Solomons

Hey guys,

Sorry I have been off air for nearly 3 weeks now, I was in the Solomon Islands for 2 weeks at the start of December and have been waiting on the photos.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and looking forward to a prosperous New Year!!

Here are a few SUP shots from the trip and I will post more when I can get a hold of them.

The Solomon Islands is a great place. We were up at the northern chain of the islands which cops the left over north swell which filters down from Hawaii. We scored 3-6 foot waves for most of the time we were there and there are a couple of breaks that are world class. I think if the swells form off Japan and come further south-west they could have the potential to maybe break bigger than 6 feet, never the less it was a good fun trip and fairly consistent for this time of the year. The island we were staying on is called Papatura and it is a 5 minute boat ride from the main northern island Isabella. It is a really remote and scenic place with thick dense rain forest style jungle and beautiful coral atolls. The locals are lovely people and its well worth a look, even if you don't surf it is really nice place just to hang out and snorkel, dive and relax.

The next event on the program is possibly a trip to Hawaii and maybe back to the Pacific to the Caroline Islands.

Cheers,

Billy

Week 2: Scotty Wildin aka Wild One

Hey guys,

This my good friend Scotty Wildin, he is the lifeguard down at Greenmount. I took him surfing earlier this year to a reef off the east coast. The weather and swell looked pretty good for the day and we both happened to have the day off work. We scored some epic waves and this is one of Scotty's bombs for the day.

News Flash: We're Engaged!!

Hey Guys,
It has definitely been an exciting weekend for me. I proposed to my girlfriend Bianca Lee on Friday morning! We took my jet ski out for a drive down the coast and I took her into the beach at Nobby's Surf Club, where we met, and popped the question. Thankfully she said yes!!

Our celebrations were cut short for the weekend as I competed in the Roar Industries Ultimate SUP Championships on Saturday at the Seaway Spit. The championships consist of a surfing component and a paddling component, and it requires you to use the same board for each component. It makes it difficult to pick the right board to use as shorter SUP's are better for surfing as you can pull off more monouvers, however, they are slower for the paddle race. Longer SUP's are harder to monouver when surfing but are faster in the flat water paddling.

The conditions were testing with a 15-18 north easterly wind and 2 ft waves. I managed to make it through the rounds to the final and score a 7 and 8.3 riding waves. Keiran Taylor pulled out an amazing 9 point ride and a back up wave of 7 to take out the event, I finished 2nd and Jamie Willems was 3rd and Paul Jackson was 4th. Shakira Westdorp showed the girls are getting up there in SUP surfing by making it to the semi-finals and just slightly missed out on making the final.

With the surfing component completed we headed over to the broadwater to race in the flat water paddling component of the championships. The original course was set to paddle from the beach around the rock wall and into the Seaway. However, due to the windy conditions and safety hazards the race was set in the flat Broadwater. Mick DiBetta a renound paddle boarder lead most of the paddle on his 10'6" SUP, only to be tipped by Troy Pease at the finish. I was able to finish 5th on my 8'11" SUP.

Overall Keiran won the event, I finished 2nd, Jamie Willems finished third and Troy Pease was fourth.

I head off in less than a week and half to the Solomon Islands for a 10 day surfing and SUP trip. Stay posted this week as I post some pictures and background on my mate Scotty Wildin. Stay tuned.

Cheers,

Billy

Early Thursday Morning

Surfing Broadbeach Thursday morning, a nice little water shot from Andrew Shields.

Week 1: Nick Heath aka Stench Pit

Hey guys,

This is my good mate Nick Heath and he is a surfing chef. I actually did my chef's apprenticeship under Nick when I was 17, soon after ditching it when I was 21 to start a career in lifeguarding. Nick is a gnarly traveling surf gypsy who has done reconnaissance missions throughout Indonesia for the last 20 or so years. Nick runs the kitchen at the Burleigh Heads Hotel- Ambience Restaurant and annually does a surf trip for a couple of months to Indo. Here's a couple of his pics from this years season up there.

The gorilla in the mist at Bingin

Stenchy at his beloved Supersuck

Chocolate arms throwing his weight around on the end section at Race Track, Ullu's

Stenchy teaching me the ropes

10:35 reo at Burleigh, would have been 11:00 if he was on a Garrett

Locking up again at Bingin

Just Another Lazy Sunday

Hey Guys,

Most Sunday's are reserved for rest and relaxation, but for me this Sunday was a anything but relaxing. I started the day at the Greenline SUP Paddle Race from Currumbin Surf Club to Kirra Surf Club as a part of the Kirra Surf Stock Festival. The 7.5km paddle was into a direct head wind, which was no fun for anyone. I ended up paddling 95% on my right side for most of the race and was lucky to crack a small wave at the finish to beat outrigger paddler Travis Grant who finshed second and Troy Pease who finished third. A big thanks to Shakira Westdorp for letting me use her new Lahui Kai Shakira Westdorp Signature Model 12'6"SUP Race Board.

After the race and presentations I shot up to Burleigh to my local Burleigh Boardriders clubs last surfing contest for the year. I got there just in time for my heat and surfed twice to make the final. I ended up 2nd to Thomas Wood a new grommet to the club. Tomas gave myself and all the boys a good touch up. The Young bloke is only 16 and surfs with the maturity well beyond his years. Check him out in the future.

To finish the day off I was happy to go to a relaxing birthday party for my niece Harlow, who just turned 1.

Each week I will be posting a mini spiel on my close surfing mates. First up this week will be Nick Heath the surfing chef.

Also in the pipeline is the Solomon Islands trip which I mentioned earlier, and it is looking like it will go ahead in early December. Keep you guys updated shortly.

Cheers, Billy

Welcome to Billy's Blog

Hey guys,

My name is James Watson, my nickname is Billy. I grew up surfing at Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast where I now work as a lifeguard and train in the ocean doing various water sports. I will be posting stories and pictures of my surfing adventures with my mate and training partner Jamie Mitchell. I have just come home from a trip to California which I competed in the Gerry Lopez Battle of the Paddle SUP Event. Jamie won the event and I came 4th. Our training partner Shakira Westdrop also won the elite women's event and we joined fellow aussie Danny Sheard

to win the team relay event. Now that I am home on the Gold Coast, I have been getting my summer 'small wave' quiver sorted and recovering from the all the travel and racing. The next trip on the calendar is looking like an early December mission to the Solomon Islands with Jamie. We will be exploring some new uncharted surf spots with a quiver of short boards and SUP's. I will also be looking to head over Hawaii sometime this season as Jamie and I have been invited to a big wave tow-in contest at a break called Pe'ahi, or more commonly known as Jaws. Stay tuned for my next update.

Cheers, Billy