Monday, May 17, 2010

TV debut

In another post to this blog a couple of years ago, I wrote about my father's films. They have now been "discovered" and a few snippets were used in a BBC Four documentary which was part of their "Sea Fever" season, called "The Joy of the Sea". First broadcast on Tuesday 11th May, it can still be seen on iPlayer until the beginning of June. I also make an appearance, being interviewed about them.

It seems it has been decided by the surfing historian, Roger Mansfield (author of The Surfing Tribe), that my Dad was the first person to a) experiment using a long-board to surf in Europe, and b) to film himself using it.

My father would be most bemused that he is now beng considered a pioneer. However, he was always proud of the fact that he'd not only made this surf board, but also that he'd made a waterproof casing for his camera, strapping it to the board, to film it skimming through the water :-)