Hi Frothers ! Today, we’re driving South of the border, still in the Basque Country, but on the Spanish side.
Donostia is the basque name for San Sebastian. A vibrant city of 190,000 people, with a bay and opened beaches as well. Bubbly, vibrant, with an amazing pedestrian historical center, where pintxos (tapas) bars are all next to each other. The (basque) culture and food culture mix with the more urban/surf trends.
The surf wasn’t as good as expected here, but there were still waves to be had.
Almost time to head back now. I am looking foward to it.
Hi Frothers ! Today, I am taking you to Biarritz. You’ve probably been there already or at least heard of it. It seems that all surfing (and non-surfing) foreigners would head down there at some point.
Biarritz is a bit of an oxymoron. Many say it’s almost like an island in the Basque Country, that it has sold its soul for shiny casinos, expansive restaurants and large buildings, whilst the rest of the area keeps building traditional houses, and keep away from anything that would be detrimental to the coastal landscape. It’s true.
Still, Biarritz has got some amazing features, regularly some really good waves, and lives at a slightly higher pace than the surrounding areas, with a few more music festival and events.
I used to live and work up the road from the Côte des Basques, pictured here. And I absolutely loved it ! I realized It’s got some of the Bondi features: it’s busy, it’s very international, there are heaps of beginners trying to learn surfing, and some fancy/vintage cars driven by some cool cats.
Now let’s go to the South side of the French/Spanish border and see what we’ll find there.
Getting over 3 foot swell in Summer is pretty rare let alone, but going the 8ft mark is almost unheard of. The Basque Country has had a lucky draw and we’ve scored not only unusually big surf, but also a week of offshore winds to go with it.
It all started with a big storm, but soon it cleared up, leaving only some scorching weather.
I’ve been really stoke to be able to shoot such a day with such epic conditions when I’ve only scored knee high the last few Summers.
We all know that the surf can be crowded during the day. So, some guys have decided to take the night shift, with the help of a talented and innovative shaper: Prz Surfboards.
Of course, this is way easier to even consider in sharkless environment!
I’ve been lucky enough to shoot this really cool WSL supported event, the ”Anglet Surf De Nuit” (translate: Anglet Night Surfing). Most of the best French pro-riders were present for this airshow. Unfortunately, the super small and mushy surf did not help. And despite the rain, the crowds came in huge numbers to see this unusual kind of surf comp’.
If only this could’ve happened a day later: a real big swell has hit the Basque country shores. A Winter swell in Summer. But this is for the next episode.
We’re back, after a bit of a forced break. I’ve been on a few different assignments in Europe (France, Italy & Spain), running around like a headless chicken for most of July. I have been missing our usual sunrises, but I’ve been enjoying the heat and long days of the European Summer. We’ve also used this time off to improve some features on our website (more info soon). But I am glad to be able to resume the newsletters: from today until the start of Spring we should be able to share with you 1 to 2 newsletters per week. And for today’s up-date, I’m really stoked to be able to come to you with something different from the usual.
Since the waves were almost totally absent from the coastline of the Basque shorelines, I had made an appointment with a living Australian surf legend: Bob McTavish. In the last years, Bob has been sharing his time between shaping at his Byron workshop, and Oiartzun, in the Spanish Basque Country where the Pukas‘ headquarters produces some of the finest foam work in the world (Taz Yassin, Axel Lorentz, Matt Biolos or Chris Christenson…to name a few).
How did I feel after spending the day with 72 year young Bob McTavish ? Well, I almost felt old next to this fresh soul. Bob is loaded with the most incredible energy, sense of humour and mint love for his work/art of surfing & shaping boards.
I’ve spent quite some time in different workshops over the years. The thing that stroke me with Bob is the minimalist approach of his shaping bay. Only the minimum number of tools, all laid out on the shelf in the right order of use for each board. His gestures are precise, effective and efficient. His hands are incredibly accurate tools and act as foam volume sensors. The work looks effortless, just like when you watch an amazing surfer draw some smooth lines.
During his first 5 days in the Pukas’ factory, he had already shaped 95 boards (!!) straight out of the airplane, on the tools from 6:30am to 8:30pm regardless of the jet lag.
Bob is a real hard working machine with a great soul and a kind heart. An inspiration. A true legend.
We’ve had such a great connection that I hope this black and white series with translate in picture his skills, his experience, his kindness and his youth.
I’m sure our paths will meet again. I think I know who’s gonna shape my next boards…
Beau Pilgrim here sharing some Fiji Cloudbreak gold from my last trip. There was a huge cast of pros who flew in for the big swell on the 23rd May. It was a scary start to the day with Aaron Gold from Hawaii copping a 3 wave hold down and blacking out on the very first wave of the day. With the brave help of water patrol and other surfers, Gold was successfully rescued and resuscitated. It sent the wind up everyone but didn’t stop the line-up filling out a few hours later.
The wind was up making the 15ft+ conditions difficult but there were still some gems to be ridden. The star performances were from Damien Hobgood and Dane Gudauskas scoring some great rides.
There should still be plenty of swell around this week. Hope you’re all scoring, whilst Franck Gazzola is currently busy packing his gear for the beautiful coastline of France.
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