The Life of Ply [2008] is a short film by Ocean Motion Pictures. The film includes a profile of Dorothy [Dot], a stoked surfer from the early surfing days [1948] in the United Kingdom speaking about her experiences surfing and at the ocean over the last 60 years and what they mean to her. Dot rode her ply belly board at Tolcarn Beach, Newquay. The film echoes the simplicity of Dot’s love for the ocean, wave-riding and stoke. The archive footage alone is a treasure, but the current footage of Dot surfing is also great. The clip below is well worth a watch:
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How wonderful – Dot is one cool lady.
And I have this great image of her writing a stern letter after a flat period…
Dear Swimming in the Sea,
You are dead to me!
Thanks for the memories,
Dot
Ahhhhh, refreshing. The simple joy of riding a wave.
“We met under the auspices of the MG Owners Club”
Bit different than meeting under the awning of the Maroubra Surf Club…
Watching Dot there reminded me of a story by Sam George (however, I read it was so long ago that it could well have been Matt George, but I like Sam’s writing more than Matt’s so I’ll say it was him).
Anyway, Sam (or Matt…) wrote a story about a surfer he met on a Central American surf trip named Carl – the most pure surfer that Sam had ever met.
When he stood on a surfboard Carl stood in a parallel stance looking straight forward. Once on the face Carl never turned his board….ever. Asked about this he just didn’t see the need to. Being propelled shoreward was enough.
Carl never flicked off a wave. He rode it as long as it would have him.
Asked about his surfboard he had not the faintest idea of design and how it affects a surfers ride. Channels? Flyers? Rocker? They meant nothing. Carl didn’t wish to impose his will upon the wave, he just wanted to float and feel the glide.
I seem to remember that Sam said Carl was a bit of a surfing outcast even though he was experiencing the same thrills from waves as all other surfers. Reckon Carl and Dot would get on just fine though.
I met one these characters a few years ago surfing Palm on a small onshore day. It was just him and me. He looked at least 70 and when I asked it turned out he was actually closer to 80. He was riding a beaten up McCoy mini-mal sort of affair. He sat next to me and beamed a smile that said it all. Then he said “I’ve been getting some great ‘beachies’ today”. I asked what he meant by ‘beachies’. He said that’s what it’s called when you get them all the way onto the beach. I watched him catch wave after wave over half an hour. He milked every wave until he was beached and practically standing on the sand. It seemed to be the main game for him. It felt like a window into the past.
Welcome Johnny. How was tassie?
Hey Clif, Tassie was incredible, unique, humbling…. pretty much every emotion rolled into one… Epic! Yew!
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