Mark Cunningham at Pilgrim

Mark Cunningham, body surfer and waterman extraordinaire, was the guest of honor at a jam packed screening of "Come Hell Or High Water" last night at Pilgrim Surf & Supply in Brooklyn. Cyrus Sutton (Korduroytv, "Stoked and Broke"), who contributed some footage to the movie, was also in the house along with an admiring crowd of New York surfers including Aquatic Apes Kris Chatterson and Albert Shelton. When the Teahupoo sequence came up, I asked Mark what that experience was like.

"Scary," was his response. "Your body can't move as fast as a surfboard, so you have to be very selective in what waves you take."

If Mark (who is in his mid-50's) was scared during filming, it sure isn't obvious in the movie, which shows ride after ride of this white haired superman tearing down the face and plowing through big, churning Tahitian barrels with nothing but a swimsuit and set of fins.

When he took the stage to thunderous applause, you could feel the aloha filling the room from this warm, unfailingly modest man. He talked about his personal fin collection now adorning the wall of Pilgrim (he likes Da Fins), why he prefers his hands to hand planes (he likes the feeling better, and hand planes can hit the wearer or throw a shoulder out), and why he doesn't ride a board ("I was a gangly teenager, and too uncoordinated for that!"), though he actually does own a few surfboards including a pair of quad fish (a 5'10 and 6'2).

Before wrapping up, this career Hawaiian lifeguard made sure to point out the hazards of bodysurfing. "There are plenty of people in wheelchairs or worse from bodysurfing heavy shore break," he warned. "Always try to keep your hands in front of you so you hurt an arm or shoulder instead of your head. And have fun out there, on whatever floats your boat."

Packed house at Pilgrim

Cunningham showing off his main piece of equipment.

Clearly, he has a thing or two to learn about being a spoiled movie star.

Morning of the Earth Live in Sydney

The magical locations, the beyond-epic waves, the leashless single fin boards, the dancing transition-era style of riders like Lopez, Young, Peterson, the spiritual consciousness that creeps out from between the frames and embedded in the soulful original songs and yearning captured in brilliant guitar playing.

That alone would make the film a classic. However, filmmaker Albee Fazon even transcends this, by framing his work as a kind of love poem to the Earth that also manages to ask important questions about life and human values.

Playing this weekend in a restored print and some of the original musicians on hand to perform the songs live.

Thanks to Damion Fuller at Board Collector for the tip, and to Justin for turning me on to the film. Feeling the pain to be here in NYC.

vintage surf and hot "dogging"

SEVEN Pipeline Sequence 1979

The 60's smash cut editing, the Lightning Bolts threading through macking Pipeline, the ogling of sexy body parts... And then, waking and loading a revolver in bed. Yeah, me neither.

But look at them boards in action!!

Dude, Lightning Bolt?

As I finished prepping an old board for sale this week, a pretty rare opportunity presented itself.

I grew the quiver to a fair size this year, picking up interesting cheap used boards to experiment with. Now, as I'm looking to sell off a bunch to narrow the quiver to perhaps 4 boards, a semi gun was on the list. I'd envisioned more of a 7'2-7'4 pintail thruster, but suddenly what appears online?



A 7'1 single fin pintail semi gun. With a Lightning Bolt on the deck. At a good price. After a quick consult with the helpful, Bolt-obsessed Damion Fuller over at Boardcollector.com (thanks D!), I immediately began a campaign of begging the seller via email for first crack at this piece of history. I imagined he probably thought me a bit weird.



I showed up at his place and not only did it turn out we'd met briefly at my home break a couple weeks prior, he turned out to be quite a nice guy and very interesting - a German photographer named Marian living and working in NY.

After he helped me pack up the bolt in cardboard for the subway ride home, he was kind enough to take his quiver down off a high shelf, and here (pictured below) are three more Lightning Bolts! At right is a classic Vespa he and a friend dragged 5 stories up a narrow Chinatown staircase to his studio apt for restoration.



My new acquisition has a number of layers and unsightly (though watertight) repairs. The green bolt and pinlines are made of some kind of thin, very strong tape that's bonded tightly to the top. A thin layer of resin below the tape is an "Ed Angulo/Hawaii" decal. Who knows what the story is behind this board? But it's clearly been around for a while, and as I'm a rider not a curator, at 7'1 x 19.5 x 3, my new friend looks like it's begging for some big hurricane waves. And I hope that maybe, just maybe, on the right day, my feet will feel a soft whisper from 1975 Hawaii.