Apollo Cinemas kindly donated an extra 2 tickets for the competition so we have picked 2 winners! Congratulations to Will and Bob! Below are the winning photos:

Retro shot of Rob Beling surfing Polzeath in the 80s from Bob


Hossegor last summer during Grom Comp at Le Grav from Will

They have both won free tickets to see Soul Surfer (Watch Trailer) Showing from Today at Apollo Cinemas Paignton.

The Paignton Apollo Cinema shall be screening Soul Surfer this month and they kindly donated several tickets and posters to give away in a best-photo competition! Please send 1 picture entry as well as contact details (Only Surfing, Bodyboarding, Windsurfing, Kitesurfing, Kayaking, SUP Boarding, Wakeboarding pics allowed) to COMPETITION NOW CLOSED for a chance to win free tickets to see the film at Apollo Cinema in Paignton. Entrants must be at least 12 years of age. Deadline is 22nd September at 12:00pm.

Watch Trailer
IMDB Page

Sean McNamara's 'Soul Surfer' is about a teenage surfer girl that summons the courage to go back into the ocean after losing an arm in a shark attack. Lucky we don't have many sharks about!

The film shall be showing from 23rd September 2011 Please contact Apollo Cinemas for more information

I just wanted to announce that I have begun a complete Torbay Surfing site overhaul. We shall be releasing a brand new website with new features soon!

Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) have set up a new Sewage Alert Service in the South West which provides real time warnings when untreated sewage is discharged at your beach. SAS will send you a free text message when untreated sewage starts to discharge and another when the sewage stops with further advice on when water quality will improve.

This is a vital service to water users as there is a long list of health risks associated with bathing in untreated sewage, most commonly ear, nose and throat infections, but also highly unpleasant gastro related problems.

By signing up to this free service you can be warned of sewage discharges, reducing the risk of getting ill when you visit the beach.

To sign up, just click on the link above, enter your mobile number and select which beaches you use and you will receive a text whenever sewage starts to discharge at your beach and another when it stops.

Remember, this service only operates when a discharge is occurring, so no news is good news!

http://www.sas.org.uk/campaigns/sewage-and-sickness/sewage-alert-service

The Paignton Apollo Cinema shall be screening a very exciting surf film this June:

Watch Trailer
IMDB Page

Justin Mitchell's surf Documentary 'Rio Breaks' which follows the story of two best friends, Fabio and Naama, as they navigate their way between the pitfalls of life in the slums and the joys of surfing on their favorite beach. Their goal: to win the contest and become professional surfers. (Released June 3rd 2011)

The film shall be showing between Friday 3rd - Thursday 9th June 2011 daily at 15.10, 17.10, 19.10 and 21.10.
Please contact Apollo Cinemas for more information

If you missed this screening, you can still catch it on DVD when its released in September, preorder on Amazon here.

 

 

Here it is! Two years in the writing - a novel inspired by local culture and locations: a ghost horror/thriller.

 

What's this? I hear you say. Why a novel?

Writing is like painting with words. Is it so different, artistically, to trying to draw perfect lines on a wave? So it's been a long-term goal to produce a novel. And as a windsurfer / surfer, I couldn't resist putting a surfing scene into it. All I can say is surfing waves can be a very, very dangerous hobby....especially when you're stalked by a demon.

The novel showcases locations around Torbay in the hope that it would encourage visitors and tourists to visit the Bay, boosting the economy. We've also decided to donate a portion of profits to www.commando999.com to help injured service men and women, and their families. They serve and sacrifice for us - more than we could ever repay.

The plot:

Inspired to rediscover his roots and family history, computer programmer, Michael, soon learns that the past is sometimes best left undisturbed: for lurking in the history of his bloodline, is a twisted killer, Devlin Mallard. A man dispatched from this earth in 1929 at the end of a hangman's noose. Betrayed by his own kind, now freed from the darkness, anti-hero, Devlin Mallard, is hell-bent on exacting revenge and unleashing mayhem. In the 21st Century West Country spirits have moved on from Ouija boards and séances, the dead now travel by broadband – hidden in the Bandwidth. They inhabit the chat rooms, plying their trade online, ever hungry for contact with the living. Re-awakened in Cyberspace, Devlin wreaks havoc. People begin to die and the trail of horrific deaths, winds its way towards Michael, Heather and the children. Desperate, Michael seeks help from a medium from Paignton, Dedra - who holds séances in the local spiritualist church hall. Fighting for his life, and that of his family, he joins forces with murder investigator, Detective Sergeant Woods, and rides a roller-coaster of global killings to the final confrontation. He must face his demon and return Devlin Mallard to the darkness. 

The book is  available for purchase on www.amazon.co.uk as a Kindle ebook. 

Special thanks to Dave at Torbay National Coastwatch Institution for letting us put their new webcam, positioned on Daddyhole Plain, Torquay, overlooking Thatcher & Orstone rocks.

Check out the new webcam here
Check out the TNCI website here

Johnny Loveboat (well actually Fallon) send me a message earlier saying that the You Chuz surf competition on Preston Beach may be going ahead this weekend if the weather does go easterly.
Check out the official facebook page here for more info and to see if it goes ahead.
UPDATE: It looks like it shall be going ahead tomorrow (thats Sunday) at 9:30 A.M
UPDATE 2: I've added some pics here of the event. Well done to Gary Wells for winning the competition

Last week I attended the Relentless Boardmasters 2010 festival.. I managed to get hold of some media passes this time granting me access to better places to film the skate, bmx and babe events! Enjoy!

You can also watch this video on YouTube