Still Stoked Longboard Skates For Surfers

Marine Reserves

This entry relates to: [ Surfing ] [ Travel ]

Sunday, Jun 28, 2009

The Marine Conservation Society is asking for support for it's campaign for more of our coastline to be protected in reserves.

The oceans are losing their biodiversity at an accelerating rate. In UK waters there are 22 species of wildlife considered to be facing the threat of global extinction. Once common species such as Atlantic Cod and Halibut are on lists of threatened or endangered species and only eight of the 47 fish stocks found around the British Isles remain in a healthy state. Marine habitats and fish stocks continue to be damaged by destructive fishing techniques, e.g. it has been estimated that for every 1kg of North Sea Sole caught by beam trawl, up to 14kg of other seabed animals are killed.The Marine Reserves Now website

We love the ocean for it's waves amongst other things, it seems only fair to give a little back and support this campaign. The ocean is not an infinte resource.

Posted on Sunday, Jun 28, 2009 at 19:11:24

March Severn bores 2009

This entry relates to: [ Skating ] [ Surfing ] [ Travel ]

Thursday, Apr 09, 2009

A Huge turnout of bore riders in the Newnham - on - Severn area were'nt too disappointed by mediocre bores during the first spring tides of the month. We counted 40 surfers, including a few kayackers, which was a pretty crazy number. I had a short, 250 yard or so, ride in the Newnham channel. This was on the first day, on a small wave which glassed up for a while, allowing a bit of footwork on Tom's massive eleven six log, especially custom made for the bore by Mike Peet at Atlantic Surfboards. That first day I've never seen so many surfers not catching the bore, but on the Friday a good number had stand up rides at Boatyards, with hoots carrying on the wind to the White Hart at Broadoak.

At the back end of the month in super low water I had a cruisy ride at Submarines, helped by a northwesterly breeze, which cleaned the bore up for some noseriding time. The next day I saw Bendy in the distance catch that same wave, while I waited a mile upriver to catch the bore in the channel, as Katie and Ocean watched from the Vostells sluice. That was a real small wave too, but I got a cool solo ride.

Is that the Severn Bore Donny?

It's definitely not happening in the horseshoe at the moment though. Low water and westerlies really have'nt helped and despite the 10 metre and higher nines, the bores just are not anything on February, when on the backend of the month I had a super solo ride fromSubmarines all the way to the Silver Fox, on an 8.9 metre tide.

As I write this I can see from the caravan window the steam rising out of the woods of the Forest of Dean. Although we've had a bit of rain the last couple of days it's going to do nothing for these April bores. Yesterday evening I went down and had to paddle at the head of the tide for 200 yards before there was enough to even knee board it. How I stayed with that bore I just don't know and by the time Bendy came on there was just enough to attempt a stand, but we both wrapped together and came off as it started to die again. I'll go out again this evening on the biggest tide but don't hold out much hope. As for the river levels my predictions have pretty much hit the mark. I never remember seeing the ford at the Silver Fox so exposed in April with only inches covering the stones. It would not be a good place to wipeout.

I guess the highlight of the last month for me was a great surf session at Rest last Thursday the 2nd April. We got there a bit late with the neap high tide at midday, although I planned to surf the turning tide and it was well worth it. Some 13 waves some 13 rides on shoulder to head high waves. The southeasterly had got up a bit and was definitely not the offshore wind forecast, which would have made it absolutely awesome and was the main reason for our going. Anyway I was stoked and even more so when I got out to find Katie had got a stack of pics.

Donny surfing Rest Bay 2nd April 2009 as the tide turned.

Donny gliding a line at Rest Bay 2nd April 2009

Done a good bit of skating too, sold several boards and more than the average number of films, so March was a real good month. After Easter Still Stoked is going to start making wooden surfboard fins, something I prototyped at Llangennith in 2003, so its high time we made some, as they look really nice, wear well and are a lot cheaper to market than glass ones.

Posted on Thursday, Apr 09, 2009 at 12:18:56

February bores 2009

This entry relates to: [ Surfing ] [ Travel ] [ Videos ]

Saturday, Mar 07, 2009

I had some good rides last month on the Severn bore in the mid horseshoe bend, including a good solo ride. It's a rare event nowadays to get a wave to yourself and even rarer to get a good wave, so a ride of over a mile on the Severn bore without anyone else out brings a lot of stoke. There's nothing better though than to surf uncluttered waves with your buddies. To do that in the UK the spot has got to be just far enough away so that people can't realistically get there in numbers and you've got to surf at 1st light.

The Thursday bore was the day after the new moon and although the three day prediction was the same, this was the one most likely to be the most powerful and so it proved to be. A few guys turned out to surf the Saturday bore but it had none of the size or power of Thursday's and did'nt connect through for a long ride.



Severn bore whirlpool
Don't get caught in one of these after the bore has gone through. This whirlpool was after an 8.3 metre tide. I've seen them with 4ft holes after 10 metre plus tides!

I paddled downstream for a mile or so to meet the bore head on below boats. I cut it a bit fine and could have probably got a couple of hundred yards more, but then I might have been too far down and not caught the wave building of the sandbank. As it was I got a good waist to chest high wave to the mixer and proned through to the channel with constant fin dragging in the super low water, which you can sometimes get in February. The old saying "February fill dyke" does not read as generally understood full dyke, but fill the dyke and despite the rain and snow this month the river was really low and had dropped off 2 feet since the main february tides two weeks earlier. Getting back to my feet I finished the ride with a good 100 yards of clean wave to allow a fair bit of board walking. It was a memorable ride.



A medium sized severn bore through the Newnham channel.check out this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpbSIbH6dKA&fmt=18

The main tides of the month were fun with a large turnout of bore riders at Boats all coming in from the east bank. I concentrated my efforts in the Newnham channel and had two good rides on consecutive days. The first day when Mark Humpage's microlight was flying above was a reasonably powerful wave, and I got caught on camera. Steve was dropped from the boat for the shoulder and a couple of guys came through from lower down including Ben, who told me the next day that he had ridden to Epney, one of the long rides in the upper horseshoe. Tom did this ride a few years ago at some four and a half miles. I caught a rail in the turbulence at the ford, which did'nt really matter as I was about to bail anyway to avoid too long a walk back. The next day I had a good mile ride from the fish house upto the lower end of the strand ending with a lovely clean section when I managed to get a real nice 10 nose ride with the eleven six locked in steady as a rock. A great end to a good ride but a pretty long walk back. I reckon there were 8 rideable days this month in the horseshoe bend for local guys with plenty of time to spare, but man you have got to be really fit. Stay stoked, Donny.

Posted on Saturday, Mar 07, 2009 at 17:08:28

Severn bores January 2009

This entry relates to: [ Surfing ]

Thursday, Jan 15, 2009

I had a bit of fun on the Severn bore Tuesday 13th and Wednesday 14th January. the December tides had produced some good bores so I was fairly confident that there should be some rideable waves this month. However the dry and cold spell of the past month had resulted in the Severn catchment draining down and the estuary through the horseshoe bend was very low for the time of year.
The big low which hit in Sunday night with gales and torrents of rain did nothing for the bore however. Normally this would be something of a winner to push up the tide, when blowing full on from the west. Without the braking effect of a good downstream flow the tide just slipped by in the half light with no more than a little surge and not a sound to be heard.
Tuesday was better as it dawned clear and bright and the 8.15am tide predicted at 9.6 metres threw up a tiny clean glassy wave along the Newnham channel which gave me a cruisy ride until it petered away.
Wednesday was a different story. The floodwaters were making their way down the estuary from Sunday night and the level was up sufficiently to create a strong downstream current. After the rain, gloom and wind of Monday morning and the clear reasonably mild air of Tuesday. Wednesday was frosty with sheets of ice over the car park at the Hart and absolutely a pea souper with visibility over the river no more than 30 yards. As I paddled across the river towards the far sands the foggy blanket shut out all points of reference. Glancing over my shoulder I could see what appeared to be the near bank from which I had launched myself and board. It should'nt have been in sight at all. By the time I had traversed the strong flow I reckon I was well down towards Newnham. I could hear the bore coming so was pretty sure it had some size. Sure enough after 5 minutes of continuous sounds of breaking water the wave appeared out of the gloom around waist high at its shoulder. Solo surfing the bore in these conditions depends on quite a bit of local knowledge. The ride was good and solid until the wave diminished into the sandbank upstream from the pub, where the river starts its turn into the upper sweep of the great horseshoe bend, some quarter mile or so from where I caught it.
The stoke from this ride was needed to see me safely ashore, a paddle which took me many minutes with some anxiety along the way. After some minutes of paddling I met with a large willow tree which I could'nt cross its bow in time so decided to paddle astern of it. A short while after I put my foot down for some instinctive reason or other, only to find to my dismay that I was in less than a foot of water. What spooked me most was that the tree was now back downstream of me! I guess I had been caught in one of the huge eddies that can form hereabouts. So I waded into deeper water and then started paddling hard until I was well into the mounting waves and troughs that occur after the bore has gone through. With the flow hitting my left side I knew I was at last on coarse for the west bank and hopefully safety. In a while I saw the trees looming darkly in the fog and the shape of a familiar house. It still seemed an unnecessarily long time before I succeeded in crossing the tide race which was now building with each passing minute, until I made landfall. All that was left was to get along the low bank to the jetty before the tide rose too much. Negotiating the railway crossing and all the field gates with the 11ft 6inch board seemed a bit of a doddle after that foggy experience. Ten minutes or so later I was safely back at the van just before the adrenalin ran out and the cold started to kick in. A radical morning and a safe homecoming to Katie, who was anxiously waiting in the van, was enjoyed due to a great ride in exceptional conditions. The knowledge that quiet confidence in my surroundings got me through a tricky situation, which for some without the benefit of experience may not have been so easily achieved, produced that essence of stoke from a job well done

Posted on Thursday, Jan 15, 2009 at 20:42:14

Tidal surge predicted Severn Bore 10 February 2008

This entry relates to: [ Surfing ] [ Travel ]

Saturday, Mar 08, 2008

A Big westerley gale forecast in the Bristol Channel Sunday night 9th of February should impact on the head of the spring tides to produce a large Severn bore for Monday morning, 10th February.
If wind speeds reach an average blow of 70mph and build to 80mph plus we will have the perfect conditions to add significant height to the Severn bore Monday morning. The forecast wind is due to be a powerful westerly equinoctial gale which comes with perfect timimg for the peak of the spring tides. If the blow continues throughout the flowing tide the Severn bore could be very big.
The mitigating factors against an all time day are an unexceptional tide 0f 9.4 metres rather than 10.5 and low fresh water state in the river Severn, resulting from the recent dry spell. Nature being as she is it is incredibly rare to get the coincidence of conditions talked about in the Longwave Extra "The Making of Longwave", where I talk of the day to come.
An intense low pressure system, plus 100 mph winds, plus 10.5 metre tide, plus high fresh water levels all conspire to produce a Severn bore in excess of 3 metres or 10 feet as average heights. For this we must wait on, but in the meantime there will be plenty of spots in the river Severn where Monday's bore could be spectacular. Depending on the sandbanks my bet is on Boatyards, for Sabrina to show that A frame peak that a few of us have been privileged to both see and catch.

Posted on Saturday, Mar 08, 2008 at 15:26:07

Interesting Lifes

This entry relates to: [ Skating ] [ Surfing ] [ Travel ]

Thursday, Nov 01, 2007

Surfers tend to lead interesting lifes. Outside making longboard skates and surfing films I am a river keeper on my salmon fishery on the beautiful Wye near the Welsh border. This autumn since returning from our summer surf camp the river Wye has been stunningly beautiful. Salmon were showing often until the end of the fishing season in mid October, fishermen did pretty well as did the barbel fishermen.

Right now I have been doing bank repairs and making a start on my hurdle making for which I am cutting willow rods from my pollards. Also with the typical low October river levels work has been in hand repairing the summer flood damage to the salmon cribs, which create and maintain the salmon pools. One of the most thrilling experiences must be to see a double figure salmon break the surface and leap in a perfect flowing curve of silvery white. It is a sight which stays with me for years and makes me realise what a lucky guy I am to be able to move between the wonderful worlds of river and sea. As each year rolls by I find myself becoming more engrossed in the world of nature and more stoked by the sensations of the countryside.
Katie often joins me on the riverbank and both here and in the sacred grove of Sabren at LittleDean she will spend many happy moments at this beautiful time of year practising Tai Chi. She has found that the TaiChi helps her balance for surfing and skating and likewise those skills help her Tai Chi thus balancing the Yin Yang of life. Katie's interesting life is taken to a logical end whereby she teaches Tai Chi as an instructor from her own Lotus Leaf Tai Chi. One day soon she will be teaching in the woodland camp of Sabren's Grove, site of the Celtic shrine of Sabrina overlooking the wonderful horseshoe bend of the river Severn, and also on the exquisite beach of Porth Neigwl on North Wales'Lleyn peninsula.

Posted on Thursday, Nov 01, 2007 at 16:35:26

Severn Bore threatened

This entry relates to: [ Surfing ] [ Travel ] [ Videos ]

Wednesday, Oct 17, 2007

By midsummer the age old proposals, running for something like half a century, to build a Severn Barrage seemed once again dead. The central issue in development terms is always profitibility and viability. Build an effectual dam across the Severn estuary below the Severn Bridges and the first effect will be to create a vast silt trap allowing the whole upriver lake to accumulate mud sufficient to build a swamp before our very eyes within years. No longer would the barrage be capable of generating energy, no longer would the sea even be able to flow up the Severn, no longer would the largest discharge of freshwater in the British Isles be able to flow to the sea down the Severn estuary. Instead it would spill over the banks and find its way to the sea via previously dry land.

The summer floods of 2007 at Gloucester, Tewkesbury, Upton and elsewhere will pale into insignificance against this causal effect of a Severn Barrage. Every hydrologist knows this so why do politicians and developers keep demanding it should be built? Any right minded person knows the reason.

Due to politicians ever trying to promote their parties it seems that again, now summer is over the Barrage is back on the soap boxes.What I can't understand is why the Green Energy Groups keep proposing it when they know it will destroy every part of a unique ecological habitat of undoubted world importance. I have heard that one latest viewpoint is that the ecological disaster can be traded off by relocating the habitat.

What an absolute lie and disgraceful suggestion. How will these people relocate the Severn Bore?

The unique nature of the Severn estuary is caused by one single elemental fact. That fact is the diurnal tide which flows up the river Severn and the moving cycle between Neap and Spring tides, culminating in the fortnightly Severn Bores.

Oh did you think the bore only happened a few times a year and in springtime? It happens twice a month for upto five days, twice a day. In the lower estuary the Severn bore appears to some degree virtually every day.

Check out Longwave

The life histories of every creature and every part of the natural world of the Severn estuary is driven by the diurnal tide and the effects of the Severn bore. Stop this nonsence and sign the petition

Posted on Wednesday, Oct 17, 2007 at 11:50:54

I woke up today

This entry relates to: [ Skating ] [ Surfing ] [ Travel ]

Saturday, May 26, 2007

I saw the beach on Hawaii Isle; Tom Wright had told me, today I saw it. Still Stoked is a lifestyle all about living life to the full and getting your fix on a thing well done, whether its surfing, skating, working or loving. It has got to be done well. So where does all the sh*t go, in the river, in the sea, in the air and we're all having fun?
I pride myself on being old skool, always against the Corporation, always for Nature, always for the cheaper way. What a load of cr*p. Every single one of us is killing this world of ours in one way or another. From today Still Stoked my underground persona, the Wrights' way, is going to change.
Skating or surfing is about skills not expensive tools.
Still Stoked starts here, reduce, reuse, recycle. We're proud in that self satisfied way about all the boards we've been making, the films we've been creating but from here on in the last 10 years was the comma in the first sentence, the rest will be the test and I promise you Still Stoked will do something that matters.

Posted on Saturday, May 26, 2007 at 17:58:12

Winter Surf at Porthcawl

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Sunday, Feb 04, 2007

With the beautiful weather and the reports being pretty good we went down to Porthcawl yesterday. After managing to loose the keys (before we'd even been in the water) and enlisting the help of very many passing surfers - cheers to all - and their jacks, magnets, screwdrivers and brains, Donny finally spotted them and we went in the water knowing that if it took us half an hour to find, it'd probably take someone else longer!! The surf wasn't classic but was fun and up to head high. Donny was on old faithful, his dinged and yellowed Guts board (which is as old as Still Stoked) and Katie was on the bodyboard.
Katie got out first and walked up to the pickup, firkled the keys out of their hiding place, unlocked the padlock only to find the door itself had been locked! So another 20 mins, cold this time, trying to break into our own car, again with the help of a very nice chap! Even after all this we have to say - we're Still Stoked and it's all part of the fun!!
We went off to see the sunset at Southerndown, watching the surfers there catch the last few waves, and then went home.
Very satifying!

Southerndown at sun down.

Posted on Sunday, Feb 04, 2007 at 10:38:23

Start celebrating 10 years of Still Stoked!

This entry relates to: [ Skating ]

Thursday, Feb 01, 2007

No one can believe its been 10 years already since Donny created that first board and Still Stoked was born. We're going to be bringing out a number of different ways to celebrate our birthday and the first is available very soon. Our limited edition Beanies are fab and with only a 100 of each you'll have to get in there quickly! Check out the accessories page for more information.
There will also be T-Shirts and specially designed boards. So come on, join in our year long party!

Posted on Thursday, Feb 01, 2007 at 13:07:29