Slide Mag

Malik's Right...

Nicolas 'Daz' Dazet is a French filmer bloke of great repute. He's like a little French Taylor Steele. He has the unenviable job of filming Europe's best and when he's in town gets to work with Mr Slater himself. Found this sweet little edit from the sick Taheets session last year... Check the clip and Daz's words after the jump-

The Puerto Paradox...

Puerto Escondido is a funny old place, it can look so perfect and so inviting as it does in Xavier Leroy's awesome Go Pro HD vid feature here. It's sunny, warm and perfect makeable barrels just make you want to go there, check into a little cabana, surf all morning then snooze and drink Corona all arvo. Which is fine. Thing is those balmy four-foot sessions tend to be interrupted occasionally by a wave like the one at around the two-minute mark. At which point you realise duck-diving is a useless endeavour and you want your mummy...

Bum Drop Millionaire...

There's no way around it- this must have hurt. I've got some sympathy, I've not been steamrollered by Shipsterns but I have had the Norovirus the last three days which leaves you feeling shattered, empty, defeated and wanting to do a little man cry. After flu last week I'm not having the best time... Clip after de jump-

Girls Ride Massive Waves Too...

Check out this clip of a brace of the world's most fearsome water women surfing rather chunky waves. Also featured is Layne's epic keg at Ours... All good stuff. In the meantime I am watching the rugby.

Fergal And A Few More Drainers...

I first met Ferg in 2004, did a trip up to the Bloody Foreland with him Gabe and the Ash brothers. He was a shy lad, his mum dropped him off at Sligo bus station and I could hardly get a word out of him for the first 50-miles then he got us lost. So, map reading not a skill, getting barrelled? well, who'd a thunk he'd turn into the Irish Mark Mathews? Here he is at home-

Man-Flu I Hate You...

I thought I was gonna ride out the whole winter cold/flu free. I was eating good, exercising heaps, feeling top of the world. Even some long sessions in freezing water couldn't dent me. People with sniffles, snot and various plagues came and went and I charged on healthy as hell.
This week the weather finally turned as well, the coldest winter in 30-years flipped to pretty much early summer in a day. In my mind if the sun's out it ain't flu season anymore. 

Gert Big Chunky Aussie Barrels...

Four words that will make you want to watch this video and perhaps buy Tim Bonython's Sessions2 DVD when it reaches Pomland- 'Massive Frickin Shippies and Ours.' Surf porn at it's gnarliest with a capital 'gnar'... Clip after the jump-

Surf Photo 101- Take A Step Back And Get Some...

Next to the Line Up shot the pulled back or environmental action shot is the easiest to achieve without fancy camera gear. Any bog standard SLR with a kit lens can pull off this kind of image as can a compact with a decent zoom. It's all about the backdrop with these kind of shots which means you really need to think about angles and use your 'manual zoom' (as in your feet) to yomp about the place til you find what you're looking for. Then it's a case of waiting for the surfers to do something good. A big turn/aerial works best or tube shots if the waves are cooking. The sense of place these style of shots bring is what makes them winners. The magazines love them and would far rather run this kind of thing than a super tight action shot of the same move (currently anyway, the tight 600mm shot is so far out of vogue that it's probably due a revival).

License To Be Grumpy...

Lanzagrotty- the mythical Canary Island. Home to: No canaries, no plants, a lot of dust, a skinny of goats, some nasty waves and the most feared locals this side of Hawaii…

An inviting place for a surf trip eh? Slide went for a visit…

I’d not been to Lanza’ in seven years… If you don’t visit most places for seven years and then go back, you are gonna spend a good part of your first few days saying things like “Cor, that wasn’t there last time!” and “Ooh! That’s new!” and you end up sounding like a pensioner... 

Quik Pro Highlights Reel...

The dust has settled from the Quik Pro but here's a last little slice of gold to remind you of the good times... An epic little edit from the Quik folk of all the besterest waves from the event. Loving Bede's keg at the end. Roll on Bells... 

Reubyn Ash Ripping, Like Really Ripping...

Lil Reubs has spent the last few months in Indonesia. The ideal retreat for pro's to train for the new season, work on new airs and generally get a nut brown tan. On the subject of the new 'Reuby Spin' air (looks new to me) I asked Julian Wilson and he reckoned Ozzie Wright's done similar, so if anyone has a copy of the Waves 7 Days 7 Slaves dig it out and let us know... Sick vid follows anyhoose-

A Story Where Your Correspondent Nearly Sank: The Curse Of The Conch...

(Originally published in SE 2003ish) 

Rule 37 of surfing: Not all surf trips go to plan. 

The further away you are from civilisation, the more this rule applies.

Of course it helps if you either a) had a plan in the first place, or b) knew someone that had any idea what the plan was.

When you are bobbing around on a boat in the Indian Ocean, within spitting distance of the equator, you are far from civilisation. The nearest settlement, featuring basic facilities, is somewhere in Australia, India or some war-torn bit of rubble in East Africa. 

This far out, the rule is law.

Bruce Irons In Indo...

Two words to bring a smile to your dank, freezing, Wednesday morning- One is 'Bruce' the other is 'Indo'. So get a cuppa and a mildly stale hobnob and enjoy 2-minutes of pure escapism...