My new board and one of my paintings of Gwenver Beach, which is near where it was made

Some of you may have read my previous blog about how Gavin Randall of Traditional Surfing Co. very kindly loaned me one of his boards to try out when I was last in Cornwall. Well, I’m very happy to say that the garret is now filled with the wonderful aroma of linseed, as I am now in proud possession of my very own hand-crafted, eco-friendly surf-riding board.

It is a simple thing, but a thing of beauty… I have been lucky in that the grain is really nice; it even looks like there are water droplets in parts. But what makes this board really special is that it was ordered, in secret, by my daughter, not quite thirteen years old at the time as a present for my birthday which was earlier on last week. Let alone having to be sneaky with other family members’ contribution, and having to find out how a paypal account works, she came up with the idea for the graphic, which, with a little help from Gavin, resulted in what I think is a lovely and feminine logo. (I’d been thinking about trying to recreate something from one of the woodcuts from my previous post – far too fussy – but the Hibiscus flower still maintains a link to both the early female Tahitian board-riders, and their soul-surfing sisters in Hawaii).

But more than this, she kept it secret. She is not known for guile, but rather (and somewhat like her mother I suspect…) wears her heart on her sleeve: you know, ‘the correct expression for the corresponding emotion’. She famously once answered her father’s throwaway remark ‘What’s all this then?’ to the laboriously wrapped present he’d been given with the instant response ‘It’s a hammock.’ Okay she was only about four years old at the time, but it has entered legend that she cannot tell a lie. So you can imagine the torture. And also, I’m now told there were sleepless nights worrying that I might not like it. Well, I love it, and consider myself blessed to have such a wonderful daughter.

My only problem now is that I can’t wait to get it in the water. My nearest option is Brighton, but I think this beauty deserves some clear Cornish Eau de Nil waters for her maiden flight and I don’t think I can wait for my next planned trip. Going to have to put my ‘wangling’ hat on, I think.

Traditional Surfing Co. are a relatively new company but seem to be hurdling over themselves with ideas and innovation. I’d get in there quick for an original model if I were you, and I cannot praise enough their patience in helping my daughter.

Photo by www.traditionalsurfing.co.uk

Today is National Poetry Day, and although it’s familiar to all, this poem by John Masefield was always going to find a place on this blog.  Sea-Fever was first published in 1902 in the compilation Salt-Water Ballads (Salt-Water Ballads! – don’t you just want to have a crumpled original copy in your pocket at all times?).  Today I got thinking of the poem’s last words, ‘when the long trick’s over’: a trick being a journey at sea or a turn at the helm, but in this case, of course, a life.  …But the poem needs no explanation, being a perfect song of yearning.

Image by C. Devine 2011

SEA-FEVER

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,

And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,

And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,

And a grey mist on the sea’s face and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide

Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;

And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,

And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,

To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;

And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,

And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.

John Masefield