Down South Perspective

Going with the Pros
A photo story by Allan Weisbecker

I’m enjoying a post-session shower at the Pavones cantina when this car pulls up, longboards piled high on the roof and… and a videocam pointed at me from out the driver’s side window. Bunch of guys in the car, a San Jose rental. Seconds pass.

I dunno, I’m thinking. I mean someone’s video-ing me taking a shower. Is this weird?

“Hey, you Allan?” comes a voice from the car.

I walk over. From behind the camera – a big one, broadcast quality, I assume – that voice again. “I’m Arsen. I emailed I was coming.”

I nod, although I’m blanking on an email from an Arsen. I get a lot of emails from guys threatening to show up here at the end of the road at the bottom of Central America. So few actually do it that I generally ignore them.

The videocam grinds away. I just stand there, dripping.

The guy behind the camera, Arsen, indicates the back seat, the two guys sitting there. “This is Kevin Connelly and…”

I miss the second guy’s name. I’m looking at Connelly, who is grinning, very friendly, maybe a tad embarrassed for me, with my vacant expresson and the videocam and all.

“I really admire you’re surfing,” I blurt. “I mean from films.” I glance at the mocking glass eye of the videocam. “I mean… uh…your style…”

Although I’m far from a surf film buff, in the few titles I have (mostly longboard stuff from J.Brother and Ira Opper), Connelly is a standout. A true stylist, old school. His black & white, cool jazz pas de deux with Tudor in “Adrift” is one of my all-time favorite log sequences. If someone put a gun to my head to force me to judge the session, in terms of pure style, Connelly would get the nod.

I shake hands with Connelly and his cohort in back, pro logger Jesse Timm, as it turns out. I suppress the urge to cover the videocam lens with my other hand.

The boys are going out for a quick mid-morning session and ask if I’d like to join them. Notwithstanding that I’ve just come in, plus the deteriorating conditions, I’m on it. A surf with Kevin Connelly? You bet.

As we wax up, Kevin glances at my board. “Was that you nose-riding in front of the cantina yesterday morning?” he wants to know.

I nod. I’d had a good session, lots of nose time, a solid ten or two.

Kevin grins. “I thought you were another pro, down here on a visit.”

I nod again and shrug, trying to keep it casual, but that was a comment I’ll remember for a while. Might even be my last conscious recollection before embarking on the Dirt Nap.

On the other hand: Upon witnessing Connelly’s first ride a few minutes later, I’m thinking that his next comment after my “pro” status might well have been something along the lines of, “A pro who’s seen waaay better days and who I won’t have to worry about in any contest or sponsorship duel.”

I’m also thinking I’ll have to reevaluate my definition of a “solid ten.”

And Jesse Timm. First wave: heels over, a backward kick, foot extended way the fuck out front over the water, a saunter back aft, a switch-footed cutback…

Simultaneously humbled and inspired, I paddle on in to better catch the show.

GOING

The boys come up to my house for dinner, as does my Pavones expat buddy Kim Fioriglio, a talented longboarder himself whose roots go back… put it this way… Kim’s about my age…

WITH

Kevin, Jesse, Arsen Brzostek and Arsen’s second camera guy and still photographer, Keith Novosel, are making a surf flick titled Going With The Flow…

THE

Do I want to join them for a road trip?

FLOW

In the spirit of it all, I say, Sure, why not?

Here’s how it went, in photos, mostly by Keith. (When the waves were happening, Arsen and Keith shot video, Arsen from shore, Keith in the water, so the following surf shots don’t reflect the best of what we got.)

Click here for the Photo Story

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