And so there's no much left of this horrible year.
And I'm glad.
This should have been my third year of surfing but it's not. I'm missing six months.
Two posts ago I wrote that my waiting was finally over but unfortunately it's not.
My mood changes like wind, my body is getting fatter, my mind it's stuck somewhere in the ocean and I feel like shit all the times.
In march I had so many great sessions and I was improving drastically, then the good swells passed, I had commitments, I slowed down, and then my health plummeted and that was it.
I don't know about the future. I hope 2014 will take away all the bad things and let me free.
There are people living all their life surfing basically every day. I love it as much as they do, but hey, seems like I'm asking too much. Few hours a month is too much.
Stephanie Gilmore won her 6th world title two weeks ago, and right now the guys are battling for the man crown in Hawaii. Mick Fanning and Kelly Slater the front runners.
But seriously: who cares of this guys and girls doing space moves?
Instead, I've found my hero in: Chelsea Williams!
She just won her first longboard world title in China, on 3 to 4ft waves (says the report).
Look at this pic:
This pic belong to its owner ASP / Will H-S
How beautiful is what she's doing?
First: I could surf that wave. Second: I basically have the same board!! And I mean: same. Third: my focus in the last year (in which I didn't surf for almost 8 out of 12 months) was to learn just that turn.
Leaving aside my health, I know I was on right path to make that happen.
I look at that picture and I just dream.
Fourth: she lives in Gold Coast, and that means I could meet her. I just asked her friendship on FB. She doesn't have a official page, it seems.
No, I'm not going to stalk her! I just find it great to see just a simple girl from around here doing something special, but also something I may -may- be able to learn and do it myself.
This last weekend in Noosa, main beach, the ocean was flat.
I thought that since the physiotherapist told me to paddle
in a lake it would have been fine.
Once there I thought to go and check Tea Tree to see if
something was coming in around the headland. And there were small riddles. I
was happy, but worried and disappointed.
Happy because there were small waves in a flat ocean,
worried about my shoulder, my stamina, the lack of practice and the rocks under
the water, disappointed because I wanted bigger waves.
I didn’t know what to expect. I took into account the fact
that paddling from the beach to the point could have been already too much and
I was ready to just watch the other.
I paddled, steady and slow, and there I was. I waited,
observing the others, the tiny waves and the pack hierarchy. I paddled a bit,
to put me in some sort of position. Then I paddled out of someone else path. I
was surprised by my shoulder. I still had no pain. I couldn’t sprint but there
I was, moving left and right, here and there, almost ok.
After some time finally my wave came to me. I paddled and I
lost it. Not fast enough. But I had no bad feelings. I kept my mind serene. Sure
I wanted to surf, but I wasn’t supposed to be there, my shoulder wasn’t
supposed to work, the waves weren’t supposed to be there. It was ok.
I lost one or two more for nosediving. I thought to go
forward to help the board down the face, but it didn’t work. I lost other two
or more again for not paddling fast enough. Then finally I got it. I jumped up
and I had the most weird feeling on what to do with my feet. A sort of “now what?” that left me so confused and disappointed. This was the worst moment of my
coming back. I couldn’t believe it. It was like I forgot everything, how to
enjoy the ride.
After sometime I got another one and this time I didn’t
think. It was so small it was disappearing under my feet and I had to go left,
instead of the usual right, to keep it alive. Because of that I didn’t think
and just acted and I had a small revenge: my body knew.
That was it.
The waves grew up in size, better surfers (locals) were
magically in the water, and I had to paddle more and basically I run out of
strength. I think I lasted just over one hour.
After I came out arrived some very fun waves and the locals
were having a lot of fun. It was good to watch too.
The forecast said it was a no surf day, the tide wave high
and the wind onshore. Nevertheless the locals had a great late afternoon of fun
and I was (am) so envious. They can surf- every- single- stupid- day. I was
there because it was supposed to be flat. They probably had a go early at dawn,
but they just came out of nowhere the minute something arrived.
Anyway, this was the end of 4 months wait. 4 months of
physical and mental pain. I have a lot of work to do ahead. I hope in few
months I could be where I was when I left. This is what will make me
happy.
Following my physiotherapist's suggestion I went to the lake with the cheap 8'2 board and started paddling on the flat water. Well beyond kookness.
I think I made 30m when I felt the pain in my right shoulder and by 50m I was tired anyway. I insisted a bit, resting, paddling a bit, resting, paddling a bit. I realized that I won't be able to catch a wave right now, unless it's one of those where you don't really need to paddle. But the point is: I'm really really weak. I've a whole lot of work to do on me. Shit.
I'm happy because the day I'll hit the water again is coming, but at the same time I'm down because it will take time to get back where I was. Not to mention my ability on the board. Where will I be? No idea mate. But at least I'm doing something: I finally jumped back on my Goofboard and on the Surfstik skate. On both I noticed I could stand and use them, but I lost a lot of confidence and abilities. A lot.
I need to find the time to work on my body and on those two toys.
Unfortunately people tend to follow trends all over the world. I've been living in Milan for too many years and I got sick of people minding your clothes and shoes.
(Milan is a place where people don't talk to you casually at the bus stop, and not even at the pub. And girls don't talk to you if you don't have the right shoes. One afternoon, summertime, 35 Celsius, we went to a pub to watch a soccer match and have a beer, with shorts and flip flop. They didn't "see" us for 15 minutes and we left. We were not welcome)
That's why I love Queensland, a place were people really don't care about this whole bullshit. And that's why I'm so sad to realise that there are surfers minding their look while they should worry only about the next wave.
Not that I didn't cross my path, waves, with them so far. A part for some young funny guys in Noosa that I came to recognise and surf without leg ropes, the others I saw have always been sad, not friendly, not happy, annoying surfers.
But I didn't know there was like a trend going on. A cool contest for the cool surfers.
Wow. You know, if you are a teenager I think you are allowed to follow ideas, people, styles. It's part of the growing up process. But if you are over twenty well.. wake up! Get a life!
Another thing that come to my mind it's about the comments you get on forums or after the news articles.
Well, you get trolls and haters everywhere nowadays, so that's just normal.
But I laugh at those comment such as:
"A kook with leg rope is more dangerous than an expert surfer without it".
My God. Are you dumb? Do people think before writing? This statement is not in topic. The problem is: if you surf without leg rope and you loose your board, someone can get injured. Full stop. You can ask: is this a problem worth addressing? If so, how can it be solved or reduced? Wtf have the kooks to do with this?
Another dumb one is something like:
"There were no leg ropes before so that's real surfing and you can go f***yourself".
Yes, right.
I love people recalling the old good days. Like a handmade fiberglass board is better than an epoxy because that's how they made them in the fifties.
Exactly as this Ford:
is better than the one you bought last year because that's the way it used to be.
Yes, right.
So, at the end what I wanted to say is that I dislike people who care too much of their look. I think it's sad surfers waste time with this. I think many people on internet write stuff without thinking, or maybe they don't have a brain to think with.
Carveboard is an American brand and it seems they are not in business anymore!
It’s a skateboard made with only surfing in mind and it’s different from all the rest. The Surfstik is the little brother with Polyurethane, conic wheels and manageable size.
When I got it, I never skated before in my life. I spent a few nights to be able to use it on a flat tarmac, then months going down a gentle hill (video 1).
When this was mastered, we moved to a steeper hill for some serious carving (video 2), but I felt that those wheels were always close to lose grip. And my old ass wasn’t happy.
That’s why I bought the big brother, with tires (video 3).
My evaluation.
Both models are made for carving and carving only. It’s a pain to go anywhere with them. But down the hill.. they are super fun! Great great fun!
Does it help for surfing?
Yes. It gives the chance to lean and compress and release the legs like you are supposed to do in the surf. I find it especially useful for backhand cut back.
Would I recommend it?
Yes, either as an addition to your skateboard quiver or specifically for surf training.
La Carveboard e' (o dovrei dire -era-) una ditta americana che ha prodotto questa linea di skateboard concepiata solo e soltanto per il surf training.
Tirarono fuori prima un modello enorme con pneumatici al posto delle solite ruotine da skate, poi proposero una versione con ruote piu' convenzionali, anche se a tronco di cono e specifiche per il cosidetto Surfstik, con l'intento di avvicinarsi al mercato piu' ampio degli skaters di strada (senza successo).
Per quanto mi riguarda non ho mai posseduto ne provato uno skate in vita mia.
Ho comprato il Surfstik col solo intento di migliorare il mio surf.
Iniziando da zero, ho da prima preso confidenza in piano, lungo il fiume, poi in un parcheggio leggermente inclinato per provare a curvare, poi sono passato ad una discesa vera e propria, anche se non ripida.
Ho passato qualche mese a cimentarmi con la discesa dietro casa per due o tre volte alla settimana.
Parlo di discesa perche', non avendo nessuna conoscenza del mondo dello skate, e volendo simulare il surf, non ho pensato minimamente agli skatepark ma mi e' venuto naturale cercare un posto dove potessi andare senza all'infinito, come in acqua.
Il primo video l'ho fatto quando ero in grado di gestire la discesa senza piu' problemi. Infatti non uso neanche tutta la largezza della strada per ridurre la velocita'.
Non so quanto sia chiaro dal video ma l'inclinazione che raggiunge e l'angolo di curva e' nettamente superiore ad uno skate "normale". Arrivato a quel punto, ho cercato una discesa piu' ripida che richiedesse carvate serie di 180 gradi o quasi (secondo video).
Il problema della ripidita' elevata con il Surstik e' che le classiche ruote di poliestere non sono in grado di garantire l'aderenza necessaria. Una volta giunto a quei livelli di inclinazione e forze laterali, ero sempre sul filo della caduta.
Ed e' effettivamente per quel motivo che la prima versione del Carveboard aveva gli pneumatici.
Dopo qualche anno ne ho trovato uno di seconda mano e non ho resistito (terzo video).
Valutazione.
Entrambe le versioni sono da intendere per un uso in carvata continua, e sono una figata.
Qualsiasi altro uso direi che non ha senso. Entrambi hanno trucks originali, con molle, e sono cosi' soffici che prendere velocita' e' altamente sconsigliato.
Anche pensare di andarci in giro non ha senso. Uno e' gigantesco e pensate, e la posizione esterna delle ruote di entrambi i modelli da molto fastidio se proprio si vuole spingere col piede.
Aiuta per il surf?
Si. Si ripete all'infinito il movimento "rail to rail", front and back, che poi in acqua si traduce in cutback o topturn classici.
Rispetto al Carver?
E' una cosa diversa. Gli skate come il Carver, pur essendo piu' "normali", possono essere usati per fare gli snap di coda che ora sono un must con le tavolette. Sono piu' versatili e possono essere goduti meglio soprattutto da chi fa skate per amore e non per training.
Tuttavia il Carveboard garantisce tanta, tanta goduria, insegna al cervello i meccanismi di compressione e rilascio delle gambe che poi sono fondamentali in acqua, e insegna quei movimenti basilari che il principiante ha difficolta' a ripetere con costanza.
La versione australiana, chiamata Streetboardz, e' tutt'ora utilizzata nelle surf school (quarto video).
Physically, and probably mentally, I've touched the lowest point of my life.
I'm not going to write down details, but my rehabilitation goes through 3 little plastic balls inside 3 plastic cylinders, connected. Like a baby toy. I still fear them. Not fun at all.
Now I dare to think that I can see the end of the tunnel. I dare to think that by the end of the month I'll be able to start doing some physical activity. I dare to think that I need to plan how to get back on track. I dare to think that maybe for Christmas I'll be surfing again. It's not that far.
Today, Sunday, I took the car. It was a beautiful warm day. I passed by the garage and thought about my surfboard in there, in the dark, since late July. I thought about putting it on the roof and driving up to the coast. In those few seconds I dreamt about me walking at National Park, and hitting the water at Tea Tree in a beautiful day like this one.
I realised that that day, I will probably cry a bit.
Thanks to Fb I came across to this fresh, brand new beautiful video made in Noosa few days ago.
First: I can't believe what I missed. It's the first time in my short surf life that such good waves come in winter.
Second: I'm aware that if I was there I would have waited more than surfed. Yes, but still better than beeing home feeeling sick like I'm.
Third: I'd loved some more angles. Maybe with the drone flying lower and following the action so that you get to see the beach too. I mean, what is always missing from videos and photos is where is the action taking place. You have an idea here. I just love more of it.
Fourth: how beautiful is a longboard ride? Shortboard surfing looks really dunb to me: 3 sec and it's over. When do you get the time to enjoy the ride? To feel it?
After a month I just watched the webcam to have a look at what I'm missing.
Well.. today I'm missing waves big time.
My frustration is sky high. Actually, I'm getting over this phase. I'm becoming pure sadness now.
Today is a grey, ugly, rainy winter day. Almost no wind and a fair size swell hitting the coast. It's been a long time since the last time I was surfing in a rainy day. I don't love it but it's special in its own way. Today I'd loved to be out there filling my soul with happiness despite the poor weather.
Patience. Like a monk I have to heal my body with rest and peace. Then I'll have to approach my fitness and work gently, step by step, without pushing, and again be patience. Wait, peace, patience.. I can probably learn to levitate by the end of this journey..
Anyway.
The problem in the title is not my problem.
I'm posting a famous video of a reasonable famous web face/surfer.
He's a guy who travel the world and surf and has a website and blog and youtube channel etc.
Don't ask me more about him. Google him if you want.
My point is: this video is poorly made and there's nothing special in the surfing to be seen. But.
I believe this is possibly the surf/most awesome/ happy video ever made.
Basically he's somewhere in South America and he's surfing his mind out after 3 days of perfect conditions.
His voice, his face, his smile.. he's going crazy.. he's the most stoked surfer I've seen on video.
You really should understand spanish to fully appreciate what he's saying.
There's a sentence which has not been translated just as he says it and it's something like:
"it's has been a constant concern for three days.. turn or barrel?"
What a concern! How do you fix this problem? Three days and no solution!
I love it.
Dopo un mese di nulla ho dato un'occhiata alle onde in webcam. Mai l'avessi fatto.
Mi sto perdendo il miglior weekend di onde da qualche mese a questa parte.
L'inverno da queste parti e' una stagione secca, col sole splendente, e vento sempre flebile e indeciso. Piu' si avvicina il caldo e meno il vento collabora girando spesso da nord, portando l'aria calda dei tropici, e rovinando o azzerando le onde.
Per questo motivo il weekend attuale e' una eccezione: piovoso, scuro, freddino, con vento e onde da sud. Perfetto per tenere lontano i turisti e gli usufruitori casuali del mare, e surfare in santa pace.
Sarei stato in acqua sicuramente.
Poi quando piove e' una esperienza particolare. Non che ne vada matto, preferisco il sole, ma e' tanto che non sono in acqua mentre tutti si chiudono in casa.
In ogni caso niente. Riposo. E attesa. E pazienza. E ancora riposo.
Sto sviluppando la pazienza di un monaco tibetano. Se vado avanti cosi' tra poco sapro' levitare.
Frustarzione l'ho detto?
Vivo pensando a quando saro' in acqua a divertirmi. Non so se il pensiero mi faccia piu' male che bene..
Comunque, volevo parlarvi del problema del titolo, che non e' il mio.
E' invece il problema che affronta il tizio del video che ho postato sopra, un surfista giramondo, relativamente conosciuto sul web. Anche il video di per se e' conosciuto e non e' certo nuovo.
Ma per me, premettendo che il contenuto e la realizzazione sono assolutamente poveri, rappresenta la quint'essenza di felicita' da surf. Lo trovo bellissimo.
Sostanzialmente il tipo si filma al terzo giorno consecutivo di onde perfette, quando ha la mente soffocata da un dubbio (e dalle risa): giro o tubo?
Nel senso: giro la tavola, vado su e giu', oppure rallento e mi faccio inghiottire dentro il tubo dell'onda?
Verso la fine del video ribadisce il concetto piu' o meno cosi': tre giorni con questa preoccupazione costante! giro o tubo?
Le sue parole e il suo viso dicono piu' di mille parole. Troppo bello.
I'd like to promote an italian painter who surfs, or an italian surfer who paints.
For me his art is beautiful. I believe he's really gifted, and I think that what he does is above most of the surf art I see around in shops or on the web.
I don't want to be disrespectful to anyone but let me express this thought of mine:
most of the surf art I see it's like coming out of street art. Gifted painters (I refer mostly to painting) with no specific studies that ended up depicting sea scenes. And they do that mostly bringing the self taught graffity/street style to the ocean scenery.
Vincenzo Ganadu on the other hand, had classic italian art studies in his youth and only later in his life surf, or surfing, came to the equation.
I believe his paintings are just amazing and they give you the feeling of it, rather than a sort of comic illustration.
Again, no offence please. This is just my impression and it means nothing.
Here's a link to his website, and below a video where he paints D'Arcy's surfboards:
Segnalo piacevolmente il video (che vedete sopra) ed il sito di Vincenzo Ganadu, un artista che surfa od un surfista che dipinge.
In Australia si trova cosidetta Surf Art ovunque. E' molto comune trovare quadri e decorazioni e anche oggetti che ritraggono scene di surf.
Cio' che mi colpisce pero' e' come la sensazione che tutto quello che veda sia il risultato di un poco di talento mischiato all'arte di strada dei graffitti o simili, trasportato in contesto marino. Mi sembra spesso di vedere quadri o decorazioni venduti a caro prezzo che non si discostano molto da illustrazioni da fumetto o riviste per ragazzi.
Rimango sempre perplesso.
VG invece ha scoperto il surf dopo aver fatto i suoi studi d'arte, come si fanno per bene da noi. Ed ecco che i suoi quadri, ai miei occhi, si elevano decisamente al di sopra della media, abbandonando quelle illustrazioni naif da funetto e donandoti forti visioni e sensazioni.
Ovviamente queste sono solo opinioni personali.
Vi invito a visitare il suo sito o almeno a dare un'occhiata al video.
I have to take it easy and wait. As if I didn't wait already. This is the fourth week of nothing: no surf, no gym, no skate, no bike, no nothing. Yes couch.
I may be able to go surfing again in few weeks. And my fitness will be close to zero.
I know I can go back to normal, just need to wait.
I shouldn't complain too much, given that I'm not missing memorable days. But I love winter, I love surfing in a sunny, warm, winter day, with crystal clear water and small funny waves.
I miss it so much.
The worst thought of all has been the idea to loose surfing. If I was to give up surfing, I'd be extremely, extremely depressed. I don't think it's possible to substitute it.
I'm a later in life beginner and you know.. I suck. But surfing has filled something in my life that I think it was somehow missing.
I really want to keep it with me.
E' un mese che sto male.
Una serie di cose ed un problema che poteva risultare molto brutto.
Invece grazie a Dio, si sta risolvendo con riposo. Riposo e attesa. E ancora riposo.
Un mese che non faccio nessuna attivita', tra surf, skate, bici o palestra.
Riposo e pazienza, e attesa.
Forse a settembre saro' in grado di tornare in acqua, con la forma di una mozzarella.
La cosa peggiore e' stata, ed e', l'idea o l'eventualita' di dover rinunciare a fare surf.
Una cosa del genere mi deprimerebbe troppo.
Ho iniziato da relativamente poco tempo e sono una schiappa. Eppure questa attivita' ha come riempito un vuoto nella mia vita. Non saprei come spiegarlo. Ma so che rinunciarvi sarebbe una perdita enorme. Non ci sono sport che possano sostituirne la bellezza e la gioia.
In the last two months I missed several occasion to go surfing, then two weeks ago on saturday I was free but a northerly wind ruined the small swell. It was supposed to be better on sunday but on sunday I had to work. And my workmate was sick. Really sick. And there was a strong smell of paint all over which came from who knows where. So by the end of the day I felt shit. And then I felt worst. I didn't have fever but my body ached.
I spent the week looking forward to go surfing and at the same time feeling shit.
I didn't go surfing.
I started having pain on my arms, specially the right.
Now it's the second week that I drag myself around and obviously I'm here, writing this, instead of being at the beach having fun with the small swell passing by.
Yet again I'm not surfing, and worst of all I can't lift my right arm.
What the fuck is it?
Blood test are done and say nothing.
My mood is six feet under.
There's no comparison between a frustrating day in the water and the frustration of not being able to go surfing.
I'm not surfing, my body aches, I don't know what to do and I just feel like crying.
serendipity knocked at my door and suddenly I realised it was all about it.
I was talking with a guy this morning, someone who I met by chance, and we were saying random stuff and then, randomly surfing came up, and he said serendipity along the way. And it all became clear.
If you read it all started you should know how surfing came to me. It knocked at my door several time, with several disguises, and I resisted it for years.
Ok, here it is:
20 years ago a dear friend of mine started surfing in Sardinia, Italy. How the hell do you start surfing there? It's like skiing in Australia in the 700's. Sure there's snow sometimes, somewhere.. but.. you know what I mean?
A friend, know for less that a year, was leaving Australia and we had to celebrate with some ozy activity. Surf lesson. Whatever.
I bought a second hand car. It had a second hand 7'2 surfboard fitted inside.
I met an italian painter to help him with some stuff. He was in Gold Coast to paint surfboards.
An old friend, supposedly lost in Japan, moved to Brisbane taking all by surprise. After a glass too many he decided it was time to learn surfing, and he included me in his reasoning.
I resisted for more than 10 years, but it was not enough. Surfing kept coming to me from every direction.
Than, the second part of the serendipity story is that, once I started, I discovered the beauty of it, which I didn't expect at all. And the consequences of surfing on me.
It's time to write something about this surf movie.
As I said before I'm reading and watching as much stuff as I can about surfing. I actually have quite a queue of items I should write about but I never have the time.
So, in this surfless and painfull saturday I just watched again Busting down the door and I have to say that it's by far the best thing about surfing I've found.
If you have a soul you cannot not love this movie and put it way high up compared to classics like Endless Summer, Crystal Voyager and such. Most of the dvd you can find are about guys surfing waves and that's all, but BDTD is actual storytelling.
Beautiful storytelling.
It's about the crew of australians and southafricans who in the middle 70s changed surfing in Hawaii, with the most difficult and amazing waves you could get.
It's a great movie and it's a great story because it's told by the surfers themselves with an open heart. They make you cry and they make you dream. They make you fear the waves and they make you love surfing more than ever.
Also, it's very interesting, to say the least, to listening to -almost old- men tell the story of their youth, and feel how age and wisdom -of some sort or any sort- has changed and put things in perspective.
I guess there are two things that stay with me after watching this movie: the love for riding waves and the consciousness that life goes fast, and you really should try to enjoy your time, this time, now, as much as you can.
It's great and scary at the same time to watch such beautiful and brave and great young men surfing Hawaii and seeing their older, current faces and bodies telling you what happened. I feel like driving to the Gold Coast and shake hands -to some of them- right now. And tell them thank you. Thank you for sharing this. Thank you for your surfing. Thank you for reminding us that beyond every old man or person, there's a world of experiences, and love, and fights, and life and things.
Two quotes:
"The white water picked me up, shot me forward, and I leaped to my feet and stood up. That feeling of stoke instantly imprinted itself on my being; happiness and fear, exhilaration, speed, and conquest all melded together into one rush of sensation. And the view! looking over and above it all, racing along on an invisible band of energy, two inches above water, separated by just a sliver of glass fiber - for a brief moment a master of my little universe. Right there, right then, surfing gripped me hard and fast- and it just never let go."
Shaun Tomson
"Very few people can go through life and say they have been doing something for forty-five years. What have you been doing for forty-five years? I will surf till I die."
Mike Tomson
Ps- BDTD is also a beautiful book. Which I have, of course.
To talk about this watch is need to talk about the Swatch brand.
Do you know it?
Swatch is a Swiss idea. Originally they created a cheap, plastic, colourful, fun and disposable watch for teenagers. They gained great popularity and over time the range and models increased.
Not long ago, with just 30 years -or so- gap, they finally arrived in Australia.
This is to say that basically since I was a teenager I always had a Swatch at my wrist. They looked good, lasted 2 to 5 years and never costed me much.
My last one, all plastic, already a couple of years old, has gone through all my surfing initiation: 3 years of all sort of wipe-outs and stuff.
Then it died. Just like that. But it actually surprised me for lasting that long in the ocean.
So when last year I went to Torquay, I decided that my souvenir would be a brand new "surfing watch", made to face the greatest wipe-out and last a million years.
See the picture? That’s the one I chose. Very thick and heavy (twice a Swatch) stainless steel plus don't know what special glass and what else.
I bought it on July and by February it started to die. I couldn’t I believe it.
But yes, as a matter of fact, it didn’t last 1 year.
10 months. Dead.
Thank you Quicksilver.
So, what's my review?
I rate this shit 0 star out of 5.
Does it work?
No.
Do I like it?
Not really. I got the smallest, but it was still uselessly too heavy. Too thick. The knob on the wrong side.
Would I recommend this watch?
Never.
Any suggestion?
Any cheap watch will last longer.
Save your money.
Per la review di questo orologio mi occorre menzionare lo Swatch.
L'ultimo che ho comprato, un modello di plastica, era gia' vecchio quando ho iniziato a surfare.
E' durato quasi 3 anni partecipando a tutte le botte che un principiante con tavola epoxy puo' garantire. Poi un giorno e' morto, di punto in bianco. Ma ero sorpreso che fosse durato tanto.
Cosi' quando sono andato a Torquay, citta' surfistica del Victoria, ho voluto prendere un souvenir che fosse utile: l'orologio della Quicksilver in foto.
Ho cercato il piu' piccolo possibile, per non darmi fastidio. Eppure e' grosso e pensante il doppio dello Swatch. Fatto in acciaio e con vetro criptonico testato coi rutti di Hulk.
Insomma, una roba speciale per resistere alla vita da lupo di mare!
Cosi' son rimasto perplesso quando dopo qualche mese ha iniziato a perdere colpi. Pensavo magari fosse la batteria. Invece no.
Non e' durato nemmeno un anno. 10 mesi. Morto. Fine.
Grazie Quicksilver. Che cagata di orologio.
Valutazioni finali:
Voto 0 stellette su 5.
Funziona?
No.
Mi piace?
Non c'era molta scelta e il design lascia il tempo che trova.
Lo suggerirei agli altri?
Neanche per sbaglio.
Consigli?
Qualsiasi orologio del marocchino dura di piu', sicuro.
Thinking about surfing lately I have this moment stuck in my head and I love it.
It's the moment while you are paddling and you know the wave is upon you and you wonder if you did everything well and if the wave will take you with it (here I'd rather write "with her", for some reason..) and then.. there's a split second when the longboard.. I don't know.. it's like it sinks, or stops, or fly.. it's hard to describe.. it comes just before the tail get lifted.. it's like a void.. or maybe a suction effect by the water..
When I feel that I know it's time for a ride.
Then the tail goes up and the slide starts and you put your hands on the deck and I also love the exact moment when your feet take control and your hands just leave the white surface of the board and there are drops of water flying and everything is ready and waiting for you.
The first one is the moment the promise of a ride become true. The second one is the moment I make it happen.
I live those moments every day in my head.
Sto ancora aspettando di tornare in acqua.
E pensando e fantasticando di essere la, ultimamente ho messo a fuoco un momento speciale che amo.
Si tratta di quando stai remando e sai che l'onda e' praticamente sopra di te e ti chiedi se hai fatto tutto bene e se hai abbastanza velocita' e la posizione giusta (distribuzione dei pesi) per prenderla. E poi c'e' questo momento, che viene prima che la coda si alzi, e dura una frazione di secondo, in cui succede qualcosa ed il longboard ha una reazione che non ho ancora decifrato.. E' come se si fermasse, o affondasse, o venisse risucchiato. Un dettaglio piccolissimo che tempo fa non ero in grado di sentire. E che ora mi dice e mi assicura che sto per partire.
Dopodiche' la coda si alza, la tavola inizia a scivolare giu' e tu metti le mani sotto al petto e spingi, e amo anche quell'esatto istante in cui le mani hanno appena lasciato la tavola e i piedi stanno prendendo il controllo e ci sono gocce d'acqua ovunque ed il sole splende e tutto e' pronto per te.
Il primo strano momento e' quando la promessa di una corsa diventa realta', il secondo e' il momento in cui io inizio a crearla.
Ultimamente rivivo questi momenti, queste immagini, tutti i giorni.
I've been busy with life and I didn't surf much lately.
Also I let this blog dormant a bit too much probably.
So today, just to prove that I'm alive I put out there some pictures. They come from my back-up hard drive and they have been taken in 2008, more than three years before I discovered surfing.
I already had an eye for waves.. :)
These were taken on the west coast of Sardinia, Italy (check the location below), close to where I grew up.
If you wonder, the waves here are 10cm high.
But not too far from there, there's a surf spot which is one of the best in the Mediterranean Sea. Sadly I've never seen that place with waves and surfers, and for the record I never surfed in my Country.
One of the thing that I miss the most are the long sunsets on the beach. I really miss that.
When it's 7pm and you see the sun sliding north.. and you still have two hours or more to wait before it touches the water, and it's so close but still it doesn't want to get wet, and the day is still warm and there are few people on the beach and it's so calm and peaceful.
I miss that. And I'm missing surfing right now.
I need to get out in the water and just be there.
E' da on poco che non scrivo causa impegni.
E non surfo da quasi 3 settimane.
Allora per dimostrare che sono vivo pubblico queste foto che ho fatto nell'estate del 2008, ben piu' di tre anni prima che scoprissi il surf.
Come si vede le onde gia' attiravano la mia attenzione.. :)
Le ho fatte nella costa ovest sarda, vicino casa. Quelle onde la sono da 10cm ma non lontano da quella spiaggia c'e' uno dei posti migliori per surfare nel Mediterraneo. Sicuramente sapete di che parlo.
Io ci sono stato in tempi non sospetti e non vidi mai ne onde ne surfisti. Non solo: non ho mai surfato a casa mia! Sarebbe bello vedere con i miei occhi le fantomatiche onde sarde.
In ogni caso una delle cose che mi manca sono gli interminabili tramonti estivi del Mediterraneo, sul mare ovviamente. Se leggete in italiano e' inutile che ve li descriva, ma vorrei tanto poter essere in spiaggia alle 7 e godermela ancora per qualche ora..
Mi mancano quei tramonti e mi manca surfare.
Ho bisogno di andare in acqua e starmene li a galleggiare sulla tavola.
Lately every time I watch tv I end up watching some very interesting docu about the most different things.
But mostly they turn out to be about people. People living in different places and conditions. Mostly bad conditions.
There are some really sad things happening in the world.
I'm so, so lucky to be born in the right side of it. I'm so grateful.
And I wonder what did I do to deserve my little life. Nothing is my answer. I did nothing. Sheer luck. Sheer fucking huge luck.
And if you're reading this, then you too have been lucky enough to be living a life where internet and spare time exists.
Most people in the world, the very biggest part of people around the world is fighting for food, shelter and medications.
And then there are those who were born on the right side but were carried away in bad things and lives of unhappiness.
I refer to them right now, when I watch those things on tv and I just can't understand their lives, their worlds and their minds.
And so the only thing that comes to my mind is roughly this: if only I could just take them to the beach and show them how beautiful is to catch a wave, how peaceful is to just be there.. well , if that could be possible I think , I wonder if they could save themselves by falling in love with surfing.
Ultimamente quando guardo la tv mi soffermo spesso su documentari di ogni tipo.
Spesso riguardano persone, o gruppi di persone. Vite diverse nei diversi posti nel mondo.
E spesso sono cose negative. Ci sono molte cose brutte che accadono ed esistono nel mondo, continuamente.
Sono fortunato ad essere nato nella parte giusta del mondo. E ne sono riconoscente.
E mi chiedo cosa abbia mai fatto per meritarmelo. E niente e' la risposta.
Non ho fatto niente. Perfino nascere non e' stata una mia decisione.
Fortuna. Fottuta fortuna.
E se stai leggendo queste righe, anche tu sei stato fortunate/a abbastanza da vivere una vita nella quale internet e tempo libero esistono.
Un sacco di persone nel mondo, la stragrande maggioranza delle persone nel mondo vive soffrendo per avere un poco di cibo e protezione.
E poi ci sono anche quelli che sono nati dalla parte giusta del mondo, ma che si sono fatti invischiare in brutte cose e finiscono a vivere vite di pura infelicita'.
E mi riferisco a loro in questo momento quando affermo che vedo certe cose e non riesco a comprendere e concepire le loro vite, i loro mondi e le loro menti.
E l'unica cosa che penso ultimamente quando vedo queste storie in tv e' piu o meno questa: se solo potessi magicamente prendere queste persone e portarle in una spiaggia assolata, e potessi mostrarli la bellezza e la poesia che esiste nel mare e nel prendere le onde, e quanto e' bello per la tua anima startene anche semplicemente li ad aspettare, ecco se potessi fare una cosa del genere, mi chiedo se queste persone potessero guarire se stesse innamorandosi del surf.
