Taking the p❋ss!
I know it’s been a while, but it had to be done, I went on a pilgrimage.
The North Shore of Oahu is a surf Mecca. When the opportunity arose to visit, I went. Decades ago as a teenager and 7000 miles away I had heard of the North Shore and its importance to surfing. I stared endlessly at surfing magazines, read stories, looked at photographs and learnt of places like Pipeline, Sunset Beach and Rocky Point; world class surf breaks among many that pepper The Seven Mile Miracle.
I was there for two weeks, coinciding with the Billabong Pro Pipeline (surf contest) window. I took my eyes and camera to see this place of mythical significance to surfing. I took several photographs and will reserve a section of future weekly posts for them.
Back home and to work!
Despite the flight to Seattle being cancelled and connection to Heathrow not made, aeroplanes were boarded and a different route was completed to make it back. A day to readjust and then back to the O.M factory to spray some surfboards, armed with plenty of waffle, a surfboard factory necessity around the world.
Resurface
One of the joys of taking a break is having time to wonder. I did a lot of walking on the North Shore and it seemed to aid ideas making a journey through my mind. Visiting an island, especially an island so renowned for its surf, an idea that interested me years ago resurfaced during the miles walked up and down the stretch between Sunset Beach and Pupukea – surf maps.
Since school I’ve drawn and doodled perfect waves on exercise books and in the margins, while also dreaming of fantastic surf islands and scribbling them down to be surveyed and escaped to when the surf was flat. I cleaned a few up and made some maps to be printed. I used one of them to make an original piece that went into an Exhibition in Truro, and now has a place on a wall at home. I got a few print ready but I got distracted, probably went surfing! So they were explored no further.
At this point, just for the Whimsy and cathartic process of it, I would like to sketch some new unknown islands to visit. If I go to one of them and wish to move there, it may be time to make some prints and originals to be framed.
Really!
Despite surfing being globally recognised and pursued in even landlocked countries, the reaction in Hawaii to surfing in England was ‘Really?!’ All it takes is a couple of flights and a few drinks in a San Fransisco airport bar, before seeing people going for a surf in England despite the grey skies and obvious temperature difference. That said, the reaction ‘Really?!’ is understandable – surfing really is different in Hawaii, almost a completely different sport, life, pursuit.
