Byron, its just not Tassie

(Early morning Byron Bay, not Tassie)

Well Rouge (OFSC No. 45), after the comments you made about Mex and Spots trip to Byron Bay, you'll be pleased to know that the Mexican (OFSC No. 4) and The Dude (OFSC No. 12) got some great cold weather waves at Eaglehawk on Saturday.  Mex wore a Radiator under his 4/3 along with full regalia of boots, gloves and hood and it was still freezing.  The Dude wore his Patagonian yaks wool 8/6 and was warm but had to lay prone the whole time because the suit was too stiff for him to stand up in.  "There was lots of snow on the mountain and a cold south westerly blowing freezing drizzle into our faces as we tried to take off" reports Mex.  Despite the cold, the waves were a nice 3' with some nice long right handers on account of the southerly swell.  Bob the Bobsled managed to get Mex into the barrel but still failed to get him out.  "Its a work in progress" said Mex, I've been tying to get out of a barrel for 40 years now and only manged it once".  Unfortunately Mex had loaned his camera to his niece so there are no photos to prove how cold it was.  So, just for Rouge, we now show a series of photos Mex took on another trip to Byron a couple of weeks ago.

(The kid's showin off) 

(Oldfartsurfers sharing their waves) 

(Oldfartsurfing, the essence of pure fun) 

 (Looking for some shade in the Hot August sun)

 (Potential oldfartsurfer)

(Shot 2 of 5) 

 (Shot 3 of 5)

(Shot 4 of 5)

(Mex claiming Shot 5 of 5, having brilliantly switched feet in the barrel)

(Mex eases Bob into a massive cutback)

(Mex walking Back to the start)

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Spot Applies the Principle of Specificity to Surfing Fitness

Last weekend Mastersurfitness Guru and Oldfartsurfer No. 6, Spot, and Oldfartsurfer No. 4, the Mexican, made a sojourn back to, Byron Bay, the birthplace of Bob the Bobsled. 

(Bob the Bobsled the day he was born in the McTavish factory, 25th June 2010)

Spot & Mex were aiming to get down there for the traditional Eggs Benedict breakfast at their favourite seaside restaurant with none other than Oldfartsurfer No. 31, Les, and Oldfartsurfer No. 3, Yummy Granny.  Unfortunately, our intrepid epicureans missed breaky by about 5 minutes and had to settle for lunch.  "The restaurant obviously hadn't heard of the concept of the all day breakfast"  said Yummy.  However, the oldfartsurfers managed to scoff down two seafood platters in good time for Les to have a grandfather nap before driving home.

(Oldfartsurfers 31, 4 & 3 - Les, Yummy Granny and Mex wearing their team OFSC bucket hats and Yummy leading the team with her original series No. 3 OFSC tee shirt)

After lunch, Spot and Mex had a dag at the Wreck before Spot had to watch the Cats pounce on some poor insignificant team.  Meanwhile, The Mex wandered up to The Pass which was 1'-2' and crowded with missile mals and kooks.  "It looked pretty hairy out their" said Mex, "but I'd made the effort to walk around there so thought I'd give it a crack".  "Quite surprisingly I managed to snag a few zippy ones through the middle section that made Bob feel at home" said Mex,  "Bob had a bit of a battle with a mal missile that insisted on dropping in, but discretion was the better part of valour and bob came away unscathed".  Mex's sage advice for oldfartsurfers wishing to stay stoked is "its better to leave the 6'4" boofhead on the mal alone and live to surf another day".

 

(The Pass at Byron Bay)

After nearly wiping out half the surf school who were floundering on the inside, Mex wandered back and gathered Spot for a late surf before dinner.  The surf weary Oldfartsurfers couldn't quite finish their falafel smorgasbord served by some friendly hippie chicks but managed to wash it down with some BYO brews.  They then managed to watch the Wallabies smashing the Springboks till half time in the local pub before calling it a night.

(Mex cruises past The Wreck, Byron Bay)

The next morning Spot and Mex had a glassy session just north of The Wreck.  Spot got spooked and asked the Mex "are those fins dolphins".  "Yeah sure" said Mex hopefully.

In honour of the great Canadian Oldfartsurfer No. 5, Moose, The boys had a Canadian breakfast with bacon and maple syrup.

(Oldfartsurfer No. 5, Canadian sensation Moose in the Old Farts Surf Cafe)

Over breakfast Spot complained of tired muscles from paddling.  Intrigued, Mex asked Spot the Surfitness Guru what the best exercise for paddling surfitness was.  "Well there isn't much you can do in the gym to emulate paddling"  said Spot professorially,  "I would therefore apply the Principle of Specificity, which basically means surfing is the best way of getting fit for surfing".  "What a great idea" said Mex, "that way you can have fun surfing while you get fit so you can have fun surfing, that's pure genius Spot".

(Mastersurfitnes Guru and Oldfartsurfer No. 6, Spot, practising the Principle of Specificity)

Concerned for the health of Oldfartsurfers around the world reading his advice, Spot went on to caution about risks to people with cardio vascular, cardio respiratory or metabolic conditions.  "Any oldfartsurfer over the age of 45 is automatically classified as moderate risk" said Spot.  "This risk is upgraded to high if the olfartsurfer has one of these conditions or if they have two or more of the risk factors such as high blood pressure, obesity or a family history of heart disease or stroke".  "Geez, Better  better take it easy then" said Mex.

Top Shot from Tommo

Old Fart Surfer No. 26, Tommo, sent this weeks top shot of a backside rail grab somewhere on the east coast.  According to Tommo, "it was the only shot I got and I was out there".  Now Tommo being a cripple would have got plenty of rail grab time on this fat beast.

The Break, New Wave Surf Music

When the Oldfartsurfer first heard the new Album by The Break, Church of the Open Sky, he thought he was hearing the soundtrack to his surfing life.  It put a big grin on his faced as he tuned in and imagined himself carving down the line of a big walling wave to the music, no vocals, just solid thumpin' guitar twangin' music.
The Break is a reincarnation of Midnigh Oil musos Rob Hirst, Jim Moginie and Martin Rotsey along with Violent Femmes bass man Brian Richie.  What they are doing is having fun.  Which is what oldfartsurfing is all about.  All the tracks are named after surf breaks like Cylinders, Cyclops, Winkipop and the music reflects the character of these breaks.  However, its not all hard driving surf rock, some of the tracks are are more sublime and slowly drift along like a tropical afternoon having a Bintang in a hammock.
Avid readers will know that the oldfartsurfer Mexican was pretty disappointed when he missed seeing The Break in Byron Bay by one day when he recently went to pick up Bob the Bobsled.  Well you'll be pleased to know that the Mex finally caught the boys in Hobart.  "It was a sticky carpet pub crowded with about 300 people" said the Mex.  "The gig went off, Hirsty thumped the crap out of the tubs, Richie bounced around like a man possessed while Moginie, Mr. Cool, master of sounds, just put it out there".  "Not only that" said Mex, "I used my surf star status to catch up with the boys for a single malt before they hit the stage and we discussed their oldfartsurfer status".  The Oldfartsurfer has announced that The Break are now the official band of the Old Farts Surf Co. and the boys declared mastersurfmusicians.  Congratulations Rob, Jim, Martin and Brian!

An Eclipse, Stone Men, Bob and The Mexican

(The sun went dark in the middle of the day)

It was a weird weekend in Byron Bay, sometimes the universe seemed to be aligned for The Mex and Spot and other times things were out of whack.  It was the winter solstice, the natives were restless and beating the drums through a full moon.  Mex and Spot had managed to pick up Bob the Bobsled from the McTavish factory on Friday which gave them more time for sea trials over the weekend, so that was something positive.

(Mex sets up Bob for the section)

After the morning sea trials success, Spot suggested his favourite spot for Eggs Benedict and Latte.  "That's bit Metro" suggested Mex but woofed down the eggs to fuel the  next session in the water.  As the NE breeze came in the boys headed around to Tallows and found some lumpy 2-3' swells on the bank.  As they paddled across the channel to the outside bank Spot said "I don't like this, its spooky" so Mex said "go with yer instincts" and Spot paddled in .

(Mex Drives Bob through the section)

Mex paddled out the back and joined a couple of Japs and Brazilians.  Bob was behaving himself nicely.  Mex then spied a fin cruising from the south about 20m away.  "I paddled in a bit and kept looking about but didn't see it again so I figured it must have cruised on by" said Mex, "but it did spook me".  Mex caught a couple more waves until he got caught inside for 10 min so he decided to call it a day.

(Mex flies out the end of the section)

That night the boys wandered into town for a meal.  "check this out" said Spot, "The Break are playing tomorrow night, that's the band with Brian Richie and the Midnight Oil boys".  "Bugger", said Mex, "we're going home tomorrow, stomping around to a bit of surf music would have gone down nicely".  So their luck was out with the music, but that night, something unexpected and special happened.  There was an eclipse of the moon.  "It was pretty weird" said Spot, "we were sitting in this restaurant and everyone started pointing at the sky, we thought there must have been aliens landing or something but when we went out the full moon was disappearing."

(Sumo's turned to granite)

It was all pretty spooky.  Early the next morning Mex went for a walk and found weird things all around the Byron beach park.  "I found these Sumo wrestlers who had been turned into granite" said Mex, "who's going to tell their mums?"
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Hammer Scores Big Easter Magic

(Some Friendly Easter magic)

Oldfartsurfer, Stu Man (aka Hammer) sent in this shot he scored last Easter.  Seems he got it to himself too.  For his effort and dedication to the cause, Hammer wins a Top Shot Award.  Thanks Hammer.

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Sea Trials for Bob in Byron Bay

"Wake up Spot, Wake up Spot, its 1' and pumping" shouted Mex (Original OFSC No. 4) when he returned from his obligatory early morning sunrise at Byron Bay, Australia's eastern most point.  Mex had just been the first person in Australia to witness the sunrise, was pretty pleased with this accomplishment and wanted to hit the beach for the second sea trials of Bob, his brand new Old Farts Surf Co. Mexican McTavish Bobsled, but he needed Spot to record some images of the trials.  Trouble was, Spot is one of the worlds best sleepers, famous for sleeping through cyclones in far north Queensland.  It took Mex a good hour to get Spot out of bed and fed with a banana, muesli bar and orange juice.

(Spot, counts Moose to achieve world's best sleeper title)

The Oldfartsurfers went out the back gate of the hotel and hit a spot known as The Wreck.  "Mex was out the back before I could get the camera set up" said Spot.  "It must have been a combination of his enthusiasm and the highly paddleable Bob."  The Mex slipped into his first wave of the morning and Spot managed to get the following sequence: 

(Shot 1, The Mex paddles Bob into the first wave of the morning)

.

(Shot 2, "It was an easy take off" said the Mex)

(Shot 3, "the wave suddenly jacked up over a shallow bar and the bottom fell out of the wave" said Mex, "fortunately Bob behaved himself and with some subtle ankle movements I avoided going over the falls".)

(Shot 4, and the 1' wave dredged further and came up to the Mex's shoulder, and he still didn't sucked over or catch an edge)

"I was pretty pleased with Bob's behavior on that first wave" said Mex, "a lesser board and I think you would have been digging my head out of the sand at load tide"

(The Mex cruises while a bird on The Wreck looks on)

 

(Some local fans of the Mex shared a board so they could both claim to have shared the sea trials of Bob with the famous oldfartsurfer.  "That's the sort of sharing and caring place Byron is" said Mex.)

 

(The Mex Cruises past The Wreck crowded with fans watching the oldfartsurfer)

All in all the second sea trials of Bob were declared a success.  "It was just like successful sea trials of the  The Craic and the Old Farts Surf Co. hollow timber board, The Mexican" said Mex, it was just joy all round.  "I'm stoked" Mex carried on, then he took Spot out for a proper breakfast of Eggs Benedict.  But there is more to come, the afternoon session at Tallows was historic.

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