"Idiosyncrasies" by Patrick Trefz
After surfing eight days running from Boxing Day, which is a clear record for me, I was feeling surfed out. Knackered. Aching. And my sore throat / coughy / head-cold was certainly not getting better. A few recuperative days out of the water would be a good idea. What better time for "Idiosyncrasies" to slap itself through the letterbox.
I jammed it into the DVD player, eager to watch the bit with Richard Kenvin (the reason I bought this movie), cup of tea, feet up... go...
The movie starts with a wonderful title sequence, yes, I know we've seen this kind of thing before but with the music it works brilliantly. I've watched it repeatedly since - it brings a warm smile to my mind and face. Spoiler alert, here's the movie trailer which is basically just a clip of the intro:
The Kenvin part is good to watch, although it partly just gets me excited about the Hydrodynamica project and movie that he's working on. The whole DVD is well shot and edited and draws you into these people's lives a little. It's great to see the Curren family and especially Tom Curren still ripping. Christian Beamish boat building, adventuring, surfing...
The highlight of the film for me though is the final section. "Harbour Bill" (Bill Mulcoy) became renowned in the late 70's for illegaly surfing a wave that had been 'created' by the US army's construction work at Santa Cruz harbour. In 1977 the Harbourmaster (Brian Foss) made it illegal to surf the wave, however, Bill and some other surfers kept sneaking in and then legging it when the Harbourmaster or army came after them. Bill became known as "Harbour Bill" and surfers wouldn't leak his real name until an unwitting reporter put it in an article in Surfer magazine. Though Bill Mulcoy was arrested and charged, all charges were later dropped. Bill is quite a character sitting with his blazing white hair and moustache recounting unrealistic stories of paddling five miles to escape his pursuers. The most inspiring thing, especially to me having started surfing at the tender age of forty, is to see Bill surfing boards with lengths that match his age: 61 on a 6'1! Maybe he'll finally be riding 9'8 logs when he's 98...
The Mulcoy section finishes the DVD with Bill and his son Josh getting some great barrels. What a wave - Josh's last! A curious fast sucky wave with a heavy lip and Josh trims along the bottom of it like he's on rails. Like his Dad left him a trail to follow...
I love the film. It's not the longest film in the world, nor does it have the most surfing, but I think it's warm, well constructed, interesting and beautiful.
Here's a link to Patrick Trefz's Idiosyncrasies web page.
I jammed it into the DVD player, eager to watch the bit with Richard Kenvin (the reason I bought this movie), cup of tea, feet up... go...
The movie starts with a wonderful title sequence, yes, I know we've seen this kind of thing before but with the music it works brilliantly. I've watched it repeatedly since - it brings a warm smile to my mind and face. Spoiler alert, here's the movie trailer which is basically just a clip of the intro:
The Kenvin part is good to watch, although it partly just gets me excited about the Hydrodynamica project and movie that he's working on. The whole DVD is well shot and edited and draws you into these people's lives a little. It's great to see the Curren family and especially Tom Curren still ripping. Christian Beamish boat building, adventuring, surfing...
The highlight of the film for me though is the final section. "Harbour Bill" (Bill Mulcoy) became renowned in the late 70's for illegaly surfing a wave that had been 'created' by the US army's construction work at Santa Cruz harbour. In 1977 the Harbourmaster (Brian Foss) made it illegal to surf the wave, however, Bill and some other surfers kept sneaking in and then legging it when the Harbourmaster or army came after them. Bill became known as "Harbour Bill" and surfers wouldn't leak his real name until an unwitting reporter put it in an article in Surfer magazine. Though Bill Mulcoy was arrested and charged, all charges were later dropped. Bill is quite a character sitting with his blazing white hair and moustache recounting unrealistic stories of paddling five miles to escape his pursuers. The most inspiring thing, especially to me having started surfing at the tender age of forty, is to see Bill surfing boards with lengths that match his age: 61 on a 6'1! Maybe he'll finally be riding 9'8 logs when he's 98...
The Mulcoy section finishes the DVD with Bill and his son Josh getting some great barrels. What a wave - Josh's last! A curious fast sucky wave with a heavy lip and Josh trims along the bottom of it like he's on rails. Like his Dad left him a trail to follow...
I love the film. It's not the longest film in the world, nor does it have the most surfing, but I think it's warm, well constructed, interesting and beautiful.
Here's a link to Patrick Trefz's Idiosyncrasies web page.
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