Well, yesterday was the taste of summer that we all needed. I love it how the cue to bring out the T-shirts, boardshorts, bikinis and jandals is around the 22°C mark and yesterday the temperature went well beyond that – almost topping out in the 30s in some places. To make it even better it was joined by an oily long-period south swell that finally broke the onshore curse of the past three weeks. Needless to say it was a busy timein the lineups with all that pent up surf energy.
Despite long waits between sets there were enough waves for everyone with a few old surf banks firing back into life thanks to the extra sand. It was nice to see St Clair at capacity with the cafés and restaurants cranking, groms dominating the channel, people giving surfing a try all the way along to the poles, the clubbies running drills out the back, the point firing, a sole surfer harvesting the inside runners at Seconds and mates shuffling around on peaks from one end of the beach to the next. Yep, that's what summer is about.
One guy who I envy the most for his ability to harvest the good times is Craig Latta from Watercooled Sports. He spent Saturday snowboarding in powder on a special industry day at Cardrona (yep, some of the best fresh snow of the season and no one around), then spent Sunday in the perfect peaks only to skip the early start at his surf shop in favour for a few more glassy waves at St Clair to start his Monday. I need to take a leaf out of his book. We all do.
See you at the beach ... Derek
PS We've been flatout at the gallery with lots of beautiful framed prints going out the door. If you've dropped past and the "gone surfing" sign has been on the door then we have the answer – from now until Christmas we will be open from 11am until 2pm on Thursdays and Fridays and 10am until 1pm on Saturdays. Of course you can always call us on 021 139 8188 to make an appointment. Here's some inspiration: Box of Light Gallery at 1 Dowling Street, Dunedin.
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