Sea glass

I do love a sunny day in the water; when the sky and sea are cobalt, turquoise and clear. But sometimes I think I like being in the sea best when the sky is grey and rainy.

Yesterday afternoon I surfed with Izzy at a favourite break. There was only one other person out, so although the waves were tiny and slow, it didn't really matter. Out to sea, the clouds were pale grey and we could see a squall pouring rain down just south of the rocks out in the bay. When I looked back to land, the clouds were dark, which made the water glow that soft green, like sea glass. It was beautiful. As we chatted between waves the rain kept falling, splashing the surface and dripping down our faces, collecting the salt in the corners of our mouths.

By all standards, it was far from a good surf, but it was so quiet and easy and pretty that I left feeling much calmer than I had when I arrived.

I don't think I'll ever get used to how beautiful the changing colours of the sea are.

Weekend.

Warning: May cause jealousy.

I see footage like this - sunny and warm and carefree and smooth and calming - and I think to myself: what the hell am I doing? What. The hell. Am. I. Doing? (Via Toddy)

Travers Adler | Maui from Mollusk Surf Shop on Vimeo.

And then I remember there's a time to work and a time to surf, and there are times when those times are not in sync with each other. So in a way, this makes me want to work a bit harder, so I can enjoy the surfy times even more.

Either way, I'll be going surfing this weekend.

Big Wave World Tour

So, following the post below, I just found out about the newly announced, Big Wave World Tour. You can read the full press release on the Big Wave World Tour website, here.

The BWWT is going to be run by the ASP and according to ASP CEO Paul Speaker,

The competitors on the BWWT are some of the fiercest and most-respected watermen on the planet and we are eager about the opportunity to take their tour to the next level. This arrangement also allows the world’s best surfers on the ASP World Championship Tour to compete in big-wave events moving forward.

Kieren Perrow said that,

It adds another dimension to the sport and will make it significantly easier for ASP Top 34 surfers to compete in big-wave events.

So, I'm not clear (nor really interested) on the details but the way the tour will be run highlights renowned big wave surfers like Greg Long and Shane Dorian, while creating space for World Championship Tour surfers to compete;

The new-found arrangement between the ASP and the BWWT will allow for top ASP surfers such as 11-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater (USA), 41, reigning ASP World Champion Joel Parkinson (AUS), 32, Hawaiian phenom John John Florence (HAW), 20, amongst others to join respected BWWT surfers like Greg Long (USA), 28, Grant Baker (ZAF), 40, and Carlos Burle (BRA), 45, in competition with waves in the 25-foot-and-above range.

Following my point from the previous post, while this format creates more opportunities for popular and excellent surfers like Kelly Slater, Joel Parkinson and John John Florence to further show their skills and daring in different conditions, and to earn more money and prestige while doing so, there are no women involved. I'm sure there are some really convincing arguments for this as well; for example that women are not as strong etc etc. And that is actually fair enough. But I'm pretty certain that most of the names on that list aren't going to get high results each of the six competitions. I mean, some of those guys are going to consistently rank pretty low, right? Isn't that how it works? Which means that not all the guys in this competition are going to be crowned the champ every time. I'm pretty sure that they could include women who were interested, experienced and willing to take part. Even if they didn't win, even if they didn't come in the top 5 or 10 or 15, their presence on the BWWT might still see them get some good results that are competitive in the existing field of men. I mean, surfers don't have to win events to be successful on the Tour - most surfers aren't going to win anyway. 

Including qualified women in the BWWT would be interesting and wonderful and good for competitive surfing. I might not hold my breath for it to happen though.

Duct Tape Invitational. Another chick-free event!

This morning I opened my inbox to an email from Nathan Oldfield with a link to his latest clip. As always, it's pretty and fun.

T.C.S.S. Presents: A Doc-umentary from Nathan Oldfield on Vimeo.

But it had the added function of reminding me how annoyed I felt that there were, as ever, no women invited. And it wasn't just me! According to Facebook, there were quite a few crew commenting on how of the sixteen spots open, not one was offered to a woman. As far as I could tell, this was not officially a 'men's' comp so don't you think that is a problem?

Of course, this is not an uncommon story. Big wave riding competitions rarely invite women, and when they have it's been as an 'exhibition' event. (Maybe something has changed recently. I haven't been following these kinds of events as they're not on my radar for now. I doubt it though.) This is usually argued on the basis that women are not as strong or involved in this kind of surfing as men. Sure, okay.

But log riding, with its emphasis on style and technique, seems to be one of the areas of surfing where men and women should be able to compete against each other without it being such a problem.

Especially when this  event has a US$10,000 prize pool.

Men who surf constantly talk about how supportive they are women's surfing and like to associate themselves with women who surf. But it seems that often this is lip-service. I'm not saying that the surfers, organisers and film-makers associated with this event aren't totally encouraging of women in the surf, because these men are! Very much so. Nathan Oldfield always features women in his films, and Dane Peterson is well-known for his images of Belinda Baggs, Kassia Meador and Isabelle Braly to name a few. But highly publicised events like the Duct Tape Invitational also need to take the next step to show how great women surfers are by including them as competitors  In that way, it's up to the organisers I suppose.

Joel Tudor, I'm looking at you, sir!

Sure, it might take a few years before we see a female winner or even a woman in the finals, but let women get some experience competing against the guys in these kinds of events, and I reckon they will quickly make their competitive presence felt.

Inviting women to participate in contests like this not only promotes women's surfing on the event days, but also over time through associated media and widely-promoted clips such as Oldfield's. It would help normalise that women surf, and that they surf well, and that they should be invited to take part in contests like this one.

Hi-larious

I'm so getting Star Wars V&VI out this weekend!

(Thanks, Katie.)

Tell her she's dreamin'

I finished a big project recently, so I thought I'd have more free time. 

But it turns out... I'm still busy! And I've been sick. Wah.

Neil from over at Modyssey is keeping me day-dreaming though.

Mailbox joy from Gypsy Jacket

I used to have a mailbox that was constantly filled with letters from friends. These days, we tend to send emails and texts more often than post, so my mailbox has become a repository of bills, statements and the odd fine. But there are still some fun deliveries.

Yesterday I was lucky enough to come home to a package from the lovely Sarah at Gyspy Jacket.

I have been surfing in Sarah's beautiful handmade creations since last January. They're basically the only swimmers I've worn in that entire time and they have never failed me. I know how hard it can be to find cute, functional, not-mass-produced swimmers to surf in, so if you're keen to get your own butt clad in a pair of these beauties (or if you're in the market for a new surf board cover) you can reach Sarah via her Gypsy Jacket website or over on Instagram.