Year of the Boar in Photos

My good friend Dante has been sending me photos and updates from Taiwan every month for most of the year. Everything from killer days on the West Coast to crap days on the East coast and vice versa.

He even took the time to send me photos of his trip to the Phillipines and the lineups there. I would love to post his emails too as they are a riot and always make me laugh out loud…although, he’d probably fly over and put his foot up my arse talking about Interpol…daaaamnit!!

Since I haven’t posted any of them for the whole year, I thought it a perfect time to do a year in photos or something to that effect, by Dante…well, all except this one where he is in front of the lens.

Check out the rippa. Raised in Santa Cruz and then tackled the North Shore before many of you readers were even born. This guy is a living legend and is still ripping it up all the way from the Maldives to the West Coast of the US of A.

Check out this photo from September of a mysto pointbreak that went unsurfed for years and was only recently discovered by a crew of burly ex pats…Dante being one of them. This is one of the better waves to be had when its on.

This next photo is one of my favorites as it looks so playful and fun. Having to wear the full neoprene get up these days, it is a shot like this that reminds me of the freedom of jumping in with just your trunks, feeling the warm sun on your back, eating mangoes galore, and washing it all down with a couple pijoes.

The Isle of Formosa is a beautiful place, sometimes you have to squint a little, but it has some real raw beauty not found in too many places anymore. I was lucky enough to experience a time when there were very few people in the water and we could discover and name new spots each weekend.

I think every one of our crew named a spot from Firsts and Seconds to Palm Point and leftovers to AK and BoardWalks. And who can forget ‘Tha harba’ or ‘Boulder Cove’. We certainly weren’t the first ones there, just ask Rene who has been there since Martial Law or other guys that were stationed there and surfing Taiwan back in the 60’s, but it sure felt like it at times.

The best sessions I’ve had there were with just a handful of friends. I think this is going to be the start of a series showcasing some of those sessions.

The fact that you can still find a slice of surf paradise all to yourself is something not to be taken for granted.

Dante gets much respect for being a good friend and sending me all these photos that I can share with the world, but more importantly his ninja talents of getting solo sessions in while everyone else is still sleeping and always finding that peak down the beach all to himself where he can find peace and meditation.

Thanks bro for the pics and may you be blessed with empty lineups in 2008. Happy New Year!!