Posted on October 2nd, 2010 in inkydeep by inkydeep
Today saw the first big swell of autumn arrive on the north coast of Cornwall. Predications for Fistral Beach were for a westerly swell with a near shore wave height of 8 foot at a period of 11 seconds.
This morning the occasional set looked a solid 6 to 8 foot with smaller in between sets. The paddle out from the beach looked like a lot of hard work so the best option to get out back was from off the rocks at south Fistral.
The photos below are of some of this morning’s rock hoppers…
The eighth ‘Surfilm Festibal’ in Donostia-San Sebastian, Basque Country, Spain, kicks off in early June and runs through to the 13 June. The festival covers surfing, music, art and the environment. This year there is a surf film competition made up of both a short film and feature film contest. The short films are limited to a maximum of five minutes and here are a few of our favourites;
El mar, mi alma
From the film’s details – “From the backdrop of an environmental campaign road trip, this is a visual tone poem of Chile’s beauty and association with the sea, centred around the affectionate act of surfing. Featuring the surfing of (in order of appearance) Ramon Navarro, Crystal Thornburg, Diego Medina, Christian Merello, Dave Rastovich, Dane Ward, Chris Del Moro and Joel Parkinson”
Music – Manuel Garcia (Habla de ti).
Crudo y Acevichado
From the film “The honesty of raw footage… no music, no effects, just how it happened… magically transports you to the place and time it was recorded but seasoned with salt, lemon and chili also works…”
Lost and Found
From the film’s details – “This movie is about being astonished by the culture, nature and beautiful people through my eyes as a painter/surfer using my camera as a brush…”
Music – Of Porcelain – You Are the Sun.
The track is from the album A Southern Summer’s Breeze which is available from here (decide what you are willing to pay and then download).
Good Morning Cornwall
From the film’s details -“A glorious portrait of surfing in Penwith, Cornwall UK.”
The Beachcare project was launched on Tuesday 26 April at the beautiful beach of Polzeath in Cornwall. This multi agency project aims to tackle the problem of litter on the beaches of Cornwall by encouraging local communities to take the lead in keeping their local beaches clean.
Currently running as a pilot, the project is managed by Keep Britain Tidy, in partnership with Cornwall Council, South West Water and the Environment Agency but is also working with organisations such as the Marine Conservation Society, Visit Cornwall and the Wildlife Trust.
Initially the project is limited to the beaches of Polzeath, Porthtowan, Bude (Summerleaze) and Bude (Crooklets) but it will be extended if it proves to be successful. Local people are being asked to gather information on the sources of the litter found on those beaches which can then be used to campaign for cleaner seas and beaches.
Keep Britain Tidy advertise the following objectives for the project;
Promote community involvement in cleaning up and managing litter on their local beach.
Increase local awareness of the local beach litter issues and give the community a voice in decisions about how beach litter is managed and reduced.
Collect valuable data on what is being found so we can campaign on the issue.
Consult with the contributors of the litter and find ways of solving the problem.
Reduce the amount of litter.
Anyone who is keen to help with the project should get in touch by emailing Neil Hembrow (Beachcare co-ordinator, Keep Britain Tidy) – neil.hembrow [at] keepbritaintidy.org.
Posted on April 24th, 2010 in inkydeep by inkydeep
As surfers we are stakeholders in the protection of our coastlines and the oceans we surf in. Surfing related environmental organisations such as Surfers Against Sewage, The Surfrider Foundation, Save the Waves Coalition and the Clean Oceans Foundation campaign to protect our coastlines and oceans. In the United Kingdom Surfers Against Sewage is the surfer’s environmental and wave protection organisation.
SAS have recently made a film ‘Protect Our Waves’ which, in addition to featuring surfing at premier UK wave spots, also highlights the environmental threat facing our coastlines. SAS will be making the film available on their website.
The film ends by telling us how we can make a difference, a call to action you might say;
-Do you have a problem at your local surf spot? If so contact the SAS Campaign Team on 01872 555950
-Report pollution incidents to the Environment Agency via their pollution hotline 0800 807060
-Document the incident with photographs, film etc
-Lobby your local MP, inform the local newspaper
-Set up a petition
The following two short animation clips are from the film.
While reflecting on a recent surf session it seemed to me that most of my time in the water had been spent paddling. Paddling up and down the beach looking for a better peak and after my ride struggling to get back out to the line up through the white water barricades – the bulk of my session had been spent paddling.
A 2006 study by the scientist Alberto Mendez-Villanueva titled “Activity profile of world-class professional surfers during competition: a case study” investigated the activity profile of men’s competitive surfing during an international contest. Forty-two male surfers were filmed during 42 elimination heats.
The study classified surfers’ activities into 1 of 4 distinct categories; paddling, wave riding, stationary, and miscellaneous. 51% of the total time was spent paddling with 42% being spent stationary. Wave riding accounted for just 4% of the total time, whereas miscellaneous activity (wiping out and getting back on the board; that kind of thing) accounted for 2%.
The study was of professional surfers so it is very likely that for the rest of us the percentages are going to be different. It is interesting to consider these figures against your own surf experience, just how much time do you spend paddling (getting out back, going for waves and moving around), sitting stationary, wiping out etc compared against time actually riding waves?
Ps. Mr Mendez-Villanueva’s study is published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, Vol20(3), 2006, p.477. Due to copyright restrictions the full article is not available for free download but you can read the abstract here.
Posted on March 18th, 2010 in inkydeep by inkydeep
Surfing today at Fistral beach had all the essential ingredients that make the winter surf experience what it is – a gray overcast sky, rain, a strong cold cross to off shore wind, cold water and regular sets of about 4 foot with the odd bigger 6 foot set coming through. All very much part of the wonderful UK winter surf experience.
Posted on March 11th, 2010 in inkydeep by inkydeep
As TV license payers whose music tastes are primarily served by BBC 6 Music we believe passionately that this radio station should not be axed as proposed by the BBC Strategy Review and we support the campaign to save 6 Music.
A campaign to save 6 Music has been started by Jon and Tracey Morter (they who promoted sales of Rage Against the Machine’s song “Killing in the Name” last Christmas) and as in that campaign a facebook group has been created to save 6 Music.
To help keep this “alternative” radio station on the air you can make your voice heard here.
Posted on December 20th, 2009 in inkydeep by inkydeep
Our blog entry of 10 October was about how, in 2005, we found a name for our surf clothing company inkyeep; a name that encapsulated the concept behind our surf clothing brand.
Next on our ‘to do’ list was to create a logo. We wanted a graphical representation of the brand.
As inkydeep is about origins; of surfing and of waves, we wanted the logo to symbolise the origins of waves and it was this concept that we took to the design agency we were working with.
Going through the design process was quite a ride for the both of us, never before having to describe our brand and the concept behind it and then watch how that was interpreted by the team at the design agency.
A number of design concepts were presented to us, we chose our design and after some tweaks had our logo – a graphical representation of what inkydeep means to us.
The parallel wave forms of the icon symbolize the life cycle of ocean waves; from the creation of ocean swells from the inky deep oceans through to that wave energy being expelled as breaking waves on a distant shore.
Posted on November 27th, 2009 in inkydeep by inkydeep
Have had some fun over the last couple of days setting up our inkydeep profile on the music web site Last.fm. We have started to put together some of our music likes – a rather eclectic mix that we hope you will enjoy. We are thinking of putting together a couple of surfing related playlists, one of ‘surf music’ and the other a collection to get you amped before surfing. We would love to hear from you if you have any suggestions for either of these collections, either leave a comment for this post or drop us an email at contact[at]inkydeep.com.
So why not listen to some sounds from the inkydeep with a cold cerveza in hand, while you decide which of our fab soft organic cotton tees to buy?
Posted on November 7th, 2009 in inkydeep by inkydeep
In setting up inkydeep Sarah and I established a number of company values that we see as key to building a credible business and brand. One of these values is to ensure our fledgling business causes minimal impact on the environment – to be as environmentally sound as we can.
The reality of achieving this has been an interesting challenge – as we considered and evaluated each component and products used within the lifecycle of manufacturing t-shirts through to packaging and postage – we realised that it would not be easy to achieve this particular goal on a limited budget.
For example, our 100% organic cotton t-shirts are from a clothing producer whose products and factory are certified by the Worldwide Fairtrade Standard. This factory uses renewable “green” energy generated by wind turbines and solar power. The cotton (certified by the Soil Association) is grown from their own Indian organic farms. They’re really good but not the cheapest we could have chosen. The prints on our t-shirts are water based and the printer has an Environmental Management Policy in place. Our mailing bags are environmentally friendly – 100% degradable and re-usable. The postage labels we use on them are from sustainable resources and are also eco-friendly.
As we grow we will continue to work on reducing our impact on the environment and look at what we can give back. With our limitations we are happy with our choices and believe we have made a good start in achieving and adhering to this company value.
We are not going to keep on about it – we believe that it should be locked into our company DNA, it should (and will) come naturally to us.
