The first rule of Film Club

So there he was, The Offsider, thinking that up until now, 2012 will end up being regarded as a remarkable vintage for waves on the west coast. It began with an insane autumn and while winter wasn't overly memorable, spring has spoiled with an abundance of quality while the anticipated storms which have in the past disrupted the banks had yet to arrive.

The best surfing he witnessed during last week's solid swell came courtesy of a couple of goatboaters and a visiting Raglan goofyfooter, Luke Cederman. One of New Zealand's most respected free surfers thanks to a perfect marriage of brute power and technique, Cederman's approach won him a spot in Innersections by acclaimed Seppo surf film director Taylor Steele whose credits include Kelly Slater: in Black and White and the hugely influential Momentum series

The Raglan-ite and the Mount's Alex Dive were in the north to get footage for a new surf mag (Damaged Goods) and surf flick (Damon Mead-directed Under the Weather designed to profile NZ's best surfers at NZ's best surfspots). Met by average conditions on the first couple of days, the lads and entourage were getting a tad restless before the joint began cooking with gas on Tuesday and Wednesday. The duo caught some sand-draining barrels at one spot but found the notorious sweep hard going.

The Offsider couldn't stay long shooting Cederman - who was struggling to find any power in the weaker high tide of inner bay - because it was Film Club night. Ahh, Film Club, the first rule of which was, You Talk About Film Club. Last Tuesday's film was John Ford's quintessential Cowboy and Indians saga, The Searchers. As in hostile Commanche raiding parties filmed on location in the spectacular mesas of Utah's Monument Valley, a plot containing far more than seems first apparent, and John Wayne.

He may well have been a Nazi but it's still hard not to grin at Wayne's swagger when he's in his element, the classic Western.

The next Film Club session at Te Ahu on September 25 is - drum roll please - Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958). Movie trivia: The Offsider's middle name was Alfred and he had even started to gain a certain resemblance to the Master of Suspense from side on!

Anyone wanting to know more 'bout Film Club - happening every second Tuesday - should contact Petrina Hodgson, one desk along from The Offsider's at the Age office in Kaitaia.

In denouement, the Age sportsbuster knew he had caught more than his fair share of waves offered by a particularly bountiful sea this year; and one wave in particular will be replayed on the back of his eyelids as he goes to sleep for weeks to come. The kind of wave which allows a man to enter a place where time has no meaning. Like Film Club.

The Offsider is Age sportsbuster Francis Malley. Respond at ...

sports@northlandage.co.nz