Matt's Scary Artwork!

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One last word from Matt Herman with a shot of his scary looking artwork on Phileas. 

Matt has gone a bit sharky and says:

" It seem appropriate considering my friend's recent run in with a shark on his kayak the other week, plus it's on the bottom of the the "Jaws" Liddle."

The story from his mate is here:  

 

Zoiks! 

The article even  says:

"A friend,  Mason Grimreeper saw it all from a short distance away..."

When that dude is around you know you've had a close shave! 

It's been a difficulttime of year for Phileas to hit Rincon and ideally, she'd stay around for a bit but she has a long journey ahead. She did actually get some nice waves with Matt but there was nobody around to film him.   

Bugger... 

Still, she's had a great time. Video to come. 

Cheers  

G

Moving on...

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Just had an email from Matt Herman:

Surfed at Sycamore Cove in Ventura County today, plus snook a few in at Malibu before lifeguards freaked out on me. 

Somebody called the mat a pool toy at Malibu, the guy said that mats were as bad as Costco boards to him, that made me laugh considering they are all hand-made.  Sycamore Cove was fun though.  There have been a few SSE swells this summer, weird stuff.

 I will add my tats today, then I'll send her off. 

Art is the supreme human endeavour. 

Thanks so much for giving Phileas a home Matt... And for keeping her on the straight and narrow.   

Off to John Mellor next. I wonder how Phileas will fit in with his wonderful array of craft?  

G

Back in Cali

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So, Phileas has made her way back to the US and is currently lodging with one of Rincon's truly nice guys, Matt Herman. Matt managed to snag some tiny but really fun little peelers down the beach from Rincon.

Matt says:

Phileas surfed well, it was fast and loose, even at high inflation levels. We were lucky enough to get steeply angled SSE swell from Hurricane Delores, which was no Marie.  It was, is, extremely humid for out here.  One day this week it was 76% and 84 degrees F.  Its strange to see rain and electrical storms in Santa Barbara, or CA.  The ocean was glassy, no clear as glass.  I saw bizarrely blue ocean colors all week on Instagram, as far north as Santa Cruz.  I surfed this morning on the back side of Rincon on Phileas, solo for a while.

I was at the back side of Pitus in these photos.  I felt like a kid on the day those were taken, weaving through bathers and getting called into waves by tourists and locals, who were both tripping out on the weather, water, and the mat surfing skills of yours truly. ;)

M.H.H.

I'm just pleased to see Phileas getting back to what she's best at and staying clear of her vices. Although the pram thing... I don't even want to ask!

Thanks to Sylvia Orantes for taking the photos.

G

Phileas in Santa Barbara... In Spring... Hmmm...

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It's been a while since we've heard from Phileas. She's currently in the hands of another world class Californian mat rider, Andrew Stephen Buck.

So why haven't we seen endless shots of ASB screaming effortlessly across Rincon walls with his trademark controlled tail-slips and roof-of-the-tube fin control?

Well...

Andrew says:

"Well Graeme, my friend. This is what happens when you wait til May to send Phileas up to Rincon to be checked out by the boys and I up here. As you can see, the conditions are shit... 

Every now and then there was a set and I managed to find a couple of waves on Phileas."

"Sadly yes, that is a set that I just slummed it in right now. Gonna hang on to her for a bit longer and hopefully get her into some real waves before I send her on to Santa Cruz..

Next time get it up here earlier you asshole! Ha ha!

Cheers my man."

GAH!!!  Let's all cross our fingers and pray to King Neptune for a solid south swell and some offshores. There are a few G-Mats kicking around the Rincon area and it would be great to see some of those fellas get a go with the ol' girl.

Cheers

G