DAVEY WEARE'S BLOG

Been a while..

2012-01-30T12:14:00.000-08:00

Wow, pretty much a year since my last post and a lot of shit can happen in a year! Did my first full year of graft besides professional surfing, got to experience the best winter KZN had in the last decade, did two overseas trips, one to Mex and one to Bali and had a year of experiences that will last me a lifetime!

So what I am excited about is what this year has to offer! One thing I know is that a lot of change will happen, new experiences will be had and new chapters unfolding.

Here's a pic from yesterday at New Pier, a little bit of cyclonic action from Funso making a couple really fun ones at the piers...
Mike Van Heerden from Ocean Driven Media took the pic!

Hopefully it's not a year til I post again...

Adios

Davey

Surfing again...

2011-01-31T21:56:00.000-08:00

So it's been exactly 12 weeks since I went under the knife for my hip and I just the ALl Clear to start surfing again. SO SToked!!!! It's definitely been a long stint out the water, actually equals the longest I'd had in the past when i broke my leg surfing a 2 ft dairy bowl back when I was 15. But I'm frothing to get back in now, a little apprehensive cause after an injury you always thinking about your hip or what ever you injured, when you start surfing again but hopefully all goes smoothly.

The Oakley One Wave Wonder officially opens today too which is a really good concept on Oakley's part, handing out cash for the best wave each month until June and then the best wave of the 5 months gets an added cash prize at the end! I'm sure there's going to be a lot of entries submitted so pretty amped to check what all the boys come up with!

Looking forward to getting back in the line up and hopefully get a few good waves again...

See ya

Davey

2 weeks down....

2010-11-23T22:55:00.000-08:00

So I've done 2 weeks already since I had my op. start my rehab program today. Seen the doc and says things are looking good so I'm pretty positive that I'll have a full recovery and be back in the water soon. Obviously it's going to take some time, did have some major surgery done but I'm pretty keen to get stuck into this rehab and give it a good go!
It was really good to see Parko come back from his injury and first wave score a perfect 10 and then go onto win the event! Bloody awesome and inspirational too!. Sometimes a forced break is what you need to get the fire burning again...
Will keep you posted as to what they make me do with my rehab!

I've attached a pic that I downloaded from Zigzag as one of their wallpapers you can download. It's from their latest issue, a DPS from my Reunion trip. was just lucky Ewing was in the right place at the right time... Thanks Greg.

Hope you're having a good time where ever you are in this world, make sure you make the most of your opportunities, don't take anything for granted and make sure what ever you do, make it fun!

See ya

Davey

Hip Op

2010-11-11T11:03:00.000-08:00

SO I had my hip op done on Tuesday, I guess the op took a little longer than expected, the damage, a little more than what they thought but the doc went in and shaved the bone where he needed to and then repaired the cartilage lining where it had been grinded away. I'll only know in a couple months if the repair was a success, but for now it's just a matter of following the doc's orders, doing my exercises they've given me and taking it easy. Not the easiest for me as I dig to move around a lot but I guess I really should just take advantage of the time off. I must say I have been blessed with an amazing wife who is taking unbelievable care of me, she really is making this easy on me!

So it's crutches for a month, I hope, but then into a full on rehab program to obviously strengthen the muscle around the hip and get me back in the water... It's quite a catch 22 situation that I've had with this hip. I was born with slightly different hips to most people, where my spacing between my femur and the hip joint is quite large, which obviously allowed me to be pretty supple. But because of this large spacing, the hip problem was only picked up much later than a normal case, and so a lot of damage had been done already. Saying that, I did get to enjoy a full international career, I've had the op done now and hopefully I'll be back in the water sooner than later and snagging a barrel or two.

So make sure you get your wave count up now cause when I get back in the water after my time out, I'm pretty certain I'm going to be more frothed out to surf than a 12 yr old kid....

Later

Davey

RIP A.I.

2010-11-06T13:12:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a hectic week with the passing of A.I. , we truely have lost an amazing ambassador for the sport, a friend, a father and husband. He was a great inspiration to many and I'm sure will still inspire many more to come. My thoughts and prayers to go out to Lindie and their expected son, Bruce, his family and close friends. It really has been incredible to see so much support through all the different media outlets for Andy and he deserved it. Rest in Peace Andy, you will be missed buddy!

Then I also got to take my hat off to Kelly Slater who just a few minutes ago, secured his 10th World title along with like his 100th or so World Tour event win, incredible, that's all I can say! A true competitor, a freak of nature and a ten time world champ!!!

As for me, I'm back in SA, been home for about a week now, had a super fun time in the States, got to hang with the Saffa boys there, scored a couple fun waves after the event, went down to southern Cali and had a couple sessions with Dooma and Jordy. But I'm back now, booked in for my hip operation on tuesday, kinda getting nervous for it now but it needs to be done, would like to still surf when I'm 40!

Hopefully I can score a few fun waves before tuesday arvo cause it looks like I'll be sidelined for a few weeks. So until then next post, stay true!

D.

A bunch of random photo's from the last few months...

2010-10-22T12:49:00.000-07:00

Alcatraz madness 3!!!

2010-10-22T12:22:00.000-07:00

And the 3rd batch...

Alcatraz madness 2!!!

2010-10-22T12:06:00.000-07:00

Here's a few more pics...

Alcatraz madness!!!

2010-10-22T10:03:00.000-07:00

So I made my first heat at Santa Cruz then went down in my second heat. So I'm done competing internationally, following the tour around the world. I'm still going to do all the international local events and maybe find myself doing an odd QS overseas, maybe but for the next few years, as far as surfing goes, I'm just going to be concentrating on photo trips, and surfing good waves, Getting barreled is definitely a priority on my list....
I'm here in the States for about a week still, off to see Oakley next week, and hopefully get a couple of good waves, heard there should be some decent swell, let's hope...

In between lay days, went through to Alcatraz with the Saffa crew, what an insane experience! Here's a couple pics from our day on "the Rock"...

See ya

Davey

Santa Cruz

2010-10-17T13:17:00.000-07:00

So i made the trip across the Atlantic in one piece, but wow that flight from Joburg to Washington is freakin long!!! 18 hrs, 1 flight should not be allowed! Met up with Shaun Joubert and Brendon Gibbens at San Fransisco airport, I'm traveling with Shaun for this trip, Brendon just grabbed a ride with us to Santa Cruz. Been here now for 2 days, had a couple fun surfs, witnessed a very long winded shouting match between two locals at Steamer lane, no fists thrown, but what a vibe killer, so lame! SO the event starts tomorrow, 6* Prime, the O'neill Coldwater Classic. There is a fairly promising forecast for swell, from thursday looks like we should be in for some waves, lets hope. WIll be good to hang with a few of the other Saffa boys this next week as this is my last official event before I retire from professional competition. Looking forward to some new chapters ahead but for now, I'm here and looking forward to competing at Steamers!

Just to let you know, this joint is filled with so many nut jobs, crazy spot this! Definitely a different place. Anyways, will keep an update going from this event, adios from Cali...

Davey

Some Oakley One Sight clinic pics

2010-10-03T09:23:00.000-07:00

2010-10-03T08:54:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been a while since my last post, sorry , my bad. A lot has happened since the Azores QS event, went onto to surf 3 more events in Europe where the surf was pretty much terrible the whole time bar a day or two. That was the worst trip I've ever been on in my career for surf, 6 weeks of way below average waves, but any ways, that's in the past. Did a trip with my two best mates to Namibia shortly after I arrived back home, it was actually my 30th birthday present from the boys, scored some really sick waves, opened my eyes to what is on our doorstep here at home. Then did a clinic with Oakley and One Sight up in the township of Mamelodi, helping the unfortunate get prescription eyewear and diagnosing eye problems. It was an amazing experience, a serious eye opener for me! These guys are doing a crazy good job helping all these people , giving their time and effort for no reward except to see the smile on their faces. Double thumbs up!

Had to move house too, hate that, what a stress but got through it and now just getting ready for my last trip of the year. Off to the States for the Oneill Coldwater Classic in Santa Cruz. It's going to be my last trip cause 1. I just announced my retirement from international competition and 2. I have to have a hip operation when i get back, probably be out the water for 6 - 12 weeks.
it's something that if i don't get it fixed now, i'll have big problems later in life. I also want to get the op done soon so that when the waves start firing again in SA, i'll be ready for it!

So that's pretty much a summary of what's happened in the last 2 months. Will post of some pics from the Oakley One Sight Clinic,

Later

Davey

Azores scores ... not!

2010-08-15T07:26:00.000-07:00

Just had my second comp cancelled experience in my career, first being in France a good couple years ago and now here in the Azores for a Prime event. Pretty damn nuts to think that this place was not contestable for the last 5 days, so freakin tiny and the swell expected for today just never materialised.. Well that's life, we all ended up with equal 49th, 383 points I think and $600. Off to Lacanau next but it ain't looking good for the first few days either, I think there is only swell expected on Friday, could be a long summer in Europe, will keep you posted. Here a few pics from my firs heat earlier in the week from the Azores...
Adios
Davey

Another Anton Joubert shot sequence

2010-07-22T06:03:00.000-07:00

More Anton Joubert pics

2010-07-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

Surfing shots by Anton Joubert

2010-07-22T05:53:00.000-07:00

Got a few shots off of Anton Joubert on our recent trip to Sri Lanka. Some super fun waves, super warm water and pretty cool place. Just bit of a mission getting to the joint from the airport, besides that, worth the trip for sure...

Oakley Rebel Campaign vid 2010

2010-07-17T03:17:00.000-07:00

Attached is the Oakley 2010 Rebel campaign video. This was shot late last year for this year, my ad made it in with me smashing a guitar, was pretty damn fun!

More Kolesky/Nikon pics

2010-07-10T11:14:00.000-07:00

Some PIcs from the Mr Price Pro 5* WQS

2010-07-10T11:06:00.000-07:00

Craig Kolesky just sent me these pics from the Mr Price Pro 5* QS this week. He just got this crazy set up from Nikon! Thanks for the pics Craig....

Up to date..

2010-07-10T10:50:00.001-07:00

I know I've been a bit slack in posting, my bad! But a lot has happened in the last 3 weeks. Finished up that trip to Sri Lanka, safely got back to the airport after another hectic 10 hr drive, seriously, those guys drive so crazy! Got some more ink done in my 5 days at home, then headed over to Switzerland to meet up with the crew from Oakley Europe to do some promo work and sit on their apparel meetings. We then headed over to Paris for the opening of a exhibition store Oakley did for the month of July for the Tour de France. Pretty cool concept store! Was lucky enough to be given a tour of Paris as well from the guy in charge of Oakley France. All I can say is the architecture in that city is amazing, would love to spend a couple days there really checking out the place. Got back home after 5 days in Europe straight into the Mr Price Pro 5* held at Ballito, South Africa. We scored big time the one morning of the event, proper barrels, amazing conditions, wish all events could have waves like this, would make contests way better. Ended up 9th with Jordy taking out the win, good on ya bud, he really does know how to surf!
So I'm now here, up to date and have a good solid 2 weeks at home before I head overseas again. Going to post a few pics from the comp later , and a few other interesting things that happen over the next few days.
Later
Davey

Sri Lanka

2010-06-17T08:03:00.000-07:00

Well I'm super stoked to be writing this cause yesterday's drive from Colombo to Aragum Bay in Sri Lanka was HEAVY!!! Seriously, 9 hr mission from the West coast to the East coast filled with bumps, near death experiences and constant blind rise over takings... I'm kinda keen to look at trying to get a chopper out of here back to Colombo when the event ends, would definitely be a sick experience and a way safer means of transport back!!!
Enough about that, so I'm here in the South East part of Sri Lanka for the Sri Lankan Airlines Pro, 6* WQS event being held at Aragum Bay. It's a pretty fun , playful right hand point, very similar to say Ponto do Ouro and snapper mixed, but with less power and way warmer water! Surfed another spot earlier in the day about 20 min drive away from Aragum that reminded me so much of Mexico. The place is kinda just filled with these right hand sand points, pretty damn sick. And it looks like there's a little swell arriving Saturday for the event too which should produce some good waves and good surfing. Actually frothing to see what this point does with a little extra juice and size on it...Could just be on fire!!!
Will try post up some pics of this joint on my next post, the beaches are beautiful here, the accomo we're in is basic but the crew running it are super cool and make pretty good food!.
One thing i can say is it's bloody hot here!
Peace out

DW

Pics from the last few days...

2010-06-06T09:47:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of pics I've taken the last few days here in Reunion...

St Leu...

2010-06-04T08:06:00.000-07:00

Did a full day of surfing out front of our spot at St Leu today, some super fun waves, pretty good size, a lot of waves ridden and good times had. Was great to get out there again and see what St Leu has to offer. The swell direction wasn't perfect but we had 4-6ft waves, not too many guys and locals out which was a pleasure and some pretty damn fine sections over a shallow reef. When you get a wave from the top to the bottom of the point, can end up being about 300 metres long. And they're expecting more swell on the weekend, some one just told a 20 second period on its way, haha, sounds like a dungeons swell but anyway, will see what happens over the next few days...

Here's a pic of me from Greg Ewing, shot from the water this arvo, taken off the africaprojectfilm.blogspot.com Check out this blog for more on our trip here in Reunion...

Later

DW

Busy times...

2010-06-03T10:02:00.000-07:00

Well we've been pretty busy the last two days here in Reunion! Yesterday started off with a super early rise to make our way up this massive mountain range, we only got out of first gear a couple times due to the windiness of the road.. But it was well worth the mission, we overlooked pretty much the whole of Reunion from our vantage point, was so sick, seemed like something out of Lord of the Rings with the valleys and mountains, was really a cool experience, one which I was hesitating to do before but was glad I did it when I was there. Then made our way over to St Pierre for a surf, pretty fun waves , a rippable right wedgy wave, but had a fair few crew on it.

Today was a pretty solid day shooting/filming wise... 3 surfs, one pretty long one at St Leu in the morning, fun cause the swell had just started to build and you could kinda get a glimpse at what this left had to offer. 2nd surf was at a sick left barrel, full on 6 ft freight trains, kinda reminded me of cloudbreak, but we got totally hassled beyond belief by the 7 boogie boarders out there, 10 of us all together in the lineup, and only 7 getting waves, was so messed up. We moved over to the right across the reef pass, i pretty much got the worst beating I've had in over two years, Dan broke his board, a water photog broke his camera and pretty much a waste of time...

3rd surf was at this crazy right that apparently you're not allowed to surf at cause it's a national park, which was quite unique. It definitely has potential, couple solid ones started coming in towards the end of the surf with the swell finally arriving . Dale broke his board here, couple barrels had and all in all a solid day at the office.. Haha you probably thinking, 3 surfs, hard day at the office..please, you probably right but I'm pretty knackered writing this now, swell looks good for tomorrow and I'm sure we're in for a few more days like this last...

Here's a pic from the mountains...

See ya

D

Reunion , Reunion, welcome to Reunion

2010-05-31T09:30:00.000-07:00

SO the title says it all! We've arrived in one piece, minus a board bag belonging to Dan Redman, hopefully for his sake it arrives fairly soon. Had our first day in a pretty fun right wedge, small but rippable, an extra 2 feet on it will be amazing, swell charts are looking pretty decent so let's hope it happens. This island definitely has setups, crazy, place is beautiful, it is hot, there are volcanoes and waterfalls, urchins and locals, full island living. We're staying right at St Leu, as we open our eyes we're looking straight into the lineup at St Leu, pretty damn awesome! The bunk beds and 4 sweaty guys sharing a room aint, but I think the waves we could score really could make it well worth it. We're here on a photo trip, myself, Dan Redman and Dale Staples are shooting with Greg Ewing for the mags, Jason Hearn is shooting for his movie, the African Project, check out his blog theafricaprojectfilm.blogspot.com/and Andy Davis from Mahala is writing the story, very cool crew!

I've attached a pic from this morning shot by Greg Ewing, hopefully there is a lot more to come...

See ya soon

D

2010-05-16T00:40:00.000-07:00

So I've been to the States and back, I did get affected by the Volcano once again, my LAX to Munich flight was cancelled as I got to the airport but luckily for me, they re routed me via London to get home... I guess my status with Star Alliance came through for me again cause they even put me on another airline with wasn't one of their partners.. crazy! But I'm not complaining one bit!

SO the States was fun, the surf pumped, around 4 ft and just so rippable, Trestles is definitely up there with being one of the most rippable waves in the world, no doubt. The standard of surfing at that event was also amazing, the guys definitely stepped it up and produced some extremely good, solid , explosive surfing, great to see and surf against. When guys around you are surfing well it seems it pushes your level up too cause I felt i did my best surfing so far this year at this event. The waves had a big part of it though, it was pretty hard not to surf well with the waves being so good, just shows you when surfers are presented with good waves, the results show and the standard jumps leaps and bounds. Wish some more companies would take note and put their events at better spots and better times of year, not just at when they'll sell the most comp tee's...

So I'm back in Durban now for 2 weeks, got Shaun Gossmann's wedding next weekend, he's asked me to be his best man, which i'm truely honoured, so next weekend should be a super fun time. He's having his wedding at Tala Game Reserve, just inland from Durban, which is a great venue. And then the following weekend, heading off to Reunion for my first surf trip in a long time, we're shooting for Hearn's new African project movie and for the mags. Should be really fun, good crew going, Dan Redman, Dale Staples and myself, and we're probably meeting up with Romain Cloite from Reunion there who'll be able to show us one or two spots that we probably wouldn't have been allowed at, can't wait!

Been getting some really fun wedges the last few days in Umhlanga, seriously been surfing with maybe 2 - 3 guys in the water and the craziest punt sections, so fun. Gosh it's good to be home, fun waves, no crowds, with family and friends, I can't complain!

Davey

Busy Times...

2010-04-29T06:54:00.000-07:00

So I've almost been home a week now, attended my best mates wedding last weekend, the whole day rocked, awesome wedding, setting, people, all in all an amazing time!Did an air show yesterday in Umhlanga, had an ok first heat, shocker second heat, some aussie kid ended up taking it out in the end. Flew up to Jhb this morning to see the French Embassy for a Reunion visa for a trip I'm doing there next month for Hearn's movie and flying back now in a few hrs and then jetting off again tomorrow to the States... But whats been heavy is that I've been trying to change my routing cause I'm flying to LA via Frankfurt and after the whole ordeal I had last week in Europe, wanted to try do a new routing there, but everything was so bloody expensive that I'm having to go my original way via Europe. I really do hope that the second larger volcano doesn't erupt while I'm on route to LA cause that just wouldn't been fun!!!
OK, so next event up is the Nike 6.0 6* Prime at Lower Trestles, California... Now this wave is super rippable, actually reminds me of new pier alot with it's sections and is usually really high performance. The field is packed, got a lot of really good surfers in the event, QS and CT guys which will make this event even sweeter to win. I just hope that they have a little swell come through because you are guaranteed to see some red hot surfing all week.
Hope the trip over doesn't take too long, have a good amount of hrs in the air but hopefully it goes quickly... Some flights go by super quick and others feel like they take ages...
Will touch base again from the other side of the Atlantic...
Cheers
Davey

Home time... Yewww!

2010-04-21T05:11:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a difference a few hours can make..crazy. Last night, we didn't know when we were ever going to get back home, this morning a wake up to a confirmed seat on SAA's first flight out of London due to my Platinum status with their loyalty program... Finally, all those hundreds of thousands of Rands spent on SAA , now I'm seeing some benefits!!!! Feels good!!
Been pretty chaotic here, people stuck, some will still be stuck for the next 7 days at least until they get through their back log, but fortunately, I'm looking good for a home bound flight, get to see my girls, attend my best mates wedding on the weekend (I'm one of the groomsmen, lucky I'm getting back in time) and I get to refresh and regroup before I head out to the States for the 6* Prime at Trestles... I've got a ticket booked already for USA going through Europe, might need to cancel that and rebook through the Southern Hemisphere in case this volcano erupts again or worse the bigger one does...

And I just want to send out a massive congrats to my travel partner and lord ( hahaha ) , Royden Bryson on his win at Thurso, Scotland on Monday! He surfed like a champ, owned the last day properly from start to finish, got himself some good points, some land, some money and a sword!! ( jealous about that sword, that trophy is Sick!!! ) Good job buddy, good to see, i'm inspired to get my self a win now...

Hoping the ash stays away and I get to take off tonight, adios!!

D

Volcanoes erupting, snow on beaches...

2010-04-18T04:58:00.000-07:00

Wow, we are seriously in some interesting times right now. Stuck in UK right now, not sure how I will get back to SA or when, this is a first for me, never been in a situation like this... Pretty heavy actually, but I guess you got to to try the most out of what you've been dealt with, looking at a few pretty crazy scenarios in how to get home... should be some interesting next few days ahead!
And to top it off, experienced a first today, snowfall! First time I've been in snow and it happened at a surf event at the beach in Scotland, so crazy!!! Was nuts, was pretty light snow but still awesome! I've added some pics from here, snow, castles, wind , it all happens in Scotland!
WIll update as to how my travel plans change and if and when I make it out of the UK....
And looking forward to Royden taking out this event, last Saffa still in!!!
Cheers
D

One of the castle's on the beach at one of the event sites...

A bit of rain and wind at the comp...

My first snow experience.. You can kinda make out the little flakes....

Davey Weare - March 2010

2010-04-15T10:30:00.000-07:00

Here's a mini vid shot late last month at New Pier, Durban...

Sarah Baum

2010-04-15T09:43:00.000-07:00

Here's a little vid of 15 yr old Bilt team rider Sarah Baum ripping at home in Durban...

Scottish Highlands

2010-04-13T07:25:00.000-07:00

So I'm currently pretty north at the moment in the Scottish Highlands for the Oneill Cold Water Classic QS event. One thing I can confirm is that the water is that cold here, especially that i come from Durban (year round warm water) , not used tho this, you actually forget how cold the water is until you have your first surf again... But saying that, 5mm wetsuits do help as well as the gloves, boots and hoods. There is definitely something really rad about this place, it seems a bit raw, water is thick, there's some pretty good ledges, some good foke live here and its different to our usual events which makes it a little more interesting. I actually like this concept Oneill have going with their cold water series cause it really does take you to places you wouldn't normally travel to, Tasmania, Scotland, Canada are countries I probably would never have gone to if an event wasn't there. SO thanks to them for changing up the tour a bit.
Event started today, and looks like there's a good amount of swell on the way so we should have waves for this one, might have a bit of wind but lack of swell shouldn't be a problem.
Sharing a room with Royden here, but he's yet to arrive, should be getting in this evening, had some visa problems which delayed his departure from SA, crazy we need visa's for the UK now, and then we have some new SA boys on tour sharing a room at the bottom, Mat Bromley, Beyrick De Vries and Brendon Gibbens. The boys had a good start with Beyrick and Brendon both making it out of their heats this morning before the called the event off for the day. One bit of advice to these boys, when you at a mobile event, best you organise yourself a rent a car, note to yourselves.... hahaha rookie mistake on their part!
My boards only arrived two days after me but they here now and I'm stoked, had a super fun surf ( short though) this morning right next to the event site, my 5'10 Bilt felt good, ELton Fursman really is making amazing boards at the moment, and I'm really loving the shorter but wider/thicker dimensions, just feels like it fits better!
I'll leave at that, will hopefully get a pic or two from here to show you what I'm talking about, castles next to the sea etc...
Peace out
Davey

Happy Easter

2010-04-04T11:36:00.000-07:00

Sorry for bit of delay in posting on my blog, i've been pretty busy but that's no excuse. And happy Easter to everyone who celebrates this special day! SInce my last Post, Flew out to Tasmania for the first stop on the Oneill Cold Water Series, but that event didn't turn out to be too good for me. A simple mistake cost me the heat, better not make the same mistake twice. I ended up heading over to Melbourne on my way home and Stayed with Seth Hulley for two days. He took me to the Formula 1 Grand Prix again, what an awesome experience, seriously those cars go that fast!!!! And the sound is out of this world! Good times and good memories.
I'm back in SA now, flying out on Friday to Scotland for the 2nd stop of the Cold water series. Apparently there were ice blocks flowing down the river the other day into one of the surf spots of the event in Thurso, with a huge snow storm that just passed through Scotland recently, it's safe to say we'll probably freeze our asses off. Glad I have some 5mm wetties on hand to help ease the pain. One thing i do love about Scotland is that it's pretty raw there, a lot of slabs, a unique experience in all!
Just added a pic from the side lines of the F1 in Oz...
Catch you later.
Davey

Harlow Grace Weare

2010-03-12T02:49:00.001-08:00

Yip, big day yesterday, my second daughter came into the world at 13:02 , weighing in at 2.9 kgs. What an emotional experience! Absolutely beautiful, she might have more of the mom in her than me, but she has my nose, that's for sure! Unfortunately, she's had to be admitted to ICU as her lungs have fluid on them and aren't fully developed yet but we are praying she has a fast recovery and is 100% in no time. Heavy times though, to see something so small and having to be on tubes and connected to monitors, pretty heavy stuff, but we are staying positive and are confident she will be better soon.

Went and got my daughter's name tattooed yesterday about 4 hrs after she was born, pretty damn proud to have each of my daughters names on my arms!!!!

Heard I've missed waves the last two days at the piers but I don't care, seeing your child being born is better than any barrel can feel!

Peace

Davey

Davey Weare - Durban Summer Bowls- Part 2

2010-03-09T23:56:00.000-08:00

Single Fin

2010-03-03T05:20:00.000-08:00

Just picked up my new 6'3 single Fin from Bilt yesterday, the thing is nuts! Elton really did a good job on it... Now just need some six ft barrels to try it out in!!!

March 2nd

2010-03-02T00:40:00.000-08:00

Here's a pic I got this morning at North Beach, shot by Mike Van Heerden. There were a couple fun peaks around, off shore winds, not too many guys in the water, warm water, all in all a pretty good combo. We are pretty damn lucky at how uncrowded our surf is here in SA compared to say Brazil , the States or Oz. Any ways, enjoy it while you can and have fun and respect the ocean!
Peace out
Davey

Durban Summer Bowls

2010-02-26T12:33:00.000-08:00

Hot as Hell!

2010-02-24T01:46:00.000-08:00

For everyone living in Durban at this moment, they know it's been unbelievably hot and pretty small waves. We've been fortunate , at least, that there have been one or two bowl waves around to please the appetite slightly but we are in need of some swell. I think we've only had a one slight cyclone swell to hit the coast here this year, and usually by now we would've had a few more. No sure if it's El Nino, global warming or what but things are changing. The Northern Hemisphere and especially the Pacific have had the craziest run of swell recently starting from around the beginning of December until now. Granted it's been their winter time so hopefully that means we're in for a solid winter. Surfing this morning, I was just looking at all the construction going on around North Beach and once they've got it all fixed up and the pipes are pumping sand out of the piers, we really could be in for some crazy times. Only time will tell but I'm super excited. Sand pumping can only be a good thing especially with the lack of sand on the banks right now, bring it on!

I'm still in the country for just over 3 more weeks, new baby due in just over 2 weeks time. Pretty crazy times ahead but looking forward to it!!! Next event up for me is Tasmania, 1st event of the Oneill Coldwater Classic series. Going to be meeting up with Shaun Gossmann and Royden Bryson. This will be my first time to Tasmania, really like the fact that I'm still going to new places after being on tour for this long. But before then , Oakley are having a launch party down in Cape Town on the 4th March which i'll be flying to for the night, they always put on a good show!

Will be posting up some new footage soon from this last week of surfing , some pretty small waves stuff but it's what we've had the last few weeks.

Cheers

Davey

Davey Weare - Clips from in and around SA

2010-02-16T12:26:00.000-08:00

Back home...

2010-02-09T01:00:00.000-08:00

So I'm back in good old SA now, my Brazil stint didn't prove to worthwhile but that's how some trips go, you win some and you lose some. Obviously you try win more than you lose, you try to at least. So I'm back now for about 6 weeks, have our second addition to our family popping out on the 16th March so it's just getting everything prepared now for her birth and also getting myself ready for a second one... Hahaha nah, just kidding, I'm ready, frothing for our newest daughter to come into this world...
Some say it's easier second time round, some say it's harder, know what, that's life and we're all along for the ride so whatever gets thrown at you, you try deal with it to the best of your ability. And then you ask for help...

But until then, hopefully I can score a few waves, really need to try get some barrels under the belt, feels like I haven't had any in ages. I see they scored epic waves for the Pipe event while we were in Brazil! Any ways, got a little mini vid going to post up now.

Hit me up if you know of any spots going to be happening any time soon...

Enjoy

Davey

2010-01-30T08:56:00.000-08:00

So I'm here in the north of Brazil in a joint called Paracuru. It's bloody hot but the place does have a couple good set ups but needs swell. It's been around the 1 ft mark for 6 days now, the place looks like it could be snapper's brother but i guess we've had the wrong swell direction this week. Just lost my heat this morning in the rnd 48, not too happy about that but at least I still have the next event to look forward to in Fernando do Noronha which is a 6* Prime, where the serious points can be had. Apparently it's pumping there right now, 5 ft and barreling, I'm stuck here, 1 ft and flights are overbooked hahaha , pretty damn funny. Roy's still going in the event so that's the only good thing about still being here. Frothing to hopefully get some good waves next week, will be really great to have an event in good waves, seems hard these days to get that but let's hope....

My boards felt good in the small crap, stoked on what Elton has done with them, I reckon he's hit the nail on the head with the new batch I recently got. Stoked! Apparently they having a massive regae concert tonight at the comp site, definitely won't be catching me there but they say the guy is crazy good if you into that music.

Not really too much more to report back on here, hoping I don't get charged too badly for my boards next flight, these airline companies are loving the excess charges these days for boards...
Take it easy,
DW

2010-01-17T23:10:00.000-08:00

Had a really cool weekend now, surfed in a fundraiser event for Kelly Johns in Ballito on Saturday. They had a really good turnout for the event, great vibe , fun waves and all in all a great success. I believe a nice amount of money was raised along with the indoor soccer event running alongside the surf event to help relieve the medical expenses the Johns family are having to pay for their daughter.
Had a great family day on Sunday, I'm off to Brazil in less than a week so it's good to have some quality time before the madness begins.
Picking up 4 new boards this week off Bilt, 3 new short boards and one old school styled single fin for those cranking days at New Pier and the coast. Actually reckon I'd love to take that board down to Jbay on a swell and test drive it there, it could actually go amazingly...sounds exciting!!!
So it's basically just a case of getting all my ducks in a row now before I leave, loving my new boards off Elton Fursman right now, the new adjustments to my dimensions feel great and has made me more excited for the year. There's actually nothing better for a surfer than getting a great board, just helps everything, your confidence, better surfs, better high. Just makes life a little more happier...
I've attached some pics from the O Camp shot by Kolesky/Sandisk
Will catch up soon, I'm also now on twitter for anyone wanting to follow, davey_weare
See ya
Davey

Bilt Interview

2010-01-15T01:46:00.000-08:00

Pics by Mike Van Heerden

2010-01-06T22:13:00.000-08:00

Some summer pics from Mike Van Heerden from the other day in Durban. It's been pretty small but at least surfable. Looking forward to the first cyclone swell to hit for the year, hopefully it comes soon!!!

2010...

2010-01-06T21:13:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the new year, 2010!!! It actually boggles my mind we are already here, 10 years down from the start of the new century, I guess time flies when you're having fun...

Well, for me, it's back to the QS this year. Last year is gone and dusted, frustrating at times but I did learn a fair few things and definitely have a better understanding as to what I need to do to improve. I've had a little time off now, got back into training this week though, and actually off on a 5 day training camp, put on by Oakley, tomorrow to Cape St Francis, just a quick hop over from JBay. A really good initiative from the crew at Oakley and I reckon more companies should do this sort of stuff, a great way to start the year off and put you on the right track.

So it's 5 days down there, home for 12 days then off to Brazil for my start on the 2010 Qualifying series. Two events over there, a 6* and a 6* Prime, both in northern Brazil and the first event is at a new location so that should be fairly interesting !

So here's to everyone, hope you have a good year, enjoy , keep safe and have fun!!!

peace out

Davey

Some pics sent through from Iain Platt

2009-12-16T02:26:00.000-08:00

2009-12-13T05:38:00.000-08:00

So i've just left Hawaii, just landed in LAX , 3 hrs here then off to Washington, then onto Johannesburg and finally onto Durban. Obviously, for me, my year didn't turn out the way I planned at the beginning result wise, but I still had a bloody fun year, waves weren't the best, we pretty much got skunked a lot this year on the CT, but it was really good to finish the year off in pumping waves at pipe. And one massive congrats to Mick for claiming his 2nd Word Title, big ups to him for pulling that off! SO i guess I'm back on the QS grind next year, which is fine cause I learnt a lot this year and hopefully that will pay off in 2010... And also want to send a shout out to Greg Emslie, thanks for all the good times, great inspiration and helping me out so much on tour, good luck with your next chapter, sure you won't be missing those 18 hr flights and layovers... ENjoy the retirement from pro surfing!

Anyways, I'm off to have a fun few weeks at home with the family before it all starts up again next year. Enjoy your Christmas and New Year and here's to a cracker 2010!

Peace

Davey

2009-12-06T17:40:00.000-08:00

So I've been on the North Shore now for about 5 days, had our first proper day at Pipe since I've been here and probably in the last month too. Some pretty solid ones, hard to get the right ones but good to be out there again and in some sizey waves.
Sunset event just finished today too with Parko taking the honors from Sunny, Travis was just confirmed to be on next year's WCT so big up to him for getting back on after a year back on the QS.

But what we have on our hands at the moment is the perfect storm just about to hit the islands!!! They're calling this next swell that hits tomorrow to be HUGE, 40 -50 ft, Eddie going to run, they closing down Kam highway, things are going to get gnarly here, probably going to have to stock up on some items from foodland to make sure we're good for the next few days. It's definitely going to be interesting to see what happens, just heard now that the bouy reading is the largest ever recorded in history!!!!!!! Heavy days boys and girls!!!!!

Will report back in a few days to let you know of the carnage to the North Shore!

Holding down the fort here...

Davey

2009-11-27T10:47:00.000-08:00

Off to the Rock on Monday, doing the trip over with Mr Emslie, probably going to work out at about 42 hrs of traveling to get there, well it is exactly half way around the world for us. Probably going to take around 7 boards with me over there, and with the new one's I'm picking up there from Bushman and the one's I already have in Hawaii from last year, I really should be ok for boards this year...

Been home now for almost a month and we have not had anything decent as far as swell goes here in Durban, been a few fun bowls but nothing great. Really looking forward to getting some good waves this year, hopefully the CT can finish off the season with a bang...

Flying up to Johannesburg early on Monday morning before I fly out that evening for Hawaii to do a video interview for this Christian Youth Conference they going to be having while I'm on the rock. Really looking forward to doing it, should be good!
Will try post some stuff from that side, hopefully get some clips or pics to put on this blog and maybe a story or two....
Anyways, have fun, enjoy and rock on!

Peace

Davey

New Design

2009-11-12T23:37:00.000-08:00

Just picked these two boards up from Bilt last week, pretty stoked on the design , Mandla ( the Sprayer) , did on them , bit of the SA flag influence there. Going to probably rock this new design for a while....

Did a pretty funny shoot yesterday for the Bombsurf, and then ended up going to the launch of revamped Classic Eyes in Gateway Shopping Mall in Durban. They're one of Oakley's biggest accounts and Chris ( the owner ) is a super keen surfer , so it was a pretty fun evening, new store is sick and apparently the coffee there is crazy good, going to have to have a little tester I reckon.

Got a little over two weeks left in SA until I leave for the rock, been training pretty hard for it since I been home, had Simon Nicholson helping me with some coaching and been making some adjustments to my boards after this last leg in Europe. Pretty much , just super keen and hungry and excited at the moment and it feels good!

Hopefully there's a bit of swell on it's way here, would be good to get a bit of size under my belt before I arrive in Hawaii.
Anyways, rock on and live large!

Davey

Sequence from Supertubes, Portugal shot by Greg Pearson

2009-11-07T11:20:00.001-08:00

2009-11-07T10:48:00.000-08:00

I know it's been a while since my last post, a bit has happened. Did a 2 week stint in Portugal for the final leg of our European invasion on the World Tour. Supertubes came to life and there were some serious waves on hand. But I'm back home now, feels really good to be back with the family in my own bed after 2 and a half months on the road. But that's part of the job! I've got about 3 weeks until I head off to the island of Oahu, Hawaii for the final event of the World Tour at the Banzai Pipeline! Probably the most prestigious of all events on tour, the one that everyone wants to win!

So it's all about getting the right training in now before I jet off, get the lungs ready for some possible beat downs, get the confidence up to push myself just that much more, it's an El Nino year so there could be some serious swells for this season. They've actually already had some serious waves hit the North Shore this winter and November has only just started!

If anything interesting happens while I'm home, will post it on the blog. Hopefully I can get some waves while I'm home cause I've actually had no waves at all this year. Missed all the swells that have hit Durban and when I've been on the road for events, we've pretty much had bad waves all year round too. So if you know of any good waves around, let me know!

Peace out

Davey

Mundaka madness!!!!

2009-10-07T05:37:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

So we're in the Basque town of Mundaka, and famous to the very good left hander ( when it's on). Right now , it's dead flat, not a ripple to even think about surfing but the swell charts are saying a bit of a bump on the weekend, got our fingers crossed!!!!

So I'm into the 3rd event of our 4 event leg through the States and Europe, we're in Spain now, were in France last week and head over to Portugal next week. What most of us have done is leased vehicles from Renault and just drive to each event, the drive was only like 2 hrs from Hossegor but the next drive to Peniche, Portugal , I think will take around 9 hrs, so I've been told...

They've so far run half of round 1, but have used the new format, straight first round elimination , which has obviously seen 8 guys out of the event already with 8 heats being run. It's a really heavy scenario cause this spot is so fickle, and they usually only get half a day to surf when there's swell cause this place does not break on high tide, that they almost have to use the new format. That or send the first round to a below average back up venue and have the 2nd round onwards at mundaka if there's waves. It's pretty much a catch 22, and they aint going to make every one happy. Me personally, don't like the new format, I really don't think it's fair that 16 guys are seeded ahead of the other 32, take any other sport, tennis, golf, F1 , the guys all start at the same round. Period! And especially to lose on day one of the 13 day waiting period with the new format, heavy days... But that's what we have now but there could be a few interesting changes happen in the next few days..........

Besides eating tapas, enjoying the siesta's and trying to surf when we can, been keeping it pretty mellow, and I think the next few days will be the same. So where ever you are, enjoy what you do and do what you enjoy.

Peace

Davey

Hossegor, France

2009-09-25T05:00:00.000-07:00

Hey All,

So I'm here in Hossegor, France, there summer time has just finished it's not too busy and way more quiet than a month ago. Weather is still really warm, water is good, thought it'd be a lot colder than it is and they've already finished 2 rounds of the Quiky Pro France. Kieren Perrow got the better of me in our round 2 match up yesterday, so it's a few days off now for me until my next event starts in Mundaka, Spain. Arrived here on Monday from the States, been super jet lagged the last few days, was up at 2 am yesterday morning wishing I'd taken some sleeping tabs the night before. The route from USA to Europe is pretty heavy on the body with a 9 hr time difference from California. But I'm seem to be doing a lot better today, just need to try avoid those arvo naps ( so easy to have them here) so I sleep all the way through...

I finally got to see my family again, after way too long, so good to see them!!! And to have them join me here in Hossegor is really rad too cause it's such a classic town with a lot of really cool things to do and see in and around Hossegor and Biarritz. Plus, a lot of the other surfers have their families and kids here too and at the same hotel so it's pretty good seeing all the kids run around and swimming in the pool, like I said, an awesome spot for the families!

Another bit of news, is that we're expecting an addition to the family around the 24th March next year which my wife and I are super excited about. She's only around 14 weeks now so it's too early to tell the sex yet, but really keen to find out what it'll be... I'm sure two will be a lot harder than one but we're up for it!

Surf and swell don't look too promising here for the next few days, but hopefully this means we get some really good waves for Mundaka cause when that place is on, it's ON!!!!

Thought I'd post the shoe I got to design at the last event I was at, the Hurley Pro, one of the perks we got was to design our own personal shoe, how ever we wanted it, be it a basketball shoe, running, just plain sneaker etc , pretty hard to choose actually when you have som many options available, but this is my end product!!!!

WIll post up again sooner than later...

Cheers

Davey

Lower Trestles

2009-09-13T21:14:00.000-07:00

So it's hit the 3 week mark now that I've been in the States... The waves have finally improved, that 10 day flat spell was pretty brutal but it's been pretty fun now for the last few days. Been kinda busy here too with connecting with friends living over here now, there's a pretty big South African crew in the Laguna area especially, been great to see them again! Did the craziest photo shoot the other day for Oakley, can't pass out too much info about it cause it's for next year's campaign but let's just say I broke a lot of stuff!!! Really fun..

The event started today, stoked on my first round heat win, cause it's the old format, I move straight into round 3 so I by pass the dirty turd round. We had waves for the event today but it wasn't what to expect to get at trestles, not the ideal swell direction for Lowers, but like I said earlier, at least there's waves and there were a few good one's to be had.

Just had my birthday here too, had a pretty cool day, spent the morning at the MOzambique restaurant, eating boerewors for brekkie , watching the Springboks win the Tri Nations, surfed Lowers in the arvo, pretty fun all in all , just obviously missed not being with my family with me here, see them in just over a week's time in France which is going to be amazing after being away from them for so long...

Anyways, off to a ASP meeting now, keep it real where ever you are, be happy, have fun, watch what you do and be yourself!

Late

Davey

2009-09-03T21:19:00.000-07:00

Just received this pic shot just before I left on this trip of the P3... Friends for life!!!

2009-09-03T21:15:00.000-07:00

Got these pics off Yasmin Weiring shot during the Billabong Pro, J-Bay...

2009-09-02T15:35:00.000-07:00

Surfs tiny here in Cali still, still bloody hot too. I reckon summer is getting later all over the world, seasons are changing , storms are bigger, global warming, not a good thing at all.... But there's a hurricane off Mexico right now that might push a little pulse into the California vicinity , hope so cause you can only be so amped for 1 ft surf for a little bit....

Kinda funny story, not really though but anyway, early on in the year, I did a shoot for Oakley, eyewear/apparel shoot down in Melbourne for Oakley South Pacific for their Sunglass Hut campaign, shoot went fine, well I think they were happy with it. So I'm in Oz just a little while back,about a month ago, I land in Sydney and transfer to the domestic, get through security and hit the escalator down to the shop and gate area when I check this Sunglass Hut with my ad in the front window and next to it on another wall, a full ground to ceiling shot again. Firstly, was not expecting that at all and then I started to feel a little embarrassed cause you're looking at yourself on the wall. Not that any one noticed me to the campaign when I walked past but it was a pretty cool surprise. I've added a photo from one of the Sunglass Huts with it in it, (NO, i did not take it myself, Oakley Oz sent it through to me).

Well enough stories. Hoping the swell goes up, temperatures goes down and I keep having fun... Keep rockin where ever you are, make every moment count and appreciate what you got!

Peace out

Davey

Californication...

2009-08-29T17:17:00.000-07:00

So it's Saturday arvo, I'm here in California now and it's hot. Summer is still in full effect here! Had some really fun waves at Lowers yesterday with my saffa friends, Barry Wolins and Damien 'Dooma' Fahrenfort. I swear that wave is possibly the most rippable wave in the world. It was such a treat to surf good waves on my first day in Cali, just fun 3 - 4 ft smackable lips, water was really warm, crowd was fairly thin and the sun was out. All in all, a good day at the beach....

Spent 3 days before in the state of North Carolina with the Wolins family, they just recently relocated there from South Africa and it was really rad to see them nice and settled into their new home and enviroment. Tell you what, where I went to was a whole lot different to what I expected in a good way. Really beautiful spot, good people and great break from where I usually go to.

So I'm here now in Cali, be here until the 20th Sep. Out for the Hurley Pro at Lower Trestles. Have about 2 weeks now until it starts so a good amount of time to try boards out and get used to the waves here. I must admit, I always enjoy coming out to the States, have a bunch of really good friends here, always have a good time and do sometimes get good waves.

If anything interesting happens in the next few days, will post it. Otherwise, all good in the hood here, looking forward to getting a few more lips and ramps out at lowers before most of the crew get here for the event, keep it real....

Davey

French connection

2009-08-17T04:54:00.000-07:00

So I've found myself now in the surf town of Lacanau, about an hr from Bourdeaux, France for the 6* QS event. Arrived yesterday, 4 flights later, boards actually made it with me for a change but no bag though. Pretty amazed the boards got here, hopefully the bag shows up soon enough. So my marathon trip has commenced, this being the first of 2 stints to France, just a week here then over the atlantic to a 3 day holiday at my friend's house in North Carolina and then onto California...

The surf here is FLAT! They just put the comp on hold now... welcome to France in summer... hahaha pretty funny actually, it's either 1 ft and flat or 8 ft and closing out here, hardly ever a happy medium. But all's good, they making it happen around the tides here. Staying with Rudy Palmboom Jnr for the week, Royden was supposed to have been with us too but had to pull out the event with a eye injury.

Will post up if anything interesting happens here, should be a fun week, hopefully we get a little bump in swell and things go good. Rock on where ever you are! Boom!

Davey

2009-08-09T11:27:00.000-07:00

So I just got back from a super quick stint to the Gold Coast of Oz, couple fun waves but pretty small the whole time I was there. Was there for 5 days, and my boards only showed up on the 4th day. Got to love SAA, done 5 trips this year so far, only 1 of them my boards have actually arrived with me, not sure what the hell is happening but this is pretty pathetic. But enough about that, home now for a week then off to Europe and the States for just under 3 months.

Schedule looks like this, France for a week, States for a month, back to France for 2 weeks, Spain 2 weeks and then Portugal for 2 weeks.

So these next few days at home are going to be golden...

Later

Davey

2009-07-30T02:53:00.000-07:00

Latest tat

2009-07-24T12:48:00.000-07:00

Just had some more work done on my arm yesterday, finally got myself a full sleeve now. Had Gavin from Electric Eye in Umhlanga carry on from where he left off with my last tattoo. It was a 2 day sitting, 10 hrs later, sleeved up now!

2009-07-22T10:55:00.000-07:00

So I've been home for about a week now, had to mission up to Johannesburg yesterday for the day to get my French (Schengen) visa. It's actually pretty damn crazy how heavy it is getting for South Africans now to travel, we literally need visa's for almost every stop on tour, and the costs involved are pretty high too. Joys of being a Saffa, But the country we live in out ways any visa issues!!!

Going to have a pretty solid schedule over the next few months. Off to Oz the end of next week for about 7 days, going to connect with Gozzy on the Gold Coast, home for about 8 days then a marathon of a trip starts. France for a week, California for a month, back to France for two weeks, Spain for two weeks and then finally Portugal for two weeks. Just short of 3 months, a solid time away but it's a fun itinerary and my family will be joining me in Europe which is great.

Not too much on the cards between now and when I leave for Oz, so peace out for now.

Davey

Added a photo from a signing session we did for Oakley during the Jbay event...

Some JBay Pics...

2009-07-10T06:09:00.000-07:00

Just got sent these pics from a US photog, Reg Joiner, doing some charity work in SA and taking some pics in his off time...

2009-07-10T05:20:00.000-07:00

So I've been in Jbay for 5 days now, haven't had the best waves so far but it looks like there's a fairly good swell expected for Monday and Tuesday. The bank at Super's is crazy though! The most sand I've ever seen there, kinda feels like you're surfing over a sand bank with just rocks on the beach at the moment. I reckon if we do get a good swell, Supers could be absolutely firing!!!

Good chance you could be getting barreled from just next to the gully in front of Cheron's house to after the carpark section ends....seriously!

We did a surf with the pro's day at the point about 2 days ago with the local surf club and the WPS ( WorldProSurfers.com ). Awesome experience, the kids were stoked, there were like 2/3 ft waves coming through, all and all a good experience and great for the kids. Cause at the end of the day, we were all like them, starting out and just frothing to surf and looking up to the pro's. What's been rad is that the WPS has organized this throughout the world when ever we have World Tour events on and get the local club involved and the pro's spend about 2/3 hrs with the kids, surf with them, sign posters, give advise and it's just a solid cool day.

Off to PE tonight for a Oakley Signing, will try post a pic or two some time too from Jbay. And hopefully we finally get some waves this year on tour, like I said, if the waves comes, we could have all time JBay!

Peace

Davey

2009-06-18T04:22:00.001-07:00

I got sent this sequence from photog, Mike Van Heerden, from the other morning at North Beach, Durban. I really liked the colours in this, to me , morning sunrises are amazing! For more of Mike's images, go to www.activpix.co.za

Off to Brazil for the CT event on Tuesday, hopefully with the event being on in winter time this year we should get waves. Haven't checked any swell charts yet for swell but looking forward to getting there and surfing an event again. Haven't put a rashie on for a few weeks now, the break was good but amped again now, keen to surf some heats...

Hopefully we get a few more waves before I leave, looking like a little bump for the weekend...

Later

Davey

Tatted up!

2009-06-07T03:28:00.000-07:00

Well, my addiction got the better of me yesterday and added to my last tattoo to finish off my half sleeve. It's now down to just above my elbow. There were definitely times of excrutiating pain go down, especially by my armpit but the end result was worth it. Got tattooed at Electric Eye Tattoo in Umhlanga Rocks, only about a 5 min drive from my house, and I've probably had about 85% of my tats done there. Most of them by Mully (Malcom Hilton), the owner and world renowned artist, but this latest one was done by Gavin Rowe. Mully recently just brought him back from Ireland, where he spent 8 yrs tattooing around the UK, but now he's back in SA for good. Both these tattoo artists are amazing, I'm still blown away at how well these guys tattoo, the detail and images they come up with is crazy! Just want to send a big shout out to them, thanks for good times ( and painful) and the ink!

Added some pics from yesterdays latest addition, Mully is the one in the green shirt and Gavin is the one tattooing. Any one in Durban who wants to get tatted up should head down to their shop....

Until the next one

Davey

Been Busy...

2009-05-31T11:52:00.000-07:00

So I've been home for about 2 weeks now since my Tahiti trip. Obviously wasn't too stoked on my last result there, 33rd is never a result you want to get in a World Tour event but it happened and I've got my homework cut out for my next attempt at Chopes...

So in the last two weeks, I first followed a swell down to Jbay, and got some really good Jbay walls, around the 4-5 ft mark, maybe a few bigger sets but just really rippable and fun sized Jeffries. Was great to be back there, actually now that I think of it, was the first time I'd surfed it in 2 years, crazy to think cause I only live about and an hour's flight away. That wave really is amazing, easily one of the best right handers in the world...

Hopefully there are a few more swells in the next month there so I can make another trip or two down there.

After that , was home for a few days then jetted down to Greg Emslie's hometown of East London for a Zigzag trip with Emmo, Frankie Oberholzer, Royden Bryson and Devyn Mattheys.

Soul mission was to score that ledge the boys down there have been hitting for the past year.

I was only able to make it there for 3 days of surfing, but we really did score some pretty damn fine waves. We got the ledge, scored some great right point and a fun beachie. We did about 17 hrs of surfing in the 3 days, was pretty fun to do that much surfing again, felt like I was 14 year old surf rat again.

Back home now, New Pier has been firing for the past 2 days, looking like a few more waves the next few days, should be fun. The WPS have a vote up and running for the WPS / Hurley showdown on during the US Open of surfing in USA. It's open to the public to vote who they want in , so go to www.worldprosurfers.com and cast your vote, for me of course...

Catch up again in the next week or so... Adios

Davey

Chopes Sequence by Sean Rowland

2009-05-15T07:12:00.000-07:00

Sean Rowland from Surfline sent me through this sequence from my round 1 heat at Teahupoo.

Just got clipped as I was coming out of this one, probably would have changed the heat result had I have stayed on my board. That's the problem with the new format ASP and certain event sponsors have come up with, no more second chances. Not too many surfers are happy with this new format, either all the 45 should start from the same round, no preferential seeding for the top 16 but have the straight knock out from rnd 1 or go back to the old format, 3 man first round heat but use the kelly format with it. There are ways around it.... My opinion, this new format is not the way to go, it's been tried and tested and it sucked so hopefully companies see this and listen to the surfers and make some better changes....

Boards here... Finally!!!!

2009-05-08T22:57:00.000-07:00

Yip, they finally made it to the French Polynesian island of Tahiti but it did take a solid 6 day trip for them to arrive. Well, at least they're here and they seem ding free so far which is great. When they're stuck in transit like that you never know what can happen to your luggage.

We had a few waves out at Chopes today, fun barrels around the 4 ft mark, just good to get a feel of the wave and try figure it out a bit. We got a full house now at Papa Teva's spot. The hobgood's, dane, nathaniel, emmo, ben dunn, kieran, bobby, some photogs and filmers and a few others are holding down the fort here, some pretty funny moments and stories have gone down already and the event hasn't even started yet, should be a classic next few days ahead of us...

Thought I'd post a few pics.... Classic sunsets here, really amazing.

Cheers

Davey

No boards... AGAIN!!!!!

2009-05-05T14:41:00.000-07:00

So I made it to Tahiti safely, was a marathon of a trip though, got to love layovers but arrived safe and sound. But once again, No Boards. Apparently they never even left Johannesburg when I flew out. I reckon it means nothing if your bags have platinum frequent flyer cards on them or even those priority stickers they put with your boarding tags on. It just gets a bit irritating when you go to an event earlier to put in some time there and you don't have your boards to surf.... awesome!!!!!! Thanks SAA!!! Thankfully, Ben Dun has hooked me up with one of his 6'4 so at least I can get in the water. The other thing is my boards are only getting here Friday, and I arrived in Tahiti last Sunday!!!

Anyways, we here now at Papa Teva's spot, you rent yourself a bed in there house and they feed you three meals a day, kinda like a boarding house on the water. A great family, but they battle to speak the best English so it can be pretty damn funny at times trying to ask them questions or explains things to them. The Trials for the Billabong Pro started today, surf is in like the 6ft range, so I've been told, have not made it out to Chopes this morning as we've been trying to get the boat started that we use for our runs to the lineup. But the wind is up already so I'd say be a pretty difficult time out at the famous Teahupoo right now.

They say there could be waves for the start of the waiting period but we'll just have to wait and see, they predicting 6-8 ft but the wind could be an issue.

If anything interesting happens, will bog it so until my next post....

Davey

Some more photo's from Bell's

2009-05-03T00:21:00.001-07:00

Almost there.....

2009-05-02T23:45:00.000-07:00

So I'm on my way to Tahiti, just done a 9 hr flight from Johannesburg to Perth, just busy sitting in the lounge right now, got a 7 hr lay over here, then jumping on a flight to Auckland, 8 1/2 layover in New Zealand then my final flight to Papeete , Tahiti. What's so crazy is that I left on the 2nd, will leave Auckland on the the 4th May at around 2pm and get to Tahiti around 9pm on the 3rd. Time travel!!!!!! Just hope my lift will be there when I arrive in Papeete, don't have any address details of where I'm staying...

Luckily got away with out any excess luggage charges this time, it's just crazy how these airlines are starting to nail their customers even if you're only like 3 kgs over the allocated weight.

Will check back in on my next layover if I get internet access there...

Davey

Photo's from Quik Pro Durban 09

2009-04-29T12:34:00.001-07:00

Chopes is looming

2009-04-29T12:03:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys

Welcome to my new blog, nothing has changed just a new blog address. Been a while since my last post, spent just under 3 weeks in Bell's, not the best conditions at the beginning but we definitely got a few waves towards the end. Been home for about 10 days now, it's crazy how quick time flies, especially when you're at home. I'm off on Saturday to Tahiti, will have about 3 days of traveling to get there but it will be all worth it once I get there. This will be my second trip to the French Polynesian island, the last being three years ago, so I'm pretty excited to get back there. Obviously the butterflies are starting to creep in but I'm also really pumped for this year's event.

Teauhpoo is a really beautiful spot, the setting is amazing, you sit out in the lineup and you look back on the land and you just see crazy mountains. The water is crystal clear and the wave itself is just phenominal. Will be picking up the last of my quiver tomorrow from Bilt surfboards, and then I'm all set to hit the skies...

Will be taking my little digi with me so will try post some pics of chopes but have added some now from Bell's.

Keep rocking it!

Davey