Newcastle Surfest

Hey Guys and Gals,

I’ve been really busy over the last few weeks, attending the Newcastle surfest, for their surfboard swap meet followed by a charity auction and then a showing of Andrew Kidman’s Litmus movie with Andrew singing some songs, explaining some tales behind those songs and sections of the movie and he had a general Q & A before and after. I had a great day, catching up with some old friends, meeting some new ones and seeing some sensational old boards. Sam Egan was there, regaling the crowd with stories of old and talking about Egan surfboards and explaining stuff about boards on show.Mark Richards made a showing as was Dick Hoole, Mex Sumpter and Peter McCabe.

The day was organised by Gavin Scott with a couple of others, from ‘The Surf Trip’ and I feel they did a really good job. They had Damian Fuller ‘The Board Collector’ there giving valuations, they had some really nice boards on display including Lightning Bolts, Mark Richards, Original Gen 1 Energy Thrusters, Bonzers, Hot Stuffs etc. I saw stuff that I’ve not seen in 25-30 years of ‘gathering’. There was some nice boards for sale at reasonable prices .

This was followed by a charity auction raising money for SIDS research. Emcee’d by Damian. It was quite entertaining, I wasn’t there to buy, but as usual, I couldn’t help myself. I told Gavin that I would put some of the stuff on this site and then put that money back into the auction next year if it is on. The whole day was very entertaining and informative, with around 30-35 stalls selling a variety of surf and beach related items.

Then the night was about Andrew Kidman and Litmus, which I pretty much covered in the first paragraph.

If its on next year I will let you know, as it is well worth the trip, I came down from Nambucca Heads and I think it was worth it.

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Then last weekend I was in Long Jetty for a swap meet there, which was put on by a local surf shop . This was a completely different style of meet with a different ‘clientele’ to Newcastle. There was a lot of early interest tapering off through the arvo as you would expect. The surf shop that put it on was Lucky surf and supply at 417 The Entrance Rd, Long Jetty. Brett and his partner were very hospitable and I will do a bit of a review in another couple of weeks. Basically they have a surf shop/ coffee shop.The coffee was sensational by the way, they also some nice retro style neoprene and some really nice Nirvana and Sealegged  surfboards. The Sealegged boards that I saw were very old school and seemed quite true to the period whilst others were very contemporary with an old school feel. I will have a closer look next time that I’m down there and would like to possibly have some on here.

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I’m off to Noosa tomorrow for a swap meet up there and will give a review in another few weeks. I will be able to respond to emails and take orders but won’t be able to ship for a couple of days ( with a bit of luck it will be a few days depending on the surf)

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I am currently putting together a database for board repair/restorations, where I will post before and after photos with different levels of work and hopefully an estimated price range. I currently have 3 guys in various places on the East Coast that we are working with towards this goal. Please remember that restoration work is a little like renovation work where you don’t know what needs doing until you pull things apart, therefore it is very hard to quote and most guys can’t even give an estimate. If you request a solid quote you will be quoted at the very high end if they are willing to state a price. This is a service we are trying to provide as a lot of people don’t know of anyone to use, it is not something that we are looking to make money on. It is preferable for you to deal direct with them.

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One last thing for this post, which I will come back to regularly, there is a new guy in board transport. He delivers ‘door to door’ from Noosa to Sutherland and most points in between along the coast. He will go to most Central Coast areas and out as far as Blacktown. He offers this service for $45.00 for a short board and $55.00 for a long board and can take up to 11 foot boards. Currently he is going every second or third week and announces dates as he locks them in. I will post dates as I get them or message me for more details. Again this is not a money generator for us but a service for you and to help him get his business up and running. I haven’t had the need to use him yet but I know several who have and given him glowing recommendations.

Will talk more in a couple of weeks, hopefully things will quieten down a bit and I can do posts more often

Cheers for now, Langers

P.S. Don’t forget, I now have access to approx 300 boards ( not all for sale, but tell me what your after and they may become available), as well as a couple hundred surf magazines, that haven’t been posted and books, vinyl, surf movie posters among other items, so get hold of me and let me chase it.