Raves & Rants . . from Penzance

I was up at Perranporth investigating the history of surfing for my monthly Surf Spot column, when I chanced across this beast in the photo.  Not Tom Tremewan, but the board he's holding. Known as ‘ Chris and Bill ’ s board’, it's a hollow wooden finless board which is 12 feet long. Built in the late fifties by Bill Heath and Chris Thomson for paddle races, it was apparently physically damaging to ride.  Tom and friends used to surf it back in after a paddle,  making it potentially one of the first boards ever surfed in Cornwall. More info in the latest  Cornwall Today Surf Spot column. Return to Ocean-Image.com

Sam Lamiroy The long awaited month of September is finally here, the month all surfers long for, heralding the end of the summer wave drought, and the start of the powerful autumn swell season. This year, bang on cue, the south west was flooded by some clean, lined up, 16second period swell, courtesy of a hurricane named Danielle.  Strong, straight lines marched into the beaches and reefs, in some cases being too big and closing out across the bay.  Up in Perranporth a small group of locals including Sam Lamiroy, Andrew Griffin and Ben Skinner launched themselves into some heaving pits.  The photographers were out in force too, it seems like there's almost as many photographers as surfers these days, so expect to see this session in a few surf mags soon. Ben Skinner Although they generate this perfect swell, over in America the press follow these hurricanes with a sense of dread, fearing that they might come ashore and wreak havo...