By PHIL JARRATT
FOR quite a few years now I’ve enjoyed competing in the Noosa Malibu Club’s Wrecks and Relics contest for the over 50s, partly because no one takes it too seriously and partly because in June it’s often blessed with offshore winds and sparkling beaches.
But until last weekend I hadn’t caught up with the Mal Club’s logger comp because we always seem to be away at this time of year. Now in its third year, the logger is along similar lines to the Wrecks, a mostly local and regional competitor base, a couple of tents on the beach, peer judging and plenty of beers later on. No
frills but plenty of fun, and a surprisingly high performance level, particularly in the open and junior divisions.
With a frantically busy weekend ahead of me before we take off again, I hadn’t intended to compete, but on Saturday morning I rode my pushie down to First Point to watch a couple of heats and someone else’s misfortune turned into my good luck. “You want a start?” yelled beach marshal Scotty Ford. “Grab a board
and a green rashie and paddle out now.” I took one look at the perfect glassy little sets rolling through and didn’t need to be asked twice.
Sunday morning’s rain put a bit of a dampener on proceedings, but not for long, with plenty of action in the water as the squalls passed, the onshore wind backed off and there were some fun waves for most of the finals. Special mention here to
former world champion Josh Constable, now well into middle age but showing no signs of slowing down in taking out his third open logger title on the trot.
A high performance longboarder when he took out his world title a decade ago, Josh has made the transition to traditional styling almost seamlessly. I remember judging him in the final of the Deus Nine Foot and Single event (another fun logger comp) in Bali a couple of years ago when he surfed beautifully and would
have beaten Harrison Roach if he hadn’t kept bashing the lip in the shorebreak closeout. No lip-bashing on a logger now. Josh is as smooth as silk from take-off to exit.
Another surfer who looks smoother every time I see him is junior boys’ winner Tom Morat, whose backside styling at First Point is reminiscent of Joel Tudor, one of his idols. I look forward to surfing with both these guys, as well as old mal winner Matt Cuddihy and a whole tribe of other Noosa locals in Bali in a couple of weeks.
Balsa boys of Dee Why
Another local surfer who distinguished himself last weekend was Peregian’s Glenn “Marto” Martin, who pipped me for second place in the over 60s, despite the fact that he’s got five years on both me and division winner Eric “Grey Ghost” Walker, and that he’s coming back from a very recent hip replacement. Of course,
none of us can ever get past Eric, by far the best over 60 longboarder in the country, but Marto gave it a red hot go.
Marto was also the only surfer in the comp who dates back to the era of true logging, when balsa surfboards had just come on the scene. To prove it he pulled out this classic group shot from Dee Why in the summer of 1959 when he was just 13. That’s Marto on the far right, sporting trendy below the knee “okanui”
boardies, as is Vince Spain in the foreground. The alternative to wearing okanuis was the tried and true Speedo budgie smuggler, worn by the late Chris Crozier on the far left. Chris went on to become a leading surfboard manufacturer before being killed in a road accident.
Also worthy of note is the dead flat balsa pig model front of picture. They don’t make them like that any more!
Rites of passage
Times they are a changing in our family, with youngest grandson Hamie celebrating attaining the grand old age of five – where did those years go, and what happened to our little Piggie! – and my mum at 93 preparing to leave the building.
Hamie had a hell of a Star Wars birthday bash by the river, with lots of blue birthday cake and even a surprise visit from Chewbacca. The showers stayed away, pretty much, and there were plenty of fun games, my favourite being bashing the crap out of the Death Star.
While it’s much more fun celebrating a life that is just beginning than it is one that is ending, and I know there will be a few tears in the days ahead, Mum has effectively been dead to my siblings and me for several years now, thanks to the dreadful scourge of dementia. It will be a blessing for all to see her finally go to
her rest after a life well-lived. And if the poor old dear could still raise her wine glass, she would certainly drink to that.
