In the summer we went to Hossegor...

and ended up in dicks sands bar

Obviously the chicks with sticks in dicks was brought up... with Dick himself and the possiblity of a fundraiser there in future!


So watch this space!


Dicks Sand Bar

a small act

I went to see a screening of A Small Act the other day .. its an inspiring tale that makes you think about the importance of education and the difference you can make however big or small a contribution you can make.. if the trailer inspires you then you can find out more about the Hilde Back Education Fund here: www.hildebackeducationfund.com/

Biarritz to Lacanu à velo et surf!

Cycling through the forest… camping under the stars…. Surfing the shorebreaks of South West France….


Big Friday’s Cycle Surfari had all the elements of a great adventure. A solid team of people up for anything; which was lucky as covering 300km on a bike whilst catching a daily surf in pumping conditions in one action-packed week would need a lot of energy!

And of course there’s the point where the adventure gets interesting – when things go wrong!

But injuries, punctures and wrong turnings aside we had a brilliant time and the weather, waves and environment proved just how special the French coastline is; reinforcing our love for the area, the outdoors and the ocean.

Secret Sea Shepherd mission... chicks with sticks, surfers 4 cetaceans and an eco adventure to save the pilots of the faroes

I am writing this aboard an unmarked Sea Shepherd vessel, patrolling around the Faroe Islands. Our mission began as a secret operation but since then the locals, customs, police and navy have all been involved so Captain Paul Watson has ousted us from covert to overt and we are now flying the “jolly roger” flag proud. Whether we have been in the news back in the UK, is unbeknownst to me!

I joined the Sea Shepherd campaign in the Shetlands, with Howie Cooke of non profit org. Surfers 4 Cetaceans. A lone surfer representing Chicks with Sticks; together we are a mismatched duo standing up for Surfers 4 Cetaceans everywhere. I received the invitation in my electronic mailbox –

“Was I up for a secret mission to save cetaceans in the North Sea?”

“Hell yeah!” Was my response. A month later I was travelling to the most Northern islands of Scotland to meet up with the Golfo Azzurro who had already had a week sailing around the Faroes on her way from Holland.

The Faroes are a group of remote islands in the North Sea, owned by Denmark; a self governing nation who have a sadistic secret pastime. Each year they kill hundreds of beautiful pilot whales in a twisted, testosterone fuelled “rite of passage”. The kills are called “Grinds”, and are spontaneous massacres of whales who come into shallower waters to give birth to their calves. Once a pod of whales are spotted out to sea, they are herded by fishing boats and unnerving sound devices into fjords so they are beached on the beaches of the fishing villages. Traditionally the men prove their masculinity by using hooks through the blowholes of the defenceless whales and cutting off their heads. The corpses are then collected and discarded back into the ocean.

We have found dead bodies, bones and whale graveyards; but there has been no sighting of any live pilots whales. There are meant to be approximately 800,000 pilot whales in these waters. We are worried they have killed them all. Although without whales, no Grind can take place, so for that at least we are thankful. We patrol the inlets and pray that if whales are seen we can get there first, herding them back out to sea and making sure we intervene before it’s too late.

We have been all over the Faroese news; every fishing port we pull into posts our coordinates on a website, and car headlights and twitching curtains keep track of our every move. We have been boarded by police, searched by customs and followed by the navy… we are definitely not welcome here!

I’m not sure I like this place, the landscape is dramatic, beautiful waterfalls cascade into the sea from volcanic, jade cliffs; caverns, and caves protrude in and out of jagged rock faces. It is majestic, yet cold, hard, prehistoric; a forgotten land devoid of soul.

I’m pretty sure I will arrive on shore unrecognisable. I’m eating the best vegan food, thanks to Laura the amazing cook and with no action and no whales, eating is the most popular past time aboard.

There a dozens of beautiful seabirds following our journey in the hope of some fish being up for grabs. But the absence of sea mammals is chilling, for centuries these islands and their inhabitants have raped the ocean of abundant life, whilst claiming their practices are sustainable. Are we too late to save the pilot whale?

Photographic delights of our Surf Boy Auction 2010

THE MAN OFF!!

Chicks with Sticks Surf Off was held on Saturday 31st July! It was a celebration with fancy dress and girlie treats; and we spent the day raising awareness and money for charity; with the funds going to Surfers Against Sewage this year.

Due to unforeseen circumstances it went from a Surf Off to a Man Off, but as the weather and waves were drizzle and dribble, it meant total energy went into raising some serious cash at the Chicks with Sticks Evening Event.

In the morning Nat and the Oakley Surf Sistas were joined by charities PANTS and Animal Aid, who are currently raising money towards Sea Shepherd.


Nat said “It was an honour to offer a free taster to people who work incredibly hard for charities, and who live in Cornwall, but have never had the chance or opportunity to experience the beach, let alone a surf lesson. I think they thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and they certainly deserved it”



The beach bar was home to the evening event; and we’ll let the pictures speak for themselves! We had killer DJs from Wales, who turned the tiny dancefloor into a mass of writhing bodies!

As always, something went wrong – the microphone had gone missing – but luckily music guru October was quick to offer a slightly renegade solution. That’ll be headphones. As a microphone. And they worked like a dream!

Once the “Man Pen” was in place Nat did her thang in a daring, swimsuit-leggings combo, assisted by “keeper” Swanson, “herder” Shone and “transporter” Nikki. Czuczy was on hand with her photog. skills to capture all the man action!

Congratulations to Virginia Taylor; winner of the coveted Surf Maroc Roxy holiday! And the winner of the Paulo Award for Outstanding Effort was Lisa Jones, who’ll be joining Surf Sistas with Oakley in Hossegor this September for a boutique surf and pilates holiday.

The Paulo Award was created in honour of our friend Paul Brewer; a shining star who always put 100% into everything he did! We will always remember his winning smile.


Now for the thanks you’s.

Firstly the CWS team who are now “Team Man”; we couldn’t have done it without you girls (and guys!)

The Fistral beach bar; Paulie and co. for keeping the drink flowing and being genuinely supportive of the man auction concept.

The DJ’s; Colin Francies, you are a legend! A massive "diolch yn fawr" to team "bag" for coming all the way to Kernow and blowing our minds with your vibe.

Of course we are eternally grateful for all the men who put their dignity and pride on the line and offered themselves to a mob of frenzied females in the name of charity. Especially the Sportsvision boys who were unfortunately bought by men. You did us proud and we salute you!

A huge thank you to all the prize donators;

Surf Sistas with Oakley for a boutique surf & pilates holiday to Hossegor and coaching weekend in Newquay; Surf Maroc for a Roxy Girls week; Lusty Glaze for a Surf Fitness weekend; Sportsvision for 4 VIP Relentless Boardmasters passes; Ripcurl’s ESF Surf School; Quiksilver Surf School; The Harbour Hotel & Restaurant; Lusty Glaze Restaurant; Peeler.com; Surf Girl Magazine; Fire Fly Tonics; Yoshimi Spa; Celissimo hair and beauty; Sands Resort spa; The Central; Café Irie; The Lanherne; The beach bar; PANTS charity shop; Sunset Surf and Oakley for raffle goodies and finally Pot Tea Training Café (also for the amazing Paulo award made there!)

Thanks and well done to SAS for doing what they do so we can surf cleaner, greener waves.

Finally thank you so much all who came along to the event and supported us. We will be back next year – again, bigger, brighter and with more prizes!

Get your groovy selves to the internet art auction page on www.chickswithsticks.org.uk to score some amazing surf art, where all proceeds are going towards Surfers 4 Cetaceans and Ticket to Ride’s Foundation Project in Cape Town.

The Chicks with Sticks 80's Surf Off - whats that all about then?

Here's a quick guide through the medium of very bright pictures ..

Its a contest with very soft boards and fancy dress from 2-5pm at Fistral Beach

Its good times at the beach ..

its an 80's surf prom in the Fistral beach bar from 8pm where we will award amazing prizes to contest winners (holidays and such like .. we did say amazing!) .. get your 80's gear on and come on down ..

and finally yes the rumours are true .. the Surf boy auction returns .. we will be selling men for charity ... roll up ladies our man pen is already filling up nicely ..

Oh and importantly its on Saturday the 31st July 2010 at North Fistral, Newquay.

The Chicks with Sticks Art Rumble!

A huge thank you to everyone that was involved with Chicks with Sticks Art Rumble; who came along, had a stall, donated art work, supplied prizes, or simply put energy into helping out (big props to the quiksilver boys for setting up the surf screen) or attending a day dedicated to art, crafts and raising money for two great causes; Surfers 4 Cetaceans and Ticket to Ride’s Foundation project in Musaphelele township, Cape Town.

***

It was a gathering of lovely people, with a vintage inspired theme and we enjoyed the chance to get creative with the kids, eat some yummie food and absorb the free art, films and music on offer throughout the day.

What was amazing was the amount of work donated by local, and international artists. To do it all justice, we have decided to construct an online art auction, with a bidding system through ebay, so that people don’t even have to leave to comfort of their own homes to score some awesome surf-art.

We aim to generate more awareness and publicity throughout the summer’s events and begin the auction in August. All the profits will go to our two charities, check out the website and blog for more details.

The next event is the Surf Off on 31^st July. We are raising money for grassroots NGO Surfers Against Sewage who campaign and fight for cleaner beaches and safer seas for surfers. As environmental enthusiasts, Chicks with Sticks feel its important to support their cause and continually raise awareness for oceanic issues, especially with the current crisis regarding the BP oil spill. Even though that is far away, there is a global message that our oceans need to be respected and protected, and as surfers, we should be the enforcers of this mantra.

AM; Free surf lessons through Ripcurl’s ESF surf school and Oakley Surf Sistas for cancers charities; PANTS and The Lavender Trust.

PM; Surf Off fun comp; Chicks with Sticks vs. Newquay Boardriders

Categories;

Expression session (fancy dress & radical manoeuvres)

The Ultimate Stick

Foamie tag team

Sign in via greenwavesproject@gmail.com – C’mon ladies! We need all the chick power we can get!!

Prizes for winners, all entrants as well as a special Paulo award(in honour of our friend Paul Brewer) for outstanding effort.

The evening is being held at the beach bar, with electro DJ’s bangin out the choons for a 1980’s surfer prom theme. There’ll be prizes, raffle, awards and of course, the return of the infamous man auction (for updates on the men available check out the facebook page). There’ll also be a collection for old surf equipment to help Mr. Brights surf school in Ghana pass on boards and wetties to the kids of Africa.

CWS’s Nat will be celebrating her 28^th birthday, and as well as being a warm up to boardmasters, we’ll be celebrating the Sousek’s becoming Mr and Mrs!

We hope to see you there!!!

Barrel by Suzanne Crawford

The artwork is rolling in for our auction on Saturday, we are just oohing and ahhing about a beautiful original painting 'Barrel' by Suzanne Crawford.. Check out more of Suzanne's work on her website www.liquid-colours.co.uk

If you can't make the event but would like to bid for this piece it is possible to make a blind bid by email to natalievfox@hotmail.com or by phone to 07779099770 ..

Screening of The Cove at the Art Rumble

Come along to the surf art rumble and watch a screening of the Cove, free entry with collections for charity .. the screening is expected to start at 6.30pm and there will be homemade food served all day.

The Surf Art Rumble is at St Merryn Village Hall, Saturday 3rd July 2010.

aloha

Win Nat's Chicks with Sticks Protest T-shirt!

At the Surf art rumble we will be auctioning Nat's protest T'shirt that she wore in Agadir last weekend to protest outside the IWC meeting .. thats a piece of history that is!

Mustn’t grumble, it’s the art rumble in association with the surf jumble…

As far as we know this is the schedule for the day…..

Doors open 1pm and the Art Rumble commences!

There will be….

Surf Jumble

Surf Girl Magazine clothes swap shop

(Open for donations from 1pm, trading at 2.30pm)

Craft stalls;

Original Surf Boards

Lazy Waves

Eden at Tribe

Little Miss Boutique

Rosie & Gem’s Novelty Cakes

Body art

Ladies pampering massage

Creative workshops;

Badge & bunting making

Mural & cloth bag painting

Quilt making

Ding repair/glass your own fin

Special workshop with Neon’s Elsie Pinniger at 4pm

Make your own board sock/door stop/towel changer

If you want to sign up for this please contact natalievfox@hotmail.com

Food is being served courtesy of L’Aude Cuisine (Nat’s mum is coming especially from France!) and providing homemade, exiting veggie dishes. On the menu is;

Fresh veggie burger in a wholemeal bap, with salad and chilli aioli or tomato salsa

Falafel in a pitta pocket with crunchy salad and tahini cream

Oven baked wedges with spicy tomato sauce

Selection of teas

Surfers soda

Banana cake & flapjack

Food will be served until 7.30pm

From 5pm, there is a break to quickly set the hall up for….

Movies, music and more….!

5.30pm Sliding Liberia

6.30pm The Cove (with introduction from Howie Cooke)

8.00pm Charity Art Auction

8.30pm Live music with October Rocks!

9.00pm Surf bingo with prizes galore!

9.30pm More music! More fun!

Remember… all profits go to Surfers 4 Cetaceans and Ticket to Ride Foundation’s township project in South Africa… there’ll be more info about these on the day!

standing up is overrated

On the May Bank holidays a very nice chap lent us some wooden bellyboards at high tide sunset fistral and we were immediately hooked .. So we are VERY happy that the lovely Sally from Original Surfboards is going to have a stand at our surf art rumble in St Merryn on the 3rd July. Come along and pick up one of her retro bellyboards, she has all kinds of designs .. or paint/illustrate your own, she will bring some blanks along too .. seriously if you haven't tried this since you were a young'un you have forgotten HOW much fun it is ..

Sally's online shop is here: www.originalsurfboards.co.uk/originalshop.php - if you are coming and you know you would like a particular style board let Sally know and she will make sure she brings it:

For more bellyboarding inspiration check out the world belly boarding championships, held every year at Chapel Porth .. www.bellyboarding.co.uk or this fruity blog http://pronetobelly.blogspot.com/

and lets not forget our favourite ..Dot ..

News from the IWC front line!!!

Victory for whales! Yet we still have a long way to go to protect their wellbeing for the future.

My latest journey has taken me from the UK to Holland to Morocco via Germany! It was a journey well worth the amount of public transport and the destination has eliminated all doubt from my mind about taking that first step.

I arrived back in Morocco last night, and after a quick surf met up with Nori Neumman, a fellow Cetacean lover and activist who had come all the way from Portugal. We finished off the amazing banners she had started and prepared for the day ahead, not really knowing what it would bring.

The next morning we headed into Agadir early, and as we approached the conference hall plastered in posters of (ironically) beautiful, free whales I could feel a lump of emotion in my throat. I suddenly knew I was completely in the right place and time for once.
















Around 11am one of the anti-whaling NGO members informed us that the deal was indeed off, and as no arrangement could be reached in fact, nothing would change. For those that opposed the proposal to lift the ban on commercial whaling; our mission was successful and the moratorium is still firmly in place.





Tonight I meet with Howie and co. to celebrate and discuss more action whilst we’re here, in prime striking distance of the IWC. I will be putting together more information and will get it out very soon! But for now, for those of you that signed the petitions, know that this was a victory in standing united against whaling, and hopefully the stepping stone towards many more victories.



Peace and love
Natalie