From dp025@seqeb.gov.au Sun Nov 24 09:46:52 1996
Newsgroups: alt.surfing
Subject: D.J/Files...bits of a surfing life #63 JetSetJoe - djjetset.63 [1/1]
From: dp025@seqeb.gov.au (Bear)
Date: 24 Nov 1996 09:46:52 GMT


  
  Disclaimer :  There are a few elements of fact here.
                e.g. Lobos is a real surf spot :-)

                  The D.J.Files #63

        Jet-set Joe : nineteen-ninety-something...

        D.J. was paddling back out when he saw the guy drop in, set up the
 tube, go in, come out again. The guy whammed a radical, one-fin-free cuttie,
 that showered D.J. as he slipped over the back and continued to the line-up.
 This guy was hot. Another  Aussie or Yank, assumed D.J. There were a few of
 them out here today, altho it was mostly Europeans.
        'Here' was Lobos. D.J. had booked a flight, got a receipt to claim it
 as a tax-deduction (someone had given him the address of a great accountant,
 in Slough of all bloody places - miles from the sea). He had then found a
 cheaper flight and changed the whole deal and saved heaps. By the time he'd
 get the tax write-off (using the _original_ receipt) the trip'd be free.
 Slipperier'n a greased eel, our D.J.
        D.J. dropped into a lightly-brushed face and set up his own tube-ride.
 The faces were a little overhead, opening into about 4' of hiding space. He
 spotted the hot guy again, hooting at D.J.'s ride as he, in turn, slipped
 over the back. After a few more waves each, they ended up alongside one
 another in the line-up.
        " Eee, therz out wrong wi' these waves, eh?" said the guy.
        " You a bloody Geordie??" said D.J.
        " Aye, I am tha'... 'ee up!" and he proned and started paddling
 for another wave. When he'd backed off and paddled back, he said
        " Where yow from 'en, ahr kid?" ( 'our kid' to a guy in his 40s ? )
        " Wales....once", said D.J. and went for his own wave.
        ...

        Back on the main island, D.J. was walking past a cafe when
        "OY!", said the guy, and aside to the attractive girl " eez the blo-ak
 ay wuz tellin ya boot"

        [ Now for anyone a bit confused at this point as to what this person is
 saying...it's O.K., because fellow _Englishmen_ often have trouble with these
 'Geordies' as folk from the Newcastle area are called...you'll catch on tho.]

        D.J. joined them in the cafe, ordering a beer and sitting down.
        "You surf around Newcastle then...." said D.J.
        "No-ah, ay dunna"
        "Scotland then?"
        "Err, noh."
        "Wales...?(a head shake here) Devon and Cornwall then" , but he grinned
  and was still shaking his head. He revealed  " Ay nevvah surf yam "
        "You never surf at home?"
        "Well ah did once. Twer'n'y good tho-ah"
     
         Over a few beers and a snack, D.J. got the story. Joe had moved south
  and got work as a baggage-handler at London's Heathrow Airport. Hard work
  and a bit of 'nous' ( that rhymes with  house. It is _not_ the French word
  for 'us') had got him promotion and he was now some sort of supervisor.
         He had used his 'perk' of free or cheap flights to the max. He had
  first surfed in Florida. Then bought a board on a subsequent trip to SoCal.
  He now had a 6'8" and a 7'3", both built for speed and tubes. On average, he
  got away on a flight somewhere once a month, even if it was only a weekend,
  or 2-day mid-week break, depending on his roster, flying to France/Spain or
  even Italy and hiring a car.
         He had surfed in Morocco, Portugal,  Barbados, Bali, Western Australia
  and South Africa. Been back to California and U.S.East coast. More than once.
  This was his fifth trip to the Canaries. He kept his boards, wetsuits and a
  packed backpack in a locker or cupboard or something at the airport, so he
  was always ready. Every time he came back from a trip, he washed, repacked it.
         D.J. was amazed. He thought of 'the Feet', who used to work in the
  airport in Wales (he was a bit more than a baggage-handler tho). The guys
  used to give him heaps, because he hardly ever used his cheap-flight chances
  to go and surf in 'exotic places'. He did go to Tenerife for his honeymoon
  and once he went to California (world champs '70). But this guy !
         Joe also told D.J. how he more-or-less knew when and where to go for a
  good wave, using weather info. from the Internet. But D.J. was a bit sceptical
  about that. Still, the guy _was_ good. He must have got plenty of waves. D.J.
  almost thought he was envious of the guy, but nah, when he thought of all
  he'd seen and done..."bloody Internet" he thought, shaking his head, smiling
  as he walked from the cafe.
  
                               ***
-- 
Bear