Confessions of a Surfer

Irish Intervarsities 2011

2011-02-09T02:06:00.000-08:00

Intervarsities 2011. Give me a shout if you want any more info!

Birthday Fix...

2010-12-10T10:28:00.000-08:00

Yours truly. Not this evening but making the best of litte'un few weeks back.

Try to get a surf on my Birthday every year and managed to sneak a quick one before dark. Wasn't the best conditions but waves are waves and its my first time in the water for nearly 3/4 weeks!

Also have the internet at home again after 18 months without, so you'll hopefully find a few more posts here too!

Caught on Camera...

2010-11-03T14:10:00.000-07:00

Wednesday Very small but very clean and surprisingly alot of fun. Carl from Troggs Surf School snapped this shot of yours truly angry stepping!

Thursday Those rocks? That poo stance? Hooded and booted? Yes indeed it is me. Snapped by Gary McCall and gleaned from MSW. I thoroughly recommend looking at some of his shots without me spoiling them here!

Part Deux.

2010-10-27T12:34:00.001-07:00

Part II as promised. Steve took over the camera whilst I went back in to enjoy the mornings remainders.

Walking to the temple.

Getting there. Just need to learn to it with style!

Autumn textures.

Big thanks to Steve for the shots. You took some beauties!

Smoke on the water.

Stoked and speculating!

A day at the beach. Part I.

2010-10-17T13:09:00.000-07:00

After a lake like past week Saturday's sunshine and wonky waves came well received...

Unknown bottom turning

After a week coughing a new one Steve was frothing to get back in the surf...

and had the grin to show it!

Uni fresher and Cornwall import Dan throwing some.

Newquay shapemaking!

Steve taking the drop in a tad too literally.

Boards and Boats. Part II to come...

Stoke. Wherever you find it.

2010-10-14T10:14:00.000-07:00

Coming from the big smoke to Apple Tart, Guinness and a bottle of Bo.

Under a castle on the way home from work.

Watching others find theres.

Simple steps on quiet days.

Going West when it blows East.

Billabong Co.Sligo Open

2010-08-09T10:13:00.000-07:00

Saturday started small, onshore and pretty shapeless.

Ronan Oertzen made the most of it though and blazed through the early rounds

Steve, Aaron, Dan and myself made the trek and decided to have a bash at competition too. Steve looking pensive on his walk back...

Everybody loves a contest scene

Yours truly up demonstrating the versatility of a good board bag

Came up against John in my heat and got schooled as usual.

Conditions got a bit bigger on the push and so did the spray...

Ronan was the stand out surfer of the day and bagged wave of the day in the semis.

Not without some competition of course...

One under, one over

Ronan

Dan representing...

Nicole off the top and taking the title

Darkness falls for the first of the finals...

Big turn on a big board

Nose rising...

Few inches off.

Floating

Goodnight

Sorry guys. This post has been sitting in draft form for about 2 1/2 months. I don't whether it was because of the patchy coverage of the heats or my dreadful attempt at competing, that they never got published. However due to the recent publicity due to the success of the last contest at Easkey I thought it was about time these shots found the light of day too...

Derry Dawnie...

2010-07-17T04:33:00.000-07:00

Back in Derry for the weekend visiting the folks and decided to head out for an early sesh with the bro, Aaron and Luke before they went to work. Was empty early but by the time Adam had a surf and grabbed the camera it had filled up...

Yours truly (though a few inches of hair shorter) coming from the the bottom...

and sitting off the top!

Kildare come Inishowen man, making the most of his morning before real life begins...

Pulling out and dropping in...

Luke and Aaron coming back up the beach from an apparently "far bigger, far better wave". The grass is always greener boys, but Lukes rye smile tells me there may have been some truth to the tale...

Aaron and his trusty...

For all you Eagle eyed Tonnta readers out there you may notice I've got three different spellings of my name in the latest issue, Thom Smyth, Thom Smythe and Tom Smyth. Well here I am again, not quite making it...

Luke going left on the bendy Bic. (Just take a closeup at the nose of the board!)

Bump!Another wave, another Westbay

Dropping in...

The crew and the trusty overloaded fiesta. Massive thanks to the bro for cutting short his sesh to run in and grab the camera to give us some pics. Nice one Bruva!

Too big to only post once...

2010-07-15T04:08:00.000-07:00

Last weeks swell was massive for July and hence too good to only post on once. So here's the a few more shots. Unknown lining up and closing out...

A well forecasted big long period swell brings everyone out. Its Circus Time!

Body and Board

Up!

Leaning in while Aaron watches on...

Put your hands up...

Sit and Style

Between the Bars and clean flying!

Texture...

The Beast Awakens...

2010-07-08T06:39:00.000-07:00

East the beast awakened yesterday with a 20ft swell @ 13 secs. Not bad for July!

Lee trying to get round the corner

Looking on...

John getting her out and round

En route...

Coiled...

Sprung! John of the top.

Good crowd out but still plenty of emptys...

Fins and Flags. Summer in Portrush...

On a knee and in the pocket

Awok retiring for another day...

Getting easier...

2010-06-17T06:52:00.000-07:00

After Tuesdays clear skies and sunrise, Wednesday dawned foggy cold and small...

Waited a couple of hours till the push this am and scored a couple of real fun loggable lines just before the wind picked up. Spotted this guy heading into the water just as I was leaving. Real men don't wear wetsuits...

Got up at 5.45 for my third dawnie in a row this week. I often write about losing the battle of the duvet but its definately getting easier, one factor is simple routine and the second is chasing the stoke that was found on Tuesday morning. 30-45 minutes of sunrise, clear skies and chest to head high glass. Awesome...

My cross-stepping seems to also be slowly getting better too. Well, to the front of the board anyway, I still can't help shuffling my way back. Just gotta stick at it I guess...

Rossnowlagh Longboard Contest ...

2010-06-14T07:18:00.000-07:00

Arrived down Friday night and conditions were far from great. Headed out for a quick dip all the same in the onshore crumble, though getting to wear the old legless winter suit again felt great...

Yours truly getting down to some late night sliding...

O-bag and Steve made the trip down too. Owen stoked with his Desmond... (Owen affectionately nicknamed his 2:2 Desmond, after Desmond 'Tutu')

Round 1, Heat 4. Unfortunately my competitive streak in the comp didn't last too long when I got knocked out in heat 2 of the first round.

Bosco

Causeway representing. John in front, Bosco behind...

Conditions for the semi's deteriorated further and proved seriously hard going

Everyone did their best to make the most of it though. Craig Butler sticking it out.

Things started to relatively better on the push for the juniors and ladies final. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Hang-Five...

Butler taking the Juniors with a bit of style...

Your Judges for the finals...

Thankfully by the time of the mens final a few contestable waves came through. Emmet going right...

John Junior on the nose...

Nice finish

Emmett going broadside for John

Powerful surfing for tiny conditions...

Your Inaugural Rossnowlagh Longboard Contest winner - John McCurry Junior

Thanks to all who organised such a great comp. The waves may have been less than ideal but the craic and spirit of the thing was 1st class. Here's to many happy returns!

Full results

U 18
1st Craig Butler
2nd Christian McLeod
3rd Owen O’Malley-Daly
4th Bosco McAuley
5th Dan Britton

Ladies
1st Ione Byrne
2nd Naomi Britton
3rd Amy-May Garvey
4th Sophie Scott

Seniors

1st John McCurry
2nd Stephen Conwell
3rd Patrick Cassidy
4th Emmet O’Doherty

Shoulda been on it...

2010-06-01T02:29:00.000-07:00

That 'lil dude on a longboard shoulda been me this morning. Check out more surf art from http://scosurf.wordpress.com/

After bagging 5 sessions in 4 days last week, one of which will stand out in my mind for sometime to come, I've been keeping my eyes glued to the forecasts in anticipation of the swell due to arrive. I knew there was a window of opportunity this morning for some swell and light winds but the battle of the duvet was fought and lost once more... Here's hoping that this week does deliver and I can actually get myself out of bed. There nothing like starting your day than with a couple of peelers...

Bump...

2010-05-28T05:03:00.001-07:00

If you click on the image to enlarge, zoom in, squint real hard and turn your head approx 45 degrees to the right, you can just about make out 3 wee black dots floating about. Dan, Steveo and myself making the most of the sun and good winds early doors... (Pic from WestbaySurfboards)

After no swell and northerly winds dominating things locally since the start of the week was real nice to paddle out last night and this morning to something with a little more umph again. True it was closing out 9/10 and there was still more than abit of chop in it but at least the summer doldrums aren't here quite yet...

After the drought comes the rain...

2010-05-24T16:11:00.000-07:00

Yours truly at a spot he surfed alot in the past week. And shouldn't there be a bit of drop knee there Thombo?

After last weekends mini-mission I was lucky enough to get in the water locally most nights last week. True it was far from being the biggest or most memorable surf I've had but the warm weather and late night sliding gave me my fair share of stoke. Noticed elements of my surfing progress too due to just consistently being in the water. Just need to hold unto it through this next system of northerly winds and drought of decent waves...

Escape to the North West...

2010-05-17T04:13:00.000-07:00

The combination of a decent north-westerly swell, westerly winds and a free weekend led Aaron, Steveo and myself out west to find the promise of waves in some easterly headlands. A few waves were had on Friday night but it was Saturday's forecast that had Steveo pointing out to see...

Après-surf midnight Barbeque...

Saturday morning. The wave thats elusiveness inspired the trip, remained elusive and was categorically not doing its thing...

It soon became clear that the swell hadn't turned up as expected. Friday nights spot was even smaller than the night before and so the search began...

A few miles and a headland later some windswept rights were found...

The boys wasted no time getting suited and booted...

Guns don't kill people, currents do. (Check out the bullet hole below the A)

Aaron beneath the cliffs...

As the morning went on the swell kept growing too...

Steveo throwing buckets on a small wan...

and trying to the beat the section on something a little bigger.

The exploration of Irish mountains and molehills...

Awog on a wave that always looked like a closeout but went on forever...

Whitewater floating...

Midface on a green'un

After getting some waves we started making our way back east and home but couldn't help but take a final detour to one last spot we thought would have a wave. The view from over the dune...

Going right through the Ammophilia...

While Aaron decided to enjoy the waves from the dune and I ponced about with a camera...

Stevesky spent his afternoon pulling into as many little shorebreak closeouts he could find.

So much so that I could even make a collage from it. Thomas Smyth presents Stevey's Guide to Pulling (in).

Still Buzzing...

2010-05-12T16:16:00.000-07:00

Tonight was nowhere near as glassy or clean as this but it was actually peeling some...

No hoods, no gloves and for Eugene no boots either! Spring evenings at the local...

(Both photos from a couple of years back by Danz. Check out a load of her actual shots and photography here!)

Surfed until I could literally surf no more tonight. Wasn't expecting much but conditions got bigger and better as the evening went on. Sure it was a bit crumbly and slow in places but the good 'ol longboard was loving life and for the local not to be closing out on 9/10 waves is a miracle in itself. Good to be surfing with the lads again too. Somewhere in the back of head I have this grand idea of myself being someone who doesn't follow the crowds too much but sharing the stoke with good mates in the water when waves are a plenty is hard too beat...

Little Windows...

2010-05-11T10:22:00.001-07:00

Made the most of a little lunchtime window of less onshore and dribbly waisthigh waves today. The warming water, abundance of little fun waves and sunshine definately made it worth heading out for.

The Westbay at Westbay

Steveo getting his cross-step on

Wait a second. I'm the longboarder should I not be the one practicing this?

Saturday's Surplus...

2010-05-09T08:45:00.000-07:00

Few extra shots from the last post. Heard tale of waves on Sunday here too but theres not been much locally...

Beautiful light but somethings not quite right...

Wood log cutting back and throwing...

Hand drag right...

Be weary if you see this pull up at your local...

Summer light and lines...

Smack that

Paddling for a peak...

Nice turn

Texture

Back in the saddle (again!)...

2010-05-08T15:34:00.000-07:00

Up North's been pure bleak as of late and after finishing a month of field work yesterday I decided to look a bit further afield for some waves today. (Shot from westbaysurfboards)

A dad and a dog. Stopped in at the parentals en route for a bit of brekkie

94 miles gone and the onshores have turned to offshores but still no swell...

Journeyed on round the corner to my intended final destination to find people and potential

After not really having a session since easter this was all the convincing I needed to run back to the car and pull on my suit

Had a half decent first session and joined the cliffside peanut gallery whilst enjoying a late lunch...

The tide dropped, the wind began to swing slightly more offshore and so I headed out for another couple of hours. Was joined by this guy on the woody who was catching anything moving and ripping.

One going critical one going straight...

Despite the crowds plenty still went unridden.

Empty Picture Perfect petit right

Ridden Right...

I know this waves a left but for a while it was working pretty well as a right too. As the night went on though the lefts definately dominanted. Unknown going backside.

Pulled back view

Here's hoping its not too long till I'm back in the water...

Backlit by Streetlight...

2010-04-27T04:04:00.001-07:00

Backlit Huntington (By Hoang Khai Nhan)

Made it out to the local round 9 last night for a quick streetlight session. It wasn't big, it wasn't peeling but it was fun. A few seconds of slide is all it takes sometimes...

It's been a while...

2010-04-24T11:39:00.000-07:00

Nice clean lines from the start of the month...

Yours truly trying his bestest to get some tip time...

This ones optimistic...

Look at that clenched fist. Oh the rage that lurks below...

Cheers to foxz for the photos of yours truly from the start of the month. To be honest haven't really been the water that much since the end easter week. Lack of swell but more so an increase in my workload has seriously limited water time. Went for a quick search the other night after watching small clean lines rolling through when doing fieldwork but it had all but died by sundown and I very nearly ended up with the car being stuck...

However the chill's going out of the dawnies and the evenings continuing to stretch. Everything is not yet lost...

9'1/ 6'0/ 4'3 (colours may vary...)

2010-04-09T06:35:00.000-07:00

Dan in the pocket

Stevesky backlit

Making the most

Yours truly lining up a lump

Wham, Bam bodyboarding Dan

The end of a fun night...

Had a wee golden hour session with Dan and Stevesky whilst Dan's wee bro Jack stayed on the beach and took a few snaps with his new toy! (cheers for the shots!) Wasn't huge and more than a tad lumpy and bumpy but one of those unexpected sessions that turned out to be way more fun than it looked from the carpark!

Back in the Saddle...

2010-03-25T02:54:00.000-07:00

Yours truly on a from a Uni publicity shoot thing a couple of weeks back...

A weeks not a long a time to be out of the water but it had felt like ages since I had last been surfing. Maybe it was because my last session was far from great or that the lads had been out almost daily whilst I'd been busy or away but I was feeling more than a bit rusty and apprehensive, especially as I was heading out to surf some small, pretty rubbish looking lefts. Fortunately I stuck it out, pulled on the suit and actually managed to find a few pretty long cruisey rides. And as I walked back up the beach studying the shadow of my board cast by the moonlight I realised some of the stoke had bee rekindled...

Fiver...

2010-03-11T05:18:00.000-08:00

Had a photo of my own for this post but must've forgot to stick it on the hard-drive (d'oh!) Instead your gonna have to make too with this from bottom turn from the Picaresque Gallery

Today marked the end of a really fun run of sun and swell in which I had at least one decent session everyday for the last 5. Especially stoked when it ended on such a high note yesterday in some perfect longboarding rights. Hope y'all scored some too and here's to more the same!