Sardinia Pt II

The trip is going great! We went to Sardinia for a couple of days then went back to the mainland of Italy. After a couple days in Viareggio there was a new swell approaching Sardinia predicted to be just as good as the last. Gotcha team rider Glenn "Micro" Hall, Richard "Dog" Marsh head of Gotcha European PR, and the first Italian surfer and Italian legend Alessandro Dini joined me to experience some fun Mediterranean surf. The week was was full of fun, overhead surf. None of us expected so much swell in such a small body of water. Richard even brought along a jet ski to do some tow-ats and step-offs and we ended up using it to tow in for a session. We surfed about five different spots along the central west coast of Sardinia. Luckily, local Marco Testarella guided us to all the best breaks and also accomodated us at his very nice hotel called Menhirs in Putzu Idu.

Photos by Alberto Salaris and Alessandro Dini

Big Tuesday

I arrived in Pisa, Italy for my first time ever. My older brother had been there years before and I remember him always talking about it and how much he enjoyed Italy. When I arrived at the airport everyone was giving me funny looks, curious as to what my board bag was. A couple people even asked me what it was, some even in Italian. It wasn't long before Alessandro Dini came to pick me up. I knew right away it was him when I noticed his Gotcha T-shirt. We drove to Viareggio first and had my first taste of amazing Italian food. It was a mixed plate of fine ham, cheese, and bread. An Italian beer to top it off. He took me around town and showed me the spots he surfs on a regular basis. Beach breaks for some fun Loggin'. With an awesome forecast of a nice northwest swell coming to the island of Sardinia, we drove to the ferry that night.
We arrived in Sardinia after a nice overnight sleep on the ferry. Our group consisted of European team rider Giovanni, Alessandro, a camera man nick named Yeahyah, and myself. Fortunately, Alessandro had really good local friends there. One in particular was named Marco and he surfed with us the entire time. We had our best session with him the next day on "Big Tuesday". The waves were offshore, big and blue. Not what I expected in the Mediterranean Sea! We surfed a couple spots but our second session was by far the best. Only three of us out, and some epic waves! What more could we ask for?

Now, I am back in Viareggio and the waves are very small. Luckily, there is a new swell on the horizon for this weekend. Tomorrow Richard Dog Marsh and Glen Hall will join us and we will head back to Sardinia for more action.

Check back for more updates!
Ciao
Cwach

photos courtesy of Alessandro Dini

Alaia the Beautiful

The alaia is such a simple beautiful thing....surfing is the sport of Kings you know....Hawaiian Kings, the originals. Here are some pics of the alaia board Tom Wegener shaped for me and the killer shot Dane Peterson took of me riding it in OZ for a Gotcha ad.

Art Video

Just a quick clip from Friday....

ASR SURF SHOW BOARDS

As promised, here are some pics of me painting the boards at the Gotcha booth from the 1st day of the ASR tradeshow. I think they're looking pretty cool so far. I should finish them off tomorrow.

New Boardies Sneak Peak

The boardshorts I designed for Gotcha are rad! I'm really diggin the fit as well. The colors pop too and I love that. I got to preview them and put them to the test. They should be out next spring - I'll keep you posted!

Artwork prep

Ok, so I get to paint some boards for the fine Gotcha folks at the ASR tradeshow in a couple weeks so I came up with this idea for a backdrop and a way to hang the boards that will be a little different. The vertical stripes will be alternating bright blue and pink so it will have tons of color. Then will mount the boards on top of that and paint them. Should look pretty rad. When it comes to art projects, most people only get to see the end result so I thought it would be cool to show the intitial stage of the concept. When it's done, I'll add more pics here.