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The Emigre
Surf Europe founding editor Derek Rielly discovers cultural ecstasy in south-west France.
The Bigger Picture
This time last year I’d never been to Hawaii and was kind of proud of it. I mean, why would an average punter like myself want to? Crowds, hype, gnarly locals, a zillion frothing pros, photogs, TV crews, helicopters, jetskis, not to mention of course life-threatening surf conditions. I figured I’d chosen wisely to have done numerous trips to Indo, the Philippines, Oz, New Zealand, Africa, Central America and so on. I’d been around for a little while; I knew the score. Maximize your wave count and quality for money spent. Get the most out from what you can. For these very reasons the North Shore sat pretty low down my list of places to surf.
Jarvi’s Journal
Dear Diary. We went for a quick surf around the corner. The waves were small but fun and we got a couple. My board wasn’t going that well, I’ll ride a different one tomorrow. I decided to write a diary as well, as you can see. I also decided to drink beer again and to work hard on being a nicer person. No more Selfish Me or Poor Me Syndrome.
First of Many
There’s a little spot up the coast that we know about that always comes alive at this time of the year. There’s a tiny bay next to a bigger bay. Separating the two bays is a big rock out to sea with a few smaller rocks on the inside and then a gap.
Old Caledonia
On a Wednesday afternoon recently Timo and myself found ourselves wheeling luggage across a hot Bordeaux airport car park. Our destination was Thurso, Scotland’s famous righthander and host of the 2006 O’Neill Highland Pro.
Summer
Unbelievably, summer is back, and like Bill Murray stuck in Punxsutawney on the shittest day of the year, it’s gonna be another Groundhog Day of heat, crowds, waves, chicks, noise and parties. Best you do some serious planning this year to get you through the summer without too much drama coz trust me - let your guard down once and the European summer will walk all over you.
First Time
There’s always a first time at every surf spot. The first time you arrive and look at the wave, the first time you paddle out, the first time you catch a wave at that spot. I remember my first time in Mundaka was in 2000.
Keeping a Secret
When I was a grom I used to obsess about carving 360’s. Whenever I used to surf my home break, which is a good beachbreak peak with a long tapering left off the peak, and a short, bowly right, I always used to go the right. I would take off, go straight down, or maybe even fade a bit off the bottom, then crank the squarest bottom turn I could.
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