Carver C7....... Ultimate Trucks ..?

The "Feel" when driving down the line or turning when surfing or snowboarding is utterly unique and many surfers and snowboarders have tried to replicate that feel on the land with boards like the "freeboard " or "Tierney rides" and to some extent they've succeeded in snowboard style turns but surf feel was harder to replicate .
A couple of months ago i got the chance to try the latest innovation in surf style skate trucks and at $160 NZ it felt a bit of a risk i mean throwing the flowboard into the creek cos it reeked cost me half that !!

So loving a risk..... a ? fool? and his money were soon parted !!
and a few days later a new set of trucks and an inch of riser pads arrived ? so i fit half of em...
15 minutes later the decks setup and I'm off for a pre-work skate the trucks took about 5 mins to push to their limit and for me to realize the rest of the riser pads were needed .

Who'd know it... i'm no Fool (in this purchase anyway)
these trucks blow minds .. drop and grab rail for a cranking turn and you better be hanging off the board cos she'll turn on the spot
They're amazing !! suddenly small spaces are so much fun and hills are screaming at you too carve them up BUT a word of warning these trucks will cause problems....
you'll wear out wheels ,
get kicked out of the corner dairy for sk8ing over to the bread racks
and the missus will leave you cos you can't stop skating in the house.

Rating : 5.5/5 too good to be true.
Use when : The surfs flat (or you just wanna skate more than you wanna surf)
Warning : wear safety gear so you can push your limits and sk8 safe,
Also : Don't lend trucks to friends as it will cause them to have moral dilemmas as to giving them back.
Recommended setup : 36-38" concave double kick deck ,Skf bearings , Abec 11 no skools 65mm 81a duro wheels.
Watch: Concrete skate

Make you smile >>>

Seldom does real innovation and creativity bust it's way out of the background and into the foreground.
This dvd really shakes the longboard skateboard establishment...
so if the melting snow is driving you to get your "fix" elsewhere then look no further than the longboard revival .
Featuring a series of small films on diffrent themes ranging from Adam Coultons skate across America to the art of ?? skate "dancing" .
"Damn i need to be drunk to dance " may be what your thinking ... but that ain't so ,
It's all style and rhythm as you roll down the street and it's fantastic balance training blended with stand up slides and sweet glides.
And the chance you've seen these skills before is slim.
All that said the real filth of this dvd is the fantastic composition of the films..
just check this out... trailer
Favorite section: Adam picks up his "girlfriend" for a skate date .
Running time: 150 mins .
Rating: 4.5/5.
Watch when: Your style need to come out!

Freakside

The greatest thing to happen to surf dvds in recent times is they're free with surf magazines so we get them "free' and surfers get their skills out to more people quicker than if we had to pay for the pleasure.
This offering is produced/directed/editing and staring Jamie O'brian which begs the question "was he taking on too much ?" well jamie loves to charge !
Freakside showcases some charging in jamie's "backyard" and also surf heaven ..bali so obviously some heaving barrels and skillful drops are going down and while jamie has indisputable skills the best styles are strangely claimed in the section starring Betet, Kerr, Chapman, Syrana and john john.
overall a good amping dvd with good music but would it have been sweeter if jamie shared the job around ?
Rating:3.5/5
Best section :Jamie learns to surf at Bali surf school,Catto's sik start segment.
Running time :30 min
Watch when : your local Hawaii is going off.
P.S STAB was a great magazine

Salani Surf Resort- Are Surf Resorts the Go

So are you sick of winter and want to break out of the winter Dero habits that set in when the onshores blow and sun ain't shinning. Well we did and this is what we found. Non of the nine crew had ever been to Samoa so it was the obvious choice to check out. The budget was set at $2000 for an all in package. The boys did some research and thanks to the ever traveled Pete Head at Island Holidays the job was done with ease. With most of us on the strictest of budgets and very little time off work we just needed the closest flight with ease of surfing everyday, Salani was by far the standout spot.

Situated on the mouth of a river is 8 Fales that all look out towards the very fast hollow left reef of Salani. It was the perfect location, with great surroundings and lots of stuff for the crew to do on the down time. I liked the beer, Marty liked the Banana Blasters, but some of the guys actually git active and went fishing but only caught the power lines while others paddled their kayaks upo the river. Mind you wew were up at 6:30 eveyrday and in the boat to head straight out for a wave. Except me, Iliked getting another hours sleep, having a coffee and waiting to hear what it was like. After the coffe one of the Boatman would ask if I was ready and I would nod and head out. No need to rush with boats at your disposal.

The Boatman were all good guys, typical surfers, not much to say unless they were talking about themselves. Daniel came from Hawaii, JP from South Africa (he had never surfed there) and a kiwi from the Mount James Mitchell. The guys were buzzing about the eagerness of our crew. To be honest we never scored the reef epic but we did score waves and the guys surfed at least twice a day on the 7 day adventure. I am a bit more picky and selective but I almost surfed at least once a day.
The Resort had a long hollow left that I never got to surf and on the other side of the pass a short hollow right that packed a shit load of power. There were many trips to the bottom of the reef and many battle stories being told. Every now and then one rouge wave would show the true potential of Salani Rights and rifle down the reef with a gapping chasm.

Like I said we never scored it but we were taken to one of the most beautiful surf spots I have ever been to. Known as a secret spot I won't go in to it as the first American with money would be all over it. The Package we paid for covered everything, 3 square meals a day, boat tramsfers, flights and even all the little tourist things we did. I told you I was on a budget so I watched my money carefully and after a week I had spent $260 on alchol and $4o on Poker. Not bad in my thinking, all that fun surf and sleep for $2000.00.


I know you are probably thinking you can do it cheaper, and you can, but why bother when you can switch your brain off and just go with the flow. No worries just a bunch of mates having fun.
I rate Salani 7/10, it missed a pool to hang out in but the food was amazing. Best time to go according to Nick the manager is In Feb when the winds are settled and the swell comes from the south and the north opening up all of Samoa tobe surfed. We got the nasty trades but we still scored some good waves. Good luck searching.

Riki Mitchell

Winter in Dunnos June - July

Winter 2007 in the Far South, often forgotten.. thankfully, the land of stickerless boards & bad light selfishly basks in tranquil 8-9 degree water. The feature of the 2007 midwinter swell consisted of a series of intense South East swells which gouged out massive bites of our coastline. Bizarre banks have formed, and some have disappeared, but waves were aplenty if you knew where to go.

Above: a fave spot up the peninsular somewhere late on a winters afternoon.
Below 4: Blackhead pumps



Below left: un-named spot past Brighton. Right: just another day in the lineup at St Clair

Below 4: Early morning light up north a bit.




Above 2: St Clair on the inside.

This winter the Otago beaches suffered great change with incredible losses of sand on our beaches up and down the coast. Most dramatically along the sand dunes of St Clair to St Kilda when on the 3rd of July a beach emergency was declared after 6 weeks of South East swells ate out tens of thousands of cubic metres of frontal dunes threatening to inundate the area of South Dunedin. Check out a short video of stills of the 6 week window of devastation.

Samoa and the Bigger ones that packed the goodies

Sucks to be you - Samoa

Redg trying to avoid the lip but ended up visiting the reef and the inside lagoon

Sorry Redg- 1st one to go over the falls

I thought he was going to make this for some silly reason

The Nine Riders of Aotearoa

At the beginning of the year a few of us had decided that this was the year that we headed back to the tropics for some perfect Polynesian waves. As time grew closer so did the amount of people going. What started as 4 ended up to be an instant crowd of 9. The 9 consisted mainly of Auckland surfers with a couple of imports from the Waikato chucked in for good luck. All levels of surfers were represented amongst this crew, even a token Maori longboarder to keep the line up in check.

Mark

Cam

Richard

Ian

Marcus

Todd

Matariki

Tim

Home Sweet Home

7 Days 9 Surfers and no grommets, the riders crew make it home in one piece and have over 200 photos to wade through. Stay tuned as The Boss reviews Salani Surf Resort and we talk Samoan Waves. Its good to be home... maybe?

September Cover Competition

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