I’ve been enjoying mostly great coverage this past week of the Quiksilver Pro on the Gold Coast of Australia. The one let down from my point of view was in the live footage of the heats. A constant stream of girly shots from the cameramen. Who are they… teenage boys or seedy middle-aged men? During heats there’ll be girls being filmed sunbathing, adjusting their bikini’s etc.

It seems a crass, insulting and frankly unprofessional method of presenting the elite level of the sport of surfing. Sure some people might enjoy it but i’m there to watch surfing not soft porn and anyone stumbling across surfing for the first time via the live footage would think it was all a bit of a joke. My point is, I believe the WCT Dream Tour isn’t the place to be showing ‘peeping’ footage.

Watching these heats with anyone other than ‘the boys’ would make one embarrassed at the adolescent behaviour on display. Quiksilver should be ashamed their producer of the live heat coverage is lowering the tone of this otherwise polished event.  The phrase ‘an insult to my intelligence’ comes to mind.

I’m reminded of a comment a friend once made about Madonna’s music videos. Something along the lines of being ‘sick of her bringing soft-porn onto TV and that if he wanted to look at porn he’d just go and buy it’.

Finally, on a more general note we know that sex sells, but just because it sells things, it doesn’t justify using it does it?

This post is aimed to be progressive, while raising some issues that may seem negative, ultimately it’s hoped it’ll be a post that prompts positive outcomes.

It naturally takes a ‘for surfing’ angle.

Context

Wellington’s most convenient surf spot Lyall Bay has numerous uses. One of which is surfing. This being the case, there is a desire by the author to advance the pursuit of surfing at Lyall Bay (and in the Wellington region as a whole). While some of you may not understand the sport of surfing, i’m sure you can appreciate there is a legion of those who find general satisfaction and health benefits from the sport. These outcomes are gained with a minimal impact on the environment and resources.

Some Wellington surfers may take a lethargic approach, not being concerned about the services they are provided with and the resources required to improve their sporting environment. Maybe this will change for the better?

A symbol of commitment – “sound of the sea”

This Lyall Bay ‘eye-sore’ is a failed never used changing shed, which has seemingly morphed into a wierd 70′s art tribute. The ‘thing’ in the photo above represents the commitment the Wellington City Council have to the sport of surfing in Wellington. Do you accept this level of commitment? A sport in which hundreds if not thousands participate each year in the Wellington region.

Questions arising:

1. Who was responsible for this ‘thing’?
2. What kind of consultation process took place before the decision was made to build it?
3. How much did it cost?
4. How many pohutukawa’s could’ve been planted instead?
5. Was it erected because of complaints from those who are tired of driving past surfer’s getting changed by their cars?

Build it and they won’t necessarily come. This thing was never used. Surfer’s the world over will not depart from their car to get changed. It’s a standard surfer behaviour: Wetsuit/gear is in the car, surfer stays by car to get changed.

I am truly fascinated as to why and how the green “Sound of the Sea” monstrosity came about. Does anyone know?

Sand, carparks and waves

The issue of the changing shed come art canvas leads me to another issue surrounding our council’s consultation processes:

The carpark retaining wall near the ‘corner’ or east end of Lyall Bay.

Numerous surfers have commented that the wave at ‘the corner’ has been severely compromised since the development of the impractical carpark adjacent. The comment’s in the main focus on the now lack of hollowness of the wave. In other words the ‘quality’.

Surf-bank or bar building 101: Let sand blow back out to sea with the same freedom that it blows onto the beach and waves of quality are produced. Waves that peel and are hollow. In case you wondered (and have a long memory) why the middle of Lyall Bay no longer has peeling waves, the reason is sand. Ten or so years ago a concrete wall was built to ‘save the dunes’.

As an aside, dunes like whales, seem to be the ‘thing to protect’ in recent times. For reasons that can be argued.

You may also have noticed the stony nature of the beach in the middle of Lyall Bay. The reason? The concrete wall prevents the offshore wind from blowing sand back across the beach and out to sea in an offshore, north quarter wind. Again, no quality peeling waves, and again, who is responsible for this and why did it happen?

Here’s what a lack of sand did to Mundaka’s fragile economy, and what it could do at Whangamata if the proposed marina is built.

Wellington Surfonomics

A couple of Saturdays ago I was at Lyall Bay and counted 160 surfers in the water. That’s surfers and bodyboarders. This figure does not include swimmers, bodysurfers or kayakers. That means, on a sunny, surfable day at Lyall Bay, the equivelant of 10 rugby teams make their way to the city beach and have a blast riding waves. Triple that to include those at the playground, Maranui cafe, walkers, swimmers etc.

Obviously official sports teams pay their clubs subscriptions, possibly some of which go to the council, but in the main the council take care of the upkeep of parks. What spending the council do provide to sports and recreation teams could undoubtedly be justified by the benefit gained through the exercise/recreation etc. Surfing has benefits also. The economic spin off of such activity should not be sneezed at. Beaches are not even mentioned in this seemingly definitive list of council services. However ‘beaches and coastal areas’ are mentioned later in a single paragraph within the recreation support page.

As it reads on this page;

“Wellington City Council aims to make it easier for all Wellingtonians to enjoy healthy, active lifestyles.”

It goes on;

“Sports and recreational facilities maintained and operated by the Council include sportsgrounds, swimming pools, recreation and sports centres, community centres and halls, botanic gardens and parks, beaches and coastal areas, walkways and cycling tracks, and children’s play areas.”

Surfing aside for a moment, is Wellington not one of the most coast-rich cities in the world. Having travelled extensively, the amount of beautiful coastline in Wellington, with such varied uses, in such close proximity to our CBD must surely be a rarity, and would place us among only a handful of cities (towns and small cities aside) in the world?

Sure, we’re in Wellington. It’s not a surf town. Wellington is a major city and the financial, government and IT centre of New Zealand. The fact that we get consistent waves in town, on the west coast and in the wairarapa means we are actually in a unique situation. The amount of infrastructure in close proximity to Lyall Bay makes it unique indeed. Last time I looked Auckland, Hamilton or Christchurch didn’t have a good wave between 12 and 20 minutes drive from the CBD. Given the fact that Wellington is a town with comparatively good surf, there is an economic benefit for the council, government and country as a whole in surfing as a sport. A sport to be encouraged, fostered and developed. In saying this, Lyall Bay would have to be one of the most bleak beaches you could hope to find. The surrounding roads and pedestrian entrances are an ugly mix of poorly planned, concrete shrubs which add to an unwelcome feel about the place. I for one wouldn’t plan a walk along the parade on a nice calm day anytime. While it’s as bleak as it currently is, i’ll only go there to surf.

Some of the stakeholders in Wellington’s surfing arena:

• surfshop owners
• dairy owners
• cafe owners
• supermarket owners
• petrol station owners
• magazine outlet owners
• bus company owners
• property investors
• staff of all the above businesses
• government & council

The Artificial Surf Reef

The Surf reef is not happening any time soon. Resource consent expired on the 20th of January 2009. For detailed reasons why, email me (my email address top left).

Much gratitude must be given to Tony Lines (and unnamed others) for his 8+ years of commitment fighting for the cause in his personal time. As mentioned by Rod Drury, the reef would be of immeasurable value to the city.

Frustration exists. ASR Limited, having [apparently] not completed the mount or opunake reefs (Wellington city council won’t even look at the Lyall Bay reef project again until these reefs have been completed) have credibility issues. ASR Limited are supposedly overseas ‘consulting’ on other reefs. If this is true, it is disappointing that they didn’t finish the reef’s in NZ first. This council stonewall, as well as the resource consent expiry and also skyrocketing costs of building the reef since it was first proposed have led to a hefty mountain to climb.

Whether you are for or against the reef, as a Wellington surfer it’s in your best interests to be informed.

Recommendations

I now list a number of recommendations for the Lyall Bay surfing experience to be enhanced and made better use of:

(Please feel free to comment or add to the list):

1. Permanent floodlights along the airport wall for reqular all-night surfing
2. Fresh water showers along entire parade
3. Proper entrance to a sealed parking area by army hangar
4. Pedestrian crossing from parking by army hangar to beach
5. Indented parking spaces created along the airport wall
6. Viewing platform erected along the airport wall.
7. And, to make sure it all happens: [possibly] a surfer’s collective!

Final thought

Around 10 years ago I was living in Raglan and was an active member of the point boardriders club. A few years prior, the club actively lobbied against the building of a hotel at Indicators that would have exploited a great surfspot enjoyed by many. The point isn’t whether the hotel should or shouldn’t have gone ahead. The point is, the boardriders club had a say, they had a voice, they had influence. Who better to look after Lyall Bay than the surfers of Lyall Bay. To do it we’ll need to be alot less passive and alot more united as a surfing community in Wellington.

What do you think? Feel free to comment below. It’d be great to get some feedback.

He speaks about his latest movie Bustin’ down the door and the formative years of surfing in the mid 1970′s in Hawaii by a few visionary Australian and South African surfers.

There’s some interesting stories in there, some of death threats and contracts out on the young surfers’ lives.

Check it out! The audio link again:

ntn-20090128-1010-Feature_Guest_-_Shaun_Tomson-048.mp3

• Swell
• Isobars
• Wind

I’m so far removed when the weather girl reads out what the temperature was in *Masterton* today yesterday, and whether it’ll be sunny tomorrow. 

Ben Matson (surf forecaster) said it best on Storm Surfers:

“I don’t care if it’s raining. I don’t care if it’s overcast. I just want to know what the wind is doing and what the swell is doing.”

Check the trailer for Storm Surfers. Ben comes on around 1:10.

It’s been on Discovery and should replay at some stage.

What do you listen for most on the weather? …Which town was the hottest on the day?

Every sport has it’s superstars:

• Tennis – Andre Agassi
• Basketball – Michael Jordan
• Golf – Tiger Woods
• Cricket – Donald Bradman
• Soccer – Diego Maradona

In surfing it’s Kelly Slater (he has is own PS2 game)

Slater speaks:

“ Surfing’s as raw of a sport as it gets.”

“The joy of surfing is so many things combined, from the physical exertion of it, to the challenge of it, to the mental side of the sport.”

“Your surfing can get better on every turn, on every wave you catch. Learn to read the ocean better. A big part of my success has been wave knowledge.”

The Mind, Body, Surf interview presents a comprehensive amount of information that will be of interest to anyone wanting to reach their potential in whatever field.

A Kelly Slater quote (not from the video) that stands out and can be related to any project in life:

“When you do something, you’ve got to hope that it can keep leading somewhere else.”

*The video link once again: Mind, Body, Surf – Kelly Slater 9x World Surfing Champ.*

Watch for Kelly’s switchfoot antics at Padang Padang.

BTW, Kelly Slater’s ranking is no. 42 on the list of pro-athletes who play golf.

NB: For some reason wordpress won’t allow me to write in between the photos so do your best re: caption issue

I remember doing something similar at primary school with parachutes. The people from ‘group activity’ land would show up on the field and you’d all hold a corner of the fabric. Not sure what the point of it was. Team building?

Here’s a somersault on that trampoline:

I’m off to Taranaki for my 15th (give or take) visit to the annual CSNZ surf camp, taking care of some 15 students from the Wellington College Surfing Academy

Should be a fun time. Taranaki has waves like these:

I’ll try and upload some photos of the waves etc. during the weekend.

See you on the other side.

It looks to me like a funky looking investment opportunity based around the popular sport of surfing.

The worlds first continuous wave!

There have been numerous attempts at building artificial surf reefs and the like. It seems they have so much compliance to wade through that this kind of approach might be a way to get around all that.

Fancy that, surfing in boardshorts and warm water in July, without having to get on a plane!

Go you good thing go! (New Zealand innovators)

There’s some interesting stuff to read about on their site. Check it out!

This video also won last year’s New Zealand Amateur Surf Film Fest. Should be a cracker this year too. Prizegiving usually at Maranui Surf Club showing all the surf films on the big screen.

Great work to Melody and all the crew from Wellington CS. Choice!