2009 Hawaiian Islands Vintage Surf Auction

http://www.hawaiiansurfauction.com/

For those oldfartsurfers interested in surfing memorabilia and collectables the 5th bienneal Hawaiian Islands Vintage Surf Auction to be held on 17 & 18 July in Honolulu is the premier event. Event Producer, Randy Rarick says:

"This year’s Surf Auction is presented by Quiksilver “Premium”. Our goal is to stage Hawaii’s highest quality LIVE surf auction. We are proud to have staged four very successful surf auctions in 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007. The 5th biennial surf auction is scheduled for July 17 & 18, 2009, once again at the Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Besides the auction itself, the secondary reason for staging these events is to bring together surfing’s characters, craftsmen, legends and the hero’s of our sport. This is an unprecedented social gathering that is unlike any other auction on offer. In years past we have seen the likes of: Matt Kivlin, Joe Quigg, Dick Brewer, Greg Noll, Charlie Galanto, Bing Copeland, Ben Aipa, Bob Sheppard, Bob “Ole” Olson and Tom Morey representing the golden era of surfboard manufacturing. Surf stars of the 60’s have included: Rusty Miller, Joey Cabell, Fred Hemmings, Ricky Grigg, Jock Sutherland, Buffalo Keaulana, Henry Preece, Felipe Pomar, Ray Beatty, Peter Cole and Rabbit Kekai. The 70’s have been well represented by shapers and surfers such as: Bill Barnfield, Chuck Andrus, Mark Richards, Peter Townend, Larry Bertlemann, Gerry Lopez, Terry Fitzgerald, Jeff Crawford and Rory Russell. Surfer/ artists, such as John Severson, Mike Doyle have attended, as has Hollywood stars such as Don Stroud. The gathering of surf talent alone always sets the Hawaiian Islands Vintage Surf Auction apart from all others"

A typical example of the vast array of surf equipment includes:

"Matt Kivlin Balsa 10'4" 1955 (10) We are extremely privileged to have an all original Matt Kivlin balsa on offer. This particular board was owned by Joel MacDonald, a Beverly Hills stockbroker. Being more of a "social surfer" who hung with the Hollywood crowd, the board spent more time in the back of his Cadillac convertible then in the water. A chance wipeout, took out the original fin. Matt Kivlin himself was kind enough to supply the proper replacement fin, which was so far ahead of it's time, with cut-away design and full foil. It's a shame the other manufactures of the era didn't pick up on it. A framed rendering of Matt's fin design is included with the board. The board itself is all original, with an inlaid St. Christopher on the deck, some snackles and shatters, but otherwise in superb condition. So few of these boards exist, that they are considered priceless. Here is one from the master himself! Pre-auction estimate: $15,000-$25,000"

Legendary Surf Guide Leads Boys Over the Falls

The Mexican reports from Samoa on a larger than life character, legendary surf guide Brookie, who lead the boys to some exotic secret spots and over the falls. At both the spot above and the spot below, Brookie managed to lead the Mex over the falls twice.

The boys finding it a bit tricky getting over the reef while one of their mates, Greg, snags a nice left in front of them. A few good men went over the falls this day.

You would think that the life of a surf guide at Samoan surf resort, Sa'Moana, would be the ideal job. But not according to legendary Sa'Moana surf guide, Brookie (pictured below). "I had a better lifestyle renting out my Sunshine Coast house and living in Sumatra surfing perfect waves every day on $25 a week claimed the legend. Perhaps the perfect surf life style has a downside - it could get boring, although I'd like to try it first. Like people say having a lot of money doesn't make you happy but I'd like to try that first too. Anyway, according to Brookie he is only doing this for a year as a "favour" to the resort managers when the last guide quit.Now Brookie is a legend, on my first day at the resort, for the price of a "tally", he fixed my board after the baggage handlers had done their best to smash the nose and the tail. He timed the resin hardening process by using a glass of beer like an egg timer, when the beer was half empty it was time to cut away the excess resin before it went too hard. He had a wealth of tales and experience of surf from Hawaii, to California, to Mexico, Europe and throughout Indonesia.

On the first morning, the SE Trade Winds were blowing too hard so he woke us at 4:30 am for a quick breakie and then a 2 hour van trip to a remote sheltered spot at the NE tip of the island of Upolu. There were 4 of us, two mates called Andrew, Brookie and I. The Andrews surfed a little river mouth while I went with Brookie to explore a place known as Missions. It was called missions because it was a mission to get there. Not only had we driven 2 hours but we had to walk along the beach, through the jungle then paddle 600 long strokes across a deep bay to the break on the other side. The break was a bit on the small size this day but the setting was so beautiful it was surreal. There was a beautiful coral reef which was alive with fish and the bay was lined with steep volcanic hills densely covered in tropical foliage and no sign of another human. It was a great experience, although a little nervous, paddling across the bay and stopping to chat with Brookie every 200 strokes.

The next time we surfed Missions the I surfed a little peak in the middle of the bay called "Sunset" (pictured above) on account that it had a shifting peak and could hold up to 12' just like its Hawaiian namesake. While I did this with the Andrews, Brookie strung up a hammock (below) between two coconut palms and had himself a nap as the surf wasn't up to his high standars.Returning to the resort, Brookie took the boys to some waterfalls for some refreshing fun. He was first to jump from the top to show the boys where to go and what rocks to miss. He waited at the bottom (below) to egg us on (but not to much pressure)

Pretty soon, all the boys had a go, the key was to land in the bubbles at the base of the falls as that was the deepest part.

I also had a crack at another waterfall just upstream and managed to touch to bottom when I landed (below). The Mex reckons that there is no one more deserving of oldfartsurfer status than Brookie. He has had dedicated a life time of grommethood at the age of 48 is still a "frothing". A true oldfartsurfer legend.

iPhone Application Dials up Better Surf

After a 2 hour drive in miserable rain and checking a number of spots on the east coast the above beach break was the best we could find. But "don't worry", said the Dude, the new iPhone has an application that is guaranteed to dial up better surf.

So he opened up this amazing app and you wouldn't believe it but the surf changed to this perfection within 5 min. Unbelievable magic!

Mexican Returns from Samoa - Preview

This is a scene from tropical Sa'Moana resort on the island of Upolu, Samoa from where the Mexican based his expidition to remote surf.

This is the Mexican taking off on a bomb at Village Lefts. Did he make the drop? More to come so stay posted.

Mexican to wrestle crocs and hit the Samoan reef

The Mexican, pictured here on a 7' Tern charging a small right hand Carlton River, is heading to Cairns to wrestle crocodiles on the way to charging remote mega reef surf in Samoa. "My motives are purely altruistic" said the Mexican from the Virgin departure lounge, "I'm doing for the boys, I'm the advance guard and they want me to go and test it out before they spend all their dollars on something that could be far too dangerous". Braving an outbreak of pig flu he said "I know its going to be tough, warm and pristine, but someone's got to do it. Bon Voyage Mex and keep us posted by carrier pigeon. To find out where the Mex is going go to www.oldfartsurf.com and go to the section on Travel for oldfartsurfers.

Rockhead declares its too late to surf!!! Surfing world in shock.

Can you imagine the surprise last Sunday after a nice little 2'-3' session at the local beach when surf legend Rockhead Gibson rolled up and declared "its too late to surf". Rockhead is the granddaddy of surf, the iron man legend and confirmed drinker of Cascade Blue cans who scorns men in pink shirts drinking poo bru. The Dude and the Mexican had just finished tearing the place apart sharing the Dudes hand made 6'8" hollow wooden fish, owning the right hand side of the peak so that none of the other dudes dared venture across the peak - those that did soon realised they were not in the same league as the original oldfartsurfers and and made a hasty retreat to the other side of the peak or sulked further up the beach. It was a cool late May, end of Autumn, Sunday afternoon needing a 4/3 hood and booties and the b0ys were about to roll out of the car park when Rocky turned up for a squiz. "But its only 3:30" said the Mex, "there's still at least an hour and a half of light and the surfs great". Rocky looked dumbfounded at such a stupid statement and said "its too late in the bloody year"

Mastersurfcraftsman turns it out for the Young Dude

Mastersurfcraftsman, the Dude, has turned out another masterpiece in his series of hollow timber surfboards. This time he's chipping this one off the old block for the Young Dude. "He used to be happy with toy wooden trains every year but now he's getting a little bit more demanding" said the Dude. The Young Dude said "the toy trains didn't work very well when it got over 2' and the chimney's used to stick in my stomach when I paddled them." The board design was a collaboration between the boys and involved secret new computer modelling to perfect the bouyancy distribution and fin placement.