Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Dec 4, 2009, 10:57 am
As the sea and air has recently snapped into Winter mode everything is different, everything more difficult. The first surfs when the water hurts your head are a shock. Other surfers have cold faces,...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Nov 27, 2009, 4:19 am
This is a little artwork I've done, clearly influenced by this, relentless, annoying, stormy weather we have been having for weeks.
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Nov 22, 2009, 1:00 pm
After getting blown out of the water, for what seems like weeks (with only the odd, very messy, surf grabbed here and there,) I thought I needed to venture further afield to see if I could find somewh...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Nov 17, 2009, 8:34 am
I've just retrieved my old wetsuits from my parents' attic. So here are a couple of photos showing how wetsuits have changed a little. The retro day-glo steamer looks pretty cool!? That said, ...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Nov 9, 2009, 8:12 am
Had a great surf today, small waves but really nice and clean: felt like a treat after all the wind recently. I remembered, while I was sitting in the water, of what the American painter Willem de Ko...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Nov 9, 2009, 5:56 am

Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Nov 8, 2009, 4:28 am
I like Surfer's Path. It's a magazine that is about being a surfer in this world - as much about environmental issues as surfiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing (the key didn't get stuck it's just th...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Nov 6, 2009, 10:46 am

Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Nov 5, 2009, 10:28 am
I thought it might be nice to photograph the sea and create a photographic artwork to poeticize Trev's Eyeball Surfcheck report...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Nov 4, 2009, 8:41 am
Good grief it's hard to discuss wave size with anyone! How do you measure the size of a wave? I didn't know you could have such pangs of doubt simply discussing the conditions in which you sli...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Oct 31, 2009, 7:49 am
First time out on my new Diplock 'Flyer'. It's just a standard 'fatboy flyer' type shape, swallowtail, 7ft. I chickened out of the 6'8 model - not wanting to risk too large a s...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Oct 30, 2009, 3:41 pm
Today I went to Braunton with the intention of buying a winter wetsuit after trying loads on. My word it's bleedin' hard work! I tried on five and gave up (and I think five was pretty good goi...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Oct 29, 2009, 12:09 pm
Monday was a funny old day. I went out in the morning and had my worst surf ever. Besieged by foam for 45mins at Woolacombe I finally made it to the outside and some messy 4-5ft waves. Knackered: I di...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Oct 27, 2009, 4:03 am
My wave count is dreadful as soon as the waves pick up over 3ft. I think the reason is that as you become an intermediate surfer, paddle to the outside and start to get selective about the waves you ...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Oct 25, 2009, 3:35 pm
Watched the wind spraying patterns on the wet sand at Saunton today while the kite surfers and windsurfers enjoyed themselves. I used to love windsurfing and watched with great affection - the gybes, ...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Oct 24, 2009, 11:44 am
Yesterday I enjoyed perhaps my most fabulous hour with a surfboard. Nearly two hours in the water but the first half of that was the nuts! The plan was to go out at Combesgate but it was soooooooo bu...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Oct 22, 2009, 3:34 am
There were some nice, big, waves racing in yesterday. I'm sure some looked about 7ft. Some pretty clean faces and some churning whitewater. However, I didn't go out. After a tiring surf the ev...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Oct 15, 2009, 4:30 am
As I mentioned before I cannot help but think about my next board and what boards I may surf and would like to surf in the future. My immediate thoughts throw up things like: Loose-Fit Cab Quad, Merri...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Oct 14, 2009, 4:11 am
Great waves are better than good waves. Dammit. Yesterday we had great waves. Today's would have been great waves but for yesterday's waves. Now they're just good waves. I want yesterday&#...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Oct 13, 2009, 5:59 pm
The picture is from Eyeball Surfcheck. Dropped my daughter off at school and then paddled into the best surf I've seen curling into Combesgate. According to surf convention I was indeed most terri...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Oct 12, 2009, 10:14 am
Best Ever Wave Day! We all love 'em. One of the advantages of learning is that it's much more likely that you'll have a 'best ever wave'. Went out at Woolacombe this morning before...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Oct 6, 2009, 4:07 am
The beauty of surfing is, for some reason, getting me back into drawing and art. (I studied Fine Art did a little exhibiting and then got a 'proper job' and stopped painting.) This is the firs...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Sep 29, 2009, 3:26 am
The Endless Summer: what a movie! I had never seen it and had thought it was a fiction film. I didn't know it was a 'documentary' (until I read Riding the Magic Carpet). It grabbed me from...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Sep 27, 2009, 3:20 pm
I used to pronounce it Point Break, however, now I am a 'real-life surfer' and know what a point break is I realise it should be intoned Point Break.
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Sep 24, 2009, 6:40 am
What it looked like when I went in (mmmmmmmm!): Enjoyed the most delicious waves yesterday - easy flat water, not much wind and lovely clean 2-3ft waves. I have been surfing for four months now and w...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Sep 23, 2009, 9:34 am
I just remembered this catchphrase 'A Wet Arse and No Fish' which pretty much sums up my attempt at surfing yesterday. It just felt like spending half an hour dumped in the middle of the North...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Sep 21, 2009, 3:01 pm
At Saunton yesterday there were a lot of surfers hunting a few little waves. I was wondering what the collective noun is for surfers? Because when it's a good day out, a friendly small group enjoy...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Sep 17, 2009, 12:34 pm
I am no expert but as I reflect on my first few months surfing I thought I'd share a little list of some things that I would have liked to have been thrown at me before I started. (Most beginner t...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Sep 16, 2009, 2:14 pm
Just went out for a quiet surf at Croyde. Since it was the only day with a hint of swell for a week there were quite a few people in the water fighting over a few little waves. It's hard work find...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Sep 14, 2009, 10:37 am
This book is a great read. Tom Anderson grips you from the beginning as he heads on a surfing journey that he hopes will lead him to his dream wave: J-Bay. The book will appeal to anyone with even the...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Sep 13, 2009, 8:55 am
I strapped up my bad knee and risked a surf on Thursday evening and it was beautiful. There weren't too many of us out on a sunny, calm evening at Woolacombe. The sun was dipping orange, the birds...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Sep 8, 2009, 9:57 am
Loving it that around the world Surf breaks have such fantastic names:Mavericks, Impossibles, Supertubes, Shipwrecks, Wrong Uns, G-Land, Outside Log Cabins, Zombies, Jaws, Suicides, Racetracks, and so...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Aug 30, 2009, 11:45 am
As I sit here, unable to surf due to twisting my knee, I can't help but ruminate over my recent fall into a surfing obsession and ask myself what it is about surfing that is so special? I have bee...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Aug 24, 2009, 10:41 am
Now that I've hurt myself (tibial collateral ligament) and won't be able to surf for a week or two this is what I was expecting the North Devon Surf Report at Magic Seaweed to look like today:...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Aug 22, 2009, 5:20 pm
Thanks to Tiki for organising the "International Shaper Tour" so we could have Bob McTavish, Steve Walden and Richie Lovett here in North Devon. It was just a shame that Greg Webber couldn't make ...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Aug 18, 2009, 3:37 am
After a break from surfing of over a week due to life-things conspiring to get in the way I discovered the absolute beauty of that first surf, that return to the water and the fact that when you'r...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Aug 15, 2009, 4:33 am
While the waves have been quieter, my tibial collateral ligament recovering and family causing life chaos I haven't been surfing. Allow me the indulgence of spreading the beauty that is John Zorn ...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Aug 11, 2009, 4:47 am
After learning to surf for a few months now I can quite easily say that this is the best piece of advice I can think of and, perhaps too, the most crucial part of efficient surfing progress: Choose Ca...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Aug 10, 2009, 3:48 pm
I can barely surf my Mini Mal and already I'm thinking about my next board and what it might be. Clearly in surfing the amount of boards you need follows the familiar equation and equals n+1 (wher...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Aug 4, 2009, 2:49 am
I really enjoyed watching this trailer just now. Looks like the DVD is only available in Japan. I had to use Google translate to read their site at http://www.bcm-surfpatrol.com
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Aug 4, 2009, 1:21 am
Now I'm improving and can paddle out through the waves I have discovered how nice it is, after the battle out, just to sit on the board for a short while and catch your breath. To make it through ...
Comment - Like

Thomas S. posted an article on A Board, Some Wax and a Leash - Jul 24, 2009, 4:54 am
This book is saving my land-locked holiday! It is 'A History of Surfing in Britain' written by Roger Mansfield who was born in Newquay in 1952, started surfing in 1958 and was British Surfing...
Comment - Like