WAY OF THE OCEAN

We apologize for the technical difficulties with the blog and site. The server was hacked and it took some time to clean up and make things right. We have taken all necessary precautions to ensure it wont happen again. Sorry for the delay and thanks for returning. We have a lot of new stuff headed your way in the coming weeks. The long awaited official trailer is set to drop in less than 2 weeks and there has plenty of other news happening.

A few shots of Josh Kerr getting loose on a small right-hander.

6am Northern NSW, Australia

There have been plenty of late nights and early mornings during the production of this movie. Heres one of the many sunrises that make getting up early well worth it even when you are tired.  Its true , the early bird gets the worm.

SURFING VICTORIA / ROBBO’S HOME MOVIES from CIRCULATE on Vimeo.

Adam Robertson gave us some home video footage and we threw it together for your enjoyment. Seeing the long rippable point waves Robbo grew up surfing shows where he got his smooth style and power. This first clip focuses on just the rights, up next we’ll be posting some incredible lefts.

Every surfer dreams of finding a new spot or a secret wave they didn’t know existed. The thought of such a thing is what keeps us searching in spite of the recent technology that has made it easier for everyone to search from the comfort of their home computer. Sometimes its doesn’t take an epic wave to satisfy this notion, just a good old wedging beach break with a few friends. That’s exactly what we found when we set off for a hike down a long path none of us had been down before.

The great thing about Australia is that there are so many headlands and little nooks all along the coast to explore. Being from Southern California, where any bend in the coast is likely to have 44 friendly faces bickering over who had the last set wave, this option to explore untouched places is extremely refreshing.  As we headed down the long slippery, rocky, winding trail, we encountered lots of big hairy spiders and a few snakes. We knew something good had to be at the end of the road with all the hazards involved. There wasn’t a whole lot of swell at first light and the headland we were scoping appeared to stick out a bit like a catchers mitt, hopefully acting as a swell magnet.

After a good 45 minutes of ducking under webs, we got a glimpse of the ocean and to our surprise there was actually some whitewater down in the small cove.  As we got closer we could tell that there was a pretty good right bouncing off the rocks and dumping on the shallow beach. Its hard to tell how big a wave is when you see it from a distance and there is no one out, so we could only guess that it was surfable.  Down on the beach the delightful sight of spitting tubes came time and time again in the same spot and we had a session on our hands.  Exploring can be fun.

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When you have an island as large as Australia with thousands of miles of surfable coastline, timing becomes the most important element in the quest for perfect waves. Wind conditions, swell direction, tides and other variables come into play and can literally make drastic changes to the surf  in minutes. During the first few months of production for the film time and luck were on our side and being in the right place at the right time seemed to become routine. Every surfer has certain days that stand out in their mind for one reason or another as a magic day and those memories are what it its all about. This particular day for us came quite early in production as we stumbled upon a perfect beach break with spitting barrels and no one around for miles.  Sometimes its not the quality of the waves but the day itself that can turn your memories to magic.  Our  little secret spot was kind to us on more than a few occasions and here is a quick look at why those memories are so dear and why the Ocean is such a special place.

The surf had been solid for weeks now and we wanted to get away from the Gold Coast for a bit and find some different waves. While perfect point breaks are always on the top of the list, sometimes a wave that keeps you on your toes can be much more rewarding. There are many types of waves in Australia and reef slabs are all over this surf blessed country. Reefs come in all shapes and sizes and can bend and transform waves into all kinds of different forms. In this case the shape was round, sometimes almost square and somewhat below sea level. It wasn’t the biggest day but there were a few on offer and Asher Pacey and Josh Kerr traded barrels for an hour before the tide turned and the waves turned off.

“The loss of Kirra Point has been caused by an excessive build-up of sand that has been pumped and dredged into Coolangatta Bay over the past 12 years. In this time there have been relatively low levels of storm activity and the sand has not naturally made its way north at the same speed at which it was placed in the bay.

An increase in the level of sand in the bay by 3–4 metres on average has resulted in a significant widening of the beaches – in some cases by over 150m, the loss of surf quality, an increase in rips which has made swimming more dangerous and the loss of Kirra Reef. The reef, which is located at the northern extent of the temperate marine zone and the southern extent of the tropical marine zone supported a diverse range of marine species.”

kirrapoint.org

Although Kirra looks nothing like its former self, it can still produce fun waves with a barrel or two on offer. With the swell up a bit Asher and Kerrzy gave good old Kirra  a go and found some clean long lines and a very light crowd. After all the rain from the previous storm the water was far from the usual topaz blue making Kirra look a lot like California or anywhere else but the gold Coast for that matter.

Here is a wallpaper with photos from the Gold Coast Australia. The ocean was alive with surf and there was no shortage of barrels. The shot on top is classic Greenmount wrapping it’s way in to Kirra. The photos in the bottom right is through a rearview mirror, sometimes you can find interesting views of waves through simple reflections. The bottom left photo is from the bluff looking into a random right on a mostly lefthand wave.
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Josh Kerr and Asher Pacey grabbed the ski and took turns pulling into barrels in the big stormy conditions. Without a ski the current would send you miles up the beach in just a few minutes. Here’s a shot from the newspaper of Asher setting up for a big dark barrel with Kerrzy in the foreground watching the action and waiting for his turn.

You can also follow the making of the movie on facebook to stay in tune every time a post is updated. Become a fan and spread the word. For every thousand fans we get we will do a contest for some goods ( T’s, Sandals, Original Art, Music Downloads and more )

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This is some of the art that we designed for Asher Pacey’s board during the filming of the movie.  Click one of the links below to download this desktop wallpaper. enjoy-

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below are some photos of the creative process

getting the idea down on paper first is key, then it’s on to the board.

Just laying on a few minimal colors to keep it simple.

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We are busy editing the next few posts about the storm that hit during our stay on the gold coast, so here is some eye candy to feast on for the time being. COLORS ON THE CRAFT is a short film featuring time lapse photography of art coming to life on Asher’s board. Stay tuned for footage and photos of the storm that rocked the Gold Coast and Northern NSW last May, proving to be one of the biggest storms of the decade flooding much of Northern NSW and carrying meters of beach out to sea and up the coast. We will also be sharing video of our adventure miles out to sea in search of perfect empty barrels in very sharky waters.

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Sand is of the up most importance to the many world class points on the Gold Coast and during the summer and fall months the sand bars can take quite a beating and change drastically. We witnessed such a change when one of the biggest storms to hit the region in decades came ashore and demolished the sand bars. We were lucky enough to get a few days before the sand was displaced and the wave know as Snapper Rocks disappeared completely only to turn into a mushy close out for months before the sand would regroup. Although this wasn’t classic Snapper, it was the one of the last days it would resemble anything of its normal shape for the months to come. Asher Pacey, Mick Fanning, Dean Morrison and friends took full advantage of the dark barrels before the storm hit and the sand disappeared.

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While on the Gold Coast we spent a day at the D’Arcy surfboard factory to check out the process of building a board and to find out how D’Arcy’s shop was named the most environmentally friendly facility in Australia. While there is still a need to develop greener materials used to build a board, D’Arcy shows that we can still take action now to ensure the cleanest outcome for the environment and our future. The factory is outfitted with various extraction fans and other technology to lower the toxic dust and floating fumes emitted in the manufacturing process. The air leaving the building is actually cleaner than the air outside and with just a 3% emission output, the factory is setting high standards for environmental responsibility and awareness.

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Australia is geographically isolated from the rest of the world, and contains distinctive plants and animals found nowhere else on earth. Eucalyptus forests dominate much of coastal Australia, Scrub dominates the inland regions, and pockets of tropical and subtropical rainforests can be found on Australia’s eastern and northern coasts. Temperate rainforest can be found in New South Wales, Victoria, and the island state of Tasmania. The oldest rainforests on earth are situated in the Daintree National Park and also the Cape Tribulation National Park. The Karri forests on Australia’s south west coast contain some of the worlds highest trees, some trees can reach heights of 90 m (300 ft).

Over millions of years, as the climate and geography changed, the Australian tropical rainforests receded to a small band between the coast and and the Great Dividing Range, and stretching from Cooktown in the north to Townsville in the south. Today these rainforests represent less than one thousandth of the country’s total land mass. Despite their relatively small size, the rainforests are home to an amazing diversity of life and provide a living record of the ecological and evolutionary processes which have shaped Australia’s plants and animals for over 415 million years. To protect these rainforests, and to ensure that they are preserved for future generations, they were placed on the World Heritage list in 1988.

After a long week of production we needed a down day to relax and the rainforest is just the place to do that. Here is a look at one of the many beautiful spots we visited aside from the ocean.

The crew over at MESURF took some time to interview us recently, check it out for some insight into CIRCULATE and take a look at the rest of the site for tons of great content. Read the interview here.

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A day on the Gold Coast with Josh Kerr. Video footage on the way, stay tuned . . . .