Margaret River surfer Mike Bosich has lived and worked in the South West since 1998. He is an award winning artist with a background in illustration and graphic design. Mike runs FramingArt from his home studio in Margaret River.
This is Mike’s story: –
I grew up body surfing city beach groyne and a rather intense close-out near Hale Rd North City Beach called Meats…South West surfing legend Damon Eastaugh recently told me it was a meeting place for the gay guys in the vast sand dunes. It is a debate if the breaks name is Meats or Meets!! It was a Meaty beach break…. Many boards were snapped!
I had been surfing Margaret’s since 1987. I would travel down and stay with a friend (and his wife) who was a schoolteacher, on Caves rd. Mike use to come down the shed (where we would hang out with his younger brother) and ask “who’s coming to surf Margs…its 8-10ft cross shore” everyone would scuttle and look down at their feet and the adventurer in me would say “all right mate I’ll come with ya!!“. He would give me a 7’6” and we would head off. Today the same surfers are still out there. I also wrote a story about almost drowning among those waves one late afternoon.
My wife Kirsten and I lived in London, England for two years in the early 90’s, surfing occasionally down in Cornwall. I worked in a nightclub and we eloped at a registry office prior to moving to live in Florida USA. We lived in Melbourne Beach Florida in 1995/96, when they were starting the epoxy/modern fish revolution (Greg Lohre who later help develop Firewire technology). Actually 5’ 2” twin fins were still there from the 1970’s and surfers like John Holeman were doing huge aerials on them too!! I remember during hurricane season, hiding from the police and their loudspeaker mandatory evacuation warnings and running across the highway to surf 6ft perfection.
Photo: 1987 Mike leaving the surf at Sri Lanka in Bali.
On returning to Australia in late 1996 we lived in Perth for two years prior to my wife Kirsten applying for a job in Busselton. We came down for an interview and she got the job!!! We moved to Margaret River. To live here when you are a keen surfer, suffering in Perth is a dream…but the reality is very different. Winter is harsh and business slow while summer is very busy.
When we first moved to Margaret River around 1998, I studied and worked in the wine industry for 8 years at Cape Mentelle and later the utopia of Brookland Valley. My boss there Colin Ross (RIP- unfortunately missing in Marlborough New Zealand) was a surfer’s best boss ever. If the surf was great he would let me come in 1-2 hours late and I would make up the time after everyone else left. I got a lot of world-class waves during those years. When I arrived late he would cruise up to me in the vines and first thing he’d say was “how were the tubes this morning? “ I really respected him for that flexibility and will always remember those early solo dawn patrols.
I am an award-winning artist with a background in illustration and graphic design. I love to draw pen and ink, and also paint and assemble mixed medium New York 3D collage cityscape scenes. Having a design background, I love presenting people’s artwork through custom picture framing. I started picture framing in 2004 and went onto study at a Framing School in Sydney in 2006. I returned to Margaret River and commenced my own business from my home studio, from which I expanded in 2011, and continue to work from it today.
Photo: 2013 Mike’s New York 3D collage cityscape art work – work in progress. The partial scene on the right has its flickering night lights turned on. Jim King pic.
I have done picture framing work with Sandra Newland at Aravina Estate Yallingup over many years. In 2017 I was invited to help curate and frame the work for the WA Surf Gallery at Aravina Estate.
Feel very proud to have worked with Jim King, Sandra Newland, Thea McDonald-Lee, Ric Chan, Mick Marlin, Bill Gibson, Peter Dunne and Mark Lane CEO Surfing WA at the WA Surf Gallery at Yallingup to help document and record the history of surfing in WA based purely on the discovery and survival in the southwest. Unfortunately we are in Margaret River and don’t have a Jim King (polarizing, techno savvy person), but we do have Legends Tony Hardy, Robbie Bruce, Paul Loof, Simon Winter, Keith Spencer, Kevin Merifield, Rob Conneeley, Jim Ross, Fred Annesley, Mitch Thorson, Mike McAuliffe, Matt Manners, Courtney Grays and so many more inspirational surfers who love the sport and are integral part of its fabric down here.
Photo: 2017 part of the team at WA Surf Gallery. Ally Newbury pic.
L-R Sandra, Mike, Thea and Jim
With the shark issue some areas down in “shark alley” are sometimes empty while Main Break Margs is ridiculously crowded. The ole-boys that find safety at Margies main break all refer to the Ellensbrook to Big rock stretch as shark alley and would never consider surfing in that region!! It’s scary, but a new phenomenon for all of us and really no-where is safe!!
Photo: 2018 Mike having fun in his stripey shark wetsuit down near shark alley. Photo Joe Ryan (Nick’s buddy).
I like to surf away from the masses and find some peace with like-minded surfers…The Ocean is for everybody and it’s nice to try and give people waves “call them into waves and share around the waves”. You want people “smiling not snarling”. Just because you’re young, fit and know that line-up doesn’t mean you catch every good wave…travel to Jakes and see how that line-up operates. Respect your elders as you will grow old too one day!
Photo: 2018 Mike surfing Jakes Point at Kalbarri. Photo credit Joi Duncan.
For example one early morning in Kalbarri the locals were out in the take-off zone and a perfect 5ft wave starts wrapping into the bay. I was starting to back-up one of the boys when he asked, “do you want this one mate?” he didn’t have to ask twice!!! He asked me later how the wave was and I replied it was one of the most perfect waves I’ve ever caught in my life. Thanks Aaron.
Photo: 2018 Mike with a Diverse Surfboard at Jakes Point Kalbarri. Photo credit Tracey Plester
Love taking the family up north to Kalbarri and camping at the Bluff, live near the wave and eat/surf/sleep. The kids surf a lot and learn to appreciate the environment, the elements and the desert. Bringing in all your food and water and living basic, fishing and surfing just love it! Watching the boys grow to love surfing and trying to show them “how it’s done” leading by example is so much joy. To see them right there and hollering…such a rare feeling and such an abstract sport.
Photo: 2018 Family shot at Red Bluff Kalbarri
L-R Nick, Kirsten, Mike and Seb (bigboy).
Surfing as you know is such a long journey with so much to learn and down here in the South West they get to experience a vast array of conditions. It is really harsh and windy a lot…not until you’re in Bali/Indo again do you realize how easy it can be surfing in glassy conditions!!
In 2014 I finally took myself to G-Land in Indo and had one of the best surf trips I could have dreamt of. People who have been going there every year for 20 years couldn’t believe the perfect conditions I got. I kept a diary of those 10 days and basically the surf was 6-8 foot every day, and every element was cooperating from the tides, winds and swell directions. I visited again in 2017 (Nothing like the first trip, but still amazing) and hope to take my boys next time.
Photo: 2014 Mike surfing Speedy’s at G-Land in perfect non crowded conditions. Norris pic.
I love lots of boards, but my favourite is an asymmetrical “S” tail 5’6”/5’8” x 18 ¼” x 2 5/16” (and is still a 28 litre volume!!). It’s made of innegra/ghost carbon epoxy and is extremely durable…strongest boards I’ve ever ridden. The short round nose rockets are neutral, easy to paddle and the speed is instant and they are fast!! These boards may seem trippy but very quickly become and feel normal to you. If surfing is supposed to be fun, well these types of boards exceed your expectations and you will be paddling round grinning.
Photo: 2018 Mike’s surfboard quiver at Margs. It was a Father’s day board call!!! I didn’t know I had that many!!! I’m laying among the boards in bottom row far right!!!
Twenty years ago I was paddling out at Margs and saw Tony Hardy screaming through a blatant backdoor barrel at 8 ft + incredible style, poise and trust. Anyhow, he got foam ball clipped deep inside this tube and next second has reappeared, reset his line, and now was body surfing perfectly still in the tube dragging his board behind him!!! Never seen anything like that and the sound of his hooting is something I’ll never forget. Style denies the age!
A big thank you to Mike for sharing his story and images with us.
Margaret River surfer Mike Bosich has lived and worked in the South West since 1998. He is an award winning artist with a background in illustration and graphic design. Mike runs FramingArt from his home studio in Margaret River.
This is Mike’s story: –
I grew up body surfing city beach groyne and a rather intense close-out near Hale Rd North City Beach called Meats…South West surfing legend Damon Eastaugh recently told me it was a meeting place for the gay guys in the vast sand dunes. It is a debate if the breaks name is Meats or Meets!! It was a Meaty beach break…. Many boards were snapped!
I had been surfing Margaret’s since 1987. I would travel down and stay with a friend (and his wife) who was a schoolteacher, on Caves rd. Mike use to come down the shed (where we would hang out with his younger brother) and ask “who’s coming to surf Margs…its 8-10ft cross shore” everyone would scuttle and look down at their feet and the adventurer in me would say “all right mate I’ll come with ya!!“. He would give me a 7’6” and we would head off. Today the same surfers are still out there. I also wrote a story about almost drowning among those waves one late afternoon.
My wife Kirsten and I lived in London, England for two years in the early 90’s, surfing occasionally down in Cornwall. I worked in a nightclub and we eloped at a registry office prior to moving to live in Florida USA. We lived in Melbourne Beach Florida in 1995/96, when they were starting the epoxy/modern fish revolution (Greg Lohre who later help develop Firewire technology). Actually 5’ 2” twin fins were still there from the 1970’s and surfers like John Holeman were doing huge aerials on them too!! I remember during hurricane season, hiding from the police and their loudspeaker mandatory evacuation warnings and running across the highway to surf 6ft perfection.
Photo: 1987 Mike leaving the surf at Sri Lanka in Bali.
On returning to Australia in late 1996 we lived in Perth for two years prior to my wife Kirsten applying for a job in Busselton. We came down for an interview and she got the job!!! We moved to Margaret River. To live here when you are a keen surfer, suffering in Perth is a dream…but the reality is very different. Winter is harsh and business slow while summer is very busy.
When we first moved to Margaret River around 1998, I studied and worked in the wine industry for 8 years at Cape Mentelle and later the utopia of Brookland Valley. My boss there Colin Ross (RIP- unfortunately missing in Marlborough New Zealand) was a surfer’s best boss ever. If the surf was great he would let me come in 1-2 hours late and I would make up the time after everyone else left. I got a lot of world-class waves during those years. When I arrived late he would cruise up to me in the vines and first thing he’d say was “how were the tubes this morning? “ I really respected him for that flexibility and will always remember those early solo dawn patrols.
I am an award-winning artist with a background in illustration and graphic design. I love to draw pen and ink, and also paint and assemble mixed medium New York 3D collage cityscape scenes. Having a design background, I love presenting people’s artwork through custom picture framing. I started picture framing in 2004 and went onto study at a Framing School in Sydney in 2006. I returned to Margaret River and commenced my own business from my home studio, from which I expanded in 2011, and continue to work from it today.
Photo: 2013 Mike’s New York 3D collage cityscape art work – work in progress. The partial scene on the right has its flickering night lights turned on. Jim King pic.
I have done picture framing work with Sandra Newland at Aravina Estate Yallingup over many years. In 2017 I was invited to help curate and frame the work for the WA Surf Gallery at Aravina Estate.
Feel very proud to have worked with Jim King, Sandra Newland, Thea McDonald-Lee, Ric Chan, Mick Marlin, Bill Gibson, Peter Dunne and Mark Lane CEO Surfing WA at the WA Surf Gallery at Yallingup to help document and record the history of surfing in WA based purely on the discovery and survival in the southwest. Unfortunately we are in Margaret River and don’t have a Jim King (polarizing, techno savvy person), but we do have Legends Tony Hardy, Robbie Bruce, Paul Loof, Simon Winter, Keith Spencer, Kevin Merifield, Rob Conneeley, Jim Ross, Fred Annesley, Mitch Thorson, Mike McAuliffe, Matt Manners, Courtney Grays and so many more inspirational surfers who love the sport and are integral part of its fabric down here.
Photo: 2017 part of the team at WA Surf Gallery. Ally Newbury pic.
L-R Sandra, Mike, Thea and Jim
With the shark issue some areas down in “shark alley” are sometimes empty while Main Break Margs is ridiculously crowded. The ole-boys that find safety at Margies main break all refer to the Ellensbrook to Big rock stretch as shark alley and would never consider surfing in that region!! It’s scary, but a new phenomenon for all of us and really no-where is safe!!
Photo: 2018 Mike having fun in his stripey shark wetsuit down near shark alley. Photo Joe Ryan (Nick’s buddy).
I like to surf away from the masses and find some peace with like-minded surfers…The Ocean is for everybody and it’s nice to try and give people waves “call them into waves and share around the waves”. You want people “smiling not snarling”. Just because you’re young, fit and know that line-up doesn’t mean you catch every good wave…travel to Jakes and see how that line-up operates. Respect your elders as you will grow old too one day!
Photo: 2018 Mike surfing Jakes Point at Kalbarri. Photo credit Joi Duncan.
For example one early morning in Kalbarri the locals were out in the take-off zone and a perfect 5ft wave starts wrapping into the bay. I was starting to back-up one of the boys when he asked, “do you want this one mate?” he didn’t have to ask twice!!! He asked me later how the wave was and I replied it was one of the most perfect waves I’ve ever caught in my life. Thanks Aaron.
Photo: 2018 Mike with a Diverse Surfboard at Jakes Point Kalbarri. Photo credit Tracey Plester
Love taking the family up north to Kalbarri and camping at the Bluff, live near the wave and eat/surf/sleep. The kids surf a lot and learn to appreciate the environment, the elements and the desert. Bringing in all your food and water and living basic, fishing and surfing just love it! Watching the boys grow to love surfing and trying to show them “how it’s done” leading by example is so much joy. To see them right there and hollering…such a rare feeling and such an abstract sport.
Photo: 2018 Family shot at Red Bluff Kalbarri
L-R Nick, Kirsten, Mike and Seb (bigboy).
Surfing as you know is such a long journey with so much to learn and down here in the South West they get to experience a vast array of conditions. It is really harsh and windy a lot…not until you’re in Bali/Indo again do you realize how easy it can be surfing in glassy conditions!!
In 2014 I finally took myself to G-Land in Indo and had one of the best surf trips I could have dreamt of. People who have been going there every year for 20 years couldn’t believe the perfect conditions I got. I kept a diary of those 10 days and basically the surf was 6-8 foot every day, and every element was cooperating from the tides, winds and swell directions. I visited again in 2017 (Nothing like the first trip, but still amazing) and hope to take my boys next time.
Photo: 2014 Mike surfing Speedy’s at G-Land in perfect non crowded conditions. Norris pic.
I love lots of boards, but my favourite is an asymmetrical “S” tail 5’6”/5’8” x 18 ¼” x 2 5/16” (and is still a 28 litre volume!!). It’s made of innegra/ghost carbon epoxy and is extremely durable…strongest boards I’ve ever ridden. The short round nose rockets are neutral, easy to paddle and the speed is instant and they are fast!! These boards may seem trippy but very quickly become and feel normal to you. If surfing is supposed to be fun, well these types of boards exceed your expectations and you will be paddling round grinning.
Photo: 2018 Mike’s surfboard quiver at Margs. It was a Father’s day board call!!! I didn’t know I had that many!!! I’m laying among the boards in bottom row far right!!!
Twenty years ago I was paddling out at Margs and saw Tony Hardy screaming through a blatant backdoor barrel at 8 ft + incredible style, poise and trust. Anyhow, he got foam ball clipped deep inside this tube and next second has reappeared, reset his line, and now was body surfing perfectly still in the tube dragging his board behind him!!! Never seen anything like that and the sound of his hooting is something I’ll never forget. Style denies the age!
A big thank you to Mike for sharing his story and images with us.
—————————————————
Share this:
Like this: