More Grabs From "Jamie Does NZ"

Hi Paul,

Here's the link to my flickr gallery .

I am slowly working through rolls of film and digital images, will email you some soon and let you know when I have updated my online gallery.

The weather closed in today so Jamie and I scored some great little waves just in time. I'm going to forward this email to Jamie also, I hope he is as stoked with the pics as I am!

cheers, Mike C

aka micro

Maui Matt Matting Malibu

Hi Paul,

I was visiting my folks in LA and found a great niche for matting. High tide inside Malibu is custom made for matting. Easy to keep riding in the barrel until all the water drains from the bottom! (By the way, the lifeguards didn't hassle me, maybe because it was winter?)

Photos by Rob Mitchell.

Aloha,

:) Matt

Latest from Keven (with an E) ...

Hey Paul,

I hope that you and Gloria had a good holiday! We had a great first Christmas with Milo.

(Milo)

We all traveled down to Santa Cruz and spent most of the extended weekend there with my parents and brother Ira who's back from Germany (where he lives.)

(Ira)

(Also, here's Ira standing on the beach, with me body surfing in the background.)

We got some fun waves Thursday at Capitola beach, Friday at the Hook, and Saturday at Platforms (South Seacliff beach.)

My Mom and I rode mats on Saturday. I've gotten a chance to use mine 3 or 4 times now and have really been enjoying it. It's such an organic way to ride waves! I still haven't quite figured out how to punch it through a big, thick wall of white wash, but I'm sure that will come. :)

(Typical shorebreak out front of my house.)

I've taken Vaughn out a couple of times and he's had a blast.

(Mat newbie Vaughn having a blast.)

My Mom has been loving her mat, too. You just can't believe how jazzed she is about it:) She's so fired up that she was hoping to order another one or two so that she can go out with her friends. Robert here wants to get another one, too for his buddy Jeff Lyon, a bike frame builder/surfer.

How was your holiday? And have you had the chance to catch any of this recent swell? Vaughn bought me the "Inner Most Limits of Pure Fun" as an Xmas gift this year. We're stoked! Hi to Gloria! Milo is growing fast!

Keven

(Keven)

Micro Is Fizzing!

Hi Paul,

I am SO STOKED mate! Rode my new mat this morning for the first time...far out it flies. The waves were rubbish but I got 6 waves and I am fully hooked.

Jamie from the Gold Coast AU came and stayed on Xmas day, and had a NZ kiwi style feed and a few ales. Great guy. He gave me a heap of tips, we are going to catch up on his return from up north for a photo session in the next few days.

Thank you so much for the mat, summer is going to be even better! I AM SO STOKED! Fizzing all over the place!

Mike C
aka micro

Winter At The Jersey Shore...

Photos courtesy of John Hamm.

An Endless Wave

Last month I completed a 3 week adventure on the Colorado River, from Marble Canyon to Lake Mead. Prior to the trip my boat-mate told me about a standing wave him and some friends were riding with kayaks and sleeping pads and said I should definitely bring my mat. So I did. And here is some footage to prove it.

River water dynamics are a world unto themselves. The feeling of being sucked through the pour over & bashed about by the frothing, churning whitewater is unique to say the least. Like nothing I've ever experienced!

Mat Riding In Phys-Ed!

Hi Paul,

The photos were taken this Tuesday by Joel Mayer at Oceanside Pier during surf P.E. with Oceanside High School. Lissie is fifteen years young. She just started matting this summer. She also rides a longboard very well.

She charges when some other girls just sit pretty.

Peace, and again thanks for the mats!

Tom

The Time Has Come!!!

(Listen Here!)

THE TIME HAS COME...

...TO BRING BACK THE BEAVER TAIL!

GET OUT OF THE WATER...

...AND OPEN UP THE NEW 4GF HOME PAGE!

Click here for the new site...

...and here for the t-shirt page!

And here for a deal on a quiver of mats! (Go to lower right.)

:)

Mystery Mat Rider...

...at a mystery spot, wearing the coolest boots since Bob Dylan. Action mat photos here ...

Inspired!

All the recent discussion on the subjects of style and technique has been very inspiring. I've lately been concentrating on staying centered with elbows tucked in and keeping still. The Zen of matting. Doing without trying... It's working quite well. Thanks heaps!

Trimming and cutting back from the inside rail...

Trimming and cutting back can both be done quite effectively from the inside rail....

Okay...

...here's another question that has less to do with appearance and more relation to function: Sometimes I shift sideways on my mat to be closer to the wave face for more speed. But then I have to shift back to the middle to cut back. Is getting over the inside edge even necessary? I can't really tell whether lying on the inside groove actually helps, but that's what I find myself doing, although when I remember to stay centered there seems to be no drastic reduction in speed and grip on the face. What have other surfmatters found in this regard?