Date: May 9, 2015
Location: Playa San Diego, Oaxaca, México
Riders: Brad Domke and Tom Curren
I finally got around to revisiting a hard drive containing footage from a surf trip to Punta Conejo Resort last spring. While we were scoring a small, playful swell, Brad Domke and Tom Curren were quietly staying at the resort and joining forces to explore uncrowded surf. During one afternoon session the two showed up while I was shooting video of our crew. It was my impression that Tom was learning to ride a number of finless wave tools from the skimboarding master and seemed to progress quickly this day. He started out catching waves with a Boogie Board on top of a blue soft top board. Clearly the additional floatation allowed him to easily catch waves before bailing the soft top after takeoff and standing up on the Boogie. Then he progressed to catching waves on just the Boogie and finally moving on to the skimboard. Regardless of the progression or the board, Curren remains the ultimate style master and one of my favorite surfers of all time. While their collaboration is not news, I do believe this was one of the first trips that Brad and Tom got together for finless sessions. Feeling lucky to capture this rare moment—being in the right place at the right time I guess...
On a production note, I was traveling with a crappy little, non-fluid head tripod so most shots are unacceptably shaky by my standards.
