November - Point Score Written by Danny McGaw
November 2016, Club Point Score Report
Written by Danny McGaw
Standing on the headland, I breathed the very essence of Crescent Head. A gentle vista of seascape bestowed its blessing upon my very eyes. To the east, the dawn heralded the rebirth of the Sun in all its glory. The oceanic clouds glowed afire as fingers of dawn’s light caressed their soft folds with a lover’s touch. Mmmm …. you know, colour truly is it’s own reward. Like a floating dream, the early morning haze softened the vista to the north …………..
Ah! Bloody hell! Sorry, wrong recollection.
Back to reality ……….
Awake early Sunday morning, the rain wouldn’t let me sleep. It was pissing down. The tin roof thundered loud enough to rattle me teeth sitting in the glass next to me bed. Saints help me, the wind was howling strong enough to pull a dog off it’s chain. Still, that bloody tin roof was a problem at 5 am in the morning but like a slinking cur it started backing off as soon as the Sun came up. Regardless, I was awake, lying there staring at the ceiling in quiet contemplation.
I was wondering if the “doom and “gloomers” were gonna call the point score off. If they did, then like a Judas, I was on their side this time. One way to find out, so down to the Point I go and waited for someone or anyone to turn up. And they did! Some were worse for wear but somehow they made the effort. Yay! Team spirit!!
Considering the day we were in, it was a great turnout. Heaps of juniors turned up, which was a stoke and why wouldn’t it be. Our juniors are either already damn good or have the potential to be damned good. No exceptions, they all give it 100% and have fun doin’ it.
Heat 1 Juniors and we’re under way. The waves are consistent with smooth, well shaped, 2 to 4 foot faces to play with.
Marcus Willock, regular as clockwork, caught his tally of waves and kept goin’. Marcus is developing a nice traditional style that is appreciated by the judges and no doubt will continue to do so. Check out the pics of him in PLB magazine, Vol 18 Number 4, and also in this website’s gallery. They’re great.
Dan Da Man Johnson just had fun surfing the way he always does. Whether he’s in a comp or free surfing, it’s all the same, he knows he’s free to follow the jack-o-lantern of happiness. And he does.
He did his signature cheater-five a few times, some hang fives thrown in, a quick ten just to show he can do it, and he did, a few nice drop knees and voila. It was also good to see Dan getting into a few bigger waves as his confidence grows.
Storm Warning !!! The Storm blew us away. Storm Nitschke, that is. Only the second time he’d been on a longboard and he was doing the nose thingy, some nice cutties and generally just goin’ for it. Once the light goes on and he discovers the joy of longboarding, he’s got the potential to be one of the better surfers in the club. His Dad, Harold, was beaming proud of him.
Dad says, “He’s a winner and, you know, I’m teaching him everything I know.” Yep, despite that possible setback, I know Storm will power ahead regardless, and I dare say, he’s on our radar … yeah I know, corny … groooan, but hey, I couldn’t help myself.
The Quiet Man, Nate Curtis, snagged himself a bag of waves. Once again, we have a young surfer visibly improving every time we see him. Keep at it Nate and we’re good and proud to have ya with us.
Ah, the ocean wasn’t kind to Max Lobb this time around. Like his Dad, Max is more at home in gutsier waves where he can exude a bit of power into his moves. He didn’t have the waves come his way but what he did, with what he had, was quite good anyway.
Go for it, Maxie even tried a coupla headstands but didn’t quite get there. The judges concluded he needs a flatter head just like Bob Standing’s. Yep, great effort from another class junior surfer.
Austin “Little Baddie” Treloar made his first appearance that morning. Great little guy he is. The goofy footer had plenty of waves and some long rides. Ya know, Austin’s gonna settle down real quick, get comfortable with our crew and then watch out. He’s another welcome addition to our juniors crew. Yep, the little bugger even pitted his very being against the rocks and denizens of the deep, when he swam out to grab a stray plastic bag drifting out to sea towards Lord Howe Island. Much appreciated Austin, welcome to the club.
Dead set, all in all, the juniors caught about 200 waves each, not realising their limit was only 10 apiece. When they were told they caught too many waves, they looked at us like we’re idiots, laughed and said “Duh man, … ya can never catch too many waves!!” Well, I spose that’s true. Don’t ya just hate it when some junior turns your argument upside down with simple logic. I know I do!
Results, Juniors Modern Longboard
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Dan Johnson
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Storm Nitschke
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Marcus Whillock
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Nate Curtis
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Max Lobb
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Austin Treloar
The waves backed off after the first heat. In fact it was turning dismal real quick. The rising tide put paid to the mid-tide gems the juniors scored so nicely and it was turning as sloppy as a gunnie sack.
Paul POD O’Donnell hit the water with the likes of Bruce Mumbles Cunliffe, Big Daddy Tony Whillock, Damon Treloar and me best, bonza, atta boy mate Harold Nitschke.
POD claimed the line-up in difficult conditions and scored plenty of waves much to the non-amusement of the rest of the field.
Mumbles Cunliffe snagged himself a cracker, carving the crap outta it all the way down the point. Paddling back out, Mumbles musta thought he was hallucinating as POD sailed past him on at least three waves. The bugger was into anything that moved. It was like a wave born version of a pit bull humping ya leg, absolutely relentless. And he’s “Whahooing!” while he does it. Cripes! Moving on …………….
Harold Hazza Nitshke had a few rides but it wasn’t a day where ya skill picked the right posi to be in to get waves. It was just blind luck if a wave came through consistently where ya decided to park ya arse. Just the same, Hazza put in a credible performance considering. (Yeah, I trip over his surname every time I type it, so its gonna be Hazza from now on just to avoid me stress, so be it)
Damon Treloar, new member, also surfed his first time with us. Twasn’t a great baptismal day for his debut but regardless Damon did himself credit on the waves he caught.
Ya can imagine the poor dude having to contend with Mumbles Cunliffe first off. He musta thought “F&%K! Who is this guy, there’s a 20 metre exclusion zone around him clear of every living thing in the immediate area!! And, and what’s he keep grunting for??” Damon don’t worry, he’s really a lovely fella, just don’t put your hand close to his mouth.
Big Daddy Whillock was under the same curse of luck as Hazza but him being him, still gave it grunt on the waves he was dealt out. As usual, his power cutties were a real treat to beat. I could almost hear him lament “Ah, if it was only another 3 foot bigger.”
Results, Heat 2:
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Paul O’Donnell
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Bruce Cunliffe
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Tony Whillock
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Damon Treloar
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Harold Nitschke
And the tide rises …….
The winds are getting stronger. Almost colder than me mum-in-law’s kiss, but not quite. The waves were gettin’ smaller by the set. Just two to three foot wind chopped, fat faces. Great stuff, if ya like punishment, that is. And, if truth be known, liking punishment is right up Fergo’s alley. Woah, couldn’t I tell ya some sordid stories about the Ferg but I haven’t had the time to make any good ones up yet. I will though.
Oh yeah, back to Fergo’s surfin’. He caught one decent wave and that’s all he needed. It was mediocre but what can ya do but do what ya can with what Lady Luck and Ma Ocean sends ya.
Bob Head Standing didn’t get the waves but still performed well on what he got. The crowd stood around with sad clown faces, as much to everyone’s disappointment, his feet never got overhead once.
Bill Sorrell, when is your luck gonna turn? Yep, a good surfer but I’ve never known anyone to have a run of surfing in heats full of crook waves like he has. Bill, what didja do, run over a SUP riding Chinaman or something? If ya in a heat with Billy, ya might as well console ya self to the fact its gonna be crook just as the green flag goes up. Yeah, that’s Bill, the one with the albatross hanging around his neck. Anyway, 2016 is gonna be good for ya Bill ..…… nah, really.
Benard, Benard, Benard …. Doin’ his switch-footin’ and having fun in absolute crap. The Undertaker’s last wave was his best and a good size considering.
Again, I just gotta beg him to get up onto that there nose. Come on Benard, you know how it goes …. just like the singin’ the Timewarp, “It’s just a step to the left and just a step to the right …”, and then ya do it all again, just like the hokey-pokey and ya there. Arms out and hanging off the nose like Kate Winslet on the bow of the Titanic. Ah, poetry in motion.
Results, Heat 3:
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Fergo
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Bob Standing
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Benard Olde
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Bill Sorrell
By heat 4 its finally warm but still a bit overcast as the southerly backs off slightly.
Hey, it was great to see Big Jim Anderson hit the line-up with the lads. A big boy, that one. Not fat by any means, just big. Struggling not to burst it’s seams, Jim’s contest singlet clung to him like some 70’s lurex body shirt. Come a day, he’ll turn purple from constriction. Anyone know mouth to mouth??? Surfing-wise, he did alright for himself and came away with rep in tact.
Peter Lobb got into it with plenty of good rides including one classic round-house cuttie that had the points meter red linin’. Yep, the waves tried their hardest but the man beat them into submission. Yay! Finally, score 1 for the good guys against the day’s elements.
Having fun in the non existent Sun, Sarah Whillock glided through, around and over the slop with style. That gal sure scored some very nice long waves. Like her Dad, she woulda been happier with a bit more size but Sarah, as usual, did well with what she had.
Maxie surfed deep on most of his waves. A tad too deep at times. Dangerman or what!! Regardless, I reckon he may have scored the wave of the heat. An absolute, deep take-off, with a zipper fast run through the inside section, then running out onto the wall for a cuttie etc etc. Impressive.
Results, Heat 4:
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Peter Lobb
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Max Skilbeck
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Sarah Whillock
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Jim Anderson
Junior Retro was up next. Everyone grabbed the smaller performance boards. Twinnies, single fin channel bottoms, stingers, you name it. There wouldna been a board over 5’6”.
The guys killed it with every trick in the book. None of them were slouches on a short board, that’s for sure.
Results, Junior Retro:
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Marcus Whillock
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Max Lobb
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Storm Nitschke
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Nate Curtis
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Austin Treloar
Drag out the old mals for the last heat and here we go. Mumbles Cunliffe, Peter Lobb and POD O’Donnell braved the elements on those grand old ladies cleaving the crud like ships of the line. Not much was done but they got themselves some waves alright. Red flag goes up and that was the day that was.
Results Old Mal:
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Bruce Cunliffe
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Bernard Olde
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Peter Lobb
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Paul O’Donnell