LNT: Seasick Steve

You know how it is. You’ve seen a name someplace and somehow it’s associated in your mind with “good”. Somewhere along the way I’d heard about this guy called Seasick Steve, so when I heard he was playing in Sydney, I checked youtube to see if I could find any of his clips.

There are heaps of them.

And the guy is a phenomenon. His kit is straight out of a junk yard:  a stomp box,  a trashed three-string (!)  guitar and a slide. He looks and sounds like the kinda guy you find up the back of a truck repair shop somewhere in the deep South.

But does he get on it!

Cut my wings

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Doghouse boogie

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Save me

a brief interview with Seasick Steve

Manly

South Steyne really picked up this afternoon as Don predicted. Here are a couple of  pic’s of the action. Have a look at the crowd that turned up to take advantage of the waves.

Tony Camphin picked up one of the best waves of the afternoon just North of the double pipelines.

Carving it up

1700: a few Collaroy pics

Hi all,

Out on an errand… had the camera with and was curious to see if the wind change from ESE to more SE was making Collaroy look any more interesting. I’d say it’d definitely cleaned up compared to lunchtime. The main break was still pretty soft and flabby, but down toward the stormwater pipe and north of there, I saw a few amusing looking shutdowns. Actually some were a bit more makeable than that…

Anyway, herewith a few more snaps…

Collaroy not being too soft on its victim.

Charging a snappy one just north of the stormwater pipe.

Right unreels toward the stormwater pipe at Collaroy

If you’d like to see a few more of my pics from today, here’s a link to the midday report.

Mid-arvo update: Bower & Collaroy

Some of 'em actually looked okay, despite the wind...

Hello Friends,

(Buncha extra pics in this post)

Not many choices around this afternoon. 20-25kts of SSE wind is doing over the 8sec, 3 metre ese swell. I spent a couple hours waiting for picture opportunities at the Bower this morning. Long wait between the good ones, and at that stage the wind was tearing up any potential that deadmans might’ve had. I came away with a few snaps for you (see below). The wind’s a touch more south now, so maybe there’ll be a few more options for the keen later. Don’t try it unless you’re reasonably experienced though. Some of the wave faces on the sets come close to the three metre mark.

On the way home, I swung into Collaroy for a squizz, but it was exceedingly ordinary. Lot of folks in the water but at around midday the sets were just mushing over out the back, reforming and then periodically sort of making a little section on the inside. Cool thing happened though. I saw the evergreen Tom Kirsop go for one of the bigger sets and I was able to get a shot of him. Tom basically founded Surfrider on the Northern Beaches and has been a tireless environmentalist for decades. Speaking of which, he’s already racked up seven decades so far. Onya Tom!!

If you knew you'd still be surfin' at Tom's age, you'd be ecstatic.

Okay, a few more piccies from today…

Nice green face standing up...

bomb set this morning at the Bower

Sliding at the Bower

Setting one up at the surge

hooking it around

made it...

Bomb set wave

one whack coming up

Lunchtime left at Collaroy

Manly

Its an ugly sight out there today. No one in on the beach stretch at present. Not surprising really the terms washing machine come to mind to describe what it looks like.

Out at the Bower it really isn’t working that well with the swell being very easterly at present. But that hasn’t stopped a few souls from playing around out there.

Plenty of waves, lots of mush, only a few takers

More of the same but bigger- mid-week looking good

East swell at around 6-10 feet and SE winds howling at over 30 knots is not making for good surf conditions.  Tomorrow we should see some improvements as the wind tends North in the afternoon and then N/NE on Wednesday, so Curly should be cleaner but it will be unsettled for a while yet but the mid-week outlook looks good. Enjoy.

Slater Starts Campaign for ASP World Title No. 10 at Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast

Kelly Slater (USA), 37, reigning and nine-time ASP World Champion, will begin his campaign for an unprecedented 10th ASP World Title at the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast.

Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast pres. by LG Mobile

Roxy Pro Gold Coast pres. by LG Mobile

Stop No. 1 of 10 on the 2009 ASP World Tour

Stop No. 1 of 8 on the 2009 ASP Women’s World Tour

Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

February 28 – March 11, 2009

Trials February 27, 2009

COOLANGATTA, Australia – Reigning and nine-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater (USA), 37, will begin his campaign for an unprecedented 10^th ASP World Title at the Quiksilver Pro presented by LG Mobile.

Event No. 1 of 10 on the 2009 ASP World Tour, the Quiksilver Pro will be held at the Gold Coast’s Snapper Rocks from February 28 through March 11, 2009. The Quiksilver Trials and Roxy Trials will take place on February 27, 2009.

Slater, who in past seasons has been reluctant to commit to a full year of competition, has announced his intentions for the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast and has acknowledged the allure of a possible 10^th ASP World Title.

“I commit to where I am,” Slater said. “I’ll be on the Gold Coast for sure. I’m pretty excited about some new equipment and am ready to surf, I think. No. 10 is alluring and is there for the attempt, but I’ll let everyone else worry about the pressure of it as well as I can.”

Despite the Floridian’s dominance on last year’s ASP Dream Tour, Slater admits that the acquisition of ASP World Title No. 10 will be no easy feat, especially considering the hunger and talent of returning ASP Top 45 rippers.

“I’m not sure whether Dane (Reynolds) and Jordy (Smith) will pull straight up to that level to start this year or not, but I know that Parko’s always hungry and Mick (Fanning) goes without saying,” Slater said. “C.J. (Hobgood) got a taste of it last year again and will come out firing for sure. Taj (Burrow) will be hungry, but I wonder how his focus will be after a couple of really great seasons and not quite the results that his surfing shows all the time – he’s always one of the best at Snapper. Bede (Durbidge) will quietly execute more people and Bobby (Martinez) is going to be the hungriest, starting the year without a main sponsor.”

In addition to the returning stars on this year’s ASP World Tour, a new crop of fresh faces will be joining the best surfers on the planet as they traverse the globe tearing apart the best waves in the world.

“I think Kerr could show some big things, but he was never able to capitalize on a great start the other year and never really backed it up when the time came,” Slater said. “I don’t expect him to make the same mistakes this time. Nathaniel Curran could quietly take a few people out. I’m really interested to see Barca and what he will do. He’s finally made the tour and I don’t know if people outside of Hawaii know how good he is yet, especially guys on the World Tour. For all of them, it’s a transition from four-man to two-man, and it’s a different field with more experience. Rookies need a good start to get out of tough seeding position as well – the first three events are key to a guy requalifying.”

Mick Fanning (AUS), 27, former ASP World Champion (2007), dropped seven spots to ASP World No. 8 last season, but the ultra-fit natural-footer is recharged and ready for another assault at the ASP World Title.

“Last year, I wasn’t motivated at all really,” Fanning said. “It was a huge learning curve for me with all the extra attention, but I had fun. I also had a hip problem throughout the year so I took a couple of events off to get on top of that. This year, I feel very focused and motivated for a big year. I am healthy and fit and everything else is going really well.”

Fanning will draw on his hometown experience at the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast, putting his years of experience at the iconic Snapper Rocks to good use.

“It is great to start the year off at my home break,” Fanning said. “I guess it is like when everyone has an event at their home break and you’re comfortable. You know the waves by heart and you sleep in your own bed and drive your own car. There is nothing like it – it’s great. Obviously the Top 5 will always be huge threats but I think Bede (Durbidge) and Joel (Parkinson) have something they really want this year and they are focused on getting it. I think Michel Bourez will be the biggest standout of the rookies.”

Bede Durbidge (AUS), 25, current ASP World No. 2, has improved his standing every year since his elite inception at 2005, and has his eyes set on the ASP World Title in 2009.

“I have had a good steady climb on the ratings so I guess there is only one more spot to go now,” Durbidge said. “It’s always been my goal to win the ASP World Title so I’m in a great spot now to give it a good shot. My preparation has been going really well. It’s so good to have all this time off and work on my fitness and my boards. It’s the longest break we get all year so it’s perfect to build a good fitness and set up for the year ahead.”

“Kelly (Slater) had nearly a perfect season last year,” Durbidge said. “He was in such good form – he was just on at every event. To take Kelly out this year is a big ask, but it is achievable and I feel I’m up to the challenge. I’m just going to focus on all the things I can do to give myself the best chance and hopefully he doesn’t have a season like last year.”

The 2009 ASP Top 45 will kick off this season’s Dream Tour at the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast, which boasts a waiting period from February 28 – March 11, 2009.

The Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast pres. by LG Mobile will be webcast LIVE viawww.quiksilverpro.com.au

The event will incorporate the Roxy Pro Gold Coast pres. by LG Mobile, the opening event of the 2009 ASP Women’s World Tour.

For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com 

Don’t bother

Unless you have some sweet secret spot that is protected from the mother of all south- easters, don’t worry about surfing today, or tomorrow by the looks of things.

Wild and woolly

Don't be fooled, the rights are a hoax!

Hello Friends,

Just back from a bit of picture snapping and I can tell you that there’s not much of anything looking surfable from Northy to Dee Why thanks to 20-30 kts of SE wind.  Swell has ramped up and is currently out of the E by ESE at close to 4 metres at around 9 seconds apart.  Seas on top of the swell are pushing 7 metres, so not the day to take the tinny for a spin.

The Bureau has raised a strong wind warning this morning – and tomorrow they reckon it’ll be blowing harder again (25-35 kts) but they’re expecting the direction to work around to the SW and by Weds we should have 10-20 kts of SW wind. Hmmm…

Have to run some errands now, so I’ll be back again later with a few more pics (I hope). Go well!

Momentarily plausible section forms up briefly.