Sunday at Wategos Beach - Byron Bay Surf Festival

 After all the Northerly winds and unpredictable surf that we have this time of year, it was amazing to arrive at Wategos Beach to glassy sliders and offshore winds. We scored well and truely. A great location and a great day in the sun with just enough swell to have fun.

 Mick Mackie getting ready to go out in the fish demo session on one of his flextails.Vanessa in green is one of the event organisers and her and the team have done a great job of building this event to what it is.

 The local Mal Club provided the food and drinks all day

 Live music from a bunch of talented people most of the day.

 SB handplanes from the Gold Coast

 Flying Fish handplanes from Sydney

 Some very nice wooden boards

 

 Magic day all day

 This little lady tried this board out 3 time

 Great film maker Nathan Oldfield getting amongst a few

 Bob doing the slide

 

 All ages were into it

 Not very old this one, all the way to the beach.

 Brother and sister Yani and Pacha demoed these boards of mine many time on the day

 

 The log demo guys all lined up

 

 Tom Wegner and Rasta with their Olo boards that Tom shaped. Big ,long, heavy and rounded , very hard to ride. Rasta and Ryan Burch took them both out for a paddle and eventually caught a wave together, which is probably the first time in 100 year or more that two Olo Boards have been on a wave together. And just after that a hump back whale breached in the backgound out in the bay. What a moment, the crowd went wild. A very proud moment for Tom who has put so much effort into what he had done with the ancient Hawaiian wooden board revival. Nice one Tom, my hat goes off to you.

 

 Rasta and Mike share the finer points of actually catching a wave on an Olo with the crowd.

Rasta and Ryan Burch had to be the perfect fit of guys to pull it off.

What a great weekend once again. You need to plan to be their next year.

The Byron Bay Surf Festival - The Best 2013

This years festival was just the best show of Australian surf culture art music and anything to do with surfing you could ever gather in one place. The weather was great the vibe was right. All sorts of people and all sorts of things to interest anyone who loves their surfing. Friday nights opening ceremony was on the beach front, open air in the park with a large inflatable screen to show the movie Bella Vita. Fantastic intro to the weekend ahead.

Typical Byron gathering of people from all walks of life.

 Saturday morning was the dawn of a great day , warm sunny and Northerly winds up early to knock the gloss of the waves that were there. But the focus was in the park...

 There was something for everyone

 

 

 Hand plane workshop

 Tom was busy all day helping people build his "Surfies"

Andy had plenty of Gato boards to look at

 A couple of legends at a book signing, Jack and the Mex

Bjorn, came all the way from Finland to share his skills with us. The board next to him is hollow and made from recycled skate decks. Great guy. www.boboholm.com 

Rodrigo, came from Brazil to hold a workshop on handplanes and then off to Japan.

 Thomas Bexton and crew had most options covered

 Californian shaper , Ryan Lovelace with his mix of different boards

 Girls having an ice tea party

 What better place to get a hair cut, A teepee

 It was hot for everybody

 Legend Rusty Miller having a book reading and story telling with the launch of his book.

 Eden Saul, from Dead Kooks

 Andy from Rake on the lookout

 Adrian from Rake surfboards

 

Dan Malloy launching his new book and movie

Mick Mackie, Ryan Lovelace, Ryan Burch and Jessie Watson. Mick was giving a lesson in flextails. 

 Rusty Miller and Bob McTavish

 Nat Young and Bob McTavish had some great yarns to share

Rodrigo Matsuda learned everything about alaias in Japan with his master Yuichi Endo. A profound 11 year experience that has elevated his skills to mastery. www.lascasurfboards.com

 Andy Finlay in his element

 Art in the Park

 Mermaids in the making

 Keith and the Patagonia boys

 Tim Baker at the book launch

 Great food

Mike and the classic surf wagon

Saturday night we went to the release of the Wayne Lynch movie at the community centre. And the final judging of two short surf movie comps. What a great night and Wayne was there to answer questions after his movie.

The Byron Bay Surf Festival this weekend

 

This is a great weekend to celebrate surfing , art , music and all things connected with surfing. It is growing and expanding each year and is the best of it's kind around. Do yourself a favour check it out on line and get on down there.

www.byronbaysurffestival.com 

Surfrider Eco Challenge , Wooden Surfboard Event 2013 - Sunday 10th November

A great day at the beach at Coolum on the Sunshine Coast. There will be markets , kites , bands a skate comp, a wood board get together and public display running from 8:30 till 12. Tom Wegener is doing his bellyboard demo and fundraising"hire" on the beach and Dave fron Surfing Green will be down there with a bunch of handplanes.

For more info check out :    www.surfriderecochallenge.com   it looks like a fun day