitzgerald, Terry’s eldest son, rode another massive Bells Beach Swell”
Posted on August 7th, 2011 in inkydeep by inkydeep
In support of a good cause on Saturday 6 August we drove down to the village of Sennen in west Cornwall to the Surf Action Surf Fayre. Surf Action is a charity which through surfing helps rehabilitate traumatised and injured Armed Forces and civilian emergency service personal. The charity also helps families of the veterans.The fayre showcased some wonderful local arts, crafts and surfing products including surfboards, clothing and accessories. It was good to meet the guys from Surf Action and catch up with our friend James Otter who had a stand showcasing his beautiful wooden surfboards and hand planes.
The event was well organised; excellent coffee was being served outside, the hall was busy with stalls and visitors, while up in the mezzanine surf films were being screened. With the sun shinning and the happy vibe around the event a good day was had.
Having enjoyed Jaimal Yogis book Saltwater Buddha (a surfer’s quest to find Zen on the sea), I was delighted to recently discover that a film based on the book is now being made. The film is currently shown as in pre-production. Here’s the film’s promotional trailer;
Below is a short documentary about Saltwater Buddha;
Sunday 26 June was a beautiful day in our bit of Cornwall, a warm sun shone down from a blue sky and a clean swell fanned by light off shores lit up the beaches. So after surfing in the morning a visit to the Vintage Surf Meet added to my surf stoke. There were many familiar Newquay faces and a few friends in attendance. Here are a few pictures of the event and of surfboard logos…
The view from above Lusty Glaze beach looking across Newquay Bay
Last night saw the opening of Kevin Cooper’s ‘Layers’ at the Café irie in Newquay. It was good to go along in support and see the art on display in an interesting café setting. A collection of Kevin’s art will be on show for the next two months.
If you are unable to get to the Café irie you can see (and buy) some of Kevin’s posters at the Kahuna beach bar on Tolcarne Beach.
We only recently came across this promotional video from Plastic Oceans. The images of animals caught in or consuming plastic are quite unsettling; the scale of the plastic problem is staggering but thankfully many organisations and individuals are acting on our behalf;
And also from National Geographic Magazine; Dolphin with plastic bag. The archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, Brazil, is considered an ecological sanctuary.
The fayre showcased some wonderful local arts, crafts and surfing products including surfboards, clothing and accessories. It was good to meet the guys from Surf Action and catch up with our friend James Otter who had a stand showcasing his beautiful wooden surfboards and hand planes.
The view from above Lusty Glaze beach looking across Newquay Bay
