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The Legendary Photo Archives of LeRoy Grannis | There is an old surfer taunt: You should have been here yesterday. LeRoy Grannis was there in the 1930s and ’40s when a few hundred young men in California and Hawaii with heavy redwood boards represented surfing’s Camelot. Portrait photography had Felix Nadar and Mathew Brady. Fashion photography had Baron de Meyer and Edward Steichen. Surfing photography had Grannis and his friend John “Doc” Ball; they set the standard for all the pictures that followed.Photo: LeRoy Grannis / Makaha, Oahu, Hawaii, 1962Born in 1917 a block from the ocean in Hermosa Beach, California, he began surfing in 1931 and became one of the state’s top surfers. Grannis is featured in more than a half-dozen photographs in Ball’s classic 1946 book, California Surfriders. That volume might be considered the Old Testament of surfing photography. Doc Ball started surfing in 1929, when there were, by his estimate, about 20 surfers on the entire California coast. He started taking surf pictures seriously in 1931, capturing the kinetic excitement of the sport.LeRoy Grannis worksWorks by LeRoy Grannis: Dewey Weber, 22nd Street, Hermosa Beach, 1966 , Duke Classic Finalists, Sunset Beach, 1968 , Miki Dora, Malibu, 1963 , Malibu, 1965 , Miki Dora, Malibu, 1961 , Palos Verdes Cove, 1964 , Henry Ford, 22nd Street, Hermosa Beach, 1963 , In the Pier, US Surfing...M+B PhotoJohn Grannis, son of LeRoy Grannis, recently went through the legendary photo archives of his father to look through some of LeRoy’s earliest work from Malibu in the early 1960s including unseen images of Miki Dora, LeRoy’s camera collection, as well as photos from the early 1970s on the North Shore of Oahu. This video is an incredible gift to fire me up for a new series of interviews with people that paint with light …Below is a fragment from an old interview with Juice Magazine. Simply historic milestones in surfing photography and the perfect way to travel back to the future. And learn from the past …JM: Was Doc taking pictures before you?Doc saw an article that had some pictures Tom Blake did about Waikiki. Being a very inventive type, Doc decided he’d try it for himself. He started shooting with these large-format cameras — 3 1/4 and 4 1/4. He built a water box because he found out Blake had made a water box using that same type of equipment.JM: How did he build it?He stripped the outside of the Graflex, left the guts of it and built a wooden frame around it. On the front end, he had this trap door type thing that he’d open up when he was shooting. He could close it up to make it waterproof. Sometimes, when he was shooting and the wave would break outside of him, he’d just throw the whole box over the wave and then pick it up after the wave went by. He got some great stuff with that setup.JM: Did you ever build a water housing yourself?I didn’t build a water housing, per se. I built a wooden box that was about 15 inches long and 8 inches square with suction cups in each corner. I’d take a big gun out at Sunset and put this box on the front of it with the suction cups and paddle out. I could shoot with the camera bare, in the water. If a wave did come, I could close the box up and it was waterproof. That way I could change film out in the water and I didn’t have to come in with the water box like the other guys did.JM: What was the Depression like?Fortunately, almost everyone was in the same boat. We just didn’t have anything. I’d go for months without a penny in my pocket. Then I got a job sawing wood for my dad at 30 cents an hour in the spring of ’35 and I was rich. It was a good learning experience. We had nothing and we learned to get along with nothing.“The American dream had relocated to the beach in Southern California,” says Matt Warshaw, author of The Encyclopedia of Surfing. “In the old days, surfing was a small world, but in the ’60s it became the world where everybody else wanted to be.” This enviable situation was not, perhaps, something that most surfers thought much about. “We had that life for years,” Grannis says, “and didn’t know how lucky we were.”Warshaw notes that Grannis came to photography late and was never a full-time professional, but adds that “he had a good eye, he knew how to compose, and he was totally plugged into the surf scene.” This intimacy gives his pictures of the boys, the girls and the boards the joyful feeling of family photos taken by a particularly talented brother. “He loved what he was doing,” says Warshaw. That love can be seen in Grannis’ pictures of both the big-wave thrills and the familial comforts — a realm beautifully assayed in the book LeRoy Grannis: Surf Photography of the 1960s and 1970s, published last year in a collector’s edition and just republished in a popular edition.LeRoy Grannis. Surf Photography (Limited Edition) - TASCHEN BooksJoin us on a surfin’ safari through the sun-kissed golden years of surfing in this collection of photographs from the Hawaiian and Californian ...TASCHENTASCHENI just rushed to Amazon and bought some a piece of history to better understand my own future. And made a mental note to go for a subscription to EOS. | |
Great stories are meant to be told. | Below’s a story that captured my imagination. As we’re slowly getting ready to close down the editorial section of our site and moving all our content to this Medium Magazine, I stumbled upon this post by Bradley. It stands the test of time and I feel this must be updated with an interview to see where we both stand a couple of years later. I feel an instant connection with people who chase the dream and share the insights that come with facing the challenges of living a good life. It’s never as easy as it sounds. But always worth it.“Our journey of (more than) a thousand miles did start with just one single step. It was over 4 months ago now when we sold our house. I left my job; we cleared our debts and set off on a family adventure. It was just one step, but it was a big one. A liberating one.We travelled in a caravan down the east coast of Australia for seven weeks, experiencing everything the incredible coastline had to offer. We found paradise repeatedly and stripped it all back to pretty simple living.Next was the North Shore of Oahu. 5 weeks immersing ourselves in the Hawaiian culture, living with and doing community with the locals while experiencing our first North Shore winter. Our minds were blown and our hearts captured by the small island and its people.Now we are back in Australia, and people say to us, “I guess it’s back to reality?” To which I’ve often replied; “Maybe, but we are creating a new reality — we’re not going back to the old way of doing things”We’ve set out to do life a little differently. We landed in this fine country 12 years ago with nothing but a kitchen table, our wedding presents (mainly kitchen appliances), 3 surfboards and $1000 in our pockets. We spent years chasing the dream of owning a home, having kids, taking holidays and climbing the corporate ladder in order to make it happen. And there is nothing wrong with that if it’s what makes you tick. But I realized I’d lost my passion for what I was doing. I was living to work and not working to live. Going through the motions because it was what I did, what I was known for, even good at. But it all means nothing when the flame has dimmed and you’re stuck on the hamster wheel of your career. So we decided to break out, to live a little and grow as a family, and yes now it is back to the reality of earning an income and having a place to rest our heads — but what if it can be done differently?I write this sitting at the kitchen table in a beach shack in one of our favourite places on the Northern NSW coast. I can hear the sound of waves crashing over basalt boulders a short distance away. It’s a place we’ve frequented on holiday for years, a place that lights our collective souls and a place that we’ve fantasized about living in. Now it’s the place we will call home for the next year.We’ve wondered how we could set up a working lifestyle where we could be flexible and work from anywhere, travel a little more and earn a crust by doing the things we are passionate about. Now we have a boutique marketing agency, specializing in brand journalism and freelance writing, and my wife is shooting photos and we dream of creating something special together. We may have just started over again, but we are not going to die wondering if this kind of life exists.Our story is far from over; in fact, it feels like its only just beginning. I’ve often said that nothing changes if nothing changes. And now we can say it’s completely true. It all starts by taking just one single step. All you really need is a little bit of courage and a pocket full of faith. An air of expectancy follows us around now, and my soul comes alive with every breath of salty air I breathe each morning as I realize; this is the life I’ve dreamed about.We’ve all got a story — People, brands, and businesses. Sometimes they’re right there for all to see and other times they’re hidden a little below the surface. But great stories are meant to be told. It’s what makes life, brands and people interesting and inspiring. We crave authenticity and we gravitate to what is real. We shouldn’t be known for what we do, but rather for who we are. Maybe it’s time we talked story as you prepare to take your next step?”A Story by Bradley BricknellFormer professional surfer in South Africa, sponsored by Billabong from the age of 18. Prior to joining the brand as an employee in 1999, Brad surfed in events domestically & internationally, studied marketing and experienced various roles as a sales rep, recruitment consultant and in-house brand specialist for a supermarket chain before ultimately settling into a long-time role in the surf industry. | |
Time To Ship a Web3 Magazine | The LiveTheLifeTV Magazine sits at the intersection of storytelling, community development, and web3 technology. Images: LiveTheLifeTVPlatforms hold our audiences and content hostage. They have a monopoly on our IP, creativity, and the value we create. Content will no longer be built on platforms. Platforms will be built on content. The LiveTheLifeTV magazine will further explore the Zora Protocol to create, share and exchange valuable media. Zora’s protocol creates assets that contain a market and media component, allowing NFTs to become independent of the platforms they are issued on, a concept they have called “cryptomedia” (video) | |
Bruce Gold, the lord of the shells. | Exploding orange aloes. Caffeinated surfing addicts. A wooden boardwalk on the dunes overlooking the point, freshly repainted, carved with stories worth telling. And, not unlike, Bruce Gold, a bunch of escape artists on the prowl for fun.A solid 6 feet off Boneyards, unloading 50-yard sections before moving into the magic alley known as Supertubes, right where two surfers sat, freaking out of their minds. Airbrushed lineups of perfectly symmetrical Supers, with offshore tubes stacked to the horizon, fire red sunrises and humpback whales breaching in the distance. Add a couple of pro surfers to the canvas, and those 2005 Billabong Pro memories come back to life.A smokey bar is filled with surfing icons. The King is rumoured to sing with Donovan Frankenreiter. Kelly Slater never shows up, maybe he was mind surfing his upcoming finals against Andy Irons. When suddenly hypnotic blue eyes steal the show. Spotlights turn his blonde-greying beard into Gold. Shells bejewelling his lofty frame. Charisma spreading all over the place. Slightly starstruck. Donovan amplifies the magic. Dance moves are re-invented.Sprouting philosophies like “surfing competitions and marriage are the two most unnatural things in the world” and “I can’t afford to work — it will ruin my reputation”, Gold is said to be vexed by the nature of professional surfing. But that night it seemed like a match made in heaven. Marriage might be the enemy of surfing freedom a bit of dancing and flirting can’t hurt. Some call him the town’s last true hippie. As much part of J-Bay as the pelicans and dolphins …Bruce Gold is one of J-Bay most recognisable throwbacks to that golden era when wild-eyed youngsters descended on the Eastern Cape seeking the perfect wave. Bruce’s wave knowledge, honed over four decades is obvious. He trims effortlessly through the racy Supers sections, his arms often raised in a soul-arch salute. Sustaining his bohemian lifestyle by selling shells that he picks up on the beach.Bruce first came here in 1953 with his family and each time ended up staying longer. It started with a 6-week surf trip while still loving his taxi driver job in Natal and later giving five Rand massages in PE (Port Elizabeth).A reference to the 1966 cult surfing film, The Endless Summer, is expected. Bruce remembers when the first Americans arrived in a Land Rover in the early 1960s with cameras. During the mid-1970s a SABC television personality filmed a docu about Bruce Gold. The legend was born.Photo: LiveTheLifeTVHis ever-present “Scooter Girl” at the heel. The Pekingese was "sort of" friends with “Scooter Boy”, named for the famous 1940s Waikiki surfing dog. Wild stories, like the fact that Miki Dora got certified as blind, so he could get free upgrades and take his dog "Scooter Boy" from Biarritz to J-Bay.Surfing icon Miklos ‘Miki Da Cat’ Dora, stopped over at Jeffrey’s Bay for five years. Miki lived in the studio beneath the Gary Yosh home, overlooking Supertubes. Dora only interacted with a select few people, Bruce Gold being one of them. The surf scene was never a big part of his social life. ‘Living at the beach isn’t the answer,’ he once said. ‘Guys who live at the beach get waterlogged. I’m there for the waves, nothing else.’Unfortunately, these icons have dwindled during the last decade. Miki passed away in California after a seven-year fight against pancreatic cancer.Photo: LiveTheLifeTVBruce is now one of the few sexagenarians to brave the line up of J-Bay. Like a millionaire in memories with few possessions. (Besides a museum-worthy collection of shells and surfboards ranging from a rare Midget Farrelly Single fin to a Joel Tudor fish.) Bruce Gold smiles a toothless grin and a gloved hand taps the box containing some possessions of Miki Dora. Should we auction it? “Never sell out”, I was told.“You can spend your hole life trying to figure out how to make a million or you can spend your time doing what you love and what you’re good at!” — Doc quoted in South African Surfer magazine, 1970’s. Take note Bruce would say. Life’s a bargain, cheap at any price. | |
A Sport Of Kings @ P-Bay | Forty years ago, the Kingdom of Pavones was a well-kept secret paradise where only living legends of the surfing subculture were invited to exercise their art under the benevolent eye of Danny "Mack" Fowlie. He created jobs, infrastructure, and helped teach locals construction, heavy machinery operation, and gardening. Fowlie was not short on cash, inherited some money, and made the rest as a real estate speculator and from a leather goods business that supplied high-end department stores. He owned a multimillion dollar farm in Riverside, California, a ranch in Baja, Mexico, and eventually his own private piece of paradise in Pavones.In the early 60s, Kenny Easton became the first surfing foreigner to find Pavones and its now legendary waves. When Fowlie followed Easton’s secret map and inquired in the Golfito cantinas about the beach property, he quickly bought Rancho Del Mar, his first property for $30,000. From 1974 to 1982, he purchased every beachfront ranch and beach concession from Rio Manzanillo to Punta Banco, giving him over 15 miles of beach-concession land and over 80 percent of Pavones.Fowlie's kingdom was certainly out of a storybook. The locals got jobs, and he helped teach them construction, heavy machinery operation, and even gardening. But the purchase of the San José mansion of U.S. fugitive Robert Vesco may have been why he came to the attention of U.S. anti-drug agents.Despite this, Fowlie's dream life in Pavones continued, and his story was documented in "The King of Pavones," a film that contains a lot of Fowlie’s own footage from the time he lived the dream life. Allan Weisbecker's book, "In Search of Captain Zero," is the perfect intro to the story and explains why paradise is a place you visit, not a place you live. Weisbecker sold his home and possessions, loaded his dog and surfboards into his truck, and set off in search of his long-time surfing companion, Patrick, who had vanished into the depths of Central America. At the finale of his critically acclaimed first memoir, he found his paradise at the end of the road, Pavones.However, living in paradise can be a balancing act of greed and fear. Owning a piece of paradise is a dream for many, but the fear of losing or sharing the slice of heaven can be overwhelming. Weisbecker's follow-up book, "Can't You Get Along," explores the painful editorial process of "In Search of Captain Zero," his fall from grace with the powers that be in Hollywood and the publishing business, and the near loss of his life due to the writing of the book.In the end, Pavones remains a prized gem for surfers and travelers alike. Fowlie's legacy lives on in the infrastructure he built, and the locals who still benefit from it. The story of the Kingdom of Pavones is a reminder that paradise can be found, but it's up to us to decide whether we want to visit or stay.The myth of Danny Fowlie started living its own life. Fueled by the books of Allan Weisbecker and films like Chasing the Lotus. However it was best documented in “The King of Pavones”, the film contains a lot of Fowlie’s own footage from the time he lived the dream life.Allan Weisbecker's book , In search of Captain Zero is the perfect intro to the story. And why paradise is a place you visit, not a place you life. Allan sold his home and his possessions, loaded his dog and surfboards into his truck, and set off in search of his long-time surfing companion, Patrick, who had vanished into the depths of Central America. At the finale of his critically acclaimed first memoir, he found his paradise at the end of the road, Pavones.Can’t You Get Along follows the previous book with how painful the editorial process of Zero was, and how annoying it was and still is to deal with Hollywood trying to bring these books to screen. The author gets to interact with potential actors playing him: Sean Penn, John Cusack, and Brad Pitt as well as a bucketful of producers, writers, and other people who are supposed to make things happen. It’s exciting, even though Zero, according to Allan, isn’t really a movie, not unless he writes the screenplay to make it into movie-material. It is the story of Weisbecker’s paradise, its underbelly, his fall from grace with the powers that be in Hollywood and the publishing business, plus the near loss of his life due to the writing of the book.Paradise FoundBack in 1974 Danny Fowlie had it all. Well, almost. Aside from his flotilla of yachts and fishing boats, his private aircraft, boy toys, personal extravagances and priceless artifacts from primitive cultures worldwide, he owned a multimillion dollar farm in Riverside, California, a ranch in Baja, Mexico, plus fugitive financier Robert Vesco’s heavily-fortified compound in San José, Costa Rica. But Danny was poised to possess the one thing he did not have, but wanted most — his own private piece of paradise.When the first Costa Rican families ventured to the remote, unoccupied area of Pavones in the sixties, the Boruca Indians had already departed the region for the Talamanca Mountains, leaving behind only their gold-strewn graves. Only twenty to thirty Costa Rican families occupied the vast region surrounding Pavones when Fowlie arrived in 1974.In the early sixties, Kenny Easton, who grew up diving and surfing La Jolla with Fowlie during the dawn of California surfing, became the first surfing foreigner to find Pavones and its now legendary waves.When Fowlie followed Kenny’s secret map it lived up to Easton’s stories, he immediately inquired in the Golfito cantinas about the beach property, and within a few days, Fowlie had bought Rancho Del Mar, his first property for $30,000.One by one, the other beach owners approached him to sell pieces of their land. From 1974 to 1982, he purchased every beachfront ranch and beach concession from Rio Manzanillo to Punta Banco. These purchases gave him over fifteen miles of beach-concession land and over eighty percent of Pavones. By the summer of 1974, Dan had moved his family into huts he constructed on the beach and had begun employing almost every local to build essentially every public amenity found in Pavones today.Pavones was yet to be known as one of Costa Rica’s most prized pointbreak gems. Said to offer up to three minute long leg-burners as the left-hander wraps its way down a series cobblestone beaches.Fowlie's kingdom was certainly out of a story book. The locals got jobs, and he helped teach them construction, heavy machinery operation and even gardening. Fowlie was not short on cash. Some money was inherited. The rest he made as a real estate speculator and from a leather goods business that supplied high-end department stores. Fowlie, was 41, when he arrived in Pavones, setting up a dream life he didn't need to escape.But the purchase of the San José mansion of U.S. fugitive Robert Vesco may have been why he came to the attention of U.S. anti-drug agents.After several years of risky investments and dubious credit dealings, Vesco was alleged guilty of securities fraud. He immediately fled the ensuing U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation by living in a number of Central American and Caribbean countries. Vesco was notorious throughout his life, attempting to buy a Caribbean island from Antigua in order to create an autonomous country and having a national law in Costa Rica made to protect him from extradition. After settling in Cuba during 1982, Vesco was charged with drug smuggling during 1989. Vesco was sentenced to 13 years in jail by Cuba. In November 2007 the New York Times reported that he had died of lung cancer at a hospital in Havana, although it has been suggested that he faked his death.Clearly not the kind of dream Dan was chasing. Dan kept himself busy with planting 200.000 trees to develop nurseries, teach locals how to farm and develop balsa and cocoa trees. Tom O’Neill (of the O’Neill wetsuits family) helped him plant thousands of palm trees from Rancho Del Mar south to Rio Claro and north to Rio Manzanillo.Dan cut roads, at first only within his kingdom, but soon bridges spanned the plethora of rivers and streams descending from the inland rainforest; the deep seaside bush was cleared for a private airstrip; schools and churches were built; farms sprang up, overseen by experts in soil and crop management. Fowlie bought and rebuild the Cantina in 1976 which became a gathering place for all the local families.He hauled in heavy equipment, building materials and generators, along with foodstuffs to sustain his crew of Costa Rican farmers and imported agronomists, veterinarians, oceanographers and engineers, until the farms and fishing boats he envisioned could start producing and make the community he foresaw self-sustaining.When the surf was flat in Pavones, you’d find him working with the locals on one of their many planting or building projects. When the swell rose, he enjoyed the company of no more than ten surfers in the water, a group composed of his son and son’s friends, of locals they taught how to surf, or of living legends like Buttons, Pat Curren, and Rory Russell, all of whom he knew from his surfing and shaping days in California and Hawaii in the forties and fifties. He also invited early surf cinematographers Spyder Wills and Greg Weaver to document the waves at Pavones between 1976 and 1982. They created hundreds of recordings during their extended visits, some of which footage the surf documentary Chasing the Lotus features and more of which footage featured in "King Of Pavones", a Love Machine Films’ documentary.Mid 80’s. The Turning Point.Danny Fowlie becomes a fugitive from United States justice. When he was detained in México in 1985, California investigators found there the evidence, an ounce of marijuana, that eventually resulted in a federal conspiracy trial. Let me repeat, one ounce !His land holdings began to deteriorate under pressure from people who doubted that he would come back. Dannyland was up for grabs.In the mid 20th century, Golfito was a major banana growing region (also resulting in it being the major port of southern Costa Rica), but a combination of worker unrest, declining foreign markets, rising export taxes and banana disease led to the closing of the United Fruit Company in 1985. Over the Easter holiday known as Semana Santa, several hundred squatters from Golfito are bused and trucked to Pavones in a large scale, unlawful invasion of the area. The Costa Rican government, fearing political fallout from the left, does nothing. The squatter wars had begun.The State Department travel advisory urged U.S. citizens to avoid the Pavones area. This kept the surf lineup uncluttered with uncommitted, here-on-a-two-week-surf-vacation lightweights. It only amplified the cult status to die-hard surf travel pioneers.In 1987, the tides of fortune then turned against Fowlie when he was convicted and incarcerated in Mexico at the request of the US, later extradited to federal prison on Terminal Island, California, in Rancho Del Rio 1990, and then released in 2004.Free at last. The dream shattered.After waiting eighteen years to return to Pavones, Fowlie’s dream of living there again was shattered. In June 2005, Costa Rica’s Director General of Immigration exiled Fowlie from Costa Rica for purposes of public safety on the basis of reports that Fowlie’s brief return to Pavones after his release from prison caused public fear and disorder in the region. Fowlie says his trip was peaceful and uneventful. La Nación quoted locals who said they feared him, and the immigration director banned him from the country based on the newspaper article.The entry prohibition appears to have been overkill because Fowlie notes that he was accompanied by an off-duty Costa Rica police officer, and he was shadowed by two on-duty officers. It is said that the encounters where locals claimed they were threatened were taped and refute the claims.The Legal Battle for ParadiseThe land manipulations have frequently broken into the news with a fatal shooting in 1997 and the 2011 arson fire of the legendary Bar and Restaurant La Esquina del Mar that Fowlie built. Fowlie appears to have purchased legally all the concessions that he holds and also has been paying the municipal taxes. Still his efforts to reclaim any land he says he holds will be a big payday for scores of lawyers. Hundreds of expats and Costa Ricans face similar ownership threats.Mid 2015. The Tico Times published “Pavones: Small Costa Rica surfing town faces big growing pains” . Karl Kahler wrote an unbiased report about the Pavones Point project that most people seem to think is a terrible idea. Two buildings are currently under construction, with the first models scheduled to be completed by Mid 2016. Each building will contain four two- or three-bedroom condominiums, with prices starting at $475,000. Eventually, plans call for 15 buildings, or 60 units.Virtually all the expats here are against it, and many of the Ticos too, but some of the locals are 100 percent for it, welcoming the jobs it will bring, hoping it will help to get the roads paved, to improve the water supply. But does a development like this misses the point ? Pavones is a small community. People like to come there for that reason.Paradise saved12 years ago a multinational company received approval to install the world’s first yellowfin tuna farm near the mouth of the Golfo Dulce. The tuna farm as planned would pollute the area, endanger sea turtles, affect the existing fish population, and threaten the world-class wave. A lawsuit was filed just in time, and the project was successfully stalled. Thus began an unlikely alliance of local surfers, fishermen, and global environmental groups to save a wave and one of the most biodiverse places on the planet. Additionally, José Ureña, president of the Costa Rican surf federation, has officially nominated Pavones as the country’s World Surfing Reserves candidate wave.In The Battle for Paradise, Jeremy Evans travels to Pavones to uncover the story of how the locals stood up to a multinational company and how Danny became once again, a hero, saving paradise. Dan Fowlie’s and Parque Pavones’s financial support to the legal battle against the tuna-farming project helped stop the project—thereby saving Golfo Dulce, one of the most diverse biospheres in the world, from an environmental disaster.Fowlie united the region in economic, environmental, and social prosperity for over a decade. Parque Pavones clearly wants to build upon that community’s decade of accomplishment. In Fowlie’s absence, the past’s united effort to develop Pavones in a manner prosperous to the whole community and environment has dissipated. Collaboration between Parque Pavones and Daniel Fowlie has the ambition to provide immediate support and long-term advantages to the Pavones region. The clear vision of the king continues. The rest is history. | |
REAL WORLD ART | LIVETHELIFE.TV, the founder of IKIGAI LABS, embarks on a transformative journey by fully embracing TRACE (Tokenized Records for Artwork Certification and Evolution) technology. Developed by our esteemed partners at Transient Labs, this groundbreaking innovation is central to our mission of introducing real-world art into the world of NFTs and redefining the future of art ownership.IkigAI Labs XYZ is committed to onboarding artists to create digital Certificates of Authenticity (dCOAs), order secure chips, and expand our network to include galleries, auction houses, and museums. This initiative allows anyone with Ethereum or a credit card to purchase physical artworks by buying the NFT version.Each physical artwork is embedded with a secure, tamper-evident chip, paired with a digital certificate of authenticity on the blockchain as an NFT. This setup ensures that the provenance of the artwork is recorded and updated throughout its journey, including sales, exhibitions, and alterations. Artists can add their narratives and authenticate them on-chain, creating a living history of the artwork.The T.R.A.C.E. system meticulously records and updates each piece’s journey. A digital twin NFT is minted for each artwork, backing the physical piece with blockchain technology. Once the NFT is sold, the physical artwork is claimed by transferring the digital twin NFT to the T.R.A.C.E. chip, locking it there forever and preserving its provenance and authenticity.With T.R.A.C.E, ikigAI Labs XYZ offers a revolutionary way to authenticate, preserve, and appreciate art in both digital and physical forms. It provides a novel platform for artists to express and manage their creations, fostering a deeper connection between the artist, the artwork, and the collector. This system bridges the gap between physical and digital art, utilizing a secure chip attached to the artwork and a digital certificate on the blockchain as an NFT. This dual existence secures the provenance of physical artworks with unprecedented rigor and enriches the art with a living digital narrative.Designed to ensure provenance and authenticity for both digital and physical artworks.Key benefits:• Immutable Provenance: Ensures the authenticity and history of artworks are preserved and transparent.• Dynamic Art Histories: Records and updates the artwork’s journey, allowing artists to add their narratives and authenticate them on-chain.• Bridging Worlds: Integrates physical art with blockchain technology, creating a seamless experience for collectors.• Empowering Creators: Provides artists with a platform to express and manage their creations, fostering a deeper connection with collectors.A leap in the art world, where the journey of an artwork is as valuable as the artwork itself.“Over the last year, my appreciation for physicals has grown considerably. Maybe I just spend too much time in front of a computer and scrolling Twitter? I was super grateful when Avant Arte approached me with the opportunity to apply their world-class printing processes to my work.” - SnowFro ABOur journey begins with the initial set of FUTURE SCAPES artworks for TRACE integration, setting the stage for our TRACE-focused Curated Art Explorer.IKIGAILABS.XYZ | |
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Sustainable Surfing in PNG | While some exotic surf zones around the world are starting to struggle to manage crowds, tempers and expectations, Papua New Guinea has a ‘Surf Management Plan’ that appears to be working really well. White Horses magazine was intrigued by the idea that the rest of the surfing world could learn something important from this small island nation.Andrew Rigby. Photo: PNG Surfaris / Chris PeelCrew involved:DOP: Shane Peel from My House PicturesDrone filmer: Glen Glaydon, Surfers: Felicity Palmateer, Andy Mooney, and friendsDirection/Edit: Gra Murdoch & Shane PeelThis clip broadly sketches out the Surf Management Plan, and shows how it’s possible for Surf Tourism to be sustainable, and how everyone can benefit if we all do the right thing.The successful controlled development of Papua New Guinea tourism and benefits afforded to locals through the Surf Association Abel Reverse spiral management scheme created over the last 22 years has resulted in a unique and unprecedented approach to the creation of an equitable and sustainable surf tourism model that can be applied to other niche tourism sectors around the globe.Photo : PNG surfaris / Chris PeelThis model has caught the attention of the World Bank through the IFC who funded the SAPNG Strategic Master Plan. The SAPNG is now embarking on their draft stage of their Bill for an Act of Parliament known as the SAPNG Surf Management and Development Act.Photo: PNG Surfaris / Chris PeelPNG has unlimited surfing potential from October to April during monsoon seasons and thousands of miles of coastline just waiting to be explored- not to mention breathtaking scenery and pristine atolls. Located just south of the equator and 100 miles to the north of Australia. PNG enjoys warm waters and consistent waves, complemented by the rich and diverse traditional culture time of its people in its premier surf destinations of Vanimo, Wewak, Madang and New Ireland provinces.Great surfing isn’t all that PNG offers. The same winds that surfers enjoy also make for perfect kite surfing which is relatively undiscovered. The warm waters of PNG are uncrowded and ideal for kite enthusiasts. The reef breaks provide great action for wave rider, while the pristine blue lagoons lure flat-water fans. Visit PNG from late May through to November to take advantage of the Laurabada trade winds, providing consistent 10.25 knot winds.Kite surfers should focus their attention on the southern part of PNG. Areas around Port Moresby and Milne Bay have optimal conditions and stunning scenery. Fifteen minutes from Port Moresby, Sero beach’s large lagoon gives way to a surf break 500 yards out. Daugo Island is a 20 minute boat ride from the Port and one of the best local spots to kite surf. Two hours down the coast, Hula is a large peninsula that receives the full brunt of Laurabada winds, creating the optimal environment for kite surfers.MV Golden Dawn has been providing diving charters in Papua New Guinea and has recently begun offering Kitesurfing charters.It sounds like something from a post World War II cargo cult: Three decades ago, an Australian pilot leaves a surfboard in a remote village in Papua New Guinea called Vanimo. The village, which lacks rudimentary facilities like electricity or running water, becomes surf crazy. Twenty years on, surfing is not only a pillar of village life but also a means to prestige. With no access to economic or educational advancement, village life is hermetic. A spot on the Papua New Guinea national surfing team is the way to see the wider world; the only way.Feature Credits:Directed and Shot by Adam PesceProduced by Perrin ChilesEdited by Kim RobertsScore by Jesse Vocciaitunes.apple.com/us/movie/splinters/id496625637facebook.com/splintersmoviesplintersmovie.comsplintersmovie.tumblr.comThe Grass Roots documentary is an extended version from upcoming filmmaker Beau Eastman. The documentary showcases not only a surf trip to amazing waves but also the positive ripple effects that surf tourism can have on the host community. Join Beau, World Surfaris boss, Shaun Levings and son Jai on the trip of a lifetime.PNGPhoto: PNG Surfaris Chris Peel. Rider: Andrew RigbyThe PNG Explorer is a live-aboard ship designed for surfing, fishing, diving, and general tourism in PNG. Its home port is Kavieng in the northeastern archipelago of New Ireland Province.Steve Arklay PhotographyYour hosts, Andrew and Jude Rigby, are committed to establishing PNG Surfaris as the best tourism live-aboard in the country through providing exceptional service, preserving a high safety standard and by promoting sustainable tourism which benefits local communities and has a low impact on the environment.Joel Coleman PhotographyFly into Kavieng then straight onto the air-conditioned comfort of the “PNG EXPLORER”, a 23m steel vessel kitted out with all mod cons and safety gear. Cruising along at a comfortable nine knots, the “PNG EXPLORER” and her crew will ensure you have the charter experience of a lifetime. Leaving Kavieng, your destination will be much further afield to the many islands and reefs still being explored for surf. There are many known breaks that you will visit but many more that we are yet to discover.Other options:Nusa Island Retreat is set on an idyllic point surrounded by a beautiful swimming beach teeming with marine life. It is the perfect choice for those seeking that elusive slice of paradise. The environmentally low impact retreat is within easy reach of Kavieng township (just two minutes by boat). At 2.5 degrees south of the equator, the perfect tropical weather will ensure a superb Melanesian holiday.Vanimo Surf Lodge has a range of surf breaks on the north coast of Papua New Guinea neighbouring Indonesia’s territory of Jayapura. The concept of the Vanimo Surf Lodge was born from friendly conversations between Andy Abel and David Ryan after a few early expeditions in the early 1990’s.Turpira Surf Club has access to up to seven uncrowded breaks and Ulingan Bay is one of the most consistent swell magnets in Papua New Guinea. Tupira Surf Club, Ulingan Bay is located approximately 180 kilometres north of Madang Town and approx. a 2 hour scenic drive from Madang Airport by sealed road along the beautiful north coast of Madang.Rubio Plantation offers basic traditional accommodation and a home-stay vibe. For the surf adventurer looking for a new location with guaranteed no crowds. This surf-rich east coast of New Ireland is unchartered by mainstream surfers and the potential for world class waves is endless.Source: http://www.sapng.com/Steve Arklay PhotographyA CALL OUT FOR DONATIONSThe battle that local surfers in PNG face in just finding/securing an old/new fibreglass surfboard to simply enjoy what we take for granted, is an ongoing challenge in the village communities as the sport evolves. The growth of SAPNG affiliated surf clubs in PNG in all divisions is inspiring the growth of the surfing culture and way of life and donations will help SAPNG to further expand its reach to established and yet to be established new surfing destinations in remote village communities. The donations will be distributed through SAPNG established networks.Photo: PNG Surfaris / Chris PeelFor most, Papua New Guinea is not a well-known destination for surfing, however, people have been surfing here for hundreds of years. New Ireland has become known to surfers only over the last 15 years, with the opening of Nusa Island Retreat who was the first to promote surfing and cater for travelling surfers in and around the Kavieng area.Steve Arklay PhotographyWhile many international surf destinations rapidly pass through stages of initial discovery and early years of limited exposure and exploitation; all too often the once pristine surf destination quickly becomes overexposed, overexploited and overcrowded. The magic is lost as the resort operators & tour operators quickly take control, resulting in overcrowding and over development with the primary goal becoming profit generation for the operators.Steve Arklay PhotographyFortunately, PNG has had the foresight to observe and identify the many shortcomings of over-commercialisation of surf resources in various other mainstream locations. The Association, its Clubs, Resource Communities and ultimately the commercial tour and service operators have necessarily aligned and agreed to the establishment of Surf Management Plans in order to promote sustainable growth of surf tourism in line with agreed expectations and benefits at each level of the PNG Surf movement.Photo: PNG Surfaris / Chris Peel | |
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If Tripadvisor & Insta had a crypto lovechild | Destinations and accommodations worldwide are often chosen by individuals based solely on websites and online reviews. However, there's a pressing need for a platform where travelers can exchange personal experiences and advise peers contemplating similar journeys. The opportunity remains ripe to address unreliable reviews by spotlighting endorsements from friends rather than anonymous internet users.Many continue to rely on apps like TripAdvisor and Instagram to explore novel locations. Over two decades, we've curated a list of the top thousand hotels and restaurants we aspire to visit. Our website, which exhibits these venues, has attracted a community of seventy thousand followers. While the authenticity of their fandom is debatable, their engagement with our content is apparent.If you're unsettled by how the algorithm incentivizes us to dance in the street like a monkey, completely cut off from reality and not caring where we are, then you'll want to jump into this conversation:Two gigabrains, one from web2 social, one from web3 crypto, talk about the future of ties between social and crypto. (video)Yet, when arriving at a thoroughly-researched destination, we're often overwhelmed by choices. Our fallback? Free apps like Google Maps or TripAdvisor. Recognizing the ad-based business model of these free tools, we understand that our data becomes their commodity. And while Instagram intensifies our FOMO with glamorous depictions of life, it fails to provide location-specific recommendations based on our and our followers' previous endorsements. The existing tools neither spotlight nearby attractions nor simplify the reservation process. After downloading numerous travel apps in search of this functionality, we found a gap.Embracing the web3 vision, we're crafting a mobile application, underpinned by the principles of privacy and user-centricity. It allows users to publish, explore, and share remarkable destinations as they 'Live The Life.' (GitHub Repo 2018)Your first React Native dApp | Solana Mobile DocsIn this tutorial, you’ll learn how to build a React Native dApp that sends a message to the Solana network.Solana Mobile7 years later Apple is still blocking web3 apps, so we may explore the Solana Mobile #SAGAJust as Netflix recommends movies, Amazon suggests products, and Spotify curates playlists, imagine a platform tuned into your preferences enough to advise on activities, destinations, and companionship? Enter Shaka Places: the premier, privacy-centric, location-based decentralized app that promotes enchanting locations while rewarding contributions across content, code, and design.Embedded within each upvote, like, star, or follow lies an underlying token system, allowing creators to actively partake in the platform's governance. Our mission? Software that is not just for the users but by them too.Position-dependent applications can prove that a customer has arrived at your restaurant or hotel so that the smart contract can trigger a reward.A decentralised application for users to:Never forget a place again. Save your favorite places on a digital map.Always know where to go. Users can discover their friends’ maps.Find a multitude of maps carefully made by our ambassadors.ProblemWhen you stumble upon something extraordinary or experience a memorable trip, sharing it with friends on social media is second nature. Yet, months down the line, if they venture to that same location, would they recall that amazing restaurant you raved about on Instagram? And even if it does ring a bell, would they know where to locate it?Social media rely on content creators for the value their platform provides, though they rarely receive rewards for it. SolutionRevolutionizing user experience, we prioritize content on your feed according to your present location. This offers a platform for travel enthusiasts to share their stories, aiding potential vacationers and simultaneously valuing contributors. Content creators could earn tokens relative to their contributions, such as the weekly likes on their photos. Each upvote is backed by an intrinsic token, ensuring that early adopters contributing to the app's growth also share in its success. Possession of these tokens not only bestows membership but also entitles participationIncentivise anyone using the app to travel to a location, and get rewarded for spending quality time and inspire friends to share the Good $VibesHow will potential users discover our platform? Our best marketing tools are a top-notch product complemented by satisfied customers and word-of-mouth endorsements. By harnessing the reach of existing social platforms for visibility and distribution, we aim to present a compelling value that encourages avid users to transition to our exclusive, premium community.What's the scope of the opportunity? We begin by tailoring maps for specific communities. Take, for instance, the global surfing sector, which encompasses travel and holds an annual market value of approximately $10 billion, engaging 50 million surfers. Our vision is to soon branch out to cater to various passionate communities, from skiing and yoga to wine enthusiasts and beyond.How can a token encapsulate value? While finding the optimal model will require continuous testing and refining, the true innovation of cryptocurrency networks lies in their capability to amplify network effects by letting users partake in the value they generate. As every new user or database entry joins our app, the platform's value intensifies for each user, triggering a cascading network effect. This offers us a distinct chance to channel that value back to its creators. When structured properly, the strategic distribution of a revenue stream can bolster these network effects, providing users with a tangible financial motivation to engage.The integrated wallet offers users a seamless journey, from navigation with turn-by-turn directions and travel guides to securing hotel accommodations. Beyond its utility for travel, the in-app wallet serves as a vault for storing and accumulating value. It facilitates fund transfers, enabling users to send money, exchange currencies, and even receive cash-back rewards for transactions made within the app. Furthermore, the app introduces a novel way of acknowledging content creators – for every "like", a token is automatically allocated to the creator. These tokens serve as gestures of gratitude, tools for curation, and mechanisms within bonding curves. Essential functions like logging in, session key authorization, and wallet restoration are safeguarded by a six-digit PIN. To ensure secure management of these tokens, each user is equipped with a Gnosis multi-sig on layer 2.NFTs are evolving into a dependable ledger of life's moments. Each destination you visit lets you obtain a distinct badge (NFT), anchored in cryptographic assurance. These aren't mere tokens; they pave the way for diverse experiences. By scanning QR code stickers, users can amass these badges, unlocking access to tailored events, activities, and exclusive perks. Essentially, these NFTs become a cryptographic testimony of your travels, blending prestige with tangible perks.Imagine enhancing location-based interactions. Recognizing when users enter or leave specific spots, facilitating personalized alerts, and immersive in-app experiences. Prompting them to explore suggested activities or offering timely promotions and insights as they step into top-rated venues. Our vision is to reward users for their physical presence at locations through geo-mining, letting businesses draw clientele, capture their interest, or engage them in intriguing tasks. It's a win-win: businesses only incur costs for actual visits, simplifying ROI metrics.Through our POL protocol, we're exploring realms like location-centric airdrops that prioritize user privacy. A user could validate their presence within a broad region without pinpointing their exact coordinates. Moreover, there's potential revenue for users who share data with establishments like eateries and hotels, all while retaining data sovereignty.The term "virtual" assets might sound intangible, but we aim to root these in palpable reality by mapping them onto real-world coordinates. Envision digital assets occupying space beside you, only waiting for your smartphone to bring them to life. The tangible nature of these spatially-bound digital assets holds immense promise.Our platform is designed with a reputation mechanism, factoring in temporal activities. Any geographical inconsistencies, such as impossibly quick travels, will impact a user's credibility score. While still in its nascent stage, we're aligned with BeraChain. Given that blockchains inherently can't tap into external data, smart contracts sometimes require external cues, like locational proofs. Oracles bridge this data gap.Price Feed Oracles & Market Data for Smart Contracts | Pyth NetworkPyth delivers real-time market data from institutions to smart contracts on any blockchain. Get reliable, accurate price data for your blockchain applications.Pyth NetworkThe landscape is bustling with startups championing decentralized Proof of Location solutions, rewarding user participation via crypto. While each has its methodology, a common thread is user privacy enhancement vis-a-vis conventional apps. Location-Based Services (LBSs) leverage geographic data, offering location-tailored functionalities. Our proposal presents an avant-garde method for verifiable proofs-of-location: digital attestations to one's spatial presence at specific moments. With blockchain at its heart, our decentralized P2P framework ensures locational authenticity, all while safeguarding user confidentiality.Compelling things that look and behave like web2 but are web3 underneath.Hivemapper: Global Map Data Powered by Dashcams and AIAccess our dynamic global map data: fresh street-level imagery, object-detection insights, and mapping solutions tailored for diverse applications.HivemapperLocation data infrastructure | Geofencing SDK and API | RadarThe leading geofencing platformRadarEngine: Open-Source Server for Scalable Web3 Apps | thirdwebA production-grade HTTP server to generate backend wallets on any EVM blockchain—with smart contracts, auth, gasless transactions, & managed infra. Get started.thirdwebIf we stick to the L2 approach with Arbitrum or Polygon, we may lean into the TW engine | |
Munga Boutique Guesthouse | Munga guesthouse is the perfect place to explore Taghazout and its surroundings. It’s beautifully designed with art and local materials. Salvaged wood is a common theme throughout the hotel. You can enjoy the different terraces, tea rooms, open spaces, a library, and a rooftop with a lounge pool. (Video)The guesthouse offers 15 unique suites. Breakfast is included for all rooms. The 35 square meters Mini-Suites are decorated in an African Moroccan fusion style and have their own balcony. 2 of them are hostel-style rooms, perfect for groups or singles. The larger Suites have a luxurious decoration with a terrace and mini-fridge. Some of them can have an extra bed to sleep a child or 3rd person. The Magnum Rooms are the most spacious and 100 square meters with a private outside living area. They are decorated in a more cozy, arty style. They can sleep 3 or 4 people and feel like a private beachfront apartment.The Favela Restaurant offers rooftop dining with a menu of homemade tapas, Mediterranean and Moroccan food. All dishes are freshly prepared and they offer vegetarian and vegan options plus delicious desserts. Munga’s Kitchen has a more relaxed setting at the lobby level. Decorated in a luxury beachy style, this is the place for lunch and dinner if you prefer healthy comfort food.Munga has its own surf academy where they teach and guide small groups of surfers of every level. They have a range of surf packages. And you can combine it with yoga and food options. If you prefer you can just book private yoga sessions with a certified instructor on the rooftop terrace.Other activities to enjoy locally are SUP, camel or horse riding, fishing or golfing. If you want to explore the region some more, you can book one of the day excursions.Munga guesthouse was built with passion and patience and is a beautiful Morrocan-designed boutique-style B&B. An ideal place to stay on your Taghazout holiday offering a comfortable and authentic experience. Taghazout Boutique Hotel: Munga Guesthouse, Taghazout MoroccoMunga Guesthouse & Boutique Hotel was built as a result of passion, patience and the product of hard work. Located in the surf town of TaghazoutMunga Guesthouse | |
From London to Sorake Beach. | It was time to go. The penance was done, the bitterness was over, and I wanted to go surfing again. In our squat in London, Dollis Hill, N3, 1996, there was talk of Indonesia, but Nias was beckoning.For perspective, the first surfers to discover the wave called Nias at Lagundri Bay was young Australian surf explorers Kevin Lovett, Peter Troy and John Giesel in 1975. Back then, they were the only visitors, a local family quickly built them a losman, and that was the beginning of the surfing settlement of Lagundri Bay. The village grew around surfing.It was an overnighter flight from London to Singapore, then a quick connecting flight from Singapore to Medan. With a backpack and a three-boards, board bag, I put my head down and strode confidently out of the airport.The temperature hit me at the same moment as a frenzied cluster of Indonesian men started bellowing. The humidity was a cuff by a wet blanket. Lonely Planet Guides were invaluable back then, but nothing can prepare for a bunch of seemingly aggressive foreigners shouting all at once in an incomprehensible language.All I needed was a taxi, and all they wanted was to offer me a taxi, but the language barrier was insurmountable.Eventually, a young Indonesian kid came and sat. We shared a cigarette. He indicated a lift in his dad's taxi to a friend's guesthouse, and I took it.The guesthouse was small but clean, and there were bottles of water and kopi, as well as an icy shower. The next day I climbed on a bus for a fun jaunt over Sumatra to the western port of Sibolga.After that, it was a day and a night and a day there in Sibolga. I was waiting for a ferry over to Nias, waiting for a ship to come in. A lurker was hanging around, who invited me to his house. At first glance, he seemed sly, but I trusted him immediately for some reason. It was the right call. He was cool, and he opened up his house and put on a Bollywood karate channel.There was no eating, just a few bottles of boiled water. The food was unrecognizable, and the risk of a stomach problem was lurking. I slept on the floor. The next day he put me on the ferry, destination Sorake.It was the wrong ferry, and I ended up at Gunungsitoli, to the north of Nias. Sorake Beach was in the south. A taxi offered transport, and we headed down south. It was drizzling, the road was shoddy, with crude bridges made out of logs and planks, and it took us four hours.On arrival at Lagundri Bay, it was clear that accommodation at Nias was never going to be a challenge. Losmens were littering the bay.The waves were small. I found my losman, and fell into the deepest of sleep. The next morning the waves were six-foot on the point, and there were a few guys out. It was a relaxed paddle out with hair dry through the keyhole, before gradually drifting over to the sweetest of takeoff spots.At six-foot, Nias is perfect, and a multitude of surfers got pitted several times. Drudging, as a construction labourer in London, had done little towards surf fitness and bravado. A wide swinger and a wobbly ride to the inside was my low-key debut in paradise.The next morning was small, and flawless two-footers waves were reeling down Kiddies Corner. Just what I needed to restore the fitness and to reignite the fire.Looking back at the bay from the lineup, the shoreline looked ancient, like it was from a history book. Smoke rose in tendrils from all the rickety losmans, small brown people walked the inside path along the shoreline, and it was business as usual at one of the greatest surf spots in Indonesia. I stayed for a full 2 months. | |
Bruce | If you have been to Jeffreys Bay South Africa, you cannot fail to hear stories of Bruce Gold `The Last of the Surfing Hippies` A tall skinny fellow dressed in baggy colourful clothing and a wooden staff in hand like a surfing Gandalf. He is as much a part of the scene at J-bay as the Aloe plants on the point and the `Clown Town` (as he refers to the pro tour) that takes over the town briefly every winter. He dropped out from Three years as a Policeman ( you had to be either in the Army or a policeman after school years) and moved to J-bay in his twenties to life as a hobo, surviving on oysters, selling shells or the generosity of others and hanging out with the other early surfers camping out in the dunes trying to avoid the rather conservative `Afrikaans` townsfolk that frowned upon pot smoking surf hippies. Bruce frowns upon the inevitable change that has come to J-bay over the decades but is known as a kind of unofficial mayor, friend to everyone including the pro surfers of which Bruce sent me a video of himself to say Hi and a wave to the camera from Kelly Slater that had come to visit him between events. He is still surfing everyday and can be instantly spotted in his Gath helmet straight lining it down the perfect waves at the point and throwing his arms in the air hooting like a grom. He has had several battles with skin cancer over the years but prefers to `cover up` than use toxic sun cream. He doesn`t eat sugar or fast foods but is partial to a bit of `Durban poison` and loves to tell a story or two after a couple of Ales. It is rumoured that he possesses in a box, the last of Miki Doras possessions that Miki told him never to open. Bruce has a few rare surfboards and his beloved spaniel `Scooter girl` but otherwise has lived most of his life outdoors or in derelict houses. These days he is crashing in a servants quarters of a friends house that looks over the entire bay and everyday that we spoke he would send me videos of the point with his commentary of the waves sounding as though it was the first time he had laid his eyes upon one of the best right hand points in the world. They don`t make them like Bruce Gold anymore. This is what Bruce had to say to Real Surfing Magazine. WHEN WAS YOUR FIRST SURF AND YOUR INFLUENCES?My first surf..mmm I was swimming and body surfing at four years old on those thin wooden 3 ft belly sliders with the nose turned up and we hired rubber lilos. The lifesavers back then had big hollow finless Hawaiian boards we called them. Father then bought a `Crocker` paddle ski for older brother Gavin and I. He would paddle and I would park in front. It was a Ten-foot wooden frame all covered in canvas and rather leaky I remember. In the mid 1950`s I would of been eight and the lifesavers acquired what we called a `trick board` that had a fin and could broadie the waves, I should have joined up sharp. I only got my own board at about fourteen in Durban. It was a long heavy wooden fellow, painted white with black rails and a skull and crossbones. I could have got a foam board but it had no skulls. I suppose those Kings Beach lifeys must have influenced us somewhat. Our Durban High School library used to get Surfer mag in the early sixties so there was enough influence. I was clueless as to who was surfing hot in Durban having just arrived back. Born in the area were we. S.A. Surfer magazine only came out later sixties. Have just obtained three of them. Cheers.TELL US OF THE EARLY DAYS AT JEFFERYS BAY?Came surfing end of 1968 on a 9'6" Safari board, no legropes, wetsuits or booties. Got cut up bad not amused really but we camped at the point at Jeffreys, toilets and cold showers provided were not even a Rand a night. Aussies and Kiwis had been camping in the dunes since about 1964. There was a marvellous Kiwi girl doing some sewing. A tar road only started in Ferrerra town just over a Km from the Point and there was the Beach Hotel and separate bottlestore and the Andora trading store. Jeffreys bay was 2 Kms up the drag and there was the Savoy Hotel, Ungerers Supermarket and Coetzees fish` n` chips plus one big cafe on the beachfront that only opened over the season. Legendary shell lady Tant Emma "Engeltjie" Wait also did home cooking from Smitties a bit later. Meantime back at the point named Noorsboom Point, we had just ascertained you could rent a caravan or half an old bus or park a kombi or tent it. Often there were enough players for two soccer sides. The townsfolk were not amused at all with Anzacs scooping the brown fisherfolks daughters. Acid was floating around and some strange stories. Some whiter blonder kids were on the main beach where the boats launched.`The Brotherhood of Eternal Light` was pitched up with `California Sunshine` Acid but none shined my way. Maybe having just left the police and my short back and sides hair and big ears gave my game away. Anyway long hair yoga in the dunes, chanting and fasting sure made an impression.Surfer Mike Kunz had a beautiful 7'6"Diffendirfer and a 5'6" Plastic Fantastic and a more casual surfer one would be lucky to see. Diff even rocked up at one point. In fact, I have Super 8 footage of that whole scene. Gold got more gold. Lots of glare.Yes, stories get better but early seventies used to duck to Durban for summers and drive taxis night beat and so I could spend longer and longer in j- bay in the winters. I was eventually surviving on oysters and recycling our vet friend's syringe bottles and filling them with mini shells. Still do a few and bottles have become smaller and shell micro but I keep most and find bottles in second hand shops.I got a barman job in the Beach Hotel early days still with short back and sides and the big ears and could speak Afrikaans having been a policeman for three years. Did I mention that? So I was definitely a bit of a peacemaker and the dune dwellers had returned overseas and locals were into the Surf Point camping spot. Beach Hotel had the snooker table and that was the spot every night. Interesting types pulling in. Bunker Spreckles opened a free bar from 4-6pm on his birthday, with cake and snacks. Owl Chapman looks me up and down and says "Do you surf" sort of incredulously. So I tried it out on Simon Anderson one time.Too many stories to mention but was nicely surprised to see Barry K. pull in. Anthony Michael Van Den Heuwel was our old longboard surfing hero and he ruled the roost, small as he was. Charisma a plenty though and intensity to spare. Even Miki Dora treated him carefully. Not that he didn`t style on shortboards as well. ANY TROUBLES BETWEEN LOCALS AND SURFERS?We are all natives here but the local fisherfolk are an amalgam of white and Khoi-San blood with more Xhosa over the years. Now there is a large Xhosa population and still rather segregated unless you can afford a sea view. No troubles really between surfers and local fisherfolk though. Lots of surfers became fisherfolk. There was plenty of racism everywhere and here we were most probably more tolerant than many places. We kinda have to be. They call me Jesus and my lord, lots of drunk car guards and bush sleepers thinking I am going to sponsor their habits. Rather very annoying at times and this is really a dirty little town now, litter everywhere, reticulation suspect and green slimy rocks where water streams runs down from the hills. No one testing as far as I know. HOW ABOUT MIKI DORA TURNING UP?Dora?...Hey, Meatball was here for years. Dave Rensin got quite a bit in his book. I helped him out in a lot of ways with accommodation and trying to get the young locals to respect the old geezer that was getting all the bombs on his big board. I avoided him the first month being somewhat in awe and he approached me on the street and was pretty charming with Scooter Boy, his runty King Charles Cavalier dog. He accused me of being the last of the purists and I intimated maybe he was not the Dora. He was very rude to people pointing cameras at him, however, a farmer friend Edward Godfrey had an early video recorder and we ended up on the buchu farm near Paarl. We did a few wine tastings with the recorder and a helluva surf trip to Elands Bay and Port Nolloth via the Namaqua daisy season. Miki scooped Edwards Cressida and a lady and took a drive up to Alexander Bay in search of the black diamonds. We were busy with the party-hearty. That`s in the Rensin book. I`m hoping the video footage I have is not too mouldy. Keep forgetting to check. It`s nearby at Seal Point. Was there yesterday. Sitting on quite a bit of the Dora detritus but Ed Godfrey has the Surfboard Mike Meyer shaped him still.YOU MUST HAVE SEEN SOME GREAT SURFING AT J BAY OVER THE YEARS?So many great surfers through here. Prefer guys on longer boards in proper waves like Joff Hoffman, a Saffa of old and Terry Simms on his Nine foot Cali gun. He left it with us. Lots liked Terry Fitzgerald and Simon Anderson and Johnathan Paarman the main Saffa bigwave hellman of olden days. Building majestic cats now with his brother Mark. Smoothest ever was Mike Kunz on his Diffendirfer. Never did see Tom Curren and Mason Ho link it all together. Saw his father as well that time. Enough now, Shaun Tomson looked O.K too on bigger waves, weaving all over, winding up for his bottom turn and his cousin Michael an even stronger surfer. They had fun while I was running for my like. Supers name is Noorskloof Point. Noorsboom is a tree that looks like a Vikings horns. WHAT ABOUT TECHNOLOGY?Technology. See the waves, they trying to finish the lunatic fringe waste of resources in. I feel guilty charging my I-pad and getting in a motor car. Really enjoying surfing the bicycle. Spose sending me a few back issues of your magazine for our museum here won't take too much energy, say what?IF YOU HAD A TIME MACHINE WHERE WOULD YOU GO?Time machine…The far future to this or that planet where philosurfers tread with slow measured steps, surf likewise and there is no electricity.Interview by Steven Halpin of real surfing magazine Cornwall | |
Dramatic jungle-covered hills | Imagine hearing the sound of the waves crashing on a pure white beach, from the privacy of your own piece of paradise? Imagine feeling the sea breeze and using the views on as a perfect indication of swell size, tide and wind direction. Imagine not needing binoculars to spot the whales. Imagine a 5-minute drive down the hill and check out the surf beaches up close. Santiago Hills Villa is the real deal.Santiago Hills Villa www.airbnb.comAt the end of the road, at Pavones, I remember vividly, reading a sign that said: "dream it, see it, live it". Talk about a trip to memory lane, it's been twenty years. Today, the images you are seeing are from a couple of good friend of us. They no doubt got inspired by one of our very first blog posts. It was followed by an article about Studio Sax, and their award winning architecture in Costa Rica, showcasing the "floating house" in Santa Teresa. Well, these friends are now living the dream, they bought a slice of paradise, hired Benjamin Garcia Saxe and with some blood, sweat and tears created a stunning villa in an area known as Santiago Hills. It’s such a short drive to Playa Hermosa that it’s inevitable that many people will buy or move here. And like the other small towns in the hills above the beach towns, the air is less humid and so it’s more “fresco” for living. The community in this area is young, close and very international. The area’s residents make a living running tourism ventures and real estate companies. The schedules are set by the surf. Santiago Hills Villa www.airbnb.comGenerally, the profiles of people interested in buying in this area break down into two categories: the investor looking for land to develop; and people looking for a second or third home. And for good reason, it is not only one of the most beautiful places in Costa Rica, but one of the most beautiful in the whole world. Imagine perfect beaches with coconut palms, almond trees, and ancient pochotes, backed by dramatic jungle-covered hills. The water is warm all year, and the jungles are filled with an amazing variety of animals: monkeys, parrots and other birds, iguanas, and even the occasional anteater.In the 1960’s a few foreigners discovered Montezuma, and moved there, before there were cars or electricity. Travel was done on horseback. Life was harder, but worth it. Over the decades, the area was “discovered” and hundreds of people moved there from all over the world, especially Italy, Argentina, Germany, Canada, and the United States. It became known as a secret hideaway for movie stars, musicians, artists and creative people of all types.Before travel to Costa Rica was common, it had already become a world famous hotspot for tourists “in the know” about the best places on earth. In the last twenty years, this area became the next great destination, and has since outgrown its sidekick status to places like Tamarindo up North, becoming a major destination of its own, now with far more hotels and restaurants. It’s no wonder that the Puntarenas Province has experienced rapidly escalating real estate prices. | |
A Decent Wave Count In Hawaii? | The North Shore of Oahu in Hawaii is a crowded place. Being one of the best surf destinations in the world, home to a handful of world champions, and venue for a list of Championship Tour and Qualifying Series events, it's going to be packed out.Hawaii is seasonal though, and it's the wintertime of November – January that sees the visitors pour through the Honolulu airport and head through the pineapple fields for the North Shore.It is always packed, every day, along the entire 7-mile stretch, but there are a few ways to get a couple of waves on a day-to-day basis and beat the crowds.Firstly, you can hit the Dawn Patrols in the hope of getting a few before the masses arrive. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but as long as you don't choose the highest-profile spots, then you do have a chance of getting a few bombs under the belt before it's packed.Pipeline and Sunset are always busy in the dawn, and if the tide is right, then V-Land will never have a window of uncrowded conditions. Still, sometimes you can get lucky at Rocky Point, and other times you can score at waves like Laniakea or Chuns without a soul in the water.If you're feeling really confident you can always paddle out at Sunset in the dark. Several other things could go wrong out there though, like getting mowed down by west peak in the dark, which will give you the biggest wake-up call you will ever experience.Morgan Maasen Prints / InstagramYou can also surf the Second Tier waves, and you will be guaranteed of getting a fair share and a decent wave count. Pinballs is the little wave that hugs the rocks at Waimea Bay on a small swell. It's not very good, but you can do a few turns and have some fun. Leftovers is a fun, double-up left that you will find on the way from Waimea towards Haleiwa. It's not a great wave by any means, but you can catch lots of them and have fun out there.Backyards is the section of reef around the corner from Sunset Point, and it is a great wave that reels and spins towards Sunset proper. It does shift and swing a bit, but if you get a good one here, it can be quite a thrill. Jocko's is one of the better uncrowded waves, but it's not the crowds that get you, it's the rip, sucking you deeper and deeper into the takeoff zone.If the North Shore is just too much, then you might need to think about Heading West. You could try a few of the outside reefs in the vicinity of Haleiwa, but they are quite well known and the only way you're going to get lucky is on the in-between size swells that don't interest the locals.Heading on past Haleiwa and carrying on towards Kaena Point, there is Army Beach, and several secret and semi-secret spots, including a pretty good left-hand reef – point set up that is really good, with an easy paddle-outs and no one around.Turtle Bay Resort If you're travelling with any surf of decent budget and happen to be staying at the Turtle Bay Resort, then you have some waves right in front of you that are never going to get crowded but are also never going to get very good.The primary wave is called Pool Bars, a wave that forever backs off. Still, if you know your conditions, there is a rockpile on the east side of the resort with lefts breaking around the corner, and there is a right-hand point-break that is almost accessible by foot but in a private zone, run by some people who don't really like visitors. Over to you.Turtle Bay Resort 57-091 Kamehameha HighwayKahuku, HI 96731Main: (866) 475-2569 | |
Surfing In The Land Of The Vikings | Norway, the land of the midnight sun, home of aurora borealis, snus, fata morgana and the Nisse and the Tomte. Norway has so much to offer when it comes to surfing, and the Lofoten Islands are a place of unparalleled beauty and wonder.Lofoten Masters. Photo: Red BullIt's hard to get to Lofoten if you're coming for a visit, with many planes to catch and quite a bit of driving, but it is a fantastic place and well worth the effort to get there.Surfed for the first time by Norwegian surfers many years ago, the Lofoten region was revealed by a Surfer Magazine article in the '80s, where they pinpointed the wave known as Valhalla.Still, they didn't really score any waves to speak of. Long before their accurate swell forecasters knew anything about it, surf trips were planned months in advance, and the surfers were just reliant on the whims of nature.Nowadays surf travel has evolved to a fine art. There is very little doubt involved, and a strike mission usually turns out well. The swells can be seen weeks in advance, and the winds as well. If you see something coming, you can time it to get to your destination as the first edges of a new swell start arriving. There is very little need for guesswork or impulsiveness. Some people call this an improvement, but that is subjective.These days there is no one hanging around Lofoten on the off chance of a surprise swell, and when the forecasts look good, then the surfers arrive, move into local accommodation, and wait for the swell to come.There are two excellent waves at Unstadt, and many more in the close vicinity, but surfing in Norway is not as easy as you would think.The water is cold. There is no getting around it. The surf only comes with bad weather, and there is very little chance of surfing at any of the spots unless you're in cutting-edge wetsuits, boots, gloves and hood. You need a slightly thicker board to accommodate all the rubber and an excellent attitude to dealing with the cold. Maybe a little bottle of sherry, or rum.Chris Burkard PrintsThe waves in Lofoten are of good to excellent quality. The sight of Valhalla reeling down the point, with snow-covered mountains in the background, is a sight to behold. The wave is long, it is perfect, and there are barrel sections on the inside. It's not heavy, and you can pick up a few bombs even if you're not a pro surfer.The left on the other side of the bay is also a classic wave and has moments when it gets really good, reeling across the outside reef with high-performance walls and the odd barrel.Unstadveien 105 8360 Unstad, Nordland, Norway. e-Mail / Facebook / Booking / +47 970 61 201Even though it is a clinical process to get waves at Unstadt, it still feels like quite an adventure, and when you approach the area, check out the wild countryside with huge mountains, icy lakes, and cliffs running into the sea you realise how wild it must have been all those years ago.There is a rebuilt longboat in the vicinity, made from the remains of a genuine longboat wreck. It has been turned into a banquet hall or party venue. Walking around it makes you think back to another time, to a time when Vikings walked the earth, and when life was short and ephemeral.As visitors to Norway, we are incredibly privileged to able to cover such massive distances on a whim, in search for waves, and we are even more privileged as surfers to be able to paddle out and have fun riding some Norwegian waves. We should, as surfers, be grateful for what we have, every day. | |
Far From The Madding Crowd | It is a beautiful family destination with some great waves, but going surfing in Mauritius takes a whole different approach to get your fair share of waves.There is a crew of surfers in Mauritius that don't let you surf if you're not a local. They are heavy-handed and brutal, and the authorities look the other way. It's well-known, and no one does a thing about it, so the best way to have fun with your family and still get a few waves on the island is to avoid any conflict. There are many waves on the island, and although the hotspot is Tamarin, there are enough waves for everyone to get their fair share.Photo by Guillaume BaudusseauThe water is warm, and the winds blow predominantly from the south-east – the trades – so the whole west coast is a good zone for surfing, as well as kiteboarding.To find the best waves on most swells, you need to be On The Peninsula, down in Le Morne. There are several options down there, from the barreling fun of One Eyes to the extended paddling mission of L'Ambulant, to some fun little double-ups that need a little bit less wind. If you're into it, and you know what you're looking for, some big right-handers work before the wind comes up, and there is a great beginner wave that you can see directly from the One Eyes car park.Photo by Boris BaldingerIt can still get a little tense at One Eyes, so it is suggested to you don't surf there on the weekends if it is looking excellent, and rather go and surf a little further down that long, winding reef.When the wind puffs from the north, then you must head Down South as there is a veritable wonderland of options at the bottom of the island. There are, in fact, the best options on the whole island down south, but it is totally ripped apart by the trade winds for most of the season.Most of the south end waves are based around a geographic anomaly called Mushroom Rock, with a few reefs and point-type waves in the vicinity, but the best waves are elsewhere, somewhere between Le Morne and Maconde, and you do need a boat to get to the best of them.Photo by Guillaume BaudusseauThe best thing about the waves in the south is that they do not get frequented by the bullies who hang out at Tamarin. (drone footage)When you're looking for quality waves on giant swells, then you need to think about Skirting the Upper Regions, as there are a bunch of secret and semi-secret waves around the Balaclava Bay area. They are rare, and they do need very specific swells and tides, but if you find them and give it a go you will find that the surfers are friendly and embracing of visitors, and the waves are so uncrowded that you will be stoked to be surfing with anyone. The waves further up the west coast are not as perfect as the waves around Tamarin and Le Morne, but they make up for it in wave count and having so much fun as opposed to having to watch your back every step of the way.Photo by Dan FreemanThe zen of surfing in Mauritius is that you don't usually go there for a pure surf trip. There are better places to go to with guaranteed waves. If you do go to Mauritius for any reason, then just bring your board along, only in case. You never know what you might discover right in front of you.Photos by LiveTheLifeTVHere's a couple places near Le Morne that stand out to live the Mauritius lifeKozy Le Morne / LUX* Le Morne Resort / Paradis Beachcomber Golf Resort & Spa / Dinarobin Beachcomber Golf Resort & Spa / Villa Cambier by StayMauritius / The St Regis Mauritius Resort / Happy Days Guest House / | |
Coming Soon. Web3 Documentary | The evidence of dramatic change is all around us and it’s happening at exponential speed. Previous industrial revolutions liberated humankind from animal power, made mass production possible, and brought digital capabilities to billions of people. This Fourth Industrial Revolution is, however, fundamentally different. It is characterized by a range of new technologies that are fusing the physical, digital, and biological worlds, impacting all disciplines, economies, and industries.Images: LiveTheLifeTVTravel IndustryThe travel industry relies upon different companies passing information between one another. For example, travel agents need to pass customer details on to flight companies and hotels, while the personal belongings of travelers are often passed between companies and tracked too. Blockchain can make accessing and storing important information easier and more reliable because responsibility for storing it is shared across the whole network. Of course, financial transactions are a vital part of the travel industry too, and blockchain technology has the capacity to not only simplify but also secure payments. This is especially true when dealing with overseas payments. As a consequence of this, blockchain has the potential to improve the level of trust among all parties. Several startups are bringing blockchain-based loyalty tokens to the market, with the idea that it will make it easier for customers to transfer and trade the value in their vouchers. Customers can choose to invest their earned value in what they need right now, rather than what they have previously spent money on. Overall this will lead to happier and more satisfied customers.Real EstateTo ensure trust, a lot of paperwork needs to be checked and managed by multiple entities, including government agencies, banks, and so on! When it comes to blockchain, you do not have to deal with so many intermediaries. It is a trustless platform. This means that you know what you are doing and what you are getting into. You can verify the owner of a property before making the deal. The agreements are transparent and are tamper-proof. With blockchain, real estate can see many changes, including bringing in a more efficient process with the help of automation. With proper tokenizations, real-world assets can be stored and traded on the blockchain. Tokenization also means that other kinds of information can be stored online, including real estate funds.Final ThoughtsI’m optimistic. It feels a lot like the early ’90s to me. You’ve got all the smartest venture capitalists, programmers, business executives, entrepreneurs all over this thing. That’s always a sign that something big is going on. Is it an irrational exuberance? Is this worth making a documentary? | |
Interview Q&A | Introduce the subject, her/his history, and the background of our piece. The introduction should reflect on the article in general, and it should also frame the interviewee in some way.Warming Up Where are you based now?How would your friends describe you?What drives you to do what you do?What do you really wantWhat have you always wanted? Did you ever get it?AgingWhat age do you feel right now and why?Getting old, how does that fit as a surfer?If you could be any age for a week, what age would that be?If you could retire tomorrow, what would you do?StuffWhat is your favourite thing to spend money on?If you could keep only 5 possessions what would they be?FearName the most terrifying moment of your life so far.DeathIf you could bring any person back to life, who would it be?What do you want your tombstone to say?If you had one week to live, how would you live it?TravelWhich of the four seasons do you most love?Worst vacation? Best vacation?What’s your all-time favorite city?MemoriesWhat is your best childhood memory?What do you feel most proud of?HighlightsWhat was one of your most defining moments in life?Time MachineIf you could witness any event of the past or future, what would it be?Food & DrinksGin, beer or wine?WebTVWhat’s the best thing you have ever watched on TV / Netflix?Is there docu that changed the way you thought about something?PerfectionWhat does a perfect day look like to you?HomeWhat did you love most about the place you grew up?PleasureName a guilty pleasure you enjoy too much to give up.MoneyHow would you spend a million dollars?When was the last time you really pushed yourself to your physical limits?Do you believe ignorance is bliss? Why or why not?What do you consider unforgivable?If you could change one law, what would it be?If you could speak another language, which would it be and why?If you could time travel, would you go to the past or the future?What makes you the happiest?What is “home” to you?Explore a new planet or the deepest parts of the ocean?What makes you cry?If you could use technology to do one thing, what would it be?If you could have the answer to any question, what question would it be?What are you most grateful for?What words of wisdom would you pass onto your childhood self?If money was no object, what would you do all day?Where do you most want to travel, but have never been?CreativityIf you were to create a piece of art, what would the subject be?What are the things that make you really happy?What’s the best decision you have ever made?What’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever done?What do you think would be one of the best steps to end poverty?What do you think we could do to best improve the education system?What are your top 5 favourite apps?What is something you tried but will never do again?What is the one place in the world you wish you lived in?How could you make this world a better place?What is the best piece of advice you’ve been given?What music are you listening to right now?What is the best question anyone has ever asked you?At what age did you get interested in the surf culture?How did it suck you in?Where did you grow up and fine-tune your wave riding?Is there anything you miss when away from home?What have been your go-to crafts lately?What contributed to the decision to live life in…?Why do you think surfing sparks your creativity?Surfing has become a focal point in your lifestyle. How do you balance surfing with running your own business? What are some of the things you do to maintain the balance between work, family, and fun?What’s your favourite part of your work?Why did you want to start your own business?What have you found to be most difficult for your young business, developing the product or getting the word out about it?Who is your intended audience and consumer?Challenges to producing your products in a sustainable manner?Do you focus on healthy eating? Are you into yoga or meditation?Why do you think there is a growing trend of nostalgia in surfing? What was at the heart of surfing in youth that the newer generation of surfers should focus on? What was going on back then that we should steer clear of?What about some of the difficulties you’ve had to overcome?What do you find yourself enjoying most these days? How have your interests changed and evolved over time?Can you start off by telling us a little about the genesis of your career?Tell us a little bit about your creative background.For all of the aspiring creatives out there, could you offer some tips on how to make it as a freelancer in the outdoor world?Where do you look for inspiration?Any common themes that run through your art?What compels you to share and create?What are you hoping to accomplish?What prompted you to make a movie?What is your creative process like?What filmmakers inspire you most?What equipment and editing software do you use?Do find yourself shooting a mix of stills and video?What are the similarities between photography and video?What advice do you have for photographers?When composing a shot, what is it you are looking for?What’s playing in your iTunes?Do you have any particular project that you are most proud of up to this point in your life?Anything in the pipeline that is getting you excited that we should be getting excited about as well?What sorts of projects do you have in store for the future?If you could travel through time where would you go?If you could sail anywhere, where would it be and why?What is so far the best surf session in your travels?What is the most difficult thing about coming back home?What are your five most favorite travel destinations? Why?Can you tell us a memorable experience that you recall?Any place that is high on your to-explore-list? Why?Destinations where you would not revisit? Why?What is the next adventure for you?A spot where you instantly felt at home?A spot where you have your biggest culture shock?Emotions What makes you laugh?What can make you cry?What can make you really angry?Eye CatchersWhat’s the most interesting thing you’ve read or seen recently?How do you see the future…?What environmental message you would like to transmit?Do you think we can still save the planet?What do you see as the key to the future of a happy world?The best compliment you have ever received?Any parting wisdom? Anything you want to put on the record?Now wrap things up with your conclusion. It often alludes back to the introduction or some interesting part of the interview. You can also use it to give a look ahead to the interviewee's future plans. | |
EOS captures the voice of surfing | The Encyclopedia of Surfing (EOS) is the greatest collection of surf matter on the planet. A gigantic aqua-blue-tinged mass of history, culture, and commentary. Imagine your local library packed floor to ceiling with surf-related books, magazines, newspapers, photos, movies, TV shows and documentaries. There's a friendly reference librarian to help find anything you’re looking for. Want some history on your local break? Check out EOS. Winners from yesterday’s big contest? Got it right here. Wondering if Gerry Lopez was really all that cool and suave at Pipeline back in the day? Check the footage. And yes he was.BACKSTORY: Harcourt published the Encyclopedia of Surfing in 2003. Sixteen-hundred A-to-Z entries. Half-million words. It’s the biggest, best-reviewed, most-respected book ever written on the sport. EOS is now the industry standard reference work on surfing. It’s been cited not just in every surf magazine and website, but in Outside, Rolling Stone, Men’s Journal, and the New York Times.All great. Except reference books are dead in the water.GOING DIGITAL: The EOS site is like the book, except reborn for the digital age. A zillion photos, video clips, and links. Fully searchable. Updated constantly. All the archive material, plus a rundown on what’s happening in surfing right now. The site is already designed, and it’s off-the-chart awesome. Clean as a whistle. Fast and functional. No exclamation points. No ads. All of the text from the book is now updated and loaded into the site. New entries are being written. Photos and video clips are right now being scanned, edited, logged, and tagged. It is a subscription-only service. Three bucks. Less than a latte. No ads . . . like zero fucking ads. Be gone, corporate logos and banners and popups! Fully viewer supported, and it is an active, happy, well-stoked community of viewers indeed.Matt Warshaw grew up in Southern California. In the ’70s he was on the Zephyr surf team. In the ’80s he was a second-rate pro surfer, then later became editor of SURFER magazine. In the ’90s he freelanced articles to the Wall Street Journal, Esquire, the New York Times, Outside, and Interview. Cover Image: Chris BurkardSurf Splendor - 295 - Matt WarshawFather, husband, surf historian, Matt Warshaw chats about how to nurse the bruising of online commenters, the virtues of quitting surfing, pays tributes to surf’s little known stories, and he outlines a grander EOS. Enjoy!Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesGoogle PodcastsDavid Lee ScalesSurf Splendor - 197 – Matt Warshaw: The Encyclopedia of SurfingIn today’s episode we Wax On with Matt Warshaw. Matt tells us his origin story, what compelled him to chronicle surfing’s history, the value of distancing one’s self from the act of surfing, while he gave away all his surfboards, and what’s next for the Encyclopedia of Surfing. Enjoy! Support the En…Google PodcastsDavid Lee Scales | |
Ireland and the Litmus Test | When the inimitable Litmus movie came out in 1996, there was a small section of Joel Fitzgerald charging a deathly left-hand slab called Pmpa. That's what sent us scurrying on our way. We wanted to discover precisely what was going on in the little coastal village of Bundoran.A cold, bewitching place that will keep you coming back for more.It was a good 25 years ago, and no one had ever really done the surf exploration to Ireland and scored, but we were excited and had a small budget from an American magazine to go and explore, surf and take photos.We spotted a severe storm, on the way, and made our plans to head on out and get to Bundoran, to see what it was all about. It didn't take us too long, to get there, but while on route the temperature started dropping out.We were still ahead of the weather when we finally arrived in Bundoran, but there was a tremendous amount of things on the go, and there was a load of preparation. We found our accommodation and went out to do the local recce. The Peak at Bundoran was flat, the little right-hander was breaking on a dry reef, and the only spot that had any wave was ab enjoyable little wedge called Tullan.Unfortunately, some of our crew had a few puffs of a local spliff, and it was too powerful for them. They were in no condition to jump off the rocks. They sat, perched like monkeys, watching us surf as the sun made myriad little colour speckles and rainbows and such stuff, no doubt. We got a few waves, and it was pleasant, but we wasted quite a bit of our time observing the crew on the rocks and worrying that they were going to wobble off and fall in the drink.Talking of drink, we headed straight to the local Bundoran pub afterwards to wash it all down with a pint or two of Guinness. It started drizzling, and we were told of the wonderful saying, 'If it's not raining in Ireland, it's about to rain.'The weather hammered down that night, and the following morning The Peak had six-foot sets, and we were all over it. Although a perfect looking wave, The Peak is quite complicated to surf, with a few people and some shut-down sections. The tide was a tad low, and the rights weren't happening. All the action was unfolding on the lefts.We could recognise some fearsome-looking left grinding away in the background, with no takers. It looked too shallow to ride. A local told us that it was Pmpa, one of the reasons for us being there.The following morning, we found ourselves on the freezing ground in front of a serious-looking left-hander, and we were on it. We all had a few waves, some barrels and a treacherous paddle-in. It was exhilarating, and the barrels were deep and shallow. It was an excellent start to the day.That afternoon the wind appeared. It started to whistle through the village and rattle every house and every glass inside the pub. The swell started building along with it. By late afternoon it was maxing, with all the regular surf spots just washing through the channels.A local lad took us to have a look at the local castle. Mullaghmore Castle sits on a prominent headland, and it was where Lord Mountbatten died when the IRA bombed his lobster boat.At the time we stood on the grass, watching these giant waves ricocheting off a ledge. It was enormous, legitimate big waves, and little did we all know back then that we were all staring at Mullaghmore, the most prominent Irish big wave spot.It would take a few years for the locals to get jetskis in the water and tow a few waves, and the rest is history.Affordable room, overlooking Donegal Bay? TurfnSurf Lodge in Bundoran!Want to live in a bubble? Check Finn Lough. It is a low-key, luxury hideaway. A place to escape life’s incessant beat and spend time on your own terms. Relax and rejuvenate in the spa; explore and discover the forest and lake; eat and drink authentic quality. Facebook / Online Booking / eMail/ call +44 28 6838 0360 | |
Heading Down South In Chile | We went searching for a wave that would handle the big, clean south-westerly swell. We had heard of a wave up north, and so we drove. The spot was a skunk. The boys went running the cliff, but I slept in the car. When we were driving away, out of the little dust road, another surf vehicle came tearing past us like a bat out of hell.They were driving way too fast for it to be normal on the narrow dust roads, and the dust cloud was smothering us. Our driver couldn't see much and had to hold back for visibility. We went back into cruise mode, came around a corner and there they were, sitting in their shiny 4x4, waiting in front of a gate. We cruised past slowly.Once we had driven past them and around the corner, we stopped to discuss tactics.We waited for five minutes, turned around and headed back. They were gone. So we pondered in the car for a while. The Kiwi among us got out to check the gate. It was open. We looked at each other. We had been warned over and over again not to go onto private property. The stories and rumours that abound down in the far south, of cowboys and shotguns and hard black magic, had made us all nervous and wary of venturing off the beaten track. However, it took us a unanimous split-second and a few grins to decide to go in.We headed down the track, nervous but so excited. We went over a rickety little bridge and came to another gate.'Here's where it ends," some pessimist said. I got out and tried the gate. It was open. We were fully committed and ventured through, closing the gate behind us.The track got rougher and more convoluted. Some steep sections, loads of loose gravel, and at the top of one particularly steep section we came to another gate. Our hearts sank. Here we were deep in private property, and the odds of this gate been open were slim. We tried it, and it yielded. The gods were with us. The track took a radically steep downhill, as it headed from a height back down to sea level. We rounded the corner, and the road was just way too steep downhill even to attempt. So we pulled over. Climbed the edge of the track, and came to a vast field. We all set out across the field at a trot. Rough ground, our pace was slow. We got to the far side to find ourselves at the edge of a significant, vegetation-rich drop. Below us was an empty bay.There was a flat beach, with a couple of cows grazing. Jutting out into the windy ocean was a headland, and reeling off the cape, over a super shallow bank, was a flawless left-hand barrel. The first one we saw just spat rudely as we watched in shocked silence. Another set racked up on the outside. From our vantage we could see the swell bending and refracting off outside rocks, connecting off the headland and reeling down over the bank relentlessly towards the beach. As we watched, the guys who had been waiting at the gate cruised across the beach. We all instinctively ducked behind the bushes and shrubs. So it wasn't a secret spot, but it sure wasn't well known. We sat and watched for maybe half-an-hour, weighing up the odds. Go down, show the guys we have found the spot, piss them off properly and get barrelled, or come back another day when they had gone, and we would for sure have it to ourselves without the pressure. We bailed, elated and bummed at the same time.On the way out we spotted another gate, leading into another field further up the coast, and made some mental notes.We returned two days later. The locals had left, the wave was terrible. The howling wind had ripped the guts out of it. We headed off for the 'new gate.'It too was open, so we headed in. The field was full of sheep. We felt it necessary to shield the Kiwis eyes from the field of frolicking temptation. Five people found it funny, and one didn't. So it was funny.The track came to an abrupt end at the top of a very steep downhill. We climbed out and ran down, incensed by a chance that there might be more waves. Then we came upon The Place. A perfect left was spiralling off yet another headland in front of a semi-deserted village. We were on it, and put on our wetsuits and ran down. The dogs in the town went crazy, some old couple came out and were full of smiles and Old Spanish phrases, and escorted us through the village and to the beach. Small, with deserted buildings, three black pigs, a few cows and loads of little dogs, and a perfect, empty left.Finding a new spot, whether it exists in other surfers' minds or not, is like the first time you get barrelled – a mammoth progression of a surfers' soul. Little Pumpkins was yet another perfect left in the land of perfect lefts.Stylish surf lodge Hotel Alaia is perched amid the dunes at Punta de LobosThe skatepark at the hotel’s entrance, the big, colorful surfboards in the lobby, the small in-hotel Patagonia store, and the view from every guestroom window all attest to the inspiration behind Hotel Alaia. The 12-suite property puts guests just moments from one of the country’s top surf spots—a picturesque stretch of coastline and natural wonder in itself—as well as being a celebration of all things Chilean.Online Booking / eMail / Instagram / Another top pick is Lodge del Mar | |
Peru. Longest Wave in the World? | Chicama is a surfers paradise. Waves can carry you as far as 2 km. The left hander at Chicama is the Queen of Peru’s northern region. Cristobal Col, a local surfing star, established a Guinness record for longest distance ridden on a wave. The young Peruvian surfer rode for 2 minutes and 20 seconds. And that’s not all Chicama is about. There are more waves in the area, many of which have identical characteristics. Almost all of them are relatively crowd free. You can be sure that in this part of Peru the average distance ridden will easily be three or four digits by the end of your trip.What more could you ask? All this is complemented by the impressive background of the Andes mountain range and the tropical rainforest. Puerto Chicama is most consistent during South America’s winter months from March to October. The wave works best when south or southwest swells move north towards the coast of Peru, sorting into corduroy rows before wrapping around the southern jaw of the bay.Chicama Hotel. Official Site / Facebook / +51 1 4406040The proper name for Chicama is Puerto Malabrigo. The actual distance between the furthest take-off point and the fishing jetty where the wave ends is 4000 meters, although to be fair no one has actually ridden it for that distance. Staying in one spot requires treadmill like persistence. On good days most people end up catching different waves on a journey down the point, surfing through a couple well defined breaks: Malpaso, Keys, El Point, and El Hombre. Surfers use the constant current to drift down to the next take-off point. Some avoid the pain by hiring zodiacs. Everyone else fights as long as they can to catch a wave, then they wash up on shore to take a 30-minute walk back to their break of choice.AC Hotel by Marriott Lima Miraflores. A great choice for travellers interested in gourmet food.It’s a long way from Lima to Chicama. Young dirtbags might want to bus it, older travellers with less time and more money might opt to fly to Trujillo and hire a car from there. Either way, you usually end up spending at least one night in Lima. The area around the airport is pretty sketchy. To avoid it, plan ahead to get a safe ride to a good night's rest before catching a flight to Trujillo.Miraflores, LimaGet the celebrity treatment with world-class service at AC Hotel by Marriott Lima Miraflores. Rates start at 132€ Booking / Official Site / +51 1 5969480If you’re an intermediate surfer, you’ll probably be heading straight to Chicama. Chicama Boutique Hotel. Official Site / Facebook / +51 1 4406040If you want to find the biggest, fastest, and best ones, chase the swell; otherwise, just head to Pacasmayo. Locals make rad little fishing boats called caballito de totora. They’ve used these to break through the waves for about 2,500 years. They claim original surfer status, and they deserve it. Pacasmayo is always bigger than Chicama. It can hold much more size and doesn’t have gaps in between peaks. Many claim it’s a longer wave.Puemape. La Huaca. Pacasmayo, Peru. BookingFacing the sea, with a large terrace and a privileged view of the surfpoint. Stairway to the beach. Built in mud, wood and cane. Rustic and cozy design. AirbnbCover Shot: Machu Picchu is located about 795 miles (1280 km) southeast of the capital city of Lima. Today, a 70-mile (113-kilometer) train ride connects travelers to Machu Picchu from the city of Cusco. By far the fastest way to get to Cusco is by plane. The flights take 1 hour 15 minutes approx. Book Flights at LATAM.The 15th-century Inca citadel is located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru, on a 2,430-metre mountain ridge. Embedded within a dramatic landscape at the meeting point between the Peruvian Andes and the Amazon Basin, the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu is among the greatest artistic, architectural and land use achievements anywhere and the most tangible legacy of the Inca civilization.The approximately 200 structures making up this outstanding religious, ceremonial, astronomical and agricultural centre are set on a steep ridge, crisscrossed by stone terraces. Following a rigorous plan, the city is divided into a lower and upper part, separating the farming from residential areas, with a large square between the two. To this day, many of Machu Picchu’s mysteries remain unresolved, including the exact role it may have played in the Incas’ sophisticated understanding of astronomy and domestication of wild plant species. | |
How To Handle The Supercrowd | The first ever event that the WSL ran, as part of their new ownership of the sport of surfing, was the 2014 Quiksilver Pro and Roxy Pro Gold Coast. During the opening days of that event the surf turned on, with excellent, barreling four to five foot gems peeling down Snapper and the Superbank. Then a very surprising but positive decision was made – the WSL sent the girls out, in what was actually looking like the best day of the waiting period.Photo by Veri F.It was awesome, but while Carissa was surfing out of her skin, a mounting crew of the best male surfers in the world and their best friends felt thwarted, and were frothing for the waves they felt entitled to. When the final heat of the day was over, the lineup turned into pure chaos. I paddled out, simultaneously with 20 others, and there were four or five deep rows of surfers behind me - girls, longboarders, professionals, groms and locals, all clogging up the gulley.Photo by Manny MorenoI hung at the top for about 3 seconds, before heading down the point, ending up in the middle of Rainbow Bay. There were hundreds of us out there. A head count from the judging tower that afternoon put it at an estimated 600 surfers in the water from behind the rock to the middle of Greenmount, with streams more doing the run around. It was hard to count though, as the whole crowd from entry to exit had become an infinite loop.A big set came through and Slater was on it. I needed to paddle out, to get out of his way, but there was no way I could move. I was totally hemmed in. Eventually, on my insistence – ‘dude, you've got to paddle!’ - The guy in front mobilized, and I followed him, literally paddling on top of him to get out the way. It was a stressful experience, and eventually I broke free and sat further out, watching.That day I got three waves in an hour. A bomb, dropped in on immediately by a muscular longboarding goofy-footer who looked back at me with utter disdain as he bounced his board around. He was never going to pull out. My second wave was a straight-hander, closing out immediately, and a final third wave that faded so quickly I was cutting back from take off, and I rode it in.Lessons learned.1. When it’s super-crowded, have no expectations whatsoever. That way you can’t get bummed.2. When you commit, you have to go. Pull back once on a super-crowded day and you will not get another wave.3. Go on anything. You do not have the privilege of wave selection.4. Take your best paddler. If you’re not catching waves you’re not surfing, and any advantages help.5. Don't be a prick. You do need a certain level of tolerance when it gets super-crowded. People will bump rails, there will be a bit of a push and shove on the jump off, and there will be people shouting and whistling. Don’t be that guy, and take offence to one person out of hundreds who might be irritating you.6. Also, don’t be that guy irritating everyone by whistling and shouting.7. Always give it a go and paddle out, no matter where you are and no matter the size of the crowd. It would have been so easy to say, ‘fuck it, too crowded’ and gone and drunk beer at the RSL with the rest of the media crew who were over it. If you don't paddle out, you’ll never be in line for a bomb, however remote the possibility.8. If you go to the Superbank, don't bother with a dawnie. They surf through the night there. | |
A Shipwreck Leads To Perfection | In 1973 a 20-year-old Australian set off on a journey of a lifetime, to discover the world and to find his destiny. As fortune would have it, the boat in which Tony Hinde was in became shipwrecked, and his initial mission to reach Jeffreys Bay scuttled.The wreck was as serendipitous as could be, as the boat came to rest in the modern-day paradise known as The Maldives.“It all started with that movie The Forgotten Island of Santosha back in 1973. ... I knew that’s what I wanted to do: find a perfect wave out in the middle of nowhere, live simple and surf. ... I’m a natural-footer. So I figured Jeffrey’s Bay in South Africa was the go. The plan was to travel up through Malaysia, over to India, then find a way to get to Africa from there. That was my dream.” (Surfline)The modern-day paradise known as The Maldives.Don’t ever sail anywhere with a guy with an eye patch & a monkey on his shoulder.While working on the shipwreck, Tony and his fellow boaters spent some time exploring the nearby islands, and soon discovered the perfection of Pasta Point, of Lohis, Jail Break, Honkies and Cokes to name a few. It was Pasta Point, however, that Tony settled on, and started up a surf camp.It didn't take long for Tony to fully immerse into the local culture, and he married a local beauty and settled down in the Maldives, started Atoll Travel. The area where he had settled soon began attracting the hordes, and Tony adopted strict control of his piece of paradise, making sure that is was sustainable and eco-friendly. He put a cap on the number of surfers who were allowed to visit at any time and maintained that only the surfers staying at his resort were allowed to surf Pasta Point, using the local 'house reef' law of the territory. (45 max)Cinnamon Dhonveli Maldives - Water Suites - Online BookingPasta Point is an incredible wave and an enjoyable experience. It is expensive, but worth every cent. The wave is a perfect, roping left that has enough excitement in it to be a total thrill on the sets, but enough of the Maldivian style of fun waves to not be too dangerous as to be scary. Only on the bigger, offshore days does it get heavy, but it still breaks in the same spot, and it is mechanical, so it is easy to get to grips with the wave, the take-off spot and the speed run down the line.The wave barrels, particularly over the inside section, and it does break over shallow coral, so injuries do happen and you must have reef boots and medical insurance. There is a resident doctor at the resort, but only for emergencies, and you do need to have that insurance.Across the channel is the perfect right-hander of Sultans. It gets crowded, but it is a perfect wave with a bunch of barreling sections and a long winding wall along the inside part. It is one of the better right-handers in the area, but it does get crowded and stay crowded.Around the corner is Honkies, the left that gets hollow on the inside. It remains relatively uncrowded due to the inside coral and the chances of getting drydocked or injured. A little bit tricky for natural-footers, it is a quality wave that wedges due to the waves moving through the channel between islands.Slightly further afield is Jail Breaks, the perfect right-hander with three barreling sections that join up to make a perfect wave on the right tide and ideal swell. It is a bit sectiony at times, but is still a famous wave and is never really that crowded unless a few boats are staying right there.Even further afield is the perfect partnership of Cokes and Chickens, two perfect barreling waves within viewing distance of each other. Cokes runs down a ruler-edged reef and can barrel perfectly, but is not too dangerous or heavy.Chickens is a class left, but it is fast and shallow, frequented by the goofy-footers.If you're on the wrong side of the tide, and you need to paddle out to a boat against a dropping tide, beware of the 'Male Express' - the inter-atoll current that sweeps through the atolls just before the full low tide, and it is impossible to paddle against it. If you get stuck in the current you need to chill, and you'll get washed onto an island or around the corner and out of trouble, and your boat can send a tender to come and fetch you. It's all part of the Maldivian experience.Tony Hussain Hinde passed away while surfing at Pasta Point in 2008. He probably suffered a fatal cardiac event. 'Serendipity' pays tribute to the ultimate surfing destination, a legend and the journey that made a fairytale come true."It is the story of a man on an adventure who became a legend. By the most serendipitous chain of events Tony found himself shipwrecked on a deserted island in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Tony stumbled across a multitude of discoveries, perfect surf on a chain of tropical coral attols, eastern islamic culture and a new personal identity. Tony had access to a fleet of perfect waves for 15 years. Alone! Over that time he had only a few select friends who visited. Amazingly non of the lucky few broke the agreed-upon code of silence. Eventually Tony’s secret was exposed, he protected those waves as long as he could. Tony realized that if he could not own the waves then he would provide the best surf travel experience by starting the only dedicated and most successful surf camp in the Maldives. Tony Hussein Hinde is considered to be the father of surfing in the Maldives, not only did he kick started the nation’s emerging tourism industry he also found his own personal nirvana and livelihood."Serendipity is written and directed by Simon Lamb. Produced by Blacklamb Productions. Rent the Serendipity Surf Docu for 3.5 EuroCinnamon Dhonveli offers an exclusive experience in a surfer’s paradise.Cinnamon Dhonveli. May to September is the most consistent.Well-designed suites feature thatched wood ceilings and solid wood flooring. Located about 16 km, or a 20-minute speedboat transfer, from Male Airport.Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Kuda HuraaVibrant with tropical flowers, Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Kuda Huraa is a garden-style resort arranged as a traditional Maldivian village on its own coral island. Just a 30-minute speedboat transfer from Malé international airport, it offers for year-round sun, surfing and diving. Booking / TropicsurfIn 2015 they suspended the development of a luxury surf resort on the Kaafu Atoll, home to the iconic Sultans and Honkeys. Thanburudhoo Island (Kaafu Atoll). Photo: Jesse Little"This will allow local surfers, surfers from around the world and organizers of surf competition to use the island in the best possible way," notes the Ministry of Tourism. We want Thanburudhoo Island to become a "surf heritage site." Adaaran Select Huduran Fushi - Premium All InclusiveLhohifushi Island. Fully air-conditioned, the private beach and over-water villas come with en suite bathrooms and have an outdoor rain shower. Photo: RasheedBeing host to five WQS events (Deep Blue Open 2001-2005), Lohi’s is a longer wave than Pasta, but not as "perfect". Guests may also make use of the on-site water sports facilities to kite surf, dive and wakeboard. Booking | |
Images straight out of a fairytale | Ralf v/d Veerdonk is 36 years old and based in the Netherlands. He runs his own film production company called Veerdonk Visuals. When he graduated from film school he immediately started his own film production company. That's now over a decade ago. It actually took off like a rocket and he never looked back. Where do you look for inspiration?Inspiration can come from anywhere, really. When I’m running or driving a long distance in the car is when the best creative ideas come up in my mind. But also watching other filmmakers’ work on Vimeo can be very inspiring. Any common themes that run through your art?Not any particular themes but I have a certain camera operating style. Which is a certain subtle cinematic camera movement. That can be a dolly shot on a slider, a steady cam or gimbal shot or a drone shot. It needs to be as silky smooth as possible as I dislike a deliberate ‘dirty handheld’ camera operating style. The speed and composition of that camera movement is very important to me. It needs to be perfect. What compels you to share and create?The feedback I get from people all around the world especially on my travel, lifestyle and hospitality content is amazing. It motivates me to create more content when people enjoy my work. What are you hoping to accomplish?To be honest, I accomplished far more than I would ever thought possible. I’ve been hired for assignments on the most remote and luxurious places on earth. From exquisite private island resorts in the Maldives, cast-away resorts in Fiji and the Cook Islands, fabulous overwater villa resorts with gorgeous lagoons in Tahiti and Bora Bora, Marlon Brando’s private dream atoll with a private airline that flies their exclusive guests in, to filming in submarines, on exclusive yachts in the Caribbean, and one of the world’s most exclusive ski resorts in Lech, Austria. But also tv commercials for national television in the Netherlands, interesting assignments for the Dutch government, multinational companies like Epson and Asus (to name a few) and many other national and international clients. It never gets dull!What is your creative process like?That varies a lot. For some clients I create an entire concept, script and shot list in pre-production with filming on location and the entire post-production afterwards. A full-service agency. And for other clients I only do the camera operating for instance. It varies all the time. You have to be flexible and multidisciplinary. However if I can develop a communication strategy concept and outline each individual scene with a storyboard and scriptwriting, that’s when the creative juices really start flowing. Working that creative concept out in collaboration with a client and then seeing it all coming together as we progress when the camera rolls, is always a fantastic process. What filmmakers inspire you most?Not many in particular to be quite honest. However I do like most of the work from Mark Toia, an Australian filmmaker. I’m also always in awe by the BBC World documentaries like Planet Earth series, especially considering the amount of work and patience they need to bring to the table in order to end up with the required footage of specific animal behaviour. I always enjoy the ‘behind the lens’ parts at the end of each episode where you can see a little bit of the struggles they went through. Just astonishing!What equipment and editing software do you use?I started out with Canon camera bodies and lenses. But as Canon was/is pretty conservative and slow with innovating technical features like sensor resolution, RAW video codecs and high frame rates to their cameras, I switched to Sony that was shaking things up in 2015. With the use of a Metabones Speedbooster I was able to use all of my Canon glass which worked well for me. I often used a Atomos Shogun Inferno to record 4K RAW externally. But just recently I switched back to Canon as they upped their game with the Canon C200. Being able to shoot RAW internally in 4K is just amazing, along with the perfect Dual Pixel autofocus really helps my workflow as a one-man-band filmmaker. The footage just looks so extremely pleasing and cinematic to my eye. I was instantly in love with it. When I started to colorgrade the Canon C200 footage for the first time, I realized how much I missed the Canon colour science during my Sony era, so to speak. I mainly use lovely Canon Compact-Servo Cinema Zoom lenses that create stunning visuals. For editing I use Apple’s Final Cut Pro X. During my film school days I had to use Adobe’s Premiere and I was always so happy when I could switch to Final Cut 7 in those days. Now with FCPX editing is just a breeze as everything works so intuitive. I can’t imagine switching to any other NLE software. Veerdonk Visuals. Photos: Ralf v/d VeerdonkDo find yourself shooting a mix of stills and video?When I’m filming on location for an interesting assignment then I often shoot stills on the side for sure. But my core business and main focus is always film. Similarities between photography and video? The similarities between photography and video is often a good composition and telling a story with that composition. In post-production, the colour correcting and grading is also a similarity of course. But film goes way beyond photography in terms of complexity if you would ask me. I mean, film is 24, 25 or whatever frame rate you use, per second. That creates a lot more possibilities. Not mentioning the role of audio, which is also a huge addition to the entire experience of a viewer. You can really stimulate the senses with carefully crafted music and subtle sound effects. What advice do you have for visual storytellers?Well, just go out and shoot! Mess up, learn from it and try again. Watch other filmmakers that are out of your league (at this moment) and try to nail down what it is that makes their work stand out. Other than that, there are no shortcuts or hacks, you need to put in the work to develop yourself and work your way up. Eventually you will develop your own set of skills style that sets your work apart.When composing a shot, what are you looking for?Balance. Balanced compositions are strong and appealing to the eye. Sometimes these are tight shots with shallow depth of field, other times wide dolly shots with subtle movement. But I always try to find balance in my compositions. What do you find yourself enjoying most these days? During these strange days of social distancing, I’m enjoying my custom made screensaver with the full takes of my own best shots around the world. It blows my mind every time I see my own footage to realize that I was there. But I’m also working on the concepts of a few local passion projects that I’m going to do as soon as the whole situation has normalized. Looking forward to that! Any place that is high on your to-explore-list? Why?I’ve been to every single continent except South America. So I’d like to explore Brazil and Patagonia in particular. But I’d also like to visit Lofoten in Norway as it is so remote and looking so peaceful. I know that it’s been filmed and photographed already by so many people but I’d like to capture it in my own perspective.Destinations where you would not revisit? Why?I’m pretty sure I won’t return to Shanghai and Beijng in China anymore. Interesting city’s to explore but the people over there are so unaware of their surroundings and not hospitable. That was a cultural shock for me but that's just my experience. What is the next adventure for you?Good question. Could be Lech in Austria again for a summer image film for the same renowned hotel as I produced a winter image film for, but we’ll have to see how things will develop the comings weeks and months. It’s a serious crisis we’re all in at the moment and I’m afraid we’re not out of the woods for a long time.What are your 5 most favourite travel destinations?Bora Bora and Moorea in French Polynesia are definitely topping my list. Both islands are extremely lush and beautiful and have the well-known Polynesian overwater bungalows with Bora Bora being more exclusive at the top end of luxury. Bora Bora truly is the ultimate tropical island where dreams are made of. Just picture perfect and considered by many as the most beautiful tropical island on earth. The soaring volcanic mountain peaks, the pristine turquoise lagoon full of tropical fish and of course the luxurious overwater bungalows look even more spectacular in real life than in the pictures. But it’s a tiny island and that’s where Moorea comes into play. Moorea is one of the most scenically striking islands in French Polynesia. It has even more dramatic volcanic mountain peaks, is also blessed with a blue lagoon and there are more land-based activities in Moorea. So you can get more active here. I’ve been to French Polynesia three times now and I really like the mystical Polynesian culture with it’s traditional music, dance, art, language and friendly people. Spending several days for filming in the Brando Suite on Bora Bora was probably one of the highlights. Maldives. I think most people are familiar with the Maldives. But it is a nation of small islands encircled by the most perfect coral reefs in the Indian Ocean. The soft white sand, swaying palm trees and exquisite resorts make you feel like living in a dream. I’ve been flown in on 4 different Maldivian island resorts by now and it’s always a privilege to go there. Especially by seaplane which is a spectacular experience! I remember arriving on the airport in Male for the second time and how cool it was to see my footage of my first visit on several tv screens on the national airport. Cape Town, South AfricaCape Town is one of the greatest city’s I’ve ever visited. I’m not too fond of visiting cities in general but Cape Town is truly something special. On one side the ocean with awesome great white sharks swimming in it and on the other side the majestic Table Mountain. In between a vibrant and modern city with a European feel to it. It just has a fantastic vibe somehow. There are also more than enough game reserves in the neighbourhood to check out the big five. I never forget hearing the local Afrikaans that sounds like pre-historic Dutch. It’s so funny for Dutch people to hear and read that language. I really enjoyed my time over there! Last but not least, the Alps. Whether it’s the renowned Arlberg in Austria, the iconic Matterhorn in Switzerland, the Dolomites of Italy or Mont Blanc in France, the imposing mountains and beautiful lakes of the Alps are simply out of this world. Although it’s relatively close to the Netherlands, it’s really one of my favourite places to travel to. There are so incredibly many gorgeous places over there. But for me the most picturesque place is Val di Funes (or Villnöß in German) in Southern Tyrol in the rugged Italian Dolomites. That valley looks just straight out of a fairytale! I can’t describe it any differently. Val di Funes. Photo: Ralf v/d VeerdonkWhat’s the best decision you have ever made?Well many decisions have led to where I am today. But I think the best decision is one I take very often. Just be open for everything that comes your way. Whether it was starting at film school or taking up assignments where I didn’t had a clue how it would end. I just started and it worked out all the time. And it often led to even more interesting opportunities along the way. What’s your favourite part of your work?There are so many aspects that I like. Doing something that I love on a daily basis. Being able to turn my hobby into my profession. Traveling to great places all over the world, creating fantastic imagery where I could only dream of several years ago. Meeting the most fantastic people everywhere from all walks of life and cultures. Having an inside look at so many companies and learning a lot from the people that work at all these companies. Being my own boss and therefore being able to spend loads of family time with my wife and three boys as well. I’m perfectly happy and could’t ask for anything more, really! | |
This was a year in the making ... | Julian Wilson has always had two sporting passions: surfing and skateboarding. For his latest project the Australian decided to combine the two in the water. In essence, the plan was to surf a makeshift rail in the water as he might on the skate park but the project was not without its challenges. Here is all you need to know: - The project was a year in the making, Wilson and his team first attempting it in the ocean before the volatility of the seas made that impossible so they instead turned to a wave pool, URBNSURF in Melbourne.- Explaining his reasoning behind the project, the 31-year-old said: “For a long time I had the idea of combining the skatepark with the ocean. To take something I have so much fun with in the skate park with my profession as a surfer that’s going to challenge me.”- To undertake the challenge, he worked with shaper Jason Stevenson from JS Industries to create a board that actually proved hard to surf but importantly had the minimal weight and maximum carbon fibre strength required.- The problem was trying to get the make-up of the rail and its weight in the water just right so he could actually slide across it in time and safely without it moving too much in each and every set of waves.- In the water, he had a team with him, including a rescue diver and those able to move the rail back into position to tackle the next set. And it was all captured by photographer Andy Green.Photos: Red Bull- Wilson added: “It’s been about as challenging as it could possibly be. As much as I thought there’d be so many controllables in the pool, there ended up being so many challenges too.” After his close shave with the flying rail as he surfed past it, he admitted to himself: “This is maybe not going to work. It’s super dangerous. I nearly got my head taken off. With an hour to go [of the allotted session time] I thought maybe I was going to be dead in the water."- It required a late psychological boost from coach Luke Egan for him to have one final attempt at the water.- But with an hour to go, he cracked it and successfully rode the rail, again and again and again. Of the experience he said: “It was super fun. That’s the feeling I wanted to create with the wave.” | |
Kai Lenny made an indelible mark | Hawaiian star Kai Lenny received another accolade in his glittering career when he became the youngest person ever to enter the Surfers' Hall of Fame, aged just 26.He was inducted with Sam Hawk and Janice Aragon, their hand and footprints immortalised in cement out the front of Huntington Surf & Sport as the ceremony paid tribute to the stars who have made an indelible mark on the sport, industry and culture of surfing.Along with his surfing honours, Lenny has won the SUP world title several times and was runner-up at the Kite Surf Pro World Championships while he has become a leading global campaigner in fighting ocean pollution.Photos: Red BullHere is what the Maui native had to say after an impressive 2019 season riding the waves:How was your big wave season in 2019?For me the big wave season last year was probably the best I have ever had. We didn't have the most consistent big swells, but some of the most challenging conditions that I could ever remember. It super windy, with really big waves and conditions that were very unforgiving. The fact that I was able to survive another season but, at the same time, feel like my level went up a notch meant that I accomplished everything that I set out to do. Coming into this new season, I am really excited because there is still so much left to be done to go to the next level.You have said in the past you sometimes felt like an outsider, is that still the case now?I think I felt like an outsider growing up mainly because I had my hands in so many different sports and, within each sport or discipline of surfing, there are little tribes that you jump in between. You are either with the windsurfers, the kite surfers, the surfers or the stand-up paddlers, and when you are not consistently in one, you don't really have a place in any. I quickly outgrew that mentally and now I feel comfortable in my own skin doing what I would rather do. It was a good learning experience growing up.After winning so many big titles so early in your career, what is your main focus now?For me, right now, my focus is on winning a Big Wave world title on the Big Wave Tour. I have been able to win a lot of different things across a few sports. For me, each event is not so much about beating someone else but kind of proving to myself that, 'OK, I have reached this certain point and where can I go next?'. Winning is just basically having a lot of fun doing it and my goals, for sure, are always to try to be the best I can possibly be and that requires me testing myself against the world's best consistently.What is it about the ocean that makes you so happy?The sea makes me so happy because it is a place that I can constantly test myself, but also enjoy myself. It is always there. It is for free. I grew up doing it for so long that it is who I am now. Imagining not being in the water is almost worse than going to jail, just because it feels like it is built into my cells. The salt water feels really good, just being immersed in it and all that other stuff sort of melts away that you take from land.You are a shining star when it comes to environmental issues, what more needs to be done to help save our oceans?Growing up I have noticed the changes in the ocean, mostly the pollution and micro plastics. Now, with so many people around the world just spewing stuff into the ocean, there are a lot of fish that are consuming micro plastics which is morphing into their DNA. That is going to go back into us and, if we don't want to have cancer later on in life from fish, I suggest that we try to keep the oceans much cleaner. We have got to protect the environment because we are part of it. If it goes down, we are getting dragged with it too. | |
How to be part of the solution | The reason why surfing became a multimillion-dollar sports industry is that brands appeal to consumers' emotions and dreams in a very effective way. The surf industry is what it is, and surfing wouldn't be what it is today without the innovations and technologies companies have developed during the sport's first century of existence. Surfing is supposed to be a near-zero carbon emission footprint, but the future still doesn't look bright. So, how can we turn the surf industry upside down and become part of the solution. Isn't it time we glide towards a more sustainable world? Don't hesitate to send tips!Cover: Breitling’s partnership with sustainable apparel manufacturer Outerknown, co-founded by Kelly Slater. The watch features a Nato strap crafted from ECONYL® yarn, an innovative material created from nylon waste. ClothingBoard shorts are being reasonably easy to produce, but they can be as expensive as $200. Marketing strategists sell you innovative stretch fabrics, revolutionary water-repellent coatings, and super comfortable out seams. But really, what are they made of? Polyester and elastane. Could organic cotton become a thing?Actually, we really don't like the feel of polyester board shorts on our skin."Since organic cotton has not been treated with pesticides, it is also better for the skin of everyone involved - from the farm worker to the final consumer - you. Furthermore, less greenhouse gases are emitted (since the production of fertilisers mainly depends on fossil fuels), and less artificial irrigation is necessary for organic cotton, resulting in better water management and preservation of groundwater." Source: twothirds.comThere's no doubt, tons of small brands are out there that deserve our and maybe your support, reach out to us to complete the list of sustainable options.WetsuitsSixty percent of wetsuits are produced in the same factory. Believe it or not, the majority of the world's wetsuits are made in the same place. Taiwan's Sheico Group produces two million wetsuits per year for the planet's most prestigious surf companies. So, don't expect huge differences between neoprene models from rival wetsuit brands. So, what about Yulex and Limestone Neoprene?These wetsuit are lighter, warmer and last longer than oil derived neoprene."Created by Japanese company Yamamoto, the neoprene is made from limestone sourced rubber. Nitrogen gas blown rubber that increases the insulation of the wetsuit, making it warmer. A 23% higher closed-cell structure than oil-derived neoprene, making it more buoyant. It is 98% waterproof, whereas oil-derived standard is only 70%. "Limestone" neoprene is way more expensive than a classic neoprene but cutting classic distribution network cuts costs, today you can buy a limestone neoprene wetsuits, handmade in a specialist workshop for the same price as a classic wetsuit."Have a look at sennosen.comSurfboardsAll materials involved in the production of surfboards are toxic. Some surfboard brands outsource their production as is not a highly lucrative activity. NOTOX is leading the way and when this C19 nightmare is finally over, we'll visit them for a full report. Pretty cool to see the French brand inspire people across the globe.Surf WaxNinety-five percent of all surf wax sold worldwide contains petrochemical additives, solidifying chemicals, high-strength bleach, and paraffin. So, surf wax is basically a petroleum-based product that will do more harm than good to your health and will cause damage to the oceans and marine life. An alternative solution? Make your own wax or buy some eco-friendly alternatives.www.beeswell.comBee Swell means "Be a Good Person, Do Good Things, Live life to the fullest."SunscreenUnfortunately, there are no sunscreens 100 percent safe for corals and reefs, and marine life. It has been proved that oxybenzone and octinoxate, two of the most common ingredients in chemical sunscreens, decrease corals' defenses against bleaching. In the medium-term, and especially in crowded beaches, when sunscreens get in touch with the water, they will damage and eventually kill coral reefs. And it is not like there aren't any good alternatives. mandanaturals.comWave Pools Make no mistake: the first generation of wave pools is an energy-intensive industry. This explains the price you have to pay to surf an artificial wave. But can we not bash Kelly for chasing his dreams? This innovation is here to stay, and yes there is room to improve it. Soul-surfing qualms aside, the wave he created in a test pool in Lemoore, California, is perfect. Disgustingly so. But the amount of energy needed to created a wave that good is not a small thing. That’s why Kelly Slater Wave Company decided to partner with PG&E’s Solar Choice Program. What that means, is the the wave will be run off of 100% solar energy.Surf TravelOh boy, we sure kept the best for last hey. Surfers are known for globetrotting. Disappearing at the drop of a hat to chase down a perfect swell. But while traveling, we are burning fuel in cars, airplanes, wave-runners, charter boats and off-road vehicles. Each journey we take produces greenhouse gases that are causing climate change. When that time of year comes around where you can start planning your surf getaway, think smart. Surf trips are amazing experiences and a reward for working hard the rest of the year, so don't get a guilty conscience by trashing the environment. The past year, we planted 100 trees for every single surf charter booking. It's a start, but we can do better. More about that later.Choose Your SpotThere are destinations you can go that are greener than others, e.g. Costa Rica provides 96% of all its energy from renewable sources. Many famous surf spots are in wild areas filled with natural beauty. You can help preserve these locations by staying at eco friendly accommodations. Avoid hotels or complexes that have been built on cleared coral reefs, believe it or not some companies have been known to blow away parts of coral reefs to clear beaches for tourists and to make foundations for buildings such as hotels. And if you really want to have a positive impact, stay home and enjoy your local break. TransportWhen booking your flight look for a carbon offsetting option. A flight from California to South Africa creates over 5 tons of CO2. When booking a 1000 dollar flight, take 5%, and use it to plant trees. With 50 dollar you can have 50 trees planted and these will offset your carbon footprint. Our new travel app will make that as easy as pushing a button. Be A Sustainable TouristLeave nothing but footprints and take nothing but memories. Tourists can have a massive detrimental effect on a local economy by using valuable resources. Through a little research you can find ecologically sensitive companies and accommodation that work to preserve the local environment, culture & surf. | |
Healthy living starts with food | Jordy Smith has lit up the professional surfing world over the last decade with superhuman feats on the land and in the water. He is extremely excited to be representing South Africa at the Tokyo Olympic Games. Making the 31-year-old the first South African surfer to qualify for the Olympics. Trevor Moran/Ryan Miller/Red Bull Content PoolThe IOC and Tokyo 2020 organisers held an executive board meeting this week at which they reiterated their hope the Games can be the "light at the end of the tunnel". However the IOC coordination acknowledged Covid-19 could still affect the rescheduled Olympics, which are due to take place from 23 July-8 August 2021. More reason to stay healthy and that often starts with quality food. Ryan Miller/Red Bull Content PoolIt can't hurt to get some insights about healthy food from a world class athlete.What food and drink is on your shopping list?We eat chicken about 3 times a week, beef once and fish once. We also have veggie meals once or twice a week.What’s in your fridge and kitchen cupboards?I'm a huge believer in balance so there’s a lot of healthy, high in nutritional value foods, but also sweets and little sneaky snacks. Since we’re home in South Africa, we’ve got fresh fruit, berries, veggies, chia seeds, flax seeds, dates, a bar of chocolate or two, and Red Bull. Also lots of water, I go through about three litres a day whilst surfing in the salty water.What do you eat when you’re training?After training, I’ll usually make a smoothie – anything with peanut butter and banana, also I love berry smoothies and add flax, chia seeds and sometimes dates.Do you have cheat days? If so, what’s your guilty pleasure?Absolutely! They shouldn’t be called ‘cheat’ but rather ‘treat’ days’’. You can’t live every day at 100%, you’ve just got to balance it out. My wife, Lyndall, makes the deadliest pizza’s ever: Salami, feta, garlic and avocado. On a gluten-free bread base.How important is meal planning when training?It’s good to make sure you’re having food that helps you recover really quickly. I like to eat pretty clean and healthy – my body really works well with Paleo. I’m also pretty allergic to brewer’s yeast and dairy so it’s easy to stay away from it if we’ve got all the right ingredients we need at home in the fridge.Ryan Miller/Red Bull Content PoolWhat are your top tips for healthy eating?1. Eat healthily 80% of the time and whatever your body craves now and then.2. Eat foods that make you feel good! Foods that give you sustainable energy.3. Eat lots of whole foods and buy from farmer’s markets. 4. Have a plan for the day and don’t skip meals.5. You can eat a hamburger, just swap out fries for a salad.6. Drink loads of water! | |
Surfers are not very adventurous | Martin Daily is best known as the captain of the Indies Trader fleet, and for exploring the Mentawai islands. It is often said that Daly has discovered more high-quality surf breaks than anybody in the world.Martin Daily took the Rip Curl crew on the first filming trip to the Mentawais for The Search Film #2. They were the first to document the Mentawai's in film and magazine articles. Tom Curren rode the fish at Bawa. The very first trip with Martin Potter, Tom Carroll and Ross Clarke-Jones was to Enggano Island, not the Mentawai. The trip in 1992 was the first chartered trip to the outer Indo islands that resulted in a leaked photo to the magazines. Photo: Yves Van den Meerssche/LiveTheLifeTVMartin Daily is said to be as impenetrable as the steel hull of his ship. There's no way around it, while we are researching some data for an upcoming interview, we are, once again, reading up on his background, all the things that lead up to him becoming the most adventurous surfer. As they become increasingly rare to find we're not skipping the opportunity to learn something new, or at least walk home with a few tips on how to live life and keep chasing those dreams. If you are not into reading, or watching grainy old footage, feel free to simply enjoy the 18 minute long documentary produced by GoPro in stunning 4K quality. Daly was born (1957) in Sydney, and began surfing at age eight, at Narrabeen, on an old balsa board. In his teens, while living in Queensland, Daly got crewing job on fishing boats working the Great Barrier Reef. Daly later said that watching Alby Falzon's 1972 surf movie Morning of the Earth, set partly in Bali, inspired him to look for warm, empty, exotic surf in Indonesia. "That was the whole focus of my life during my late teens," Daly said. "But I didn't actually get there until I was 23."Albert Falzon’s 1972 masterpiece, Morning of the Earth, is internationally renowned as being one of the greatest surf films of all time. The film’s audio visual tour de force redefined the cinematic experience and became an instant benchmark of avant-garde cinema. A fantasy of surfers living in three unspoiled lands and playing in nature’s oceans, Morning of the Earth tells the story of a group of friends exploring the measures of all things beautiful as they live the simple life throughout Australia, Bali and Hawaii; shaping their own surfboards, building their own homes and living off the land in harmony with nature. With an original rock soundtrack, and spectacular surfing sequences featuring some of the world’s best, Morning of the Earth is a must-see and pre-requisite for any surfer and cinephile alike.This trailer was edited using temporary 4K scans of the 16mm Kodak/Atlab release print, courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. The source material for the fully remastered version (coming summer 2020) will be the superior camera originals, which make up the original 16mm A&B rolls.morningoftheearth.comPhoto: Morgan Maasen Featured on the abandoned Indies Trader Twitter accountOriginal Story by Andrew Lewis. In 1971, a 16-year-old Martin Daly dropped out of school and left his family home of Townsville, a wave-starved Great Barrier Reef enclave in northern Queensland. The reason? "I wanted to go overseas and explore," Daly remembers.He'd heard the waves were good in New Zealand, so that was his first stop. He leased a gas station in Pauanui, a sleepy resort town popular with weekenders from Auckland, where he sold boards and filled scuba tanks. But when the Iranian Oil Crisis hit in late 1978, and the New Zealand government shut down the country's gas stations on the weekends, Daly cashed out and then spent much of his time surfing the North Island.Meanwhile, Martin had gotten wind of commercial diving work on the oilrigs in South Asia, so he borrowed $70 from a former girlfriend and took off once again. Within weeks he was in Manila, scraping oil rig bottoms for $120 a day. The job lasted three months before he took off yet again -- this time to Sumatra, where he promptly "went feral." The year was 1981.From Medan, Daly caught a local bus to Lake Toba. Chickens cackled. An elderly lady vomited in his lap. And when he finally got to Nias, he found 30 guys camped on the point. Daly hardly caught a wave from the crowd, many of whom were off their chops on some crazy Sumatran weed. But the place itself was stunningly beautiful -- white sand beaches, clear blue water... Daly stayed a month, caught malaria and nearly died.Some time later, Daly made his way to Jakarta, where he linked up with mates Jeff Chitty and Ross Hannon. The trio scored a contract diving the Ardjuna oilfield in the Java Sea. One day, they met an Australian "scrap pirate" named Dave Barnett on one of the rigs. Barnett was making a fortune in illicit salvaging or, as Daly puts it, "ripping off anything underwater that was lying around unattended." Once Barnett came up on a salvaging dry spell, he took a contract cleaning platforms from his boat, an old trawler aptly named the Rader.In 1983, while on a break from work, Daly, Chitty and Hannon asked Barnett if he'd like to take a trip to Sumatra's offshore islands. He was game, and the crew discovered setups like One Palm, Panaitan and others. They never saw another soul surfing anywhere. "It was epic," Daly says. "The hook was set."The crew swore an oath of secrecy before returning to Jakarta and heading back to the rigs. One day in 1986, Barnett got wind of a big wreck. "There was some controversy, disputed waters," Martin says. The story made the cover of Tempo, a Jakarta-based weekly, with a cartoon of Barnett running off with a treasure chest, which might as well have been a photograph, because Barnett really did split with his millions to Perth (where he still lives today -- right down the road from Daly, his wife and their two children). But on his way out, Barnett sold the Rader to Daly. "The boat was so hot that I needed to disguise it," Daly remembers, "so I painted it blue and re-registered it." He also extended its name to "Indies T-Rader."Daly started a commercial diving company while continuing his work on the Ardjuna. But in order to fund his surfing trips on the side, he needed surfers. He offered his services to a select few individuals in the expat surfing community around Bali -- so long as they "swore on a pack of Bibles" that they would tell no one where they had been taken. The deal worked... for a while.In 1992, one of his acquaintances in Bali asked to charter a trip with a few unnamed mates. Daly reluctantly obliged. "I needed to know for the port authorities who the crew was, and it was getting down to the wire," he remembers. Finally, the names came through: Tom Carroll, Martin Potter and Ross Clarke Jones were at the top of the list.They left Merak Harbor at midnight and motored out into six-foot seas. At a lefthander far to the north, Daly witnessed the biggest waves he'd ever seen. "Tom and Ross were doing crossovers," he says. "Pottz had the most amazing drop. I now knew the difference between them and us mere mortals."Later in the trip, at a wave that would eventually be known as "Lance's Left," Carroll hung back on the boat while everyone paddled out. "I hear this screaming and think, 'Oh my God, someone needs help," remembers Carroll. "So I run out on the deck and see Martin on this perfect left, high-lining, wearing these overalls with booties that look like tennis shoes, and he's screaming at the top of his lungs. I'm going, 'This guy's out of his mind.'"Daly was indeed out of his mind. After nearly a decade roaming around the Mentawais, this was the best surf he'd ever seen. But the thrill came with a heavy price. Within months, a photo of Carroll turned up in the Australian surf magazine Waves. Meanwhile in Jakarta, Daly remained naïve to the fanfare. "We didn't read the surf mags," he says. "We were completely isolated from that stuff."Indies Trader 2001. Photo: LiveTheLifeTVBack in Australia, Quiksilver's Bruce Raymond was beginning to see the marketing potential of boardshorts pictured in perfect outer Indonesia. Once he heard Daly was passing through Bali, he rushed to meet him. "Martin didn't want to see happen to the Mentawais what happened to Hawaii and Bali," says Raymond. "And I wanted to do right by him, so our surfers weren't allowed to bring cameras, and everyone signed a confidentiality agreement. We did it right for about five years."For Daly, the relationship with Quiksilver meant freedom from a gritty life in the oilfields -- and a future of full-time surfing. It also sparked in him an idea for another escape plan. "It was Martin's view that surfers were not very adventurous," Raymond says, "that they only really surfed within about 60 miles of international airports, that there had been no impetus to go and do a marine exploration for surfing."After having a few beers one afternoon at G-Land, Daly and Raymond hatched the "Quiksilver Crossing." Daly envisioned it as a travel slush fund between all the major surf companies in which the mission was simple: discovering perfect waves. Ultimately, only Quiksilver bit. In order to pay the bills, the Crossing became one part Martin's dream and three parts floating ad campaign -- a compromise Daly begrudgingly accepted. "I didn't sign up for Rio harbor cruises," he says, "but I got paid for seven years to drive around the world looking for surf. I lived all my dreams and surfed my brains out."Seven years, 27 countries, 160,000 nautical miles and some 100 new waves later, the Crossing made its final official stop in Oahu during the winter of 2005-06 for the Eddie's opening ceremony. With the Crossing finished, Daly set off for the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific, a destination so remote he never got the chance to go. What he found was, as he puts it, "the most pristine marine environment that I've ever seen."Since 2007, Daly has run his charter operation out of Majuro, the Marshalls' capital. He also partnered up with renowned windsurfer Keith Teboul to create Marshall Waves Experience, an operation that is as much about diving the island's World Heritage-listed marine sites as it is about offering surfers an opportunity to ride perfect waves in solitude. "I just returned from an exploratory trip from there to Fiji," Daly says. "I love that kind of adventure."While he has no illusions about the hazards of offering charters in untouched wave gardens, Daly insists tourism is carefully managed in the Marshalls, where the only other sources of revenue are copra and fishing rights. "Their marine environment is their largest asset," he says, "and their only hope for self-sustainability."And this time, the inherent isolation of these islands might actually work in keeping these secrets safe. It’s basically to inspire people to explore and not get discouraged. There are still heaps and heaps of uncrowded, perfect surf out there. You just have to get off your lounge chair and look for it. I’m basically allowing the next guy to come along, pick up the stone and feel like he was the first one to discover it. What I do want to achieve, is not to spoil it for the young, feral guys who get the maps, can still do it on their own.Click here to learn more about Martin Daly’s surf charters. | |
Not always a Sea of Darkness | In his teens and early 20s, Martin Daly moved from New Zealand to the Philippines to Singapore to Bali, mostly working as a commercial diver for oil companies. In 1983, he and a group of friends began exploring the smaller islands along the Indonesian chain, in a 60-foot salvage boat borrowed from Daly's boss. By the end of the decade, back in Australia, having bought the salvage boat and refurbished it as the Indies Trader, Daly had earned an underground reputation as the man who knew where Indonesia's best secret breaks were hidden. In 1991, Daly took on his first pro surfer charter, ferrying Tom Carroll, Ross Clark Jones and Martin Potter out to Enggano Island, 90 miles off the coast of Sumatra. The surf astounding, photos leaked out, and while the exact location of this incredible new surf zone was kept secret for a few years, eventually the nearby Mentawai Islands became the hottest surf ticket in the world. A soon-to-be-booming Sumatra-based surf charter industry was born, with Daly at the fore.The Quiksilver Crossing wasn’t your typical surf trip. Supported by the United Nations, the Reef Check program was arguably the most ambitious ecological survey ever undertaken by man, evolving from a 12-month journey to a seven year expedition that circumnavigated the globe. The marine biologist-led Crossing employed the helping hands of thousands of volunteer scuba divers in a massive effort to find surf, respectfully engage with local cultures, and, above all, determine the global health of coral reefs, contributing to the universal scientific knowledge of the oceanic life source.Those who were lucky enough to see the Sea of Darkness documentary at the Malibu Film Festival will attest: the film is most certainly about surfing, and about a group of surfers who blazed a trail of adventure, self-discovery, mysticism and crime throughout Bali, Java and other, more remote parts of Indonesia long before the days of the fully catered boat trip. But at its core, Sea of Darkness is a film about choices.It follows the life-changing decisions made by early Indo surfers Mike Boyum, Jeff Chitty and Peter McCabe, who turn to drug-smuggling to fuel their passion for surfing -- and those made by Martin Daly and Dave Barnett, who funnel their wave addiction toward more legal pastimes that gain them fame, fortune and a lifetime of perfect waves.Filmmaker Michael OblowitzMichael Oblowitz is a South African filmmaker born in Cape Town. His early fine arts short films have been shown in the Whitney Museum’s No Wave Cinema series, as part of a tribute to the innovative work of filmmakers and artists in Manhattan’s Lower East Village. Oblowitz was included in the historic Club 57 show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and his early film and photography work is in the Permanent Collection of The Museum of Modern Art.The Sea of Darkness documentary took Oblowitz over three years to make, and, beyond Daly, McCabe and a host of other Indo adventurers, features Steve Spaulding, Jeff Divine and John Milius. Dave Gilovich from Surfline caught up with the filmmaker: How did the project get started?Martin and I talked about what we respectively do. We are about the same age. We both love surfing. I am from South Africa and I talk about the early days of surfing in South Africa. So Martin and I were having this conversation about all these strange and mysterious waves, and he had his Mac with him and it was just loaded with amazing, exotic photographs because he was in the midst of the Quiksilver Crossing at the time. He started talking about Jeff Chitty and Dave Barnett and the elder guys and how all of this had come about -- what his boat had previously been used for. And of course out of all these names comes the illustrious Mike Boyum. And how Mike Boyum had built a camp at G-Land. How Boyum was dodging the cops in fifty countries. How he got booted out of G-Land, and how he came to live with Martin and Jeff Chitty in a place in Jakarta -- a little house called the "Skull Cave" from which Boyum conducted many, many sojourns, forays and drug dealings. And how all of this was done to fund Boyum's dream of building another G-Land somewhere. It all sounded as a movie script to me.Photos: Shirley RogersWhat happened to Mike Boyum?The film revolves around a fork in the road. And that fork in the road really turns at a certain point when Boyum is presenting to Martin Daly and various surfers: 'Let's get together with all your technical and oceanic knowledge and let's build a fleet of drug-smuggling boats that could really work and could really get that 60-feet on the waterline filled with tonnage. We can pick it up in Engano in Sumatra and drop it off on the West Coast of Australia. We'll make millions.' And Martin turns him down.Jeff Chitty and Peter McCabe, on the other hand, allow him to contract them to smuggle drugs and they do all kinds of crazy stuff like swallowing pounds of cocaine. They eventually all get arrested. When they come out of jail they decide to do one more big run to build up some money for Vanuatu where they are going to set up another surf camp. And Chitty has a kilo or two that he gets busted with in Australia and goes to Boggo Road Prison for ten years, and with him goes Boyum's stash money. Boyum arrives in Australia but he can't access the stash money because Chitty has already been sent to solitary confinement. He attacks Chitty's beautiful girlfriend; tries to get it that way. In the end, he can't get the money. Boyum goes off to the Philippines, to Siargao; you know that island there, Cloud Nine? And we have a number of different stories about what happens to him. But the general story is he tried to cleanse himself through a diet and absolve himself from his sins and start all over again. One of the interviews we did had him lying dead; found by a pastor in the town, of starvation. Photo: @indiestraderIn 1991 Martin hooks up with Bruce Raymond and Quiksilver hires the Indies Trader, formerly called The Rader. And that was more or less when I met Martin, but then I lived through the entire collapse of the Quiksilver Crossing with Martin. 2007 is when I think the final shot was made. Jeff Chitty is now out of jail after being there for 15 years and he is sitting on Martin's boat, along with Martin and Dave Barnett, and he is talking about what might have been, and Martin's pretty happy with what is.Surfing is an addiction, if you let it consume you, it will consume you. 'There are absolutes and there is a right and there is a wrong. Though the universe may appear indifferent, it does matter.'Photo: @indiestraderYears later, Daley said he explained the idea to Quiksilver executives in meeting thusly: “You guys are going to pay me to drive my boat around the world and go wherever I want and look for surf.” Read More: indiestrader.comThe Crossing campaign lasted six years, with the Indies Trader visiting 27 countries, and covering 160,000 nautical miles. By that time, Daly's own charter business had 60 employees. Join Martin today at indiestrader.com He is still living the life! | |
Fletcher: A Lifetime in Surf | Through fifty years of epic stories, art, and personal ephemera, The Fletcher Family spans surfing's golden era to the present day, when bathing-suit model Dibi and competitive surfer Herbie met, to raising talented Christian and Nathan on boards and waves, to passing the torch to their skating-phenom grandson, Greyson.Greyson Fletcher & Christian Fletcher. Photos: Red Bull Content PoolThe epitome of both surfer cool and punk counterculture, the Fletcher family for the first time has put together a window into their immensely colourful life. A visual memoir of this near-mythological surf family, The Fletcher Family is sure to appeal to their massive surfing fan base, young skaters, and those who are interested in the Fletcher family and their place in Southern California as a subcultural force of nature.Fletcher: A Lifetime in Surf, is written by Dibi Fletcher—wife of Herbie and matriarch of what Esquire has called “surfing’s first family”—simultaneously traces the evolution of the Fletcher family’s life and offers an oral history of surfing’s counterculture from the 1950s to today.Throughout the volume, the family’s intimate storyline is augmented with anecdotes from luminaries including surfing legend Gerry Lopez, Mike Diamond of the Beastie Boys, artist Julian Schnabel, eleven-time world champion pro surfer Kelly Slater, and Steve Van Doren, of the Vans skate shoe company. Dibi’s recollections begin with her childhood memories of her father, big-wave surfing pioneer Walter Hoffman. She then goes on to narrate her union with Herbie, as well as the lives of their sons Christian and Nathan, both surfers, and their grandson, Greyson, a renowned skateboarder, all of whom have erased the boundaries between surfing and skateboarding.The book is now available on AmazonTo commemorate the publication of the book, Gagosian installed artworks from four different series by Herbie Fletcher at 976 Madison Avenue. Fletcher’s Wrecktangles are large sculptures made from once-perfect, custom surfboards that have been ridden and broken by the greatest contemporary tube riders at the Banzai Pipeline in Hawaii. For years now, elite surfers, known as “Wave Warriors,” have saved their boards to be made into Wrecktangles. The accumulated boards tell oblique stories about the culture of surfing.Herbie Fletcher is a surfing legend. Fletcher and his sons, Christian and Nathan, made a habit of doing things exceptionally well and in their own way before they became the norm. But the Fletchers are not merely trailblazing surf and skate legends; they also are counterculture and subculture icons. T Magazine referred to them as having "punk family values." Their sincere love for art and surfing and their collective DGAF attitude has earned them legions of devoted fans and friends from so many different worlds: music, fashion, streetwear, and art.Gagosian presented an exhibition celebrating the publication of FletcherIn his Blood Water paintings, Fletcher uses mineral-rich earth from the Waimea River, Hawaii. After the winter rains on the North Shore of Oahu have subsided, he paddles up the river with large pieces of untreated canvas on the nose of his surfboard, staining them in the iron-oxide-rich red earth washed down from volcanoes. After they are completely saturated, he paddles back to the coral sand beach and lays the canvas out to dry, creating visions reminiscent of ancient petroglyphs. Similarly, in his Connecting to the Earth paintings, Fletcher affixes found objects from the Hawaiian shores such as netting, and burlap used to carry taro, to the canvas, paying homage to native Hawaiian traditions.Gagosian also screened the film Heavy Water, a documentary about Nathan Fletcher, with an introduction by Julian Schnabel.Nathan Fletcher. Photo: Alfredo Escobar/Red Bull Content PoolNathan Fletcher was a world-class aerialist early in his career, then a fearless rider of big, dangerous waves. Fletcher was born in 1974, the scion of an influential surf-world family that includes older brother Christian, the sport's heavy metal aerial pioneer, father Herbie, longboard maestro and surf accessories manufacturer, aunt Joyce Hoffman, twice world champion, and grandfather Walter Hoffman, big wave original and textile magnate.In 1976, Herbie created Astrodeck in his own lab—the world-famous traction pad company. “I looked at it like the last part of my shaping job by adding kicks, arches and different surface patterns for ultimate grip and control, until the designs eventually evolved into the patented multi-grid lock high performance foot pad of today,” explains Herbie. Dibi added, “We’ll always have market share as long as I stay authentic. Companies went too big, they have to make their quarterly earnings. If you want big, you have to go and push your brand all over the place. Pretty soon you have no story left because you whitewashed it to death to get your corporate earnings.” Next time you are going out to buy some traction pads for your board, think about who you would rather support. Check out the new collection on the official site. | |
The Reality Of Reunion Island | Imagine a surf destination that is part-Indonesia with mechanically perfect waves, part-Maldives with turquoise water and part-Hawaii with some big waves and thundering barrels. It is an absolute surfer's paradise, a dreamy destination that was kept quiet and those in the know slipped off to, and rode perfect, uncrowded waves.Dreamy Surf SpotsThe most famous wave in Reunion is St Leu; a perfect coral-bottom left that reels and barrels. It was the venue for much of Jack McCoy's original Billabong Pump movie with a marvellously braided-hair Occy going crazy, along with Ronnie Burns RIP. Along with the high-performance sections and the odd inside barrels at St Leu, there are the barrels in St Pierre, big waves at Le Port and sometimes Etang Sale, grinding reef-pass barrels at L'Hermitage and nudity at Trois Bassons.What went wrongIn the last eight years, there were 24 attacks, and 11 of those were fatal. Half of those attacks involved surfers and bodyboarders.It has the highest attack zone in the world, and government officials continue to wring handsSurf shops have closed, surf camps and resorts are empty, with their doors shut. Surf schools have packed up their soft-tops, and the industry finished.It is still illegal to surf, and the rules and regulations are simply in place to protect those officials in charge from getting into legal troubles, and not to safeguard ocean-users.There have been nets, there have been drumlines, and there have been extensive security watches – divers, boats, drones etc. – but all have been short-lived and experimental. At the same time, nothing is being done on a political level to stop the constant attacks.It must be difficult growing up as a surf-stoked kid in Reunion. Thirteen-year-old stoked-out grom Elio Canestri was killed in 2015 while surfing at Les Aigrettes. Nowadays, for a kid to go surfing there has to be a full shark vigil in place.Most surfers use an anti-shark device of some sort while surfing in Reunion, but the jury is still out as to how effective these are. The theory goes that an anti-shark device generally creates an electric field. Sharks have gel-filled sacs called Ampullae of Lorenzini which they use to sense electrical fields given off by prey. When a shark senses the electric field caused by an anti-shark device, the severe discomfort is supposed to cause the shark to swim away. In theory.In practice, however, for must prudent Reunion surfers, the most effective method of shark protection is to stay on land.Photos: LiveTheLifeTVWhat Happened?A large chunk of coastline on the west coast of Reunion was declared a no-fishing zone back in 2007, and something went out of whack with the ecosystem in the process. There are many theories, including loss of natural food for sharks, and the sudden drop on shark catches, but either way, the bull sharks came to town.Another theory was that the natural shark populations flourished after the island banned the fishing of sharks for food way back in 1999. This decision was motivated by confirmation that shark meat contains high levels of the dangerous toxin ciguatera. The prevalence of larger shark species is also due in part to overfishing in Reunion, which possibly caused the collapse of resident reef shark populations. In response to the resulting biological space, bull shark numbers in particular soared.So, as a surfer, you have hordes of bull sharks tearing around the line-ups, wanting to eat anything in front of them, be it birds, fish, car tires or surfers. If you go for a surf you are running the gauntlet every time, and any session you brave might be your last. | |
Finding Lance's Right | I didn't plan on going to HT's. There was never the intention of surfing HT's, or Lance's Right. I booked a ticket from London to Singapore, and the plan was to get across to Sumatra and find a way to Nias.Being There.Getting to Nias in 1996 was transcendental. After Singapore, I just started moving, and I would climb on board taxis, meet people in Sumatra and sleep in their houses and drink bitter kopi in the morning before moving on to the next cab. It took days to get to Sibolga and then a night there, before another full day to reach Nias.There have been a few little rumours floating around in 1996 about the Mentawais. People spoke of the Indies Trader and Enggano. They spoke of a myriad of perfect reefs, but not much was known. At Nias however, a surfer had hired a feral boat and had headed down to the Mentawais. He had scored. The captain from Nias knew the deal.We took the overland route, and head down Sumatra, aimed for Padang. The journey to Padang from Sibolga was torturous. It took us days and days of travelling through the poor heart of Sumatra. There was not much to see except poor people, wet villages, and TV's everywhere. Every shack had a TV, and some had two.Padang, 1996.The jump-off spot to the Mentawais had seen very little surfer traffic in 1996, and locals treated us with curiosity and interest. The backstreets of Padang back then were wild. It was busy and poor, but it still felt strangely safe. People wanted to sell you things and to talk, but there was no chance of being robbed, or of having stuff stolen. We were in safe hands with the locals.The Local FerryThe ferry to the Mentawais was a junk ship, and it was a wooden pile of junk. The Fast Boat didn't exist, and about a hundred people overcrowded this local ferry. We were stuck in the sand in the harbour and waited for the tide to move before we got going. Locals slept everywhere, on our surfboards and our bags. It was unbelievably hot, with thousands of cockroaches crawling all over the hold.The Other SideWhen we landed in the Mentawais, at some arbitrary port, there was a market on the go. People flocked to the port to see their friends and families who were coming over. We were a curiosity again. There had been a few surfers, but no one head down the local ferry and had just breezed past in the luxurious boats like the Indies Trader. We ate some food, and I used the 'bathroom' – a tiny square on the edge of the food shop that had an open conduit that ran into the sea. The toilet had a door that didn't close and a low wall. People watched me.We eventually hired a local outrigger to take us around, to where a hand-drawn map had an X marked in a little bay. When we showed the skipper of the boat the spot, he knew where we were going.It took us two hours in the beating sun to reach the bay. The outboard died twice. We were safe, inside the reef, but we drifted for a while as he desperately tried to coach the engine back to life.Eventually, we alighted at a small bay, and a few locals and the village elder came down to greet us. They grabbed our boards and our bags and helped us off the outrigger. They walked us in the village, and the village elder, Pak Hosien, invited us into his house.Surfers had been here before. There were remnants of a surf magazine, and a few bits of surfboards lying around. There was a nose, a fin, and a piece of foam. We weren't the first, but not many had been before us.We didn't have much of the language – this changed quickly – but we figured out that there had been a surfer before us who travelled alone to HT's. He had walked to Lance's Left – over the top – but had speared himself under his arm and had lost so much blood that he had nearly died in that very house. He had recovered, looked after by the locals, but no one knew what had happened to him when he left the island.We slept on the dirty mattresses with make-shift mosquito nets that we all carried in our packs. We were exhausted, and sleep was comfortable. The next morning Lance's Right was six-foot, light offshore, with not a soul in sight. The view from the empty window frame was straight into the barrel. | |
Riding the world’s longest waves | Throughout his storied four-decade career, Robby Naish has been a true pioneer, ushering once-niche activities like windsurfing, kiteboarding, SUP, and foil surfing into the forefront of the global sports community, racking up 24 championship titles along the way. It is this lifelong quest to master all obstacles that led Naish to his latest undertaking.Oscar-nominated filmmaker Joe Berlinger travels the globe with legendary windsurfer Robby Naish, whose quest to master the world’s longest waves unexpectedly reveals his vulnerabilities as a competitor, mentor and father.Photo: Red Bull Content PoolThe Longest Wave transcends the action sports genre by capturing obstacles outside of the legendary athlete’s professional life in an intimate, cinéma-vérité style, revealing Naish balancing the pursuit of excellence at sea with the demands of life’s complications on land. Mere weeks before his inaugural attempt at taming the longest wave, Naish suffered his first major injury: a near fatal hip fracture. With Robby also navigating a difficult divorce and financial tumult, his quest to return to the water takes on new meaning, as a volatile personal life and unwavering drive for professional performance escalate the already-high stakes Robby sets for himself. A personal story of drive, dedication athletic conquest and self realization, Naish’s tale is emblematic of universal themes that touch on all aspects of life.Photo: Craig Kolesky/Red Bull Content PoolThe Longest Wave offers a rare glimpse into what motivates an athlete who has everything to lose to push his body and mind to the limit. With a mix of intimate interviews and high-octane state of the art action sequences, the film provides more than just sensational sports action; It’s a raw portrait of one of the world’s most accomplished athletes, diving deep into what exactly makes him the champion and man he is today. | |
How to pack for an Indo surf trip | There is so much to think about when packing for a trip to Indonesia. More so for an extended trip. Surfers might not carry as much stuff as a kiteboarder, but a surfer planning on a more extended surf trip is going to need to pack carefully. There is a golden rule when packing for a surf trip or any trip whatsoever – 'half the clothing and twice the money.'Outerknown boardshort made from 100% Australian Merino wool.Threads.You're going into boardshorts territory, so that cuts out a whole list of clothing you're not going to need. There is no need for jeans, no jackets, no tracksuits and no socks. It makes a big difference if you eliminate all of those except for maybe a pair of socks or two, especially for flying, and one or two long shirts or thin jackets for late evenings on the beach.For most of your trip, you'll be living in boardshorts and tee shirts, so you do need a couple of pairs of boardies and a pile of tees. A couple of wife-beaters will also work in a hot climate, as well as long cotton shirts for mosquito protection. You'll be wearing flip flops for most of the time or other sandals, but make sure you pack a few spare pairs because they break pretty easily.As mentioned, a thin jacket or two for drinks on the beach, and don't forget a range of hats and headgear to keep the sun off and the melanomas at bay.Three boards maximumUnless you're a full-time professional surfer, you don't need more than three surfboards on any trip in the world, including Hawaii. If you try to get more than three through most of the Indonesian airports, they'll hit you with a tax anyway.Your standard shooter, you basic go-to board, is the first board you need to pack. On any surf trip, there will be small days and average days, and that's where your go-to boards come in.A step-up, your second board, is always a good idea to have along. If the waves get a bit chunky, or there is a long-haul paddle, or even if the rip is rushing down the point off the cliffs, then a step-up can make your life a lot easier.A gun, while not always a necessity, is excellent to have. Should a swell arrive and there are real waves out front, you don't want to be under-gunned. It is way better to be over-gunned than under-gunned. The problem with a gun is that if the waves do get monstrous and you have a big board, then you're obliged to paddle out. If you're not prepared to paddle out, then leave the big board at home and pack 2 x step-ups.AccessoriesThere are so many accessories needed, all just as important as the next. Here is a brief list of what you need for a trip to Indonesia. You're going to need a couple of pairs of sunglasses. If you lose a pair or break a pair, you're going to need some backups. Along with this is some sun cream, and some zinc for your face. Rash vests and surfing hats are also essential to stave off the rays of the sun.Make sure that you have your fins and fin keys packed, as well as some wax. A few leashes and a few more leashes. These types of accessories are also suitable for trading and leaving as gifts.You need your phone, a strong case and a couple of charge cables, possibly a spare battery and some headphones. If you need a laptop, make sure you have all the necessary plugs and wires. Download some books before you go and update your music.First Aid KitAn excellent Medical Aid kit is essential for all Indo travel. You also need knowledge of how to use most of the stuff therein. To get the best, we would recommend a surfer's first aid kit. The best one out there is the Calm As… kit. Specially designed for surfers to be able to throw into their board bag and forget about until needed. Inside you'll find the items packed into six resealable plastic bags, each labelled with the condition the bag's intended to treat and it's contents. Includes hospital-grade medical equipment from Australian suppliers:Ten alco wipesTen packs of gauzeTen non-sterile emergency nitrile glovesFive x betadine wipesFive x 30mL packs of sterile saline for wound irrigationSterile scissorsSterile tissue forcepsTwo sterile packs of small wound closure strips ("steristrips")Two sterile packs of extra-large wound closure stripsTwo sterile 10mL syringesTwo sterile 18G blunt needlesSterile cotton applicators ("Q-tips")Triangular bandage ("Shoulder sling")1.5m of flat-packed 3.75cm strapping tape50cm x10cm sheet of breathable fabric wound dressing ("fixomul")Two x medium waterproof transparent wound dressings (6x7cm)Two x large waterproof transparent wound dressings (10x12cm)Two x medium combines with waterproof backing (10x20cm)Two x large combines with waterproof backing (20x20cm)Two x tongue depressors ("finger splints")Five x fabric bandaidsTube of Burnaid gelAeroform Snakebite bandage (doubles as a "tensor bandage")Calm as… First Aid Kit for Surfers. Alternatively buy (sold out now). | |
Surf charter etiquette is needed | The boat trip is a strange thing, an anomaly of surf trips. It has been around in its present form of luxurious travel for a good few years now in relative terms, and rules, laws and etiquette have slowly started to form around this form of travel. There are just a few points to remember when on such trips. Here's the lowdown on cruising around paradise on a boat.1. During a boat cruise, the boat gets quite crowded and cramped. It's part of the whole thing. If you're not good with loads of people in small areas, find an escape area, maybe on the roof of the cabin, perhaps somewhere else, where you can chill with your music, watch the stars, and relax with the rhythm of the ocean.2. Most boats have a designated area for boards to be stacked. This system is for a reason, as boards lying around the vessel can result in accidents and injury. Don't want to be tripping up over a board or a leash and breaking a bone. So put your boards away, tie your leashes up, and don't leave boardies and rashies on the deck – hang them all up.3. There is always going to be food for everyone — no need to panic and jump queues on a boat. Food comes.4. When the captain or skipper suggests against going to a specific surf spot, it usually means that he either knows it is going to be poor, or he knows that it is going to be hell getting there due to approaching bad weather. Take his word for it.5. If there is an engine failure, it is not the captain's fault either. He doesn't want to be floating around aimlessly while the waves are cooking. If you can help, then volunteer, otherwise stay out of the way and keep quiet until they have repaired the engine.6. If you arrive at a surf spot and there are three guys out, and a local is sitting in a little canoe waiting for them, it is poor form for all 10 of you to jump overboard and paddle out at once and hassle for every wave. Try and stagger your attack, with three or four guys going out at any one time.7. Don't paddle out into waves beyond your skill levels. You will be a menace to everyone in the water, including yourself, and you could very easily injure yourself, putting yourself as well as the captain or anyone with a medical background through some severe trauma. Know your limits. If it's ten-foot Nokanduis, please be very sure of your skill levels.8. Getting drunk on a boat is beautiful. Just don't go for a drunken late-night pee over the edge because if you fall and no one hears you. You're gone forever. Just use the inside toilet at night.9. Also, while getting drunk with your mates is all good, playing pranks like smearing toothpaste in a bed or hiding a turd under a pillow isn't that funny if you're the person who has to clean up the next day.10. Some captains and their boats are inexperienced and shoddy and are pushing their luck with taking on people for expensive charters. Do loads of research before slapping your coin down on some new boat. Find people who have been on the vessel before and speak to them. Go through a reputable travel company when making your booking.11. If you are on a boat and the waves go flat, and the winds go wrong, be prepared to read, and to play backgammon, and to drink Bintangs. Think about it – life's not that bad is it?LTL Surfcharters has over 10 years experience in assisting surfers with their surf charter bookings. All you have to do is fill out the form with your requirements on the contact page. We will email you within 24 hours and find you the best suitable options. Is there a specific boat that interests you ? We’ll check with that boat! | |
Nunti Sunya - Vincent Lartizien | Globally, cannabis has a long history as one of the mainstays and drivers of early industrialisation, providing fibre for ropes and canvas for sails that powered maritime trade to help build the global market that exists today, as well as textiles for clothing and an important role in medicinal apothecaries.The banning of industrial hempIt was South Africa’s colonial government that nominated “Indian hemp” to be listed as a dangerous drug by the League of Nations in the mid 1920s followed by the banning of industrial hemp as the result of a corporate agenda of nefarious interests in the US in the mid 1930s. It has been illegal for the past 80 years in most parts of the world for its narcotic properties while the industrial capacity continued to contribute to the economies of China, India and parts of Europe.Currently, more than 30 countries have legal cannabis for medical use and a growing number of states in the US and other countries are legalising or tolerating cannabis for recreational use, including South Africa where the Constitutional Court ruled in September 2018 that it was legal to cultivate and use cannabis in the privacy of your own home and gave Parliament two years to amend legislation.The cannabis value chainToday, the global medical and recreational cannabis market is growing from an estimated $9.6-billion in 2017 to a projected market value of $57-billion-plus by 2027. The cannabis value chain is based on the components of the plant that have economic potential: the seed offers food and oil that is high in essential fatty acids, resulting in boosted immune systems. In addition, the plant can be used to produce both ethanol and biofuel that could potentially feed directly into the energy and plastic sectors. The stalk offers two main agro-processing streams, the outer layer that can be stripped providing one of the longest fibres known to humanity to be used for an extensive range of consumer and industrial textiles. The inner part of the stalk is used in the paper, automotive and building industries. The flower and most controversial part of the plant is where the medicinal and recreational benefits lie."The potential income per farmer per hectare is dependent on bio-region, climatic conditions and seed strains. Conservative estimates indicate that per hectare, stalk biomass is worth R50,000, fibre R18,000, seed R155,000 and cannabinoids R100,000. Average income per hectare is about R175,000, generating revenue of R350,000 for a small farmer on two hectares." (estimates in ZAR)There are also noteworthy climate crisis mitigation benefits to cannabis farming and the possibility to access climate funding to roll out an industrial cannabis strategy. Cannabis sequesters up to 10,000 tons of carbon per hectare.Nunti Sunya - Vincent Lartizien
On her podcast, Imi, had the privilege of having a chat with one of the pioneers of big wave surfing: he’s French and his name is Vincent Lartizien. Vincent started his career as a professional windsurfer. He traveled to Maui in the ’80s to follow his dream and ended up living there for the next 20 years. It turned out big wave surfing was something he loved doing, and during the time he spent in Hawaii, he learned and mastered the art of tow-in surfing just after it got invented by Laird Hamilton. He was, in fact, the first non-Hawaiian to be allowed to surf Jaws and spent the next 30 years pulling off incredible exploits in dangerous situations in Hawaii and the rest of the world.The podcast covers these early years and beyond, but turns into a more spiritual conversation about the flow of energy in the ocean, and how Vincent’s spiritual connection with the ocean has helped him see life differently. In fact, about 6 years ago, Vincent, against all odds decided to create a hemp t-shirt manufacturing business. Six years later he is a successful soulpreneur with a vertically integrated hemp manufacturing facility near Hossegor.Nunti Sunya - Photos: LiveTheLifeTVSeedThe seed can be processed into food with a focus on preventative healthcare to boost the diet of the poor in the form of hemp hearts, the inside of the seed, or protein powder made from crushing the seed shell. Both are extremely high in proteins and omega essential fatty acids. The seed can also be cold pressed into an oil for human consumption.Bio-fuel and plasticThe seed can be cold pressed into oil, the whole plant can be processed for fuel through a pyrolysis process or converted into ethanol by a fermentation process. There is also huge potential for an eco-friendly bio-plastics industry that will start to reverse land and sea plastic pollution.BuildingThe inner part of the stalk, the hurd, can be processed into hempcrete for building houses that are stronger, fire- and moisture-proof and more durable. Communities can grow and build their own homes transforming the government’s housing programme from handouts to skills development and empowerment. The hurd can also be processed into eco-friendly insulation and pressed fibre-board similar to existing wood-based options.TextilesThe outer part of the stalk, the bast fibres, can be used to make textiles that are extremely versatile and used for a wide variety of applications from accessories, shoes and furniture, to home furnishings.PaperPaper is made from either the hurd or bast fibre. Industrial cannabis/hemp paper is a valuable alternative to conventional paper made from trees, and could provide a more renewable source for much of the world’s paper needs — one acre of hemp can produce as much paper as four to 10 acres of trees over a 20-year cycle. Hemp stalks grow in four months, whereas trees take at least 20 years.MedicineCannabis medicines were once the most commonly used medicines in the world until the 1920s and were listed in the US Pharmacopoeia until the mid-1930s. Today medical cannabis is playing an increasingly significant role and offers potentially cheap healthcare solutions for a variety of ailments that can directly contribute to primary and preventative health care on a community level and pharmaceutical medicines for specific conditions.The rapid introduction of far-reaching, proactive and empowering legislation is required to create the conditions to allow cannabis the possibility to create jobs and to grow and manufacture sustainable food, fuel, fibre, shelter and medicine in a green sustainable way. | |
Surfer, mum, and entrepreneur | My name is Imogen (Imi for friends). I am a surfer, a mum and an entrepreneur.I was born and raised in the UK in the seventies, and my lifelong dream was to live an adventurous lifestyle. At a very early age, I was propelled into living like a nomad and at the age of 11 I had already moved to France and back…twice! At the age of 17, Point Break came out in movie theaters and I caught the surfing bug.I caught my first wave ever in Maui, Hawaii. I was blown away by the exiliration, the sheer thrill of surfing and, of course, its values.Living in a landlocked city didn’t help, so I didn’t progress much in surfing, but I completely adhered to the surfing values, spirit and way of life. I spent my first paycheck on a 7″2 yellow board that I found in Hossegor. Unfortunately, I failed to use the proper straps to attach it on the roof rack and remember seeing the board flying away at 60mph on the Motorway!When I turned 18, I took a gap year and moved to the UK for a few months. I was miserable there. So to cheer me up, I would spend most of my weekends commuting from London to Devon with the The Stormrider Guide in my glove compartment. Most of the time, I would sleep on the back seat of my car, and overcome the dire temperatures of the British waters with my 4/3 Rip Curl wetsuit. I managed to pay myself a ticket to Australia and back where I bought my very first shortboard, a Hot Buttered 5’8″ that I still have to this day (but that I never managed to surf properly because it is too short – lol).Towards the middle of my gap year I met my husband Jean-Marc and found “l’Amour” (Love with a capital L)! I even turned down a job at Rip Curl in Hossegor. I guess you could say it wasn’t yet time for me to join the surfing industry, but there’s a comeback… you’ll see.Fast forward a few months where I had the most terrifying surfing accident in the Canary islands. I was over confident, under prepared and oblivious of safety (and yes, you can say stupid). I ventured out on an empty lineup, in a tubular point break. Obviously I got hammered, smashed my head on the reef, shredded my wetsuit with my fins, almost drowned and got a massive bruise that wouldn’t go away for months! I donated my yellow board, went home, focused on getting a degree, getting a job in a big tech company, and starting a family, and didn’t really look back from there.PreviousNext15 years later, when my eldest son turned 7 we decided to go to Lacanau for a bit of fresh Atlantic air, and he looked interested in surfing. When I saw how much fun he was having, I just had to try surfing again. This time, I decided to take things slowly and seriously.I took lessons, and gradually ventured out of my comfort zone and somehow picked up surfing where I left it, but this time, on a softboard and clearly in a safer environment. When I got back home, I enrolled both my kids in surfing lessons and used them as an excuse to go surfing!This was their weekly torture:By this time, I had left the corporate world and was running a family construction and property development business. For the first 10 years I spent doing it, the job basically sucked my soul away, but I do remember something striking a chord when we were in Lacanau. There was this surf shop owner who would close his shop every time the waves were pumping. It was the “sorry – gone surfing” cliché at its best and that cliché kept me going for another 5 years in my job. Likewise, I would escape to the sea for my dose of medicine.Surfing changed my lifeFrom a dreary suburbal lifestyle, we decided to move to a seaside town by the Mediterranean (OK, OK, it wasn’t the Atlantic but it was a great place to learn). It was as if I was 17 again! In 2013, we made my adventure-seeking dream come true and took off to Bali for a sabbatical. This is where I became a Green School addict. Green School is the most incredible place for kids to learn about sustainability and for parents to make awesome connections. I learnt about permaculture, alternative medicine, superfoods and sustainable architecture. Meanwhile, my surfing improved and I finally started to gain confidence in bigger waves.Over the months, things started to percolate in my mind and when I returned to France, I decided to leave my job at the family business. I founded my own company importing organic health food from Bali and selling it online. I rapidly found out that organic or not, the food business is pretty ruthless. I reached my goals but decided that the food business wasn’t for me. Besides, I never managed to fit surfing in my schedule and that sucked!It took me a couple of years to find my true calling. I tried out art, rebooting my business, having a nervous breakdown… But at the end of the day, the dream job was sitting in front of me the whole time! Today I have a freelance business creating websites, telling stories, translating them into French or English and sharing this podcast with you, you can find out more about my business here.You could say that hosting a podcast is a childhood dream come true. As a matter of fact, when I was little, I was already recording fake interviews and spoofs of TV shows on my tape recorder. About 40 years later, I’m finally living the dream!About The Oceanriders PodcastMy podcast is a series of weekly conversations with creatives, entrepreneurs, thinkers and dreamers who also happen to be surfers. We discuss our shared love of surfing and how it shapes career choices and business decisions. In The Oceanriders Podcast, some of my guests have gone for an alternative way of life and strongly believe in downsizing, others however, are creating burgeoning businesses to give them the excuse to stay close to the ocean.Surfers have an odd and incomprehensible passion that leads them on weird and windy paths but that’s exactly what makes them the most interesting humans on the planet! Surfers lead healthy lifestyles, tend to care about the environment, and they travel a lot.What I really want to achieve with this podcast, is to show my listeners that it is possible to have a balanced life where surfing does fit into the equation. Most of my guests aren’t professional surfers, they’re just people like you and me trying to make a difference and find a balance. I love receiving guests who are changing paradigms, whether they are old or young. In the same vein, I hope that my guests’ shared experience will help you to find your own path and help you find your dream job.Today I live in Les Lecques, France, ride a Stewart 9″0 single fin longboard and if the waves are big enough, I’m on my Bali built Redz Wombat 6″0.See you out there! | |
nanoFlowcell, too good to be true | The invention of the internal combustion engine 130 years ago marked the start of automobile-driven mass mobility. There are now around 1.2 billion vehicles registered and roughly 90 million new vehicles are produced each year. Annual CO2 emissions from internal combustion engines are approximately three billion tonnes. The collateral damage inflicted on society and the environment are utterly incomprehensible.Sports cars may not have the best reputation for being environmentally-friendly, but this sleek machine has been designed to reach 217.5 mph (350 km/h) – using nothing but saltwater. Its radical drive system allows the (2,300kg) Quant to reach 0-60 mph (100 km/h) in 2.8 seconds, making it as fast as the McLaren P1.After making its debut at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show in March, the saltwater technology has now been certified for use on European roads.The 920 horsepower (680 kW) Quant uses something known as an electrolyte flow cell power system to power four electric motors within the car. It works in a similar way to a hydrogen fuel cell, however, the liquid used for storing energy is saltwater. The car carries the water in two 200-litre tanks, which in one sitting will allow drivers to travel up to 373 miles (600km). No price or sale date has yet been revealed, but some experts suggest it could cost more than $1.7 million. The technology offers five times the energy capacity of lithium-ion batteries of the same weight. Huge potential for energy supplies in maritime, rail and aviation technology.The liquid passes through a membrane in between the two tanks, creating an electric charge. This electricity is then stored and distributed by super capacitors.Since it was founded in 2013, nanoFlowcell has concentrated on the research and development of this innovative energy storage technology and is the pioneer in the technical adaptation of flow cell technology for mobile application in vehicles.Starting on the basis of a NASA patent from 1976, nanoFlowcell has achieved significant progress in the charging and conduction capabilities of electrolyte liquids that can justifiably be described as revolutionary."Our research and development team has shown courage by forging new ways in the research of flow cell technology that leading scientists dismissed just a few years ago as dead ends. We have proven ourselves in the face of all doubters and developed a technology that will change the world."They developed the first low-voltage sports cars powered by flow cell energy.Did anyone had contact with this company and can confirm their results? The past year they did no longer update their site and social media channels. | |
Nearly constant offshore breezes | December of 2019 marked twenty two years since six friends visited Nicaragua to scope out a piece of land for sale. They were introduced to a man named Antonio Granados, whose family owned the property. Sr. Granados personally showed them the rugged, sprawling 2,700 acres. As they walked and climbed and dined together, he shared his vision of what the ranch could be with time and with a community behind it. They were hooked.In the years to come, they remained close with Sr. Granados and his family. They worked together to build homes for themselves and their friends. Additional homes brought the need for infrastructure. Roads were built, water filtration systems and electricity were put in place. More homes, clubhouses, restaurants, and the riding stables soon followed. Casa Papillon perfectly blends the surrounding tropical landscape.Most recently, The Inn & Residences were created as a boutique luxury accommodation for visitors. The world took notice, and now you can find them among Travel & Leisure’s top hotels of the world. Direct BookingVilla Escondida has direct access to this secluded beach.Situated on the Southwest Pacific coast between the vast Pacific Ocean and Lake Nicaragua, The Ranch is located on one of the Pacific’s only isthmuses. Bordered on both sides by water, Rancho Santana enjoys the distinction of nearly constant offshore breezes.An epic day in front of the clubhouse. Photo: @northatlanticcollectiveCover Image: Local artist, Augusto Silva painted this beautiful map of the Ranch which you can admire in el Café. Today, it’s time for your little ones to become artists. Download the map and get them some colored pencils. Alohainstagram.com/rancho_santana/Nicaragua’s southern Pacific coast offers some of the region’s best surf conditions, and at Rancho Santana you’ll find a variety of waves. The Beach & Surf Club at Playa Los Perros offers surf lessons and surf guiding. (Surfline Webcam / MSW 7 Day Surf Forecast). Rosada is right in front! This left-hand point breaks over a fairly shallow reef bottom and is situated in a gorgeous, private cove. Santana, a fast, barreling beach break, is just around the corner. The wave bounces off a rock headland and sends wedgy peaks down the beach. The Tola Province is a magic little slice of the Central America surf zone, one trip down there and you’ll see why. If you’re flying into Nicaragua, chances are you’re going to land in Managua, the country’s main international airport. If you rent a car or hire a driver it’s about three hours from the Augusto Cesar Sandino International Airport to Playa Gigante. | |
Jordy Smith. His breakout event. | There is a time in every surfer's professional career life when they burst onto the scene. Martin Potter was a great example, busting out and beating Shaun Tomson in a pro event in Durban when he was 15 years old.Jordy Smith didn't do too badly either, quickly launching himself onto the pro tour and elevating himself to the runner-up position in 2010. It was that very runner-up year that made Kelly declare that Jordy had multiple world titles in him, of which none have materialized as of yet.Photo: Yves Van den Meerssche/LiveTheLifeTVStill, his breakout event on tour in 2010 was his win at JBay. It was a good year for surf, not a great year, and the final day waves were contestable but poor in Supertubes standards. Still, it was a pretty wild day for many people, Jordy included.Bede Durbidge had Jordy locked down in their semi, holding a substantial lead, and with Jordy in combo, with four minutes on the clock. Jordy was trolling that bottom section, putting his shoulders into it and scooping large pockets of water as he tried to traverse up the point far enough to find a wave with some face on it. Jordy got one and popped a little credit card rail-grab, unimpressive by Jordy's standards, but a few more turns and a little swish over the rocks, and the judges gave him something respectable and got him out of the combo. He raced back up and grabbed another short brick-touching runner, and unleashed about five quick turns, nothing too special but speedy combinations, to get the score to win. Bede was not happy when I spoke to him on the beach afterwards. "Yeah, I couldn't hear what the judges were saying, but I wasn't surprised when he got the score," said the affable fellow, with just the right level of contempt in his voice to vent frustration but keep his demeanour cool. "I thought I had done enough, but obviously, I hadn't."Photos: Yves Van den Meerssche/LiveTheLifeTVThe find of the event thus far apart from Jordy, had been the young Adam Melling. He had flown down the line all week, finding reckless amounts of speed and throwing chunks of spray all over the shop to the continuous comparisons to Fanning. Much like Ethan Ewing's comparison to AI, Melling is very much his own surfer with an incredible and unique style. While the comments weren't harmful, they probably didn't do him any good in that fledgeling part of his career.Photo: Yves Van den Meerssche/LiveTheLifeTVHe started in the final with a few quick waves, but the conditions were deteriorating quickly in the freshening northeast breeze. Jordy was once again swarming all over the bottom section of the point. He was surfing oblivious to the sharp rocks that were popping up all over the shop. He could smell victory, the local crowd was whooping it up, and there were so many fucking vuvuzelas blaring out their painful blasts, drowning out the cheering and much of the commentating.In the dying minutes, Jordy stroked into this little wave and started racing along as fast as he could, keeping away from the rocks. The wave was an onshore mess, broken up, but it hit a bigger section further down towards Impossible and started growing. Jordy had so much speed that by the time the section formed up in front of him he had speed to burn, he quickly turned the momentum into a series of lightning-fast turns, fast and critical but nothing too massive. He needed to clinch the deal, and he knew how to do it. An excellent closeout move in the gully and every man and his dog knew that he had his maiden CT victory.It was a very cool moment. Jordy's mom lit a ciggie and shook her head, hands trembling slightly. The crowd were roaring, Jordy has a whole lot of duties to contend with before he got to the podium, with signings, posing and interviews and all the rest, but he did it all efficiently and headed up to the podium to receive his trophy.Photos: Yves Van den Meerssche/LiveTheLifeTVThe rest is history. | |
Death By Mosquito | While much has been done in malaria research, it still kills hundreds of thousands of people. In 2017 there was an estimated 219 million cases of the disease, and 435 000 deaths from the mosquito borne illness.Speak to any surfer or traveller who has survived a bout of the killer disease and you’ll quickly come to understand the dangers of the disease, the importance of knowledge regarding the disease, and the preventative methods and prophylactics utilised in fighting this killer.Malaria is a parasite; a protozoa that resides in human blood cells after being transmitted by the female Anopheles mosquito. After a mosquito pierces into human skin, it salivates under the skin as a way of preparing for a facile blood feed. It is with that spit that the mosquito transmits the malaria virus into the human system. The malaria parasite (called sporozoites) enters the bloodstream and settles in the liver. At that time no symptoms appear, but the malaria parasite multiplies.Following its stay in the liver, the parasite enters another phase of its life cycle, the merozotes, which circulate in the bloodstream, penetrating and destroying red blood cells and reproducing again. The majority of symptoms are caused by the massive release of merozoites into the bloodstream, the anaemia caused by the destruction of the red blood cells, and the problems caused by large amounts of free haemoglobin entering circulation after the red blood cells rupture. After you contract malaria it takes a minimum of six days, and up to several weeks, before symptoms appear. Symptoms are a little baffling.It was 1997 and I was spending the night in Singapore’s Changi Airport – feral travelling, no money left etc - when I started to feel a bit of a cold coming onboard. I was about a week out of G-Land where I had taken my medication religiously and protected myself from the mosquitos with coils and cream and long-sleeved clothing. Before I knew it I started feeling really poorly and I was boarding for a long haul to Heathrow. I felt too nauseous to drink myself to sleep, and I had swallowed my last sleeping pill a long time ago. Before I knew it I needed to vomit in the plane.The airhostess, sensing that I was going to seed pretty quickly, organised me a row at the back of the plane to sleep on. I lay there, cradling my stomach and moaning in agony and sweating under a thin little travel blanket.It was about my sixth time in Indo. When I went the first time, many years ago, I took Lariam as the anti-malarial medication. Rough nights, but I never contracted the disease. Even after camping for sixteen days on an island in the Mentawais in the early 90’s, an area that is rife with the disease. The next time I was in malaria territory was in 1998 in Mozambique. I tried the combination of Daramal and Paludrine. On the second day of administration I experienced chronic side effects, like severe headaches, nausea, diarrhoea and fatigue. I stopped this medication when the toilet paper supply started getting really low.This time I had gone back onto Lariam. For some reason, the nightmares weren’t nearly as prevalent as the last time.As mentioned earlier, malaria attacks the blood cells and breaks them down. At the very least, malaria brings on a high temperature as the body tries to kill the invaders. At worst, malaria kills by prohibiting the supply of healthy, oxygen-rich blood to the organs. Malaria can cause collapsed lungs, or liver, kidney or heart failure. Worst of all, malaria can cause a loss of oxygen to the brain, which brings on terrible convulsions and death. The disease thrives in enervated or malnourished people; which makes it specifically lethal in Third World territories.I had the classic flu-like symptoms. When I presented myself at Charing Cross hospital they immediately put me in bed and stuck a saline drip in one arm and a glucose drip in the other. They analysed my blood, urine and stool.The malaria belt extends around the world from the equator to 40 degrees north latitude, 45 degrees south latitude, and up to 2500 metres elevation. Take a look at a map ... that’s a whole lot of the world’s best surf spots. Surfers are most likely to contract the disease in virtually every tropical place they travel, with the exceptions of Hawaii, Tahiti and Fiji - they are malaria free. Other surf spots such as G-Land, Nias, Mentawais, Mozambique, Madagascar, the Philippines and even Puerto Escondido are heavy risk areas for malaria, and surfers travelling in these areas without knowledge and protection are taking their lives in their own hands.The medication I was given back then was pyrimethamine-sulfadoxine (Fansidar) single dose, combined with a two-week dose of Quinine. The Quinine was a bit of a bummer. The side effects for me were quite debilitating. Quinine, obtained from the bark of the cinchona tree, is the earliest antimalarial drug, but is no longer used that much because of the frequently occurring side effects. I suffered nausea, headaches, loss of hearing and blurred vision, a group of symptoms known as cinchonism. I heard ringing in my ears, started hearing voices, thought I was finally going mad. Had to keep the radio on for 24 hours a day. Had severe insomnia. Got about four hours sleep a night, if I was lucky, but hey, I made it.Next time prevention will be paramount. A mosquito net everywhere I go. Loads of mosquito coils to be burning all the time. Long sleeve cotton shirts and pants. Anti- mosquitos spray and something to rub on your body.. But I’m definitely going back to a malaria area in the near future, so I suppose that means I consider the mission worth it. So if you’re about to launch on that dream trip to Centro America just remember not to slack off with the anti- mosquitos protection. If you do slack off, at the least it could mean an early and uncomfortable end to your surf trip, at worst it could mean your life. | |
Planet of the Humans | Michael Moore presents Planet of the Humans, a documentary that dares to say what no one else will this Earth Day — that we are losing the battle to stop climate change on planet earth because we are following leaders who have taken us down the wrong road — selling out the green movement to wealthy interests and corporate America. This film is the wake-up call to the reality we are afraid to face: that in the midst of a human-caused extinction event, the environmental movement’s answer is to push for techno-fixes and band-aids. It's too little, too late. Removed from the debate is the only thing that MIGHT save us: getting a grip on our out-of-control human presence and consumption. Why is this not THE issue? Because that would be bad for profits, bad for business. Have we environmentalists fallen for illusions, “green” illusions, that are anything but green, because we’re scared that this is the end—and we’ve pinned all our hopes on biomass, wind turbines, and electric cars? No amount of batteries are going to save us, warns director Jeff Gibbs (lifelong environmentalist and co-producer of “Fahrenheit 9/11” and “Bowling for Columbine"). This urgent, must-see movie, a full-frontal assault on our sacred cows, is guaranteed to generate anger, debate, and, hopefully, a willingness to see our survival in a new way—before it’s too late. Featuring: Al Gore, Bill McKibben, Richard Branson, Robert F Kennedy Jr., Michael Bloomberg, Van Jones, Vinod Khosla, Koch Brothers, Vandana Shiva, General Motors, 350.org, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sierra Club, the Union of Concerned Scientists, Nature Conservancy, Elon Musk, Tesla. Music by: Radiohead, King Crimson, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Blank & Jones, If These Trees Could Talk, Valentina Lisitsa, Culprit 1, Patrick O’hearn, The Torquays, Nigel Stanford, and many more. | |
Designed by Nike's first employee | The Sunburst logo was originally designed by Nike's first employee Jeff Johnson in 1974. In 2019, with the intent of embodying the concept of circular design – and with the blessing of Jeff – Nike used the brand marker for Nike Sustainability. Today, it is exclusively the Move To Zero logo and denotes sustainable product on Nike.com/sustainability Move to Zero is Nike’s journey toward zero carbon and zero wasteFrom creating innovative ways to recycle shoes nearly 30 years ago to recent measures that address climate change, Nike has long been committed to helping protect the planet to create a better future for sport. After all, there is no finish line. Nike is now launching a new program that makes it easier to search, shop and learn about the sustainable features. They will now display a Sunburst on product made with sustainable materials. This pilot is launching with apparel products and featured apparel made from at least 50 percent sustainable materials by fabric weight (either recycled material or organic cotton), excluding trims.Sustainable Blend: Combining recycled polyester and organic cotton creates a performance material that reduces carbon emissions, water and chemical inputs compared to blends made from virgin polyester and conventionally-grown cotton. Organic cotton is grown without synthetic chemicals and uses less water than conventional cotton. Recycled polyester reduces waste and reduces carbon emissions by approximately 30 percent compared to virgin polyester.Recycled polyester: This material in Nike products is made from recycled plastic bottles that are cleaned, shredded into flakes and converted into pellets. From there, the pellets are spun into new, high-quality yarn, delivering peak performance with a lower impact on the environment. Recycled polyester reduces waste and reduces carbon emissions by approximately 30 percent compared to virgin polyester.Organic cotton: Created without synthetic chemicals, organically-grown cotton requires less water than conventional cotton to produce. Conventional cotton farming can have an extraordinary environmental impact due to water and pesticide use. More than half of the cotton is sourced sustainably, and Nike is one of the top users of organic and recycled cotton in the world.Follow "Sustainability" in the Nike App to learn more about sustainable design at purpose.nike.com. | |
Not just a bunch of escape artists | Tony “Doc” Van Den Heuvel wasn’t the first person to surf Jeffreys Bay, but there is no doubt that he surfed it the longest. In the early sixties, Tony was the original South African competitor and by the late 60’s he was the original South African rebel. For most of his surfing life, he has gone against the grain of the Afrikaner establishment in Jeffreys Bay. He was a bootmaker and that gave him financial independence and endless hours of surfing with only himself to answer to. The passing of his treasured dog Faith left a void in his life that was never filled His gaze was that of a surfer who has seen it all since he first surfed J-Bay in 1962. He is now sorely missed.© Jared AufrichitgBruce Gold, Clive Barber, Christine Moller and Shorty Bronkhorst. All being Doc’s true ‘partners-in-crime'. A lifestyle, an attitude and interpretation of living to surf, staying on the beach and staking a claim and right to live and die on the dunes overlooking one of the worlds most hallowed surf spots. Think about it, to be able to stake your claim to a piece of prime surf real estate and get away with it, you’d have to have lived a life like Docs.© Jared AufrichitgChristine and Doc were two of SA’s first representatives charging the North Shore of Hawaii, whilst Bruce and Shorty go as far back as surfing itself and have shared Doc’s path.Shorty was one of the original South Beach crew who lifeguarded and surfed in the late 1940s to 1950s. He was one of three South African lifeguards — with Cliff Honeysett and Bobby Burdon — who hitch-hiked through Africa, fending off stone-throwing monkeys in the Congo, surfing at Alexandria in Egypt until finally introducing surfing to the English Channel island of Jersey in the mid-50s. He was a founder of the Jersey Surfboard Club in 1959, returning to the island 10 years ago for the club’s 40th anniversary. He worked with Atlantic Waves surf school and inspired a generation of grommets with his boundless energy, love of surfing and tales of the Skeleton Coast. Shorty moved to J-Bay to run the Salt Rock Lodge. He was a fixture in the water and never missed a good swell, often hanging out at ‘the office’ under the Supers boardwalk with cohorts Ant van den Heuwel and Bruce Gold. Shorty is now missed by all his friends and family in J-Bay, South Africa and the rest of the world. Rest in Peace Shorty, Hamba Kahle Mfwetu!Clive Barber filmed South Africa’s first surf movie, African Vibrations. Clive was also an intrepid photographer and traveller who documented his journey around Australia. There are many iconic images from Byron Bay to Mauritius, and all over South Africa, my favourites are the one of old Seal Point and Jeffreys Bay… Rest in Peace Clive.Back in 1964, a young 17-year-old Van Den Heuvel was the youngest member of the adventurous crew who discovered the world’s best righthander. Their discovery came just six months after the Endless Summer crew had unknowingly passed it by on their way North towards Durban after their discovery at Cape St. Francis. “The Last Camper” was a quiet tribute to Van Den Heuvel and his amazing saga, which has been playing out in J-Bay for more than four decades. Van Den Heuvel, or “Doc” as he was known, was South Africa’s 1965 national surfing champion. | |
Custodians of the SA surf culture | A friend of mine — a hot underground local surfer called ‘Roosta’ (Andrew Lange) has written a fine piece on Ant, helped by Bruce Gold and some of Ant’s other friends. To reflect Doc’s true message so he has enlisted three other ‘custodians’ of the South African surf culture; Bruce Gold, Christine Moller and Shorty Bronkhorst, to help weave this one down the line and into some proper sense! Ant Van Der Heuwel was one of the pioneers of the surf lifestyle @ JBayAL: You and Doc were cruising together on your first trip to J-Bay, right?Shorty: It was in 1966 when he came back from competing for South Africa in Peru and ah, we actually did a trip to Cape Town and stopped off here in J-Bay on the way, and then stopped again on the way back. Then I had to get back hey and Doc said: “I’m staying a bit longer!” (laughs) and of course, there was nothing here I mean not a house in sight. We all camped in the dunes down the bottom of the point.AL: What was the story with Doc when they wouldn’t give him his Springbok colours?Shorty: He didn’t actually get them because there was John Whitmore you see, who told him that if he didn’t cut his hair he couldn’t surf and he just wouldn’t cut it! So they never gave him his colours. That tells you a lot about Doc hey? Rather than cut his hair, he’d rather not have his Springbok blazer! (more laughing)Christine: “ Well, I also knew Tony since he was sixteen. It was during the Durban Lifesaving Club days, he was with Pirates and Shorty was at South Beach then Tony became a pro lifeguard as well.AL: So then how did you two end up meeting in Hawaii?Christine: I was over there from California and he came over from South Africa to stay and surf the North Shore, it was before all the contests started happening. Just before we left they started having one or two events, it was around ’66 I think.AL: Were you guys like partying hard? What was the whole Hawaiian social scene like back then? Did you guys chill out in hammocks and drink weird smoothies or what?Christine: No, it was quiet, I mean we’d go home, make dinner, go to bed n’ get up early the next morning! There was no nightlife, there were some youngsters from San Francisco and they got a light show going in Honolulu, that was about it.AL: What about that really solid wave Bruce was telling us about what you and the Doc shared at Sunset when it was big?Christine: We had a lot of waves at Sunset, I suppose, well it’s different the waves over there and I had my semi-gun, that was a beautiful board from Greg Noll, I could ride it in three-foot surf or ten-foot surf.”AL: What was the story?Christine: I dunno, the waves got bigger and bigger the way I hear it! (more laughter) I don’t think they were that big, I dunno I suppose you don’t think about it when you’re young and strong, you just go out there and you surf!AL: Young and stupid hey? Just like me! Bruce, where and when did you first meet Doc?Bruce: End of ’68 hey, right here at the point.AL: Were you guys camping or what?Bruce: Ja, we came out here on a surfing trip and Doc was staying here in a half a bus, half a silver bus. He’d been here for a while. He had a sore back from doing a flick-flack on a tiny green 5'6" surfboard, I even saw him shaping a board on the beach with some Aussie. Gavin Rudolph rode it the first time, I remember that was J-Bay in 1968.AL: How would you describe Doc’s style of surfing?Bruce: Very controlled, very powerful. Precise and considered surfing, stylish.AL: What era suited his surfing best?Bruce: Longboard surfing for sure. Mickey Dora came back here and he only rode longboards and he inspired us more or less to stay on the longboards.AL: Tell us a cool story about the Doc.Christine: Many years ago with my blue Kombi we went over to St Francis, we were actually looking at the pictures today, and Tony says “This is how you go in here,” as he waxes his board. There are all those stones there and he goes climbing over the stones and jumps on his board and starts paddling and knocks his skeg off! (heaps of laughter)It was around ’92 when I first heard from an Aussie that the infamous Doc was on the scene again, having moved out the Pellsrus township. Staying at Koffie’s Surf Camp keeping the coals blazing around the fire and telling the tourists’ surf stories. I had to see it for myself and thus started my friendship and ‘tutelage’ with the Doc, Supertubes and the politics of Jeffreys Bay. Since all I’d ever heard through grommet hood was the name, like he was one of the pioneers of J-Bay or something, respect came naturally. You see Doc was as respected as he was hated at times. Animo-city is not a place in Disneyland, it lives and breathes in the lungs of spoilt antagonists in towns just like J-Bay. Doc lived the way he wanted, which was not without confrontation. Negativity as a result of his actions, habits and attitude came and went like the tide, like the two sides of Doc; one unequivocally cool, the other on edge, disillusioned and angry at the way things had become with the scene, crowds and the reckless overdevelopment of J-Bay.Physically, at 59 ripe years of age, it was a challenge to camp in those dunes. For a while, he had his dog Faith and then Socks and all the crew in the ‘office’ under the boardwalk and things were rocking. Tight people, good times and bad. I’m sure a heap of us have spent many a day watching the show between sessions; Christine knitting Bippo beanies on one side, Bruce doctoring the Doc’s back on the other while he grooved to his radio, crafting leather boots and sandals and dogs and pups ran around your feet like crazy! Doc’s work was renowned the world over, check the old Art Brewer photo of his thigh-high Ugg boots, custom-built for the infamous Bunker Spreckles, not to mention Mickey Dora’s politically incorrect sealskin boots! (Still in the possession of one B. Gold) You just had to have patience and order your boots long before you left J-Bay. And so he eked out a few bucks from the leatherwork, did some interviews for surf mags and generally survived in a style one could only survive on in a place like J-Bay with its history as a surf-travel mecca and international meeting place for all forms of tube riding.“You can spend your whole life trying to figure out how to make a million or you can spend your time doing what you love and what you’re good at!” — Doc quoted in South African Surfer magazine. | |
Vela. A web tv series from JJF ... | Between surf events, John and a group of friends have spent the last few years testing the limits of smaller sailing craft around their home in the Hawaiian Islands. Looking to push their comfort zone further, John and crew begin to prepare VELA for an open ocean voyage larger than any they've made before.Cover Shot: Ryan Miller / Red Bull "Line Islands, here we go." It's a week at sea, with no land in sight. John and crew develop their lifestyle aboard VELA as they cover 1200 miles from Oahu to their first destination, Palmyra Atoll. They catch their dinners, race paddle boards around the boat, and face the realities of the doldrums and sea sickness."This is truely eye opening. Instead of constantly hearing the "complaints" of us human destroying planet earth, now seeing how the planet would look like and how the ecosystem would work when we wouldn't interfere the circle of life. Absolutely amazing, 13 minutes is way to short but it opened my eyes that we are on one hell of a mission."Episode 4 | Washington Island and Fanning Island"This is some National Geographic level series. Seriously, the composition on every shot is beautiful, the voice over, the narrative, the colors, the sound design and music selection, everything adds up to a masterpiece. Such and inspiration! Keep these type of series coming please!" | |
Transkei Dreaming | The wild coast – a beautiful stretch of deserted beaches and friendly people – isn't that wild after all.The rain had kept a constant chatter on the corrugated iron roof. We were thankful for the rain because it had filled up the tanks from their somewhat dry levels. Still, it had woken me up early, with the constant ratatat of hard rain falling. The rest of the house was still sleeping.I walked to the end of the musty bedroom, pulled the curtain aside to peer out at the drenched landscape and my heart quickened. A man was standing mere metres away, under the low branches of a tree. He was dressed in a yellow raincoat and was staring at the house intently. I watched him for a minute. He was unaware that I had seen him. Suddenly I saw another person in a tree a little bit further away. Then another. I looked again, and still, they stood there in dawn's wet early light. I stood on the soaking wooden balcony in my bare feet and asked the nearest guy., "What? What do you want?"He slowly walked forward towards me and pulled a bag from under his raincoat and pulled out the most massive, plumpest crayfish I had ever seen. He placed it flapping on the wooden balcony by my feet. Then he took another, slowly pulled it out of the bag, and set it next to the first. The other guys all walked out from under the trees with their sacks and placed them in separate little piles in front of me. I burst out laughing, at the appreciation of this precious moment. Big toothy grins opened up in front of me, and we all had a communal chuckle. Welcome to the Transkei.We had heard about a legendary wave around the next headland and our mission after breakfast was to go and find it. We set off for the nearest hill. We climbed straight up for a little while until we were all breathless before we summitted the hillock. A beach vista stretched before us. A few rondavels in the foreground covered the corner of the picture. The rest was taken up by a vast bay of white sand, and clean blue waves. In the distance, we could see a headland, with our secret destination just beyond it. We started down the hillock, walking alongside a sloshy little riverbed. It opened up onto the wide, white beach, littered with seaweed, but untainted by human influence. Not even a footprint anywhere.The tide was low, so we slogged away on the relatively hard sand for about five kilometres, until we reached the base of the headland. We walked past gin-clear rock pools and wind-blasted caves, climbed over some rocks, and came around the corner. In the distance, as far as the eye could see, was a rocky coastline with waves smashing against it, and no sign of an indentation. This stretch of the coast wasn't a surfing stretch, that was obvious. Someone had sold us a dummy. Good waves don't come easy these days. We turned around and started back, remembering seeing some fun waves on the main beach.When we got back, some local girls had gathered around our house, and instead of more crayfish, they had placed their wares on the wooden deck. Handmade jewellery fought for shelf space alongside an array of beautiful, finely-polished shells. Six or seven girls all jostled alongside each other, giggling and smiling, as they showed us what they had. Old clothes sat loosely on them in the warm afternoon sun, and although they were all smiles, you could see that they were desperate for sales. Some of us bought a few shells, some of us bought little pieces of jewellery for loved ones. The girls left smiling.The sun was setting as we sat comfortably around a fire. We soon had the fire at optimum cooking temperature. A massive fish took dominance on the braai grid, surrounded by the crayfish tails. Nothing beats seafood done on the fire, with a dash of hot sauces, and some grainy spices. No dainty hors d'oeuvres here-no crepes or canapés or sausages on a stick. We were in the heart of the Kei, and it looked like it might rain again.Ricky Basnett, Emma Smith and Avuyile "Avo" Ndamase set off in their Mitsubishi Triton bakkies to find waves off the beaten track in the Transkei region (now the Eastern Cape) of South Africa. Along their journey down the wild coast, they visit renowned surf spots like Mdumbi, Lwandile and Coffee bay, but spend a fair amount of time exploring unknown nooks along the rugged coastline, many of which require a 4x4 to reach. A visit to the Transkei wouldn't be complete without a visit to the iconic Hole in the wall, and the trio of professional surfers find something special.Photo: mamiwatasurf.com"The Transkei is an unspoilt, rural area of the Eastern Cape of South Africa, North of J-Bay, South of Durban. A temperate zone between the sub-Tropics of KwaZulu-Natal and the more Mediterranean climes further to the South. Here there are few roads and even fewer bridges connecting the rolling hills, meaning that there is no easy access to many of the beaches. The mythical waves of Lwandile, a fast, right handed point break that unfurls and races across its reef like an African freight train, in a similar fashion to that most famous of African point breaks, Jeffreys Bay, a few hundred kilometres back down the road. Lucky for you, Lwandile is often empty. and for good reason. First it’s hard to reach. Although just across the river mouth and in the next bay from a small tourist area, the drive will take 3 to 4 hours on the cattle tracks, winding over the hills, through the valleys and across the rivers, to spill you out on the hill overlooking this gem. A short boat trip is the easiest way to access the wave, but good luck finding a boat in this part of the world if you don’t bring your own on the tow-hitch of your Landcruiser. The other thing that keeps the crowds down in Lwandile, beyond the inaccessibility, is the every present thought of sharks. Big ones. The Transkei is far enough South to make a chance encounter with a Great White possible, and far enough North to mean that you could also bump into a short tempered Zambezi, Bull or Tiger shark." mamiwatasurf.comA former South African surfing champion named Justin Saunders has gone off the grid and set up a surf camp, sandwiched between a series of perfect points on tribal land. Swell Eco Lodge offers accommodation set within the rolling hills of Mngcibe (North side of the Mdumbi River). +27 84 943 3947Salty Waves at Coram Deo in Coffee BayWild Lubanzi is located in a little Xhosa village close to the surf. | |
There are no shortcuts to joy | Before Under An Arctic Sky was even an idea or a film it was a love affair with surfing in cold water. Over the last decade Chris Burkard (Director &) Ben Weiland (DP) traveled across the globe seeking out waves in some of the coldest and most remote conditions on the planet. Why would anyone ever want to surf in cold water one might ask? Simple.. to thrust ourselves out of the safe and the routine, the familiar and known, and to hopefully create a space where the unknown can occur. Under an Arctic Sky was this unknown.Photos: 500px.com/chrisburkardWe endured the largest storm Iceland had seen in 25 years. We began to question whether this trip was doomed for failure.There were so many moments while filming for where we should have called it quits. Like when our car got stuck in an avalanche, Renan Ozturk got 25 stitches from a drone or when the surfers had ice forming around their wetsuit while surfing at 1 am in the Arctic Circle. The best projects always require you to suffer a little bit, and that is exactly what we did.Presented by: Sony, Chris Burkard Studio & Sweatpants Mediachrisburkard.com/ sweatpantsmedia.com/ underanarcticsky.com/Director - Chris BurkardDirector of Photography - Ben WeilandEditor - Dave PhelpsProduced by - Andy BellChris Burkard is an accomplished explorer, photographer, creative director, speaker, and author. Traveling throughout the year to pursue the farthest expanses of Earth, Burkard works to capture stories that inspire humans to consider their relationship with nature, while promoting the preservation of wild places everywhere.Layered by outdoor, travel, adventure, surf, and lifestyle subjects, Burkard is known for images that are punctuated by untamed, powerful landscapes. Through social media Chris strives to share his vision of wild places with millions of people, and to inspire them to explore for themselves. instagram.com/chrisburkardHis visionary perspective has earned him opportunities to work on global, prominent campaigns with Fortune 500 clients, speak on the TED stage, design product lines, educate, and publish a growing collection of books. Along with his team, Burkard is based out of his production studio and art gallery in the Central Coast of California. | |
A roll through the Sunset machine | You're always told that it's cool to push your limits a little when it comes to big waves, to paddle out and give it a go if you're feeling a little nervous and that it is all part of the learning process of being a surfer and of being a human.It's not all true.It's sometimes very foolish to paddle out when you're obviously out of your depth, and two elements come into play when it comes to big surf and having a go.The first is the bravery of youth. Totally cool, the only way to learn is to experience it, so go out and have a go, get your beatings, lick your wounds and reassess. This only works on the young.The second is that discretion actually is the better part of valour. We waited all day for Sunset Beach to pick up. I didn't want it to pick up, and I wanted the afternoon to fly into the night so that I could grab a beer and chill on the deck at the house overlooking Phantoms and Velzyland.Late in the afternoon, real sets were coming through at Sunset, and the entire household headed out, including me on a borrowed 7'6 blade that did not feel comfortable under my arm.The West Peak. All my life I have head about and read about the west peak at Sunset. I grew up in fear of this loathsome, lumbering miscreant lump of water that would materialize in the channel, hit a chunk of coral, and do a sharp left turn and bore down on hapless surfers, mowing down anyone in its way. I grew to dread the west peak, and whenever I got caught inside by any wide set at any surfing location in the world, I would consider it a 'west peak' moment.The first wave of the set looked like the wave I had been waiting for all my life. Ten-foot solid, with a wall stretching all the way to Waimea. I was in the perfect spot, it even seemed like there was a chip-shot forming as I paddled. This was going to be a cinch. There's nothing like a ten-foot wall with an easy take off….I missed it. The wall of water passed underneath me. The opportunity for the wave of the day, of my year, possibly of my life was gone. I turned around and saw that the next two waves were quite a bit bigger than anything I had faced so far in my life, and they were going to break in front of me.With the perfect vision of hindsight, I could have dealt with the situation way better. I could have paddled further into the channel to try and get away from them, or I could have paddled in as hard as I could to get away from the imminent explosion of them breaking. Instead, I paddled straight out.I scraped over the first one and fixed my eyes on the next wave. It was that very instant, as I put eyes on it, and as I understood that I was not going to make it, my brain did that little wobble.I had a split second to decide. Stand up on my board and dive off to try and get as deep as possible, or quietly take the biggest breath; hold my nose and slip underwater. Either way, I was about to enter a world of unhappiness.I probably could have made it under the wave. I perhaps could have slipped under the breaking lip. My timing was totally wrong. Waves move fast in Hawaii, and they seem to carry more weight.I could have died out there that day. My borrowed board disappeared in the most violent thrashing I had ever experienced the instant the lip hit the spot where I had slipped under the water, and I was sent deep and tumbling.These days I think things through a bit more, and when I feel like it when I'm not feeling the surf for whatever reason, I just go the beer option on the deck.A picture perfect day at Sunset Beach, Hawaii. | |
Transformed by the Sea. Fishpeople | Fishpeople tells the stories of a unique cast of characters who have dedicated their lives to the sea. Filmmaking. Some people follow the storyboard, some follow their gut. Keith Malloy? Ten parts gut, zero parts plan. Well, I take that back. He’s got a plan, it’s just hard to discern it behind that beard. Fortunately, he’s got some friends (and a legendary wife) who know how to organize, use cameras, record sound, scuba dive and put out fires. It takes a village to create a piece of cinema worth remembering, and someone with gut instinct. Such is the case with Fishpeople, Keith’s latest film."I’m watching a herd of white Arabian horses running through a steep Tahitian valley. Those deep green valleys you see from the lineup of Teahupoʻo are so dramatic they look as if they’ll topple over. Fishpeople character and professional surfer Matahi Drollet brought us up here. It’s his uncle’s property. An elder of the community with deep Tahitian roots, Peva Levy’s hospitality extends into telling the vivid story of his homeland and the early origins of surfing Teahupo’o which was supposedly first ridden by a woman. It is through these moments with his family that the inherited reverence (and confidence) Matahi has for the ocean is founded." patagonia.com | |
Lynne Boyer | Lynne resides ten months of the year in Hawaii and two months in Hungary. Her favorite medium is oil on canvas and linen. She was born with a keen interest in visual arts and started drawing and painting at an early age. Lynne grew up on Oahu and became a World Champion surfer winning the titles in 1978 & 1979, even though her interest in the arts never waned. "You could say she was a more radical surfer than I was," rival and four-time world champion Margo Oberg of Hawaii recalled. "She was pretty, she had wild red hair, she painted her boards up . . . she sure looked radical."She placed third in the 1973 state championships, won in 1975, and turned pro the following year, just out of high school, flying to California to win the Hang Ten Pro Championships at Malibu, earning $1,500. The women's world tour made its debut in 1977, and for the next few years it was essentially a two-surfer showcase. Boyer won three of nine events in 1977, but Oberg won four and took the title.In 1984 she won the World Cup at Haleiwa, but had otherwise all but vanished from the surf scene, revealing years later that she was addicted to cocaine and alcohol, and that her reticence as a pro had been determined in large part because she'd been a closeted lesbian. "It was lonely at the top," she told the Honolulu Star-Bulletin in 1997. "You have all these secrets, and you can't let everyone know who you are because they might get an edge on you."She continued to surf, but as she said in 1997, "It took 13 years of being sober to make it fun again." A successful full-time artist, Boyer's paintings are now sold in galleries throughout Hawaii and through her personal website. (Source: EOS)This is for all the ladies who brought surfing to the world.Video by Doug Walker. photos by SHIRLEY ROGERSArchival footage courtesy of Ted Adegawa, Ronnie Romero and Mary Pille | |
Dungeons, Dragons, and Duckdives | The Red Bull Big wave Africa ran from the first tentative steps in 1999, up until the extravaganza that was the 2008 event, won by Grant 'Twiggy' Baker.One of the years, I decided to surf this beast of a wave, to be able to report on it and understand more about facing big waves. Hawaiian big wave charger Jamie Sterling lent me one of his guns, and we all headed out there for a session. Jamie was a small guy back then, and in hindsight, I probably could have done with a bit more foam under my chest.Photos: Alan Van Gysen/Red Bull Content PoolMost of the activity was happening way out the back, with some of the big wave surfers heading out to the outside peak to get a few of the big ones. I chose to sit closer in, on the edge of the channel, to have a look.The sets weren't that big. It was about 12 to 15-foot, with a few bigger outside sets, but at Dungeons, that's not that big. It gets a whole lot bigger.I remembered Davey Stolk, Rudy Palmboom, Jamie Sterling and Richard Sills getting a few, with Jamie having some fun out there and going left on a few of the sets. Going left can be extremely dangerous. If you go left and a big set comes through on the main section of reef, you are going to get them all on the head. If a big west set comes through, you're going to have to paddle hard to get out the way. Both options were scary, even on a lesser day such as this.Jason Ribbink – another big wave surfer from Durban – caught a set wave and kicked out near where I was sitting. I waved at him."Nice wave," I said."Listen. You don't want to be sitting down here," Jason said to me. "This is a gnarly spot. If the inside section opens up, you're going to get caught inside. Rather come up to the top."I wasn't interested in 'going to the top' and told him so, that I would rather chill down here, in what I thought was the channel.He tried a few more times to entice me before paddling off.I sat a bit longer, and unbeknownst to me, I was drifting while watching these guys ride massive waves. On cue, everyone in the photography boat started shouting. At me, at the ocean, at life in general. I started paddling, rattled by the screaming, and as I crested the first wave, I saw it. It was a monster double-up of a wave heading for the 2.5 reef (2.5 meters deep) which is where I was sitting and where you don't want to be.I never really managed to assess how big the wave was, but the spectators reckoned about 12-foot. The problem was that it was doubling up, over the shallowest part of the whole reef set-up, and aiming itself for my head. I paddled, arms shaking from fear, breath wheezing. The 10'0 picked up a bit of momentum, and for an absolute split second, I thought I might have a chance. The very next split second I realised that I had no chance of getting past this beast and that I needed to opt for plan B. Stand on my board, jump off and swim deep.The lip hit the water, and I felt he shock wave deep underwater. It landed behind me and pushed me away and up behind the back of the wave. I was deep for a long time before I emerged, with some anxious faces on me. I grabbed the board and started paddling. More waves were coming. I chose to go around the left side of the set, and everyone started yelling again."Go! Go! Go!" It was Jamie screaming at me. I think he was more worried about his board than anything else, but he got me over the next wave as adrenalin coursed through me.I was well clear of the next wave, the final wave of that mean set, and I could finally get my breath back after a panicky rush of paddling and hyperventilating. Rudy Palmboom paddled up to me and gave me a high five, and everyone just carried on surfing.When we look back at the origins of modern surf culture, we often identify three countries: Brazil, Australia and the United States. However, if you dig into the past a bit deeper, you'll find South Africa right up there amongst the progenitors.In Episode 1 of Made In South Africa, filmmaker Jason Hearn explores the rich, diverse surfing possibilities of his home country's "Mother City"—Cape Town. We go for a high-octane free surf with local boy Mikey February, and Jordy Smith. Then it's over to one of the world's best big wave breaks, Dungeons, for a rare summer session with Frank Solomon, Josh Redman, Matt Bromley, and Dale Staples. In Episode 2 of Made In South Africa, filmmaker Jason Hearn heads from Cape Town up the coast to Durban, to Cave Rock. Lifelong local and former World Championship Tour competitor Ricky Basnett gives us an insider's look at the rough-around-the-edges. tight-knit crew of surfers whose lives have been shaped around, and defined by, Cave Rock. From true OG Rudy Palmboom to world-renowned photographer Chris Van Lennep to World Champion Shaun Tomson, the wave that ties their lives together is Cave Rock. Next week, Hearn spends some time with one of the first — and still the best — free surfers on the planet, Frankie Oberholzer, and his ultra-stylish son, Koby.In Episode 3 of Made In South Africa, filmmaker Jason Hearn finishes his exploration of his home country with one of surfing's greatest characters, Frankie Oberholzer. Hearn revisits the story of Oberholzer's rise to fame after Derek Hynd put him on Rip Curl's The Search alongside Tom Curren. Today, Oberholzer leads a quiet, contented life near Durban, where he fishes and surfs, along with his son Koby, whenever possible. The Search might have been a long time ago, but Oberholzer's style in the water has not faded a bit. He was, and remains, one of the best free surfers on the planet.When filmmaker Jason Hearn finished Episode 3 of Made In South Africa, there was a lot left on the cutting room floor. So he decided to put together this bonus edit from one of the best days of the year, featuring Frankie and Koby Oberholzer. | |
Lockdown Dream. Hugo Boulenger | ||
Fujifilm X-T4. Jolt to the Industry. | The Fujifilm X-T4 is a mirrorless camera with a split personality – on the outside it's all retro dials and analogue chic, but inside it's packed with more advanced features than we've seen from any Fujifilm X-T camera so far.The X-T4 fills the last gaps left by its predecessor, the X-T3, and is now one of the most wanted cameras on the market. Fujifilm added IBIS and a flippy screen but the mechanism is arguably inferior for those who like to quickly shoot from the hip. A more discreet shutter and improved autofocus, now that's great. Yes, it’s the same image sensor (and processor) as the X-T3, but if it fits your photography style, the X-T4 is a leap over its predecessor. So should you upgrade?The X-T4 retains the X-T3’s excellent video recording capabilities, able to capture 4K clips at up to 60fps with a maximum bitrate of 400Mbps. You can record 10-bit F-Log straight to the SD card. There’s also now a 240fps super slo-mo mode (in 1080p), joining the 120fps frame rate that’s available on the T-3. Here’s a nice touch: movie mode gets its own placement on one of the X-T4’s dials, and the camera separates your settings (and Q button preferences) for stills and video. You can switch between the two without having to mess with menus each time. Now that's a killer feature!The Fujifilm X-T4 is the natural evolution of the X-T series, but it’s evolved into a space that's more hotly contested than a jalapeño eating contest.But really, when it starts to shine is when you put it in the hand of an artist.Daniel Malikyar from the US explores Los Angeles to capture moments in the city with the X-T4. fujifilm-x.com/x-t4/ | |
Vincent Duvignac, 20 years later ... | Vincent Duvignac's new film tells the story of his last trip to Morocco, on a spot he first surfed 20 years ago."With optimistic predictions and after a year of injuries, it was finally time to return to that part of Morocco that I love so much. The day before the departure, when I was picking up the tickets, I realised that it had been exactly 20 years since I had the privilege of making my very first trip and discovering this wave, thanks to my sponsor at the time. I then had the impression that I had learned more about life and myself in one week than I had in 12 years of existence, a nice slap in the face!The swells were exceptionally chained this year, and after months of good surfing in France, the obvious call from Morocco was received by many European and even American surfers. It was an opportunity for the young teenager from Mimizan Noa Dupouy to embark with me on a trip he won't forget any time soon." | |
Amid all the clouds of foam dust | On paper, shaping yourself a surfboard by hand would seem like a giant pain in the ass. Shaping bays are small, dusty, sweat-inducing spaces. Planer whirs are not anyone's preferred soundtrack. You'll make a lot of shit surfboards on your way to the first one that rides at all like you want it to. But when you stick it out, the journey changes you and it changes your surfing in some wonderful ways, and you realize that the thing that seemed like such a pain has become something incomparably fun. Case in point: Alex Knost, Ellis Ericson, Andrew Doheny and Shyama Buttonshaw. These four surfers, the stars of the film, started their handshaping journeys many years ago. And amid all the clouds of foam dust they learned a thing or two about how their equipment works and what feelings they wanted to chase in their surfing. It's had some profound effects on their style of riding waves, but more importantly, they'll be the first to tell you that it's been a ridiculous amount of fun.Press play above to get some insights into the unique surfing and surfcraft of these DIYers as they test out self-shapes in pulsing Indonesian surf. | |
Pedro Winter x Ed Banger Records | If you haven't heard of Pedro Winter, you must hate electronic music, have no access to the internet, or else live in a cave! If this doesn't apply to you, you will have listened to one of the artists on his label Ed Banger Records without maybe even knowing it.Cover Image: Kevin MilletDJ, producer, art director, and boss of the Ed Banger Records label, Pedro «Busy P» Winter shifted from being an emblematic figure of the Parisian underground to the Frenchman who makes the whole World dance.At only 34 years old – 12 of which spent managing Daft Punk (six millions albums sold) – the man who discovered Justice is established as the golden boy of electronic music. Yet, this former skateboarder, fan of hard rock, stumbled upon his career by chance.As a real club kid in the early 90's, he went out every night. David Guetta soon spotted him and gave him a chance at the mythic Palace club where he held his first parties in 1995. In that temple of Parisian nightlife an impressive list of talents with a bright future were to be found. Daft Punk of course, but also Mororbass, Dimitri From Paris, Dj Cam and more.The "French Touch" was born and Pedro was already a major part of it. One year later while Daft were recording their first album, they asked Pedro to become their manager. His career was launched.His rise to prominence may echo that of the "American dream", but his success has not produced a shark-like manager, nor a hardened businessman. Available and friendly, his energy is contageous. "A lot of people think I plan everything, but I never had any career plan. If I worked a pose, a cool attitude, it would be blindingly obvious. All that happens to me is actually a mixture of chance and luck. I was at the right place at the right moment, the rest is work. And it has paid off."As a good artistic director, he was one of the first to realise the potential offered by the Internet and to appropriate these new modes of communication " Today the kids come back home and don't turn the T.V on anymore, they dash over to their computer and choose for themselves what they want to watch or listen to. The advantage with the web is that there is no more buffer between the artist and the public. That's what really makes the difference… " | |
Joaquin Phoenix Drops F-Bombs | When Joaquin Phoenix won Best Actor in a Drama at the Golden Globes for his role in “Joker”, he managed to drop a few f-bombs in his acceptance speech. Unfortunately, the imprecise nature of the bleep button (or, in this case, the mute button) means it was pretty difficult for everyone at home to know what the fuck he was saying.“We all know there’s no f—ing competition between us,” Phoenix said of his fellow nominees in the category. “I’m your f—ing student. I can’t believe the beautiful mesmerizing, unique work that you’ve all done this year, but I really do feel honored to be mentioned with you.”Later on, the actor continued his foul-mouthed ways and kept the NBC censors busy. “Contrary to popular belief, I don’t want to rock the boat, but the boat is f—ing rocked.”Phoenix ended his speech with a (profane) flourish. After a mea culpa for past mistakes he didn’t bother to detail, Phoenix called for the other rich and powerful people in the room to do something about climate change.“It’s great to vote, but sometimes we have to take on that responsibility on ourselves and make changes and sacrifices in our own lives and I hope that we can do that. We don’t have to take private jets to Palm Springs,” Phoenix said as the seriously-stop-talking music began to swell around him. “Thank you so much for putting up with me, I’m so grateful.” The only people more grateful than Phoenix? NBC executives who opted to air the show on a slight delay, which allowed them to keep their airwaves clean and the FCC off their backs.Director Todd Phillips “Joker” centers around the iconic arch nemesis and is an original, standalone fictional story not seen before on the big screen. Phillips’ exploration of Arthur Fleck, who is indelibly portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix, is of a man struggling to find his way in Gotham’s fractured society. A clown-for-hire by day, he aspires to be a stand-up comic at night…but finds the joke always seems to be on him. Caught in a cyclical existence between apathy and cruelty, Arthur makes one bad decision that brings about a chain reaction of escalating events in this gritty character study. | |
Mavic Air 2 for next-level content | Featuring 4K/60fps video and 48MP photos, Mavic Air 2 is the ideal creative tool for next-level content. Fly longer and see farther with a max flight time of 34 minutes and 1080p video transmission at distances up to 10km. Take advantage of 8K Hyperlapse, and a whole collection of intelligent modes to create stunning content. It's the next big thing in aerial content creation. With intelligent features like FocusTrack, SmartPhoto, and QuickShots, this hyper-intuitive drone puts cinematic masterpieces right at your fingertips.The big news in this update is the new larger imaging sensor on the drone's camera. The Mavic Air 2's camera ships with a half-inch sensor, up from the 1 2/3-inch sensor found in the previous model. That should mean better resolution and sharper images, especially because the output specs haven't changed much. The new camera is still outputting 12-megapixel stills, but now has a bigger sensor to fill that frame with more detail. There's also a new composite image option that joins together multiple single shots into a large, 48-megapixel image.At the heart of the Mavic Air 2 is Quad Bayer CMOS sensor that’s capable of recording 4K video at up to 60 frames per second (fps) with a 120Mbps data rate. When dropped down to 4K/30p, the Mavic Air 2 can record HDR video while a slow-motion mode can max out at 240 fps when shooting at 1080p. DJI has also included a new Hyperlapse feature that will result in 8K video.DJI announced an update to its popular Mavic Air quadcopter today. The Mavic Air 2 will cost $799 when it ships to US buyers in late May. | |
JoJo’s legendary energetic DJ sets | JoJo De Freq’s DJing career has taken her across the globe from Manchester to Moscow, Brazil to Berlin and beyond. She has played the smallest of sweaty underground venues to events of 5000 people at FIB in Benicassim. An unknown girl, a music obsessive from Vancouver, who worked behind a counter in a record shop who relocated to London and became an internationally in demand DJ in just one year.
JoJo first arrived in London January 2001, to begin the new millennium. Her night Nag Nag Nag, a Wednesday night weekly, heralded one of London’s most seminal electronic scenes since the days of acid house. As one of the founders of Nag Nag Nag, she hosted the capitals electro explosion, a place where it wasn’t always clear who was gay or who was straight, where art students rubbed shoulders with celebrities and JoJo’s legendary energetic DJ sets were the soundtrack to the dance floor’s fervour and an amped-up euphoric atmosphere. JoJo remained the weekly resident there until the clubs closing in 2008 (RIP).It was in 2003 that JoJo caught the attention of Bugged Out, one of the UK’s longest running most respected club nights, well known for breaking up-‐and coming artists and booking some of techno’s biggest and best names.
She was approached to become resident at their influential monthly night, held at The End club in London. It was here that she was able to play to a wider audience and expand her sound in a larger venue. JoJo became renowned for her skilful taste, making three hour closing sets where she explored a deeper more psychedelic sound.
In the pre YouTube days of heavy manuals, expensive hardware, and long hours of trial and error, JoJo had quietly been building a home studio setup and teaching herself to produce music for several years. She finally made her first release ‘Make Some Noise’ on Bugged Out Recordings in 2005 to critical acclaim. Shortly after, JoJo was asked by friend and mentor Miss Kittin to remix ‘Kittin is High’ the resulting ‘Beauty is Terror Remix’ was an underground hit. She later went on to remix one of her favourite acts Man Like Me (before you found them in the kitchen at parties!).
In 2007, at a time when the physical sales of music were at a sudden decline and the record industry was looking to new ways to distribute music digitally JoJo launched Mythic Records, a download-only label. Through Mythic she released three double-sided originals ‘Saturn Returns’, ‘Feel Your Mind’ and ‘Welcome to Dalston’. The logo featured an iconic unicorn and the sound referenced early 90’s techno and house, hence the name Mythic. On these releases JoJo was responsible for every level of the production process, from writing and recording her own vocals to mixing and mastering. | |
Art is the frontend, and DeFi is the backend. | An NFT marketplace where artists digitally sign, verify and use their own unique minting contracts? What if every artist has their own minting contract?We're a DAO network of designers, visual storytellers, NFT collectors, artists, and web3 devs. We're using a creator-owned NFT minting smart contract, allowing creators and DAOs to become their own platform where Artists and collectors alike can mint, collect, and sell rare digital art. The idea is to create a project more ambitious than any single artist could do on their own. Artists receive a percentage of sales based on the art they contribute. No platform should get in between members, artists, and collectors. How it startedWe have been exploring NFTs as early as 2017/2018, mainly to develop NFT royalties and the 1st NFT platform. This year we connected with Dimitri Daniloff, the master behind the Daft Punk artwork and the iconic Playstation ads. For over a decade, the award-winning photographer Dimitri Daniloff has been among the top 10 advertising photographers in the world. Around the Millenium, Dimitri Daniloff pioneered the switch from analog to digital. Some of the brands that bought his work are Absolut Vodka, Air France, Audi, Carlsberg, Land Rover, LG, Longchamp, Nike, and Sony Playstation.He represents the exact reason why we got excited about NFTs in the first place. He lost control over his images when David Bowie shared a remix in the media with no attribution. "I only found out recently that Bowie used the Daft Punk image in 2014, during the 2014 London Music Awards. I found it very flattering that people use my images all around because it means that they like them but I do not agree when it comes to what magazines do so without my agreement. When I discovered the Bowie story, I decided to mint them. NFT was the answer, a unique proof of authenticity and ownership. I will mint the entire Daft Punk series as NFT. So, copyrights in the art world are an issue and NFTs seem to solve it. I believe royalties in the secondary market is a great innovation in this respect from the previous art market where artists will get a percentage of the sales."Image: Dimitri DaniloffHow is it going?We are thrilled to announce that member Dimitri Daniloff has gifted us an iconic award-winning photo to add to the DAO vault. As soon as the image is minted and deployed on mainnet, it will serve as the access token to both our website and Discord server. Additionally, we are exploring the idea to add a special Vault (a sub-DAO) that will be “owning” rights for an artist. Important is the difference between an agent and the DAO: An agent is looking for new jobs for the artist, while the DAO will only concentrate on monetizing the existing work in the DAO collections with the ability to organize online exhibitions (in the metaverse), printing T-shirts, posters, limited edition books, etc. The artist gives full power to this sub-DAO through a minion smart contract. The DAO uses its network to generate on-chain revenue and its primary goal is to make the artist's life easier so he can focus on creating. This experiment is an attempt to bootstrap a treasury that can be used by the DAO for the creation of long-term value and can be further developed with other art curated by the community, especially art from under-represented artists.Proof of EngagementNFT drops are inverting the venture model and becoming better versions of fair launches. Drop NFTs to early adopters (discord snapshots). Raise capital via auctions, and build products and services with and for the community. This will be an invitation-only DAO at the early stages to reward active members of our Discord. We have been tracking engagement the past few months to form a genesis squad to shape the project before we go public. Join our Discord. What is still needed?The DAO has the ambition to use the NFT bank feature of DAOhaus to create, curate, and collect iconic NFTs and represents our fire to empower artists by leveraging smart contracts to mint NFTs with a focus on giving artists more control over the licensing terms. We are living the “cyber renaissance,” life, which is at the intersection of Defi, DAOs, and NFTs. The perfect environment for any community to thrive, rise to power, create value, and decide their faith together is distributing the voting power and governance rights amongst the artists and NFT holders themselves. Future goalsIt would be cool if royalties for secondary market sales were paid out to artists and all collectors of their work! Financially rewarding a creative's supporters gives them even more incentive to promote them and hold their tokens.Collecting NFTs with historical and intrinsic valueReleasing and selling NFTs that fund other DAO initiatives Projects and investments proposed by and voted through by DAO members.Launch of a unique avatar series with no roadmap.Rewarding a creative's supporters, add incentive to hold the NFTCollab with the Odyssey, BanklessDAO, DAOhaus, etcOur MVP🎉 150 screens in Figma, the frontend code is now ready (see below reactJS). GitHub - unbanksytv/shoyu: A gas-optimized NFT trading platform that supports NFT artists and collectors via a franchised store and personal gallery launchpadA gas-optimized NFT trading platform that supports NFT artists and collectors via a franchised store and personal gallery launchpad - GitHub - unbanksytv/shoyu: A gas-optimized NFT trading platform...GitHubunbanksytvAs fee revenues explode there will be pressure for more open community curation and community earning models. A decentralized OS run by a DAO with proper tokenomics incentives can return fees to NFT holders. We will focus on onboarding the artists that will make all the difference and focus on art curation, fractionalization, and custom minting contract types (split profits, generative collections, open editions, the ability to set royalties on OS contracts, ...). We work on tokenomics that give higher rewards to both collectors and artists.As an owner of a custom collection as well as the creator, you can set your own commission rates when you sell. You can even create your custom smart contract. You can set your secondary sale fee since you are the owner of the smart contract.Our goal is to create a custom metaverse. We will invite 3D artists to create 3D destinations to empower our community to display their art and create our very own bit of the Cyberverse. LFG | |
The idea would never leave them. | Emmanuel and Maximilien Berque are twins. Born the 10th of January 1950 in Casablanca, five minutes apart. They spent the first 3 years of their lives in the mountains of the moroccan atlas, then 2 years in Egypt and 2 years in Lebanon.In 1957, at 7 years old, they return to Paris as their father Jacques Berque is named professor at the College of France. They have a lot of difficulty integrating as they are the odd ones out, while excelling at gymnastics, drawing and music.At the age of 12 they developed an interest in photography. And, they develop a real passion for the design and construction of boat and plane prototypes.Before long, the results came, and all of a sudden they were high level students obtaining many rewards, mainly in Mathematics and Physics. Maybe a reaction against their father and brother or sisters, to their taste, too literary.In 1968 and 1969 they successfully and easily pass their secondary exams in science. Maximilien goes into Superior Mathematics, then studies cinema while Emmanuel continues science at the university of Orsay before continuing in Oenology in Bordeaux.Choice of life...A rapid decrease of interest in their studies become apparent as their thirst of the liberty to travel and surf grew. They discovered the surfers life in 1964, and are the pioneers at Contis Plage where their family has an ancestral house. This allows them to devote themselves to the joys of the Sea-Sex-and-Surf movement, just like the Californian hippies. Whereas Maximilien works on television reporting, Emmanuel becomes an oenologue in Corsica.Photos: Emmanuel and Maximilien BerqueLater on, Maximilien becomes a professional deep sea diver for COMEX in the north sea. He was selected for the world record Janus IV at 510 meters but left the company in 1976 disliking the idea of "human guinea pigs".The two brothers subsequently discover the, (at that time new) practice of sport catamaran sailing and continued surfing most of the time. One day they decide to try and make their fortune in Saudi Arabia by leaving from Marseille with a friends’ sailing boat for Djedda. To make this possible they learn astronomical navigation over a few weeks and become rather obsessed by it. Unfortunately the voyage has a tragic ending when the boat is destroyed during a cyclone in the Red Sea.Around 1978 they are the first surf photographer journalists in France, revealing their beach-boy adventures.In 1979, to make a film, they attempt to gain sponsorship for the first crossing of the Atlantic with a Hobie-Cat 18, eight years before Laurent Bourgnon managed to do it. Unfortunately, the American manufacturer refused to lend them the boat reasoning that it was too risky.The idea would never leave them.Liberty and wave waiting, not being big bread winners, pushed them into a life of surfing hermits until 1983. To rise from their misery they decide to make a film. A film of adventure, of a real adventure. They who had never been to America, decide to cross the ocean on an unreasonable contraption. The ocean would be the scenery, the film in real time would be a «Happening».Instigating journeys...So they build a small 4m80 trimaran, traced by eye, without a plan, diagonally across the entrance of their old house and call it Micromegas in reference to Voltaire and his theory: the relativity of everything in existence.They do four instigating journeys and end up spending over a year in the elements, at 25cm from the water, on the 8m2 net of their tiny boat, which has no cabin for shelter, and looks more like a raft.Imprisoned in a storm in the Bay of Biscay, they surfed 8 meter waves and came back completely burnt by four days spent in the salty sea water. They make a short film that they never managed to sell.With a girlfriend from Berlin they arrive in the Canary Islands, very thinned down and completely broke.For a few years they abandon the idea of crossing the ocean and spend a couple of winters in Berlin rebuilding their spiritual and financial health and of course to spend the summer surfing.The mutineers of the sea...During the winter they worked a lot on analytical geometrics and conceive a totally original and personal boat design program. They go back to the manufacturing of surfboards and with their freshly recuperated motivation undertake the conception and construction of another and even smaller boat of 4m made of varnished wood equipped with ancient rigging…the Micromegas 2.It’s a genuine toy !In June 1995, after 37 days on their boat they reach Guadeloupe. They gain a certain success with the media and sell 13 pages in VSD (a weekly news magazine) and a documentary of their Atlantic crossing in 37 days entitled “ Les jumeaux de la mer” broadcasted on Canal+. They appear in the Guinness Book of Records and received numerous adventure awards including the one from the festival of Dijon, presented by “ The Guild of Raid and Adventure”. A prize also from The Festival of Adventure of Angles. Guy Drut, at that time the French Minister of Youth and Sport decorated them with a medal for their performance.Autoportrait / Photo: Emmanuel and Maximilien BerqueIn 1996 they continue and finally arrive in Miami, Florida. Considering they left from their south-western French beach, Contis, the journey represents 11000 Km. The whole voyage without motor, any electronics, life raft or distress beacon. The smallest sailing boat in the history of the Atlantic to succeed in this crossing without any assistance and without sponsors. In spite of the purity of their efforts the media, nevertheless loose interest and once arrived in the USA, broke and in total anonymity they abandon their boat against a quay. Working on some millionaires’ yachts they manage to pay their airfares and return to France in incomprehension and paranoia.They insist a great deal on the fact that their sailing boat is a real vessel opposed to a lot of floating apparatus exclusively consecrated to breaking records, incapable of manoeuvring, entering or exiting a port.In 2001 they publish with the editor Robert Laffont «Les mutins de la mer».Autoportrait / Photo: Emmanuel and Maximilien BerqueThe tribulations of two non-conformists searching for freedom, if it exists.With the royalties from their book they design and make [ Micromegas 3 ] in their attic. A small 300 Kg varnished wooden outrigger canoe with which they will once again cross the ocean, only this time without any instruments aboard! Meaning no compass, no watches or maps or any documents and of course no sextant. This means apart from food and water…nothing!Micromegas 3 / Contis Plage / Photo: Emmanuel and Maximilien BerqueSo in this way at 53 years old they want to try a truly archaic crossing, like the Maoris crossing the Pacific around the 5th century well before the Viking, Arab or any other navigators. For the love of the art of navigation, the purity of fraud less individual achievement, to return with beautiful images and a film, live something unique. If we ask them why they do it they simply reply: «It’s stronger than us !»If this story does not make you daydream, nothing will. For now, we highly recommend reading the book. We will soon follow up with an in-depth interview. Aloha.Update: We now published an uncut version of this incredible story. #longreadA 65-year long surfing adventure.It is funny to think that Laird Hamilton reinvented that type of surfing fifty years after. In 55, when the twins were only five years old, they had their first SUP surf experiences. I suggest we hear them out, it’s a story that reads like a movie script.LTL EditoYves Van den Meerssche | |
1984 De Tomaso Pantera GT5 | Ben Branch has had his work featured on CNN, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, and many more. He founded Silodrome in 2010, and his site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector. Photo: SilodromeThe De Tomaso Pantera is the blue-collar version of the Lambo Countach, with a mighty V8 designed to compete with the best from Ferrari and Lamborghini, but at ~50% of their sticker price. The GT5 has a sweeping wedge-shaped profile, big wings, flared wheel aches, and more horsepower than half a dozen family sedans. The surviving GT5 cars are the most desirable members of the Pantera family. Read more and above all enjoy the pure art project below. Check the credits!Directed by Victor VangerMusic : Scratch Massive ft. Koudlam « Waiting for a Sign »Cast : Roxane GlineurEditor : Vincent MarchandDirector of Photography : Sylvain FreyensVisual FX : c/o Mathematic.tvSound Design : Lorris GisanaSound Record : Philippe VandendriesscheSound Mix : Adrien SchockertAssistant Director : Manu KamandaCamera Operator : Patrick Otten SBCAerial Cinematographer : Mikko PaillotFocus Puller IT : Amaury DuquenneFocus Puller BE : Jean Van GutteSecond camera assistant : Florent FreyensClapper Loader : Katelijne LoixGaffer : Denis AntheunissensSpark : Florent BagardKey Grip : Benjamin SpeyerGrip : Lester OttenGrip : Hans ReynaertsGrip : Cyrille HermantStunt Coordinator : Loic SaintilanPilot : Florian SaintilanCamera Car : Laurent MulotVFX Supervisor : Nicolas JoyenSupervisor 2D: Maeva SolSFX IT : c/o CorridoriSFX BE : Marc StolzMake up : Léna DorynHairdresser : Oackland BreuerStylist : Jeffrey CameronSpaceship Designer : Frédéric PlatéusSet Dresser 1 : Manu BlumeSet Dresser 2 : Maude PietteLocation Manager : Matteo BertocchiRushman : Thomas Purcaro DecaroMechanic : Damien de FaysProducer : Victor VangerExecutive Producer : Giuseppe ContiAssistant Producer : Victor HeymansAssistant Producer : Antoine DesaintghislainCo-Producer : Caroline DiazCo-Producer : Mathematic.tvCo-producer : Peter Jan WillemsCo-Producer : Audrey LenchantinCamera / Light / Grip Rental : TranspagroupStudio / Camera Rental : BFC RentalLens Rental : TSF.beLight Rental BE : Eye-LiteLight / Grip Rental IT : CartocciHelicopter : ElissolaAerial Equipment : Horus-Aerial TeamStock : KodakFilm Process : Studio L’EquipeFilm Scan : FilmikVFX : Mathematic.tvEdit / Color Grading : Royal PostScouting : Scout ITThanks to Maud Geffray & Frédéric PlatéusProduced by Komatsu / Abyssal / Pantheon / Mathematic.tv / Ant Productions / Caroline Productions | |
Hobgood: A Sibling Rivalry | A cinematic tale of adventure, destiny, and family. The story of iconic professional surfers and identical twins CJ & Damien Hobgood. Their sibling rivalry and struggle to each establish their own identity fuelled their careers, but ripped their personal and peripheral relationships apart. Cover Image: nickpumphreyNarrated by the comedian Daniel Tosh (of Tosh.0 fame), the movie traces the personal, but mostly professional lives of identical twin brother surfing superstars, CJ and Damien Hobgood. Surfing since childhood, the two young men decide early on to make a go of it on the professional surfing circuit. However, they face an uphill battle hailing from the east coast (Satellite Beach, Florida), where the waves just aren’t as imposing and generally respected as those on the west coast. Nevertheless, the boys take their skills and pluck and quickly rocket to fame, in time achieving legendary surfer status.The brothers are fraternal on land, but fiercely competitive in the water. As fate would have it, CJ is the initial standout of the two, winning a coveted spot on the elite World Championship Tour. As CJ’s profile rises and he accumulates more and more accolades, Damien, a star surfer in his own right, frustratingly remains one step behind his (older) brother. Damien, it seems, is ordained to live a life of second-best, relegated to existence in his brother’s shadow. It’s not until much later in their careers when Damien is given the opportunity to shine. And shine he does, securing a long-awaited world championship and finally seeing his name etched alongside his brother’s in the pantheon of champion surfers.C.J. and Damien Hobgood worked hard on this movie project, but rather than another brand-funded surf flick, the brothers took the reigns themselves. Through the crowdfunding site Indiegogo, the Hobgoods offered perks, ranging from stickers and clothing to C.J.’s 2001 ASP World Title Trophy (yes, you read that right). They raised $80K. Six years in the making, and featuring cameos from countless top pros, the movie, quite literally, delivers the goods.The teaser for "And Two If By Sea". Directed by Justin Purser"There are some issues that we want to address. Being identical twins, and surfing and competing together our whole lives, it’s been like staring at a mirror, and I think that identity is something that everyone struggles with at some point in their lives. Being a twin makes that even more difficult, but without that struggle I don’t think we would have accomplished what we have. Now we’re on different paths for the first time in our lives and we’re wondering if that mirror is broken. Honestly, we don’t want this to be another surf movie. We want to tell a story, and we hope that people will be able to find parallels in their own lives."Watch on Apple TV, for only $4,99. geni.us/A2IBS / andtwoifbysea.comFanning and CJ. Photo: Trevor Moran / Red Bull"I went 6 years without a main sponsor and I saw a lot of friends lose jobs and sponsorships during that time. For whatever reason, our industry is starting to migrate away from the beach. And having seen that, I sat down with some friends in the beginning of the year and Salty Crew was born. We just felt there was a need, you know? Salty Crew is a movement to get back to the beach. To bring surfing back to the ocean." CJ HobgoodTHRILL SEEKERS AND RISK TAKERS. The story continues ...“Frontier” was a word that came up a lot while writing and filming the latest movie. A dated word that might invoke nostalgia. Where is the Frontier now? Some might say it's shrinking, or it’s gone. But the frontier is exactly what thrillseekers and risk takers need. Somewhere to test themselves. To see what they were made of. To grow. These days it might be harder to find. But it is still there, calling. It is up to each person to find their own frontier. Whether that is striking off into the unknown, paddling out to an unruly ocean, or just making a few casts after work. The frontier is the canvas that adventures are painted on. And it is the inspiration and the setting of this movie. | |
Z-FLEX and The Z-BOYS Reunion | A drought in 1970s Southern California has an unexpected side effect: as people empty their swimming pools, a group of teen surfers from the Dogtown area of Venice Beach move in with skateboards, and a new sport is born. Based on a true story, this film follows "Z-Boys" skate team members Stacy Peralta (John Robinson), Tony Alva (Victor Rasuk) and Jay Adams (Emile Hirsch), plus manager Skip Engblom (Heath Ledger), as their fearless "pool surfing" leads to fame, fortune -- and misfortune. | |
Wizard of all crafts and a mad hatter | This might get one wondering if he is a rocket scientist or just a character out of a Disney movie. Born and raised in Belgium but constantly on the move to find a new wave to surf. Besides being a rad fellow with a big, cheeky smile who likes to surf, he is a world class surfboard shaper. Building boards that look like they came straight out of the candy machine in your local supermarket. In all colours and shapes, symmetric or asymmetric. In every case these boards are as much of a piece of art to be gazed at on a wall as they are shreddable.Zeno Dockx / Cinematographer based in Belgium | |
The unfiltered life of Andy Irons | Assuming everybody has seen the movie at least 3 times, but I can't image not having an AI4EVER memo on the site. The image from the cover was shot by myself a few years ago, the painting started fading, but the magic moment of reflection we shared, on top of the Tower at J-Bay, will last for ever. #AI4EVER Bipolar disorder and opioid addiction as seen through the life of Andy, he struggled with the same demons that millions of people worldwide battle with daily. Many were unaware of his internal battles that led to his demise. The untold story of Andy’s life serves to tear down the myths associated with these two ferocious diseases.The intent of the film is to show the unfiltered life of Andy Irons, one that was filled with energy, passion, success, and challenges. Challenges that pushed Andy to the brink and were both the best parts of Andy and the hardest to handle. The unabashedly honest testimonials compel the story and reveal the very real side of Andy. This is not a film about surfing; this is a film about a person that lived life to its fullest at the top of his industry, but did so facing insurmountable internal challenges. This story is about everything that made Andy Irons the man he was.Teton Gravity Research is regarded as one of the premiere lifestyle and action sports brand in the world. Known for original, custom and branded content. TGR’s world-class storytelling has captivated audiences for more than 21 years. With 39 award-winning films, numerous television series, and national commercial spots TGR delivers a global, multi-channel footprint. Watch the film on Apple TV ($5) | |
Unifying two cultures worlds apart | After gathering all 700-something boards, they put them in a shipping container and sent them from Southern California to Cape Town. Teaming up with two non-profits, Surfers Not Street Children and Waves For Change, they were able to distribute the boards to communities in need not only throughout South Africa, but in other regions in Africa as well, including a program in Mozambique. The “Can’t Steal Our Vibe” documentary film follows the grassroots initiative unifying two cultures worlds apart through a common love of wave riding.Dane and Tanner Gudauskas, along with South African pro, Michael February, delivered surf equipment to the youngsters coming out of the poorest townships in the region and provide a positive outlet for them to overcome the adversities of poverty, violence and abuse. An adventure from San Clemente, California to Cape Town as the G-Boys and Michael February immerse themselves into the vibrant culture of South Africa in hopes of sparking the next generation of young surfers. Can’t Steal Our Vibe is available for Download on iTunes (USA, the link did not work down here in France, I can't find the full documentary in Europe)Proceeds from the sale of downloads go directly to the Waves For Change Foundation. Music: Original Soundtrack by Bermudas Sound Co.Ten days in South Africa, four retro twin fins shaped by Mikey February, one expression session on the world stage. "Road to the Highline," directed by Kai Neville documents a road-trip from Durban to Jeffreys Bay. It's about freedom, adventure and connection — to surfing heritage and those that have shaped it. | |
A prolific legacy of skate history | The old adage has never rung more true: legends never die. In memory of beloved Vans family member and skateboarding icon, Jeff Grosso, some of Jeff’s closest friends come together to celebrate his life during a virtual birthday gathering.Grosso leaves behind a prolific legacy of skateboarding history, having touched the lives of skaters of all ages and backgrounds with his cunning commentary, tenacious attitude, and enduring activism for preserving the core. Despite the era of social distancing, Vans brings us all together for this unique and truly special moment – a heartfelt ode to many lives lived by a passionate man who loved skateboarding more than anyone. Jeff Grosso, you are missed! Watch The Loveletters / Birthday Tribute on ZoomMusic Credits: “Dreaming” Performed by Blondie Courtesy of Capitol Records under license from Universal Music Enterprises Written by Deborah Harry & Chris Stein Published by Music of Windswept / BMG Monarch all rights administered by BMG Rights Management (US) LLC | |
The godfather of skateboarding. | No doubt, one of the few things I regret, is selling this oak, signed by Tony Alva, skateboard. It was used during the making of the "Lords of Dogtown" movie. I bought it during a visit to Cali, a trip that was a reflection of a missed opportunity to start my life over at the age of 12. Yeah, I know. LOL. At that time I was convinced I could and should go live in California to become a professional skater. I always felt like an outlier, people at school made fun of my weird skateboard shoes and my bubble consisted of a tiny crew that preferred riding the vert over anything else. Photo: Yves VdMWhat really kickstarted a life of riding boards, was a plastic narrow skateboard I got at the age of 7. With no friends to share the joy of flowing down the streets, I finally found a partner in crime, Hans Claessens, and I started sharing that board with him. A few years later later he got his first real skateboard, a Schmitt Stix ATV.1987 Schmitt Stix ATV / John "Tex" GibsonThe John "Tex" Gibson (Alva) model was my very own first real board, and all things Alva, still today, give me goose bumps. While the Z-Boys were basically surfers riding boards on the streets, for me it was the other way around, skate was the stepping stone to a surfer life. Unlike me, Hans never quit, and became an icon himself, and the rest as they say, is history. While I didn't dislike the "Lords of Dogtown", this new movie seems to be the real deal, the teaser gave me 100+ seconds of goose bumps. At 61-years-old Tony Alva, the oldest professional skater in the world, is considered by many to be the godfather of modern day skateboarding. Alva’s brand of aggression and bravado in the 70’s set the stage for the way skateboarding would be forever defined. Photos: VansVans’ The Tony Alva Story chronicles T.A.’s humble beginnings on the streets of Santa Monica to his rise to superstardom as part of the legendary Z-Boys, his inevitable drug-induced implosion and his ultimate rise from the ashes to accept his rightful place as a beacon of hope and inspiration for generations of skateboarders. Coming June 12th, 2020. Written & Directed by Rick Charnoski & Coan "Buddy" Nichols/Six Stair Productions Starring: Tony Alva, Jeff Grosso, Wynn Miller, Steve Olson, Shepard Fairy, Gus Van Sant, Josh Brolin, Jeff Ament, Glen E Friedman, Robert Trujillo, Brad Bowman, Pete Zehnder, Jeff Ho, Stacey Peralta, Elijah Berle and more. Music: Josh Landau, Eliminator | |
Good Vibes Ohmly | GVO is a membership community comprising of both digital and off-line benefits for members. It is important to note that we're not a currency or protocol. We are a membership community that leverages NFTs as proof of membership. Some NFTs’ main functions are to be digital art and look cool, some offer additional utility. Think of ours as a rare piece of art that can also act as a “membership” card that gets you to access GVO founders & members-only perks. | |
The untold story of dance music | In the documentary "The Sound of Belgium", the filmmakers explores the rich and untold story of Belgian electronic dance music. A production of Visualantics, produced by Steven Dhoedt and Gert van Berckelaer and written by Jozef Deville and Pablo Eekman.The movie takes a trip through time from the grand dance halls with Decap organs to the gold days of Popcorn. It covers cold Electronic Body Music and New Beat to Belgian House and Techno music. The film offers an alternative perspective while showcasing the country's unique popular music. Narrated by John Flanders, the film looks to understand the spirit of a nation, the historical driving force behind its dance movement, its music and the people who danced to it. Full Docu. | |
83,000 nautical miles. Living Life! | Brian and Karin Trautman have been living on a sailboat for 10 years, and their boat is set up so they can be off the grid in remote places for months at a time with solar and wind power providing electricity, a water maker that turns salt water into fresh water, multiple freezers and loads of storage space for food, and even a small washing machine on board! They've sailed SV Delos – a 53' sloop rig ketch – 83,000 nautical miles which is the equivalent of circling the earth at the equator more than 3 times. Their latest adventures include sailing as a family with their 6-month baby, Sierra, and outfitting the boat with a heater so they can explore the Arctic this summer after several years in the Tropics. SV Delos is one of the original YouTube sailing channels, they have uploaded over 200 episodes. They amassed over 360,000 subscribers and joined Patreon in 2016, today, they have 1700+ Patrons to pay for the costs of running the boat, fuel, food, diving equipment, video and camera gear. If you want to follow SV Delos, and support their amazing vlog-style documentary project: Instagram / Facebook / Youtube / Patreon | |
In the forested depths of Congo | If you think you're not affected by events that happen on the other side of the world or in a different continent, you're mistaken. We have to share this plant with animals that are often much like us. So what gives us the right to ignore their plight! If there were only 800 of your kind left, what would YOU do?In the forested depths of eastern Congo lies Virunga National Park, one of the most bio-diverse places in the world and home to the last of the mountain gorillas. In this wild, but enchanted environment, a small and embattled team of park rangers, led by chief warden Emmanuel de Merode - including an ex-child soldier turned ranger, a carer of orphan gorillas and a Belgian conservationist - protect this UNESCO world heritage site from armed militia, poachers and the dark forces struggling to control Congo's rich natural resources. virungamovie.comDirector: Orlando von EinsiedelProducers: Joanna Natasegara & Orlando von EinsiedelEditor: Masahiro HirakuboCinematography: Franklin Dow & Orlando von EinsiedelComposer: Patrick JonssonExecutive Producers: Jon Drever, Maxyne Franklin, Howard G. Buffett (CEO Howard G. Buffett Foundation) & Jess SearchPresented by:The Bertha Foundation, The BRITDOC Foundation and Violet FilmsA Grain Media filmCover Image: Michael Christopher Brown / michaelchristopherbrown.comInterview With Emmanuel de Merode, Director of Virunga National ParkBy Scott Ramsay, Love Wild Africa
Emmanuel de Merode has one of Africa’s most challenging jobs. As director of the 7,800-square-kilometer [3,000-square-mile, a little smaller than Delaware] Virunga National Park in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, he is responsible for the management of AfricaNational Geographic Society Newsroom | |
Grace coupled with tenacity | Lisa Andersen is one of surfing’s few transcendent stars. She is grace and beauty coupled with tenacity and fearlessness. A 4x world champ and inductee into the Surfer Hall of Fame, she is a true icon.She discovered surfing when she was 13, though it was not what her parents wanted. They felt the beach was dangerous. Lisa did nothing to ease their concerns and eventually wound up in juvenile hall. Her father smashed her surfboard, so Lisa hatched an escape plan. She decided to go to Huntington Beach, leaving a note behind that read, “Going to California to become world surfing champion.” She was homeless before being taken in by an abusive local. Unlucky in relationships, she was abused often, and had to runaway time and again. Especially when she felt trapped. In the water, she was something else, and surfed like a gorgeous disaster. But she could never quite put it all together, until career suicide presented itself. An unexpected pregnancy. Over objections, she decided to have the child and in so doing broke through and became a champ. Trouble follows Lisa on her human journey. Surf is a beautiful backdrop but the real story is the epic poem of her life. It is the story of a self-made, American woman. It is a story of today.vimeo.com/troublelisaandersenstory | |
Docu about Morocco’s surf culture | This journey introduces us to people and stories sharing one common thread: the genuine passion for the art of riding waves.A journey lived through Redouane’s surfing and through the words of pioneer Randolph Benzaquen and shapers Thierry Delbourg and Tarik Zrilida.Morocco has been, for the last half century, a mystical destination for generation of surfers. While in the last years mass surf tourism has exploded, small family businesses and passionate local surfers like the Regragui’s still embody the genuine essence of a young and vibrant surfing culture.Presented by The Surf TribeDirected by Gianluca FortunatoSounds:Armenian Dream - IntroBabylone - ZinaAssaf Ayalon - WordsNass El Ghiwane - Ah Ya OuineCarlos Maria Trindade & Nuno Canavarro - Blu TerraMaalem Mahmoud Guinia & Floating Points - Mimoum MarhabaRiccardo Marino - At Sunset | |
The ultimate sense of freedom | Kiteboarding is one of those disciplines that’s still young enough to be a novelty for many, while having now seen a few generations of riders and styles along the years.Eyeforce documents the life-changing stories of kite boarders from all walks of life. Presented by WeTransfer, in co-production with Red Bull Media House, this 4K film unites the legends, current champions and future talents of the sport into one cinematic experience. By chasing the toughest storms, riding the perfect waves or performing the most thrilling stunts, these athletes have found the key to the ultimate sense of freedom. Shot in breathtaking locations around the globe using state-of-the-art camera techniques, it shows how they experience the world, push the boundaries, but also witness the lows when they find their lives hanging by a thread.chapteronemovie.comPhotos: Red BullDirected by: Bob van de GrondeD.O.P. Arthur NeumeierProduced by: Bram van Vugt and Egon FeinerCamera: Stefan Jansen, Bas Koole, Phil Arntz, Michael Zomer, Dylan Boerstra, Kim Hoogervorst, Bob van de Gronde.Edit: Johannes de Jong, Dylan Haigh, Bob van de GrondeMusic: Yolanda be cool - A Baru in New York ft. Gurrumul (Flume remix)Photo: Red Bull | |
A Film about More Love with Carissa | In RISS, a new film directed by Peter Hamblin, Carissa Moore discusses her road to finding more comfort with herself, greater joy, and her fourth World Title.Moore became the youngest WSL champion at 18 in professional surfing history and a four-time world titleist however, following her third championship in 2015, success was met with challenging years ahead.Photos: Ben Thouard / Red BullReturning to her best form in 2019, Moore surfed to victory at J-Bay, Hossegor and Maui to win a memorable fourth World Surf League title after a four-year gap and also secured her place on the 2021 USA Olympic team.The 27-year-old revealed: "I've always been chasing results and other people's validation. In 2019, I was finally like, 'No, none of that matters. I'm a daughter, I'm a sister, I'm a friend and I'm a wife'. I hope this film is something positive that can be a nice escape for a little while from everything that's going on."Photo: Ben Thouard / Red BullDirector Peter Hamblin added: "My goal was to peel back layers and show the person behind the athlete. I wanted to show the depth of her personality."The film will be available on May 11th on Red Bull TV | |
Integrity is telling myself the truth | Honesty is telling the truth to other people. But this is a story I kept mostly to myself. For good reason. Integrity is about telling yourself the truth, and nothing matters more. To those reading, I am truly sorry. Please know this is not your fault. I want to thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for sharing the incredible journey. History is just journalism and you know how reliable that is. The "facts" below are just how I remember things, a series of events that shaped my perception of the world.1999. A life centred around surf, travel and photography.It all started in 1999, on a hot summer day, sharing a moment of clarity, with the love of my life. I felt like I wasted enough time at university and wanted to explore life in the real world of business. I felt like I found my purpose, at least in terms of what my "professional" life would look like. Joining the surf industry was not an ambition, it was simply the only thing I really wanted, everything else felt like a waste of precious time in a life that is by definition way too short. In my mind I was re-reading the "love letter" I wrote to every single surf company in the Benelux. I was sweating it. Mostly because we were on a bumpy road towards Cabarete, and the humidity was unlike anything I experienced before. I could smell freedom and adventure and while I still had doubts lingering in the back of my mind, my focus started to shift towards the direction of the wind. We“Silence becomes cowardice when occasion demands speaking out the whole truth and acting accordingly.” ― Gandhi | |
Machine guns pointed at surfers | Last week, a group of three surfers had snuck out to a peak that is a couple of clicks from a beach car park and thus only accessible through the forest, when a passing Gendarme patrol helicopter seemed to have spotted them and changed course.“As they sheltered behind their boards from all the sand and debris flying in their faces, the cops had machine guns pointed at them and instructed ‘Ne bougez pas!’ (Freeze!) over the heli’s speakers,” reported Paul Evans. “The bird then landed and made the arrests.”The French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced that all French beaches will remain shut until June 2nd, despite the national lockdown ending on May 11.It is unclear as to whether surfing will be allowed again from that point, but the community seems broadly optimistic after some six weeks of strict lockdown, that at least some of France’s famed civil liberties will be restored. Or at least, that they will no longer be pointing machine guns at surfers.Hashtags like #RendezNousNosPlages (give us back our beaches) are being used by mayors and local authorities in open defiance of the central government.From South Africa to Indonesia perfect waves are currently going unridden for the first time in 50-plus years. J-Bay is on lockdown. Surfers in LA are getting $1,000 fines. And in Costa Rica, cops are firing guns at surfers — well, at least one cop did.Enjoying the soothing images is not to downplay the underlying tragic aspect of the crise sanitaire (health crisis) as it’s known here, lost lives and livelihoods, but still, it’s a glimpse of what places like Biarritz & Bordeaux look like, in this new world. We are collectively living through the most harrowing crisis of our lifetime, and as it began to unfold, life came to a standstill. The impact of the coronavirus on the travel industry has already been stark: half the world’s population is under lockdown, while the number of flights worldwide has dropped from some 200,000 on February 21 to 64,000 on March 31, according to website FlightRadar 24.According to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), 96% of the world's destinations are currently impacted by travel restrictions and other lockdown measures. European Union Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton estimates the EU's tourism economy could drop by up to 70 per cent and that it should be first in line to be given recovery funds.Across the continent, tourism accounts for up to 27 million jobs, and the industry generated 400 billion euros last year alone, said the UNWTO's Risi."We’re talking about millions of jobs. This is not something that will go away. The social and developmental impact – if we go beyond Europe and look at so many countries across the world that have tourism as a lifeline – can be huge," he warned.France had 89.4 million foreign visitors in 2018 and tourism accounts for 8% of GDP. The government estimates that two million people work directly or indirectly in the travel industry.“It’s going to take so long for the demand to even come close to what it was,” says Rafat Ali, chief executive and founder of travel industry news publication Skift. As recently as two months ago, he says, Skift was reporting heavily on overtourism; now, its coverage has shifted dramatically, to tracking the rapidly changing milieu for airlines, hotels, and all facets of the travel industry.Ali is taking what he calls the long view, expecting air travel to return to early 2020 levels in five years, taking into account that the airline industry took three years to recover post-9/11, and two years to return to pre-2008 revenues after the recession.And in the short term, driveable local trips to vacation rentals can ease shell-shocked travelers back into adventure. | |
The Mirror House NFT Series | There have been several projects bridging the worlds of blockchain and real estate that make property transaction management, ownership, and liquidity ripe for disruption. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have recently taken the world of art by storm, and although slow to start, there are opportunities for tokenization in real estate. With Fairmint, engaged customers earn ownership in the companies they love & use to build wealth alongside them. Sophisticated investors invest in the private companies they believe in with a clear path to liquidity. Leveraging Defi, Fairmint unlocks secondary trading, lending, pooling, indexing… all natively available. NFTs with Defi mechanics?The RWA Market is the first diversified real-world asset market on the Aave Protocol, bridging DeFi to the infinite potential of the real world. Alchemix Self-Repaying Loans allow you to leverage a range of tokens without risk of liquidation. Imagine a world in which anyone could buy a house as an NFT, borrow against the NFT using decentralized finance “DeFi” products with high-yielding interest rates, and cut out intermediary banks altogether. In addition to many remaining legal challenges, there will also still be a need for property management companies to take care of maintenance, payments, and collection of rents.As an MVP, we might purchase some surf view plots, and install a couple of Mirror Houses with creative office spaces to let your inner artist escape into the sublime. The MVP © LTL/GVO Mirror Houses #snowvibesInteriors have a Scandi vibe with timber floors and ceiling, and adjustable heating and LED lighting. It also comes with custom-designed furniture, a BOSE sound system, a large touch screen, custom surfboards, electric bikes, and a Tesla.The MVP © LTL/GVO Mirror Houses #beachfrontThe size – 6mx3m – is limited, but the views and outdoor decks will make up for that. To add just enough of warmth to the modern reflecting design, the back wall is entirely out of wood.The MVP © LTL/GVO Mirror Houses #junglevibesFloor-to-ceiling glass walls are framed by the steel structure, covering the house on three sides, thus making it blend seamlessly into the surrounding environment. The MVP © LTL/GVO Mirror Houses #snowlifeThe LTL/GVO Mirror Houses are made from steel, insulated glass, and wood, and take less than eight hours to build. So, what's next you may ask? #countryvibes | |
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch | The Ocean Cleanup aims to develop a sustainable product made of the highest possible concentration of ocean plastic, with the objective of 100% of the plastic material being collected from the GPGP. "We are on a journey to repurpose this plastic. This will be the first batch that we recycle into a consumer product. We will start with sorting and cleaning the plastic, which will give us insight into the amount and quality of the plastic." We expect to be able to unveil the product in fall 2020. How much plastic did you collect? Today we are bringing sixty 1 m³ big bags onshore with the plastic we collected from the GPGP. Plastic that should be perceived as opportunistic by-catch of a system test that was not primarily aimed at optimization of plastic collection.Why ask for an upfront donation? Is it a down payment and, if so, what is the remaining cost to purchase the product? This is the start of the ‘Plastic Journey’ to repurpose the plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch to create unique products. In September 2020, we expect to have turned the recycled material into a product. At this time, we can unveil what this item is and provide full clarity on the quantity of the limited stock - this will also be the moment that supporters can purchase the actual product. The initial $50 donation will aid the Plastic Journey, where we transform trash into treasure using plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and will give supporters one of the first spots in line to access our premier products made of plastic from the ocean. Our aim is to show that this material has value, especially due to its unique characteristics and the story behind it. Since most people will never go to the GPGP, we can bring it to them; once the patch is cleaned, it will be a thing of the past, therefore, giving owners of the product a piece of history. This is something we have never done before, so we expect it to be challenging and our scope of work will be quite extended. All profits made from the sales of the product will be applied to fund our mission and help us remove even more plastic from the ocean. An added benefit of the donation is that supporters will have a front row seat to the entire journey with original content documenting the entire process, giving full transparency to the road in which we are embarking. Should donors choose not to buy the product, or perhaps they are unhappy with the final outcome, after having made a donation, they will be able to get a refund for this particular donation that is linked to reserving a spot for the early movers. Is The Ocean Cleanup becoming a commercial organization with this product addition? An important objective of repurposing the plastic into products, is to show the world that there’s value in the material that is now considered ‘trash’. As we had planned from the beginning of our program, we want to capture this value, to fund our mission to rid the world’s oceans of plastic. All margin we generate from the sales will go directly back into the organization. We are nonprofit – this will not change nor do we want it to change. We are also a project; therefore, we aim to make ourselves redundant - when the oceans are clean, we will no longer need to exist. Why is it important to certify the plastic? Transparency is a form of currency for The Ocean Cleanup. We believe that the more open we are about our work, the more trust our supporters have in us and our work. Since there is no internationally recognized standard to verify plastic sources or certify the subsequent products (yet there is a growing offer of products that state to be made with ‘ocean plastic’), we believe it is important to add this traceability to our product, hopefully leading the way for other organizations producing items from ocean-sourced materials. As a verification by a third-party specialist in our opinion is the only correct way to do this, we asked DNV GL to use their resources and expertise to create this standard. Who is DNV GL? DNV GL is the leading provider of risk management and quality assurance services to the maritime, oil and gas, and power and renewables industries. They are also global leaders in certifying management systems of companies across all types of industries, including healthcare, food and beverage, automotive and aerospace. How does this DNV GL standard work? The DNV GL standard is an Identity Preserved Model, which provides the highest level of traceability and transparency to any product. An IP model ensures that certified material from a certified site is kept separate from other sources. If used through the whole supply chain, it allows certified products to be uniquely traced through the production process from the source of the raw material in the ocean to the last point of transformation into a product. Will I get a certificate with my purchase? At this time and on this material, for technical reasons we will not be producing certificates, but the final product will have a stamp of verification from DNV GL. Will the standard be available for other products? The standard was not made for and does not belong to The Ocean Cleanup. The standard was developed by DNV GL utilizing the knowledge and experience that we, The Ocean Cleanup, have gained in our mission to rid the oceans of plastic. The standard can be followed by any company, regardless of their size, and for any product they wish to use it for. Is recycling into new products (that could end up in the environment again) the best solution? Would it not be better to turn it into a fuel, or bricks, or roads, or burn it? We want to give the plastic collected from the ocean a new life by recycling the waste and developing our own branded durable products with preselected partners. Our aim is to show that this material has value, especially due to its unique characteristics and the story behind it. Since most people will never go to the GPGP, we can bring it to them; once the patch is cleaned, it will be a thing of the past, therefore, giving owners of the product a piece of history. All proceeds from the sales of this product will fund continued cleanup operations and, based on our projections, we expect to be able to remove more plastic (in weight) out of the oceans with the funds received for the product, than what is actually processed into the product itself. From a feasibility standpoint, our objective is to valorize as much of the harvest as technically and commercially possible. The first step is to analyze the catch to understand the type and quality of the plastic. Based on our findings, we will seek the optimal application and way to process the material. Our goal is to have a ‘zero waste’ operation. Throughout this journey, we have and will only select the best technologies that help us achieve our goal of producing durable consumer products, with the least amount of negative environmental impact as possible. Our team has investigated several different types of recycling technologies to process the plastic from the ocean, including thermal recycling. We will partner with commercially operating companies with a proven track record and technologies on an industrial scale. Moreover, whatever product we create, we want to turn it into something that does not go back into the ocean, therefore all products will be designed to be recyclable. Boyan states that the trash you collected was tainted with different contaminants. How can you be sure that there is no health risk attached to this product? We have not yet differentiated the various types nor quality of the plastic that we collected from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch during Mission One. Some of the pieces might have been in the ocean for decades and may contain a variation of contaminants. With this knowledge in mind, a key step in the Plastic Journey is to do conduct all required regulatory testing, linked to the application of the material. If these tests and standards are met, the material is indeed safe for us to use. What will be the next steps with the collected material? Why do you ship this material over such long distances? The next step in the process will be sorting and processing the plastic. We will conduct this step in the Netherlands because, due to regulations, this was the optimal location for this step in the process. Following this, we will recycle the plastic, most likely with a European partner who can accommodate the uniqueness of the material. Despite many efforts, we were not able to find suitable recycling capacity for our material in North America, which logistically (and environmentally) would have been an easier choice. We are currently looking to offset our activities where we can and to have the most beneficial impact on the environment possible. Will System 002 be a larger version of System 001/B? Will it be the dimensions of Wilson, or (even) bigger? Yes, System 002 will be larger than System 001/B, the exact dimensions are yet to be confirmed as the ocean team is currently in the project definition phase for this new system. As they collate the learnings from both systems, they will assess these against the key performance indicators (KPIs) of our cleanup strategy to develop the design for System 002. We will share progress with our followers as we reach these milestones and have a better-defined scope for this fully operational system. Why is this taking so long? When will you be able to extract plastic on a large scale? The aim of these systems was to confirm the feasibility of our cleanup technology and to serve as a testbed to optimize our design thinking. As this is something that has never been done before, we have much to learn about our cleanup technology in its intended destination. As we conduct our tests, we must consider many factors as we do this, such as safety, weather, and environmental impact, and implement these learnings into our next system design. We have had challenges along the way, but these unscheduled learning opportunities have brought us further along in the development of our design. All learnings are applied with the aim of having the most efficient and effective cleanup operations.Support us | The Ocean CleanupThe Ocean Cleanup is a non-profit organization, fully reliant on corporate and private support. Help us clean the world’s oceans by donating here.The Ocean Cleanup | |
A 65-year long surfing adventure. | Born exactly at the same time in 1950, in Casablanca, Morocco, with just 10 minutes difference, Emmanuel et Maximilien, spend three happy years in this beautiful country, but don’t remember a lot, except for the exotic smells and the heat.Then, they left for two years to Egypt in Alexandria. They enjoyed the real Arabic desert and a few pyramids, and spent two more years in Lebanon where their father directed a research centre. They were living near Beirut, close to the mountains, in a beautiful village. Sometimes, they got to enjoy Saint Simon, the main beach of Beirut to have a swim. In those times, this town was rich and beautiful, even a lot better than Monte Carlo. The Mediterranean is not flat like everybody thinks. The local beach boys were playing on big hollow boards (something like 17’), made on frames and rib bands with plywood and painted canvas. They were surfing standing, with a double paddle. It was possible to surf with a friend or a girl. It is funny to think that Laird Hamilton reinvented that type of surfing fifty years after. In 55, when the twins were only five years old, they had their first surf experiences on what is now known as a SUP, a standup paddle board. The idea would never leave them.A truly archaic crossing, like the Maoris crossing the Pacific around the 5th century. For the love of the art of navigation, the purity of fraud less individual achievement, to return with beautiful images and a film. To live something unique.LTL EditoYves Van den MeersscheOur initial post was a good teaser, just to get some facts in a row, but there were a lot of missing pieces. Now we present the uncut story. It reads like a movie script!At seven, we came back to Paris because our father was nominated as Professor in the “ College de France”, ( The oldest college of the world, where the 40 “best” professors of France are teaching). Our come back to the civilisation was very tough, and we were the worst boys ever in school, except in design, music and gymnastics where we were the best ! Twins often have big problems in school...Very early, we loved to make things by hand. We have shaped our first sailing boat in a piece of oak at 8, and never bought a pre-shaped model in a box . We started photography on an old 6X9 bellows camera. Life in Paris, was a dream. As our grand mother was living on the coast, in Contis, the small village of our family, 50 miles north of Biarritz, we spent all our vacations (4 months) in her old house.Contis Plage. Photo: LiveTheLifeTVIn 1960, everybody was scared by the ocean, and the rips. The beach was like a beautiful desert. Our brother Augustin was friends with the two lifeguards who swam like dolphins in the big waves. He was 10 years older than us and inspired us, big time. The game was to swim outside and back to the shore, even in the rough seas. That's how we became very good swimmers. We bodysurfed, or we used a belly board made of curved plywood. But we never called it surfing. At 14, or something like that, in 1964, Augustin had bought an American book: “Men who ride mountains” with Bob Cooper and Midget Farelly, and discovered Greg Noll and Eddy Aikau in LIFE magazine. We learned the word “SURF”.In 1966 we saw “The Endless summer” on a big screen at “Les Champs Elysées” in Paris. We had a lot of books because of our father, and we read a lot, mostly about voyaging. We just adore adventure, famous explorers logbooks, Jules Vernes and Edgar Allan Poe! We were crazy about hand made powder, bombs and rockets, we just loved the fight between US and CCCP to go to the moon. One time, we nearly died in fire, because we had 2 lbs gun-powder in our pocket on our way to college, and it ignited! Since this day, we stopped to play with powder! We started making our own designed planes and boats, always dreaming of the ocean and the waves.In 1967 we saw a real surfboard for the first time. An old German friend, had bought a 10 footer Barland Rott moulded Malibu. He lent us his board and we became the first surfers at Contis. The leg rope did not yet exist and so we had to swim, a lot. Then in 1969, we shaped our first surfboards. In those times, the boards were pretty big and we decided to make short boards. 2m X 0,5m must be enough! Square tail, twin fin, round nose… Very thick, enormous boxy rails, very sharp down… Really good boards with no tail rocker, to be as fast as possible…At age 20, around 1970, we were the kings of the beach (which means kings of peanuts!), the courageous “Surfers”, different from anybody, and reading Surfer Magazine from time to time, the magazine was hard to find back then. Emmanuel was studying mathematics and physics, and Maximilien learned cinema, and later on, deep-sea diving. Emmanuel quit Paris to live in our little paradise, while Max was diving for oil in the North Sea. Photo: Emmanuel et Maximilien BerqueWe were not too bad looking and the early seventies were nice like a wet dream! After the pill and before aids! Living in a small garage under the dune, at a few meters from the beach, we founded our own surf club in 1973 called the “ Banzaï Pipeline” (we loved the style of Gerry Lopez) because we now had some friends surfing with us. We participated in our first French championships in 1975, but we disappeared in the first tour ! Our way of surfing was always to drop the biggest waves, not to make embroidery … It was the time of freedom, sex, music, surf and above all: never work in summer. Sometimes, we drove down to Hossegor to surf when it was too big and closing out at home. Max was selected to dive for the world record 1672’ (510 m) deep in open sea for COMEX (this record still stands today), breathing Heliox, a mixture of Helium and oxygen, and the pressure 25 time higher than in a tire! That means a lot of money! And so, he was crazy in big surf, always alone to try to go out when it was pumping. Being really good swimmers, we have saved at least 50 people, each! Anyway, by December 1976, Max quit the Comex with enough money to go surfing and he bought an old big van. The sea was huge and the wind was incredible strong during the next two weeks. Two big boats got shipwrecked in the same night on our local beach. Unbelievable ! They arrived only 0,5 mile from each other. One was a 70 000 ton tanker and the other a cargo ship, 400 feet long, stranded on the bottom of the dune, nearly dry ! It was too much ! Such an event only happens once in a lifetime! We had to go check it out! So, the next low tide, by night, we decided to go onboard to have fun. Once onboard we couldn’t believe our eyes. We thought we were allowed to take anything on a shipwreck, as in our adventure books! So, we took a ton of everything : 42000 Dunhill cigarettes, tonnes of food, butter, gorgonzola, rockets guns, 150 bottles of Cognac Remy Martin, and a lot more… But it was very difficult to carry all those goods over the dune in a force 10 wind, and we had unknowingly made a track in the sand. The police came, and caught us. Followed by a nice little “vacation” in jail and a lot of money to pay to the customs. On top of that, they found some friend's weed in our house, so we were also accused of dealing (impossible to say the truth, because of our sense of honour…) So, we got in trouble in our little village and lost our good reputation. We were no longer heroes of the beach, and sons of a famous professor.July 77, we already were something like 25 surfers all together, all very good friends, and the next surfer on the horizon immediately became our friend. We met 4 good surfers in an old yellow van stuffed with surf magazines. Two Aussies, Greg Taylor and Barry Mc Grath, and 2 pommies, Julian and Danny, all coming from Perth, and we invited them immediately to eat with us under the dune. They surfed a lot better than us, and had real nice boards shaped by Cole Adams. We became friends, although they did not speak a word in French and we started to learn English. They were a bit boring, completely crazy about Mark Richard and Ian Cairns (we were more into Hawaiians like Gerry Lopez, Reno Abellira, Rubbermann…), talking about the power of Hawaiian waves, and saying all the time that French surfers were so bad and our waves also... So we had a big void between us, although we were good mates, and we learned a lot...We know we had some huge waves in France, like 30’ or more, because we had always watched the sea with binoculars and big lenses, properly evaluating the distance of the break and the altitude of the eye … In September, we had such a marvellous big day in Hossegor and we went surfing the picture perfect "North outside Peak". It was really big, something like 20’ waves on the sets. On the top of the dune, it was impossible to see the horizon during the big sets… Nobody in the water… My brother and I paddled out first, with everybody staying on the beach, watching… We had a few vertical drops and we still remember how heavy it was, with bottom turns 30 yards after the drop. The thickness of the wave and the sound of the waves breaking were mind-blowing.We are French Cartesians, we admired the big waves riders, but we always thought if Hawaiians can surf big waves, so can we! To quote Larry Bertelmann: “Anything is possible !”Jean-Claude, a rich friend working in USA came with a Hobie 16 and we started having good fun sailing in the waves … In late November 77, we decided to go surfing to the Canary Islands. (Now known as the Hawaii of Europe)We took Greg, Barry, Julian and Danny with us and also two more French friends. So we were 8 in the van! The first day, we were so drunk that we nearly forgot our boards! We arrived in Cadiz and had a nice little surf near Trafalgar, waiting for the ferry. But somebody stole Julian’s board on the top of our van while we were eating. Bad vibes… We did discover Confital in Las Palmas, a real beauty with top to bottom crystal tubes, but too crowded for our taste. So we went to Tenerife, with its 12198 feet Volcano and good surf in Punta del Hidalgo on the north shore. It was uncrowded except for a few very good locals. Before surfing, my brother and I, went spearfishing and invited the locals to eat with us. So we never had problems with them… And they taught us to eat their traditional food, the “Gofio”, a pre-cooked corn, that you can mix with pretty much anything, milk, soup, wine, crushed bananas … It is very cheap and useful, perfect to keep you surfing the whole day long… We then drove to the South Shore, in Los Cristianos, a perfect left close to las americas and, and all had a great time in the touristy city, full of pretty German and Dutch birds… We had our camp in a desert, very close to the wave, between the old Canarian village and Las Americas. In this time, 100 surf-freaks were living there, all together, smoking hash and living in the dust during winter time… Alcala / K16. Photo: LiveTheLifeTV (2000)With Max, we were the first to surf Alcala, a little bay with his fantastic really powerful left hitting a 6 yards underwater vertical step (Anglos call this wave K16 now). Our pockets completely empty, we had a beautiful cutback 9 days on a ship back to France, incredibly cheap, aboard a banana cargo with the van on the deck.Then, everybody disappeared to get money somewhere… In 1978, we were so poor, Jean-Claude proposes us to make fortune in the Persian Gulf, working for Arabs. The job would be to start up a business exporting very nice tiles made in France. J-C was a super merchant, already working in Saoudi Arabia, and we trusted him.But here's the most interesting part: he bought a 33 feet sailing boat, and we had to get there by sailing his boat. During those days, there was no GPS and he wanted us to learn astronavigation, as we were really good in mathematics. We bought a book and learned to use a sextant, and all the resolutions of the terrible trigonometric formulas… Since those days, we became real astro-fanatics…After surfing all summer, we started the trip in September, from Marseille to the Red Sea, trough the Suez canal… A few months after, we started a company in Jeddah, but we had a lot of troubles with Jean-Claude. He was simply boring, too much into money… So we came back to Paris in a frizzing cold March, without a penny in the pocket. Max found a job as cameraman for a TV news channel, and I, started working in an iconic wine shop on the Champs-Elysées (I had learned oenology in Bordeaux to be closer to the surf). But very fast, we saw that it was impossible to stay in Paris, too far from the surf, and we decided to try to be surfer journalist and photographers.In 1979, there was not yet one surf magazine in France, and we tried to write for a windsurfing mag. We already had a good portfolio, and they accepted our first article. And so, we became the first surf journalist and photographers in France.Our way to speak about surfing was to talk about freedom, that surfing is cheap and for everybody, we wrote about surf trips and that the surfing way of life is the best… But we have made a mistake, we tried to make the photos only in France, to show to everybody how good and big it gets. For the magazine, we had the opportunity to try the first new Hobie 18 coming in Europe. We took it out into the waves. Since that day, we wanted to cross the ocean with this fantastic toy and we tried to be sponsored by Hobie Alter, but he refused… Our articles were simply talking about our own surfing adventures and trips, like those of Kevin Naughton and Craig Peterson… The magazine cut our story short, again, so we could not earn enough money to cover costs.At the same time, we were designers at Barland to shape new prototypes in windsurfing. The fashion was 12’ boards, horribly thick and heavy, and we decided immediately that the good size must be 8 to 9’ max, a surfing shape, to ride the waves, not only jump… A iconic French TV station showed interest and with some windsurf champs, we have covered the news, talking about these incredible fast boards. But one day, some Hawaiians (Mike Walze and others) came to Barland and said we were wrong. They made horrible jump boards with an enormous bump on a very wide square tail! Barland believed them because they were from Hawaii, and we, only Frogs…. It was so silly, we were incredibly disappointed and quit windsurfing and never saw Barland again …A good friend gave us a big US army tent (like in the movie M.A.S.H), and we lived on the top of the dune in Contis, 6 month long. Paradise! 100% surf and love…In September, Hossegor received all the best surfers of the World for the world amateur championship. We saw Terry Richardson, Mark Scott and Glen Rawlins but the best was the 14 years old flying Tom Curren! We tried to make a good reportage on it, but the mag chose to publish the shots from Sylvain Cazenave, documenting a big day in Waimea. We went to Tenerife again, driving our old 2 CV Citroen for 4 months to make yet another article, but the magazine cut our story short and disappointed us, yet again, so we quit. Contis Plage. Photos: LiveTheLifeTVNow we were living off nothing, just some very short, shitty jobs, and we decided to make a surfing school for the grommets, so we could still surf and make a bit of money. It was good, but we realised that it would produce too much surfers. So we stopped the school. During the cold winter of 1983, we were living in an old destroyed Mobil Home like poor freaks and real ascetics. We realised that we were very free, but our poorness destroyed this freedom, everybody was talking bad about us. A very paradoxical life, as everybody thought that we were very rich.We are now 33 years old and our brain started to run a lot, we were getting depressed... It cannot be enough for us to live like that! We can and must do something better! But we refused to take any more shitty jobs, just to survive. So, we decided to make a movie.Because the sea is our speciality, it would be a super adventure in the sea. A sea crossing on a canoe… And to be interesting, we had to do a crossing like nobody had done before! The smallest boat possible, but also without life raft, no distress beacon, no radio, like in the olden days! To earn a bit of money, we started to shape some surfboards, and at the same time, we started to built our boat in our old family-house... We designed the Micromegas 1 without any calculations, just drawing the lines on a 5mm plywood, like shaping. The 16’ boat would be very small, a sort of raft, with 3 square hulls, a flat bottom and a net between. 3 big guns. As simple as it gets! Just a surfboat to take on strong winds and surf the big waves on open sea. After only one month of work, the surfboat was nearly finished ! In march, we put the thing on the beach because we don’t have a port in Contis. Surfing all the time, living under the sky, we were black like Africans but also poor like them! We went fishing to have something to eat when the sea was not too rough. We had our first try sailing along the north coast of Spain, with a dog and 4 surfboards onboard, just in case… We decided to sail to the Canaries the following summer. After only 2 days, we had a big depression right in the middle of the Gulf of Biscay, with very strong winds like force 8 to 9 and have lost our tiller… It was hell! But we surfed a lot of big waves, trying to escape in front of the wind, each one of us with a paddle. 4 days later, we were back home in Contis, happy to be alive. We never slept and we were horribly burned by the salt water. Of course, we had missed our target, but it was simply fantastic. We never had such a big feeling in the heavy surf! And no crowd up there! We felt stronger and invulnerable, like after a primitive initiation !Finally, we succeeded to reach the Canaries 2 years later, with a beautiful German girl onboard. We explored the whole coastline, rock after rock, beach after beach, living one full year outside on the tiny net. The boat was quite okay, but we were too poor again and really famished. We decided to stop our adventure as our 8 mm camera was out of order and our brain was destroyed. We needed to have a real job and forget our dreams of sailing for a few years… We found a 6 months job in Berlin during winter, not very pleasant! But it was followed by 6 months of surfing in Contis during summer… During the winters, we always worked geometry, searching good lines to draw good rockers and templates, designing boats with a lot of geometry, programming on little pocket computers and dreaming about surfing and the sea…In 1987, Danny bought a Bar and we had a fantastic summer. We were a lot of surf mates and the beers flew by barrels… “It’s always six foot offshore in the bar” !!! We were completely crazy. No sleep and too much surf. Really tired. Max had an heart attack while surfing and nearly died on a perfect day. It was terrible. The docs said : “Now, you have to live like an old man, super slow…” Impossible to listen to that! No way! Without any medicine, 8 days after the hospital, Max was again in the waves, moving like a slow jelly fish… We both had a terrible winter, he could not sleep, feeling his heart hitting in his chest, with horrible nightmares of death… I was feeling his worries as well, as twins do.Those days, everybody had mostly 6’ boards. The next spring, we have made 2 big boards, a 8’6” for Max and a 9’ Malibu called “Moby dick” for me to go surfing again in a different way. More Zen, taking the power with you, never fighting against it… We started very progressive every day, and a few months we were again surfing 10 foot waves in the good conditions, taking advantage of a good channel to paddle out, taking all the big waves breaking on the outside. It took us at least 5 years to recover confidence and loose our fears …We tried again to write for the brand new French “Surf Session” magazine. We had enjoyed a surf trip in Morocco with all of our friends and made an article about it. And yet another surf trip, this time in Portugal, during spring, but the mag destroyed our writing. Since the beginning, we always thought that a surf mag must be interesting for any reader, not only surfers, to be open for everybody. That it must talk about geography, about the beauty of the world, something like National Geographic, but with the surfing way of life and point of view…After that article, we stopped writing. It was interesting perhaps to be the first journalists, but now with the surf fashion, it quickly became boring! They paid us not enough and very late, we decided never to work with the surf media again. Finally, a luck break. The government in France was now "left" and we suddenly received a little bit of state-money because we were sick. With this money, we tried again to be normal, studying computing to get a normal job. But the call of the sea was too strong. We still had the “Go for it” mentality, and the normal working life doesn’t satisfy us at all!At 42, we decided to chase our dreams, once again. Inspired by the famous Mickey Dora’s quote: “I have never worked in my life man!” and we were always thinking “We have only one life to live, we have to follow our dreams! Or life gets too boring to live, very quickly!” We did miss the crossing on a 16 footer, but we did not care much! This time, we will succeed on something even smaller!Since 10 years, we were working on our own program to design boats and boards. With this program, we needed only 2 minutes to draw a boat, with all the displacements, the areas, the volume calculations! We draw a 13’ 8” little dory with a Lug-Yawl rig to make it a real classic boat. It would be a wooden masterpiece, specially made to be different to all the other adventurers who crossed the ocean on horrible floating buoys to break records… And also to show to everybody that we can be good marine carpenters … The aesthetic is fundamental for a surfer! Two years after, Micromégas II was born in Barry Mc Grath’s garage , nice and perfect, shinning like a marvellous wooden toy ! Then we had a terrible first journey to the Canaries, caught by a big storm close to Madeira. In a force 8 consistent storm, with some sets 15’ to 20’ big, with 5’ white water on the top breaking … With such a small boat, you were of course very slow, and we had terrifying super late takeoffs. It was so vertical that sometimes, we started the drop without water under the nose of our ridiculous toy and rock into the vacuum! Without radio, life-raft, GPS, distress beacon, such type of surf gives you serious vibes!!! We missed reaching Madeira but went to Casablanca, and then Lanzarote a month later. Our good friend Greg Taylor was now working for Quiksilver and presented us in this company. Since this day, they helped us for our clothing. The company ROLEX gave us also 2 Submariners as a gift, with “Micromegas expedition” engraved on it… The biggest French TV came to make a movie about these 2 crazy twins, and after 37 days, we reached the West Indies. We came back to Paris to make a 13 pages in a big mag, and the cutting of our movie “Twins of the sea” with our rushes for an important TV channel. The money was not bad this time around… The year after, we continued the expedition, visiting the coast of 100 different islands, all the way to Miami. We had never been flying or sailing on a real boat to the US, except on our 14’ wooden lugger without electronics!!! So we had reached America like nobody has done before us, even the best pirates of the 17th century!We became quite famous in France, after many interviews for different TV and radios and we wrote a few more articles. We had the honour to be invited by Quiksilver for the Surfmaster festival in Biarritz. To show something of our work, we took a 17 ft wooden paddle board we had made. A pure masterpiece with 2500 copper nails on 25 frames, made with only 0.2” red cedar planks. A beauty! After staring 15 minutes at the thing, Greg Noll said to us : “You must never go to the water with it, just put it in a museum!”. Billy Hamilton also asked us to try our board and he said: “I promise, I don’t put wax on it !” We became good mates of Scott Dillon and Mark Cunningham who also tried the machine. A few days after, Midget Farelly and Mikey Dora came surfing with us in Contis and “The Cat” slept in our house…A few days later, our dad died and let us some little heritage. But money is not enough to be happy. We wanted to do better!We decided to cross the ocean like Phoenicians who sailed in the Mediterranean, 3000 years ago, or the Maoris in the Pacific, to understand more about seafarers and their antics.We heard about the experiments of the Hokulea in Hawaii, but we wanted to do better, on a smaller boat, without any trick and no escort boat… This time, we designed a very light 21’ wooden proa, with a beautiful old fashion rig, a lugger schooner, in reference of old sailors of Brittany. We built the beauty, it took us two years of hard work, and we wrote a book of our crossing called “The mutineers of the sea”. A famous editor in Paris, Robert Laffont published it.We became a lot more comfortable with our life. In the summer of 2002, we sailed to the Canaries to try our prototype with instruments. We had very bad seas along Portugal. One day, the wind was blowing, something like force 9, and we have had a rogue wave, so vertical that we nearly fell aside of the boat!End of march, in 2003, we took the big take off on our 600 pound outrigger. The target was a very small island (La Desirade, only 2 miles wide) and we had to sail through a big 3000 nautical-miles wide water-desert. We had no compass, no watch, no sextant, no GPS, no radio, no log, no map, no book, no cooker, no radio receiver or transmitter, no star guide, nothing onboard ! And no sponsor to stay pure without stickers! On board, 90 litters of water in bottles, 90 tins of sardines, 35 lbs of gofio, 13 lbs of milkpowder, 17 lbs of sugar and… 30 bottles of Tabasco! We took an Argos beacon, to study our track after the expedition. Although we had 20 cloudy days bearing only with the wind and the swell direction, we succeeded to land on La Desirade, just watching the sky by eye, after 27 days! We had some success in France, but really, not enough to pay all our expedition’s expenses. During 2 more years, we edited our new movie “Huis clos sous les étoiles” (“Inside Outside”). This movie won 5 big festivals and had success in San Francisco during the Ocean Festival, in Moscow and plenty of other places…By now, we were 57 years old and we had built yet another boat, a real wooden dory inspired by Grand Bank working boats for Cod-fishing. The flat bottom is just a 18’ rhinochaser… There is no deck to live outside under the sky, and film the sea, the winds and life onboard, all together that's 100% of our shoots! We will try again to cross north Atlantic, to meet a lot of new friends and shoot a new film.We are poor again, but still surfing, because that is our life. | |
The world’s largest living structure | “The Reef Beneath” follows professional freediver Kimi Werner as she meets up with surfers Belinda Baggs and Wayne Lynch for a sailing journey along the Great Barrier Reef. The reef is the world’s largest living structure and yet over half of its coral has been lost or damaged, mostly because of human impact. On their journey the three sailors witness how time is running out to save it."How can we let it be threatened by something as obviously dangerous as the Carmichael coal mine? Proposed by giant Indian resource company Adani and located adjacent to the reef on the Galilee Basin in central Queensland, it will be the largest coal mine in Australia, and one of the largest in the world. It is the first in a number of coal mines proposed for the area that would cover a surface area five times bigger than Sydney Harbor. All of that coal would be shipped out from the Point Abbott terminal straight through the Great Barrier Reef, ...""The benefits of the Carmichael mine to the country are negligible. Adani has exaggerated the number of potential jobs the mine will create. At most the figure is around 1,500 jobs, if the mine reaches full capacity over 60 years. Meanwhile, much of the revenue generated by this mine will be leaving the country and going into overseas tax havens. Adani has also been under serious criminal investigation in its home country of India for corruption and breaches of environmental guidelines. Countering this, tourism on the reef currently generates six billion dollars annually and employs around 70,000 people. For the sake of what I feel is political expediency it’s not necessary to mine up there. There are other ways to create jobs in Queensland."Full Story: patagonia.com/the-reef-beneath | |
Cost of living on a boat year-round. | There is nothing more enticing, disenchanting, and enslaving than the life at sea. It's impossible not to dream of selling it all and living on a boat, year-round. In theory, it sounds like an affordable way to live life as close as possible to the ocean, especially in areas where prices of real estate went through the roof. But I wonder, what if we turn this daydream into reality, how much would it actually cost?When a big ship and a small boat come together, you will see that the latter is happier than the former because it has much less problems!With real estate prices of tiny studio's in the South West of France starting around 100,000 euro, I started wondering how much boat this would buy. And more importantly, how much it would cost per year to own a 12 meter plus boat. There are a lot of mysterious things about boats, such as why anyone would get on one voluntarilyupdate: this post is 18 months old but being pushed back up, stay tunedBordeaux or Biarritz ?Bayonne’s port is mainly a commercial port, but there is a good marine for yachts because of its proximity with Biarritz. Access is safe and easy during any season through the south, with low winds. The port offers every possible service and includes repair facilities. North of Anglet, you will find beautiful sand beaches bordered by the very famous Landes pinewoods. More to the South, you can explore the breathtaking landscapes of the Basque Corniche.What about Port Medoc, near the stunning city of Bordeaux? On the seafront, just a few miles away, boaters will be able to discover the lighthouse of Cordouan (5 miles), La Rochelle (60 miles) or even Arcachon (70 miles). Inland waterways will allow to reach the city of Bordeaux and to explore the beauty of the estuary islands. On the landward side, Médoc port is situated near the state-owned forest of the Pointe de Grave, starting point of several bike paths.If you leave your boat in a marina, then rates vary, but should not exceed 2,000 euros for the year. Unlike the Mediterranean coast, the Atlantic coast is best suited for people looking for an adventure. The Atlantic coast doesn’t offer as many marinas and ports as the Côte d’Azur. Depending on the season, winds and tidal streams can be quite strong. The sailing season for Atlantic France goes from May to October. During the winter, winds are too strong and the temperature is too low. To dry dock your boat during winter, you should budget around 700 euro.Death and Taxes ?If the boat (regardless of country of registration) is kept by a french resident (regardless of nationality) in France then the yearly tax is due. The required equipment for French registration is not particularly onerous.French annual boat tax (DAFN)?274 € : 11-12 m458 € : 12-15 m886 € : 15 m +Reduction on the DAFN rates based on the age of the boat:33 % : 10 - 20 year old55 % : 20 - 25 year old80 % : 25 + year oldInsurance ?Your boat insurance becomes compulsory in most of the ports and marinas worldwide, especially because of legal liability. Therefore, it is important to subscribe at least to the minimum cover called "civil liability". Insurance companies in France generally base their rates on the value of the boat. The premium should be around 1% of the value of the boat. Maintenance?Budget 1,000 up to 4,000 a year for any unexpected maintenance costs that may come up. It's like a car, where you don’t spend anything for a while and then you spend a ton of money.Benefits ?Well, the total bill seems to be hovering around 500 euro per month. Pretty much the cost of water/electricity/tax/insurance and maintenance bills that come with owing a small apartment. However, take note, not all marinas allow full-time living, but most set aside roughly 10% of their slips for liveaboard residents. These slips are hard to come by. Aside from the the challenge of finding one in your destination city, liveaboards can pick up anchor and move whenever they want a change of scene. The benefits of living on a boat are all about freedom. We all know that's priceless.Bordeaux or Biarritz are places of dreaming, but they are not perfect to live year-round on a boat. In my mind French Polynesia is the ultimate place to do that. With real estate rocketing in cities like San Francisco and Vancouver, more and more people are ditching their pricey digs for a more adventurous lifestyle. Boat living tends to attract some interesting people: artists, musicians, engineers, surfers… Below are some numbers from a couple that ended up buying a pre-owned 40' Catalina cruiser for $150,000. They moved to San Diego, where the climate would be mild enough to live on the boat comfortably year round.How much would this cost in San Diego?In an average month, it costs them around $2,200 to live on the boat. By comparison, they would spend $2,500 to $3,000 to rent an apartment in a similar area of San Diego. (You could rent a huge villa for that money in the SW of France)Their largest expense is paying to keep the boat at a marina, which costs $1,050 a month, including the $250 "live aboard" fee. That covers utilities such as water and electricity, and also allows them to keep their cars in the parking lot, use the pool and laundry facilities, and receive mail and packages there. For $25, a pump-out boat empties their sewage tank, which usually needs to be done once a week. He maintains the boat's mechanical systems himself, but the couple hires a professional to wash and wax the boat's exterior once a month, which costs $80. Every six months, they pay a diver $50 to clean the bottom.Liveaboard boats can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $200,000. If you finance your boat, you will have monthly mortgage payments. Boat property taxes vary by location. E.g. Californians are assessed 1.1% of the vessels current value annually.Liveaboard insurance is more expensive than recreational boat insurance.$800 a year for liveaboard insurance (sailing in local waters)$1,800 a year for liveaboard insurance while cruising (sailing internationally)For liveaboard moorage you should expect to pay $550-750 a month.The bridge between the two hulls of a catamaran creates plenty of open airy living space up top with bunks down below in the hulls. You can expect near house-like amenities. However, they aren’t just expensive to purchase, they also take up twice the space and pay twice the rent and maintenance. ConclusionThe cost of the marina in San Diego is much higher compared to the South of France. But so are the house rental rates. For now, we"ll stick to living in our old house in France, but it's not gonna stop us from dreaming about a new chapter in Central America or French Polynesia. Maybe, one day, we'll be living that dream.Photos: Du Toit Yacht Design "The idea of making do with less is something that I hope we can take with us, wherever we go next," the couple said. "Even if it is a house."Oh, and in case you have the budget of a luxury home, we highly recommend a company we got to know through living seven years in South Africa. Designed by World Champion catamaran racer Phillip Berman and Award Winning naval architect Anton Du Toit, the Balance 482 is a brand new piece of art!!The Balance 526 was the first model designed by Du Toit Yacht Design, produced by Phil and manufactured by Nexus Yachts in St. Francis Bay, South Africa.Nexus Yachts, is run and operated by legendary South African professional surfer Jonathan Paarman, along with his brothers Roger and Mark."We have pre-sold the first 6 of the 482. Our boats take at least three times the labor of any boat made in Europe for size. The 482 is running about $400,000 less than a 526 and yet she carries most of the same equipment. A 482 built in France would have to cost considerably more to sustain the same hand crafted nature." What would be the ultimate surf charter yacht?South African builder Robertson and Caine offers specifically designed, award-winning catamarans. The Leopard Catamaran factory is located in Cape Town.Similar to real estate, it's all about location, location, location. As we said earlier, Central America, especially Costa Rica and Nicaragua, are on top of our list. To avoid the worry of buying a boat, there's always the opportunity to simply charter one.Booking: pete@playgrounds.cr / +506 8705-7638Captain Pete, the full time captain on PLAYGROUNDS, has over 15 years of experience navigating, fishing and surfing in the Costa Rica oceans and will give you an experience of a lifetime roaming the crystal-clear waters. A surf trip will take you to surf the best spots in Costa Rica, such as Ollie's point, Witches Rock, and the south of Nicaragua with more than 30 miles worth of surfing spots. | |
Summer, 1946. The Cousteau Story | Summer, 1946. The Cousteau family - Jacques, his wife Simone and their two children Philippe and Jean-Michel - live in their beautiful house by the Mediterranean sea. By day they dive, by night they watch the stars. It's paradise on earth. But Jacques is never content. He lives and breathes adventure and believes absolutely in the virtues of progress. With his invention, the aqualung, his recently acquired vessel the Calypso, and a crew of free-spirited adventurers he is ready to cross the world's oceans. Ten years later, back from boarding school, Philippe finds his father greatly altered – an international celebrity with megalomaniac dreams of grafting gills to humans and creating underwater cities. Jacques cannot see it yet, but Philippe already understands that progress and pollution have begun to lay waste to the marine world. Despite their mutual love and admiration, conflict between these two passionate men is inevitable. Starring Lambert Wilson as Jacques Cousteau, Audrey Tautou as Simone, and Pierre Niney as Jean-Michel, THE ODYSSEY is a visually spectacular film. | |
Longhaul travel can be tiresome | Who would have thought that over 3.9 billion people worldwide could be confined in their homes and that most long-haul transport could be frozen? The C19 lockdown is hitting the long-haul transportation industry pretty hard. In just a few weeks, the world’s busiest airlines have grounded nearly all the planes in their fleet. Even once lockdown and travel restrictions are lifted, the industry will suffer massively from the fear of a second pandemic peak. In this new reality, we will witness a dramatic restructuring of the long-haul transportation industry. This crisis will trigger a new wave of investment in the sustainable travel industry. The aviation industry will move towards a greener future by investing more in green synthetic fuels, liquid hydrogen, energy efficiency, and electric aviation. At least, we hope so.It was fantastic to be able to go on an overseas surf trip. A bit tiresome? Sure!There are plenty of ways to improve your situation, though. Here is some practical advice as to how to overcome the long haul blues. Maybe we will travel less, maybe we will travel differently, but we will not stay confined forever.You can skip everything below, if you get a Casey Style UpgradeSleeping tabletsThere are many kinds of sleeping tablets. The herbal type, the over the counter snoozers, the prescription-only types, and then the 'powerful' prescription-only types. Well, forget the herbals and the over-the counters. They don't work. If they did work then why would people pay doctors to get prescriptions? Well, maybe melatonin works, but more on that later.The prescription-only tablets are the way forward, something like Dormonoct. Puts you to sleep for a few hours and doesn't make you feel like a drugged elephant when you wake up. The strong prescription-only tablets work like a charm but do have a severe side-effect – deep-vein thrombosis.If you take a strong one and fall asleep on your arm or your hand, and stop blood flow, this can precipitate deep vein thrombosis - the formation of a blood clot in a deep vein - that can be fatal. So speak to your doctor and get some standard sleeping tablets. Wash them down with some fine Chianti.Bonus: Travel Pillow, Noise-cancellation earplugs & a good bookAlcoholEveryone tells you not to drink while flying. The alcohol at high altitudes makes you three times drunker and dehydrates you three times as much. I beg to differ. The booze is free, it relieves stress, it can help break the ice with people crammed in next to you. So have some of the free alcohol. A couple of Gin and Tonics, enjoy some fine red wine, have a couple of beers. It'll help you to sleep, but don't overdo it, because there's no dancefloor later.WaterPeople do say that you should drink loads and loads of water while travelling, but not everyone agrees. The best advice is to have some water with you at all times, especially if you're going to drink alcohol. You might wake up with a raging Brandy and Coke-induced thirst in the middle of the night, so it's good to have a bottle next to you when you fall asleep. There's really no need to down litres of the stuff though. Just drink what you need, and drink when you thirsty.FoodThe general consensus is to not eat while flying. The way around this is to have a good meal at the airport just before leaving, and have another good one when you arrive. Also sounds feasible. Aeroplane food often leads to constipation and worse.BathroomsIf you're usually a clockwork sort of person, long haul travel can quite easily mess with your movements. It's one of those things that you have to deal with, however. Here's how to deal with it. Wake up early and check out the toilets. Eventually, people will start moving about, and the older people will begin lining for the bathrooms with worried looks on their faces. This is your cue. Jump up and join the old people. Many will think that the queues will subside but they won't. The oldies take forever in the toilets doing their morning ablutions. Join them in the line. At least that way you're on the toilet program. You will be laughing eventually.ClothingPut some essential clothing items into your carry-on luggage. A few pairs of spare underpants, two tees, a pair of socks and a light tracksuit. A small bottle of cream in case you get a bit of a rash, and some roll-on deodorant.The clothing items will ensure that your flight is a lot more comfortable than those wearing jeans with big belts and belt buckles, and even more so those that might be wearing suits.The cream and deodorant will see you to the first place you can have a shower, and that's all you need when you get to your destination. A shower and some waves, and it'll all be fine. | |
The colorful story of Coco Ho | Her rich surfing family history, ups and downs on the Championship Tour, and everything in between. Including exclusive interviews with brother, Mason Ho, father, Michael Ho, and world champion surfers John John Florence and Stephanie Gilmore.Coco Ho comes from surfing royalty, but living off the cachet of her family name is not how Coco rolls. She’s confident in who she is as an individual, and she’s using her light to encourage others. From landing her first sponsorship at the age of eight to becoming the youngest female to qualify for the World Surf League Women’s World Tour at 17, Coco has deftly carved out a serious name for herself in the world of competitive surfing. That winning spirit exists in stark contrast to Coco’s insanely approachable and bubbly personality. Her larger-than-life social persona isn’t a front—she really is that Dope.Coco Ho is Hawaiian surfing royalty. She’s the daughter of pro surfing pioneer Michael Ho, the godfather off the North Shore surf scene on Oahu. During his illustrious 25-year career Michael won two Triple Crowns, appeared in five Pipe Masters finals (winning in 1982), eight Duke finals (winning in 1978 and ‘81) and finished No. 3 in the world. Her uncle Derek was the 1993 World Champion and a four-time Triple Crown winner. Yet it was Coco’s older brother Mason who coaxed her into the lineup when she was nine; he wanted a surf partner. It didn’t take much convincing, and she was soon joining him at amateur events all over the state. Competing or not, Coco is always found with a huge smile on her face. She’s a relentless seeker of fun who’s often described as a blonde bundle of joy, and her surfing matches her spirit. It’s fast paced, bright and bold. After a solid amateur career she joined the Championship Tour in 2009, won the Rip Curl Search event in Portugal, and nabbed the rookie of the year honor for finishing No. 4 in the world. While this is her tenth season on Tour, and her surfing has evolved dramatically, she’s yet to top that first go around, which is a testament to how competitive the women’s field is getting. Over the past eight years she’s appeared in three more finals, but fell short of victory in each. She’s had a tough time surviving the CT cut over the last four years, but has dominated Qualifying Series events to keep her spot on Tour intact. In 2017 alone she won three QS events in Portugal, Spain and Japan, giving her nine over the course of her career. Despite her big smile and her warm Aloha spirit, Coco is a scrapper. In a remarkable decade on the CT it wasn't until J-Bay in 2019 that she missed an event. That year was also the first time that Ho failed to make the cut.Coco Ho Talks About Her Journey Through Injury RehabCoco candidly opens up about what she learned from her first injury last year at the Waco wave pool.World Surf LeagueWSL | |
Sex in the city or Sex on the Beach | A Sex on the Beach is such a classic cocktail. Containing vodka, peach schnapps, orange juice, cranberry juice, and a somewhat funny name, but honestly, I much rather enjoy some good old Bordeaux wine. At the end of the lockdown, you start wondering if you should still stay inside or waste time watching Netflix while the rain is pouring down the streets of the Landes. Starting today, our bubble has expanded to 100km from our home in Europe's biggest forrest, so a trip to Paris to spice up my abandoned Instagram account is not yet on the maps ...Living in the city has its perks, no doubt. A small space, but a big public life, and access to areas full of vibrant culture and gastronomic delights. You have everything within easy access via public transportation, a short drive, or even walking distance. Whether you’re looking for a coffee shop, a delicatessen, or the best fish tacos in town, city dining has it all. You’ll typically find craft breweries and food trucks paired together for a cheap, delicious meal with your favorite local beer. Delivery service is also an added benefit, maybe that's what I missed most during this lockdown.“Paris is always a good idea,” declared Audrey Hepburn. I never expected Paris to be like a movie (like some starry eyed Americans), but a lot of people come here anticipating it to be a dream full of champagne, the Eiffel tower, pretty dresses, macarons, and romance. But living in Paris is not like visiting Paris. Paris is so instagrammable, but instagram isn’t always pretty behind the scenes. As the housing market is so tight, a filthy furnished apartment can be rented for an obscene amount of money because it’s a good neighborhood and an old building.Is COVID-19 the end of the city dream? If cities ebb, they will surely spring back to life in the future. Still, people born in Paris are increasingly likely to move away from the French capital, a new study reveals, with many opting to start a new life in the sunny south of France. At whatever age Parisians decide to leave their home, they are overwhelmingly choosing to ditch it for the sunnier climes of southern France. The Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in the south west of France drew 14 percent of Parisians moving away from the capital.The word “Aquitaine” is of Latin origin and means “land of water”. The ocean, countless lakes and three huge rivers tell us that the Romans’ impression of the region is equally valid today. With its long and rich history, many will be familiar with place names such as Biarritz, St.Emilion and Arcachon, or have probably consumed its iconic wines, Margaux, St. Julien, St Estephe and Pauillac.Aquitaine offers a magic lifestyle and great value for money in terms of surf real estate. It has an abundance of varied landscapes and natural spaces such as mountains, lakes, forests and an amazing coastline of long sandy beaches. The sunny and temperate climate also makes the area a favourite for those who want to live a more tranquil lifestyle surrounded by the beauty of such natural diversity.The Landes is particularly well known for its forest, la Forêt des Landes, which is the largest forest in Europe and covers 67% of the area. It also has miles of beaches, which have been safeguarded from excessive development and as such are great favourites for summer tourism as they offer superb surfing conditions. As a general rule, prices are higher the closer you get to the coast and around the main urban hubs, and start to taper down as you move slightly inland. 100K to 250K gets you a small studio near the beach. 250K+ gets you a renovators dream slightly inland and you should expect to pay 500K+ for a small sized house near the beach. Prime location, surf villas, start from 750K up to a couple million euros. | |
Truly the golden age of surfing | Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, Shane Dorian, Taylor Knox, Kalani Robb, Benji Weatherly, Ross Williams, Pat O'Connell and Taylor Steele are the Momentum Generation. In the 1960s, surfing in America was known primarily as a California- and Hawaii-based phenomenon associated with surf instrumentals and Beach Boys songs. In films, it was a vehicle to infuse all-American romantic comedies with action or zany antics. Although equipment and skills evolved, the public’s perception of surfing as a novelty sport remained constant until the 1990s, when a group of punk rock-loving teens, many from troubled homes and backgrounds, found its way to a house on the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii, in the process changing their lives and the sport itself.After relocating to Oahu, the young surfers courageously followed each other into Mother Nature’s most dangerous waves. When some of them didn’t make it back to shore, they found a way to mourn together – and adapt. Fuelled by camaraderie and a deep-seated competitiveness, the tight-knit crew became known as the “Momentum Generation” after being featured in Taylor Steele’s groundbreaking films. Its members went on to win world titles, break records and redefine the world’s perception of the surfer, youth culture and what it means to be free.The Momentum FilesThirty years of surfing evolution, all in one channel. In 1992, high school senior Taylor Steele released his VHS surf movie, MOMENTUM, featuring an up and c...YouTube | |
Living it up, all the way down | Bunker77 is the wild true story of a young American rebel seeking freedom, love, and authenticity in a chaotic world. Bunker Spreckels, Clark Gable's stepson and heir to a sugar fortune, turned his back on expectations and grew into a controversial surf star who expressed complete originality, like a cross between James Dean and Andy Warhol. He danced on the sea like no one else even as his mysterious and surreal persona exploded to consume him.Bunker survived off the jungle while pushing the limits of Hawaii’s most dangerous waves, raced across remote Africa in a Mercedes waving cash and a handgun on a pioneering expedition to J-Bay, and churned his way through a Los Angeles filled with passion, decadence, and reckless experimentation. While Bunker mentored skateboard legend Tony Alva to his world championship and dove headlong into collaborations with film auteur Kenneth Anger, his dynamic life blazed to uncontainable proportions.Photos: Art Brewer“Using never-before-seen footage from famed surf photographer Art Brewer taken during Spreckels’ last years, Takuji Masuda tells the story of the young wave rider while trying to put his extravagance in its proper cultural context.”Photos: Art BrewerTakuji Masuda’s captivating documentary traces the steep arc of enigmatic ’70s surf punk. Buy the movie at Vimeo. Currently available on Amazon Prime and iTunes.Amazon.com: Watch Bunker77 | Prime VideoBunker Spreckels, Clark Gable’s stepson and heir to a sugar fortune, turned his back on expectations and grew into a controversial surf star who expressed complete originality, like a cross between James Dean and Andy Warhol. He danced on the sea like no one else even as his mysterious and surreal p…Prime Video | |
Standing eight to 10 hours a day | In the early ‘70s, a young lady in Hawaii was interested in photographing surf. It took handshakes with the right people, the perfect lens, a sharp eye, the right moment, good timing, a lot of running around and a little luck to be that young lady. Shirley Rogers would be the first to tell you so. She was that young lady. She said, “It wasn’t easy, but it was fun. I was the only girl doing it at the time. When I moved to the North Shore in 1971, there were very few women living out there. It was like the Wild West, and even being local didn’t help – my first Nikon setup was stolen from my house!" Being a local, female surf photographer in those days offered Rogers a little advantage when it came to behind-the-scenes access: “The boys were more open and available to ham it up for me,” she recalls. “I was able to get some really great candid shots of them.” But scoring action shots from the beach was intensely competitive. She had to prove she was serious about it. Standing eight to 10 hours a day in the hot sun and dragging 50 pounds of camera equipment, tripods, and lenses through the soft sand for miles earned. Even more so when her pictures were published in the magazines. By the mid ’70s, the entire professional surf world descended upon the Seven Mile Miracle every winter like clockwork, and it was impossible to miss her behind a massive lens. Her colleagues used to joke with her that were more shots of her in the magazines than by her. Certainly, she was an unusual presence on the beach in the 1970s, the best woman surf photographer within that pivotal era. But despite her work being published throughout the 70s and 80s, and her name being listed on the Surfing masthead for years under contributing photographers, little is known of her. As a girl, she took classes and won a national award for her work. Shortly after high school, her parents decided to move back to Texas but Shirley wasn’t coming with. She was best friends with Jeff Hakman’s girlfriend, so after high school they all moved in together on the North Shore and she started to shoot surfing.“I dunno, I lived on the North Shore, spent all my time on the beach, I already had a camera, so I figured, what the hell.” It was during a massive day at Waimea Bay that Jack McCoy and Dick Hoole were shooting from the water for their forthcoming film, Tubular Swells. They wanted another angle for the new Aussie surf magazine Backdoor. They handed Shirley a 650 Century long-lens and Shirley was hooked.They handed Shirley Rogers, a young woman from Ewa Beach barely out of high school, a Century 650mm lens and asked if she could help. A 650mm Century is no easy piece of equipment. Originally designed for Hollywood cinematography, it was paired with slow high-resolution slide film. This required tedious framing skills, not to mention the ability to pull focus while panning on a moving surfer, but Shirley learned and began submitting her work.“The thing I remember most was how quick to learn she was, and how soon she was taking great photos that were published not long after she started, which was saying something,” said McCoy. It was a real art to learn to follow focus manually to get a sharp shot. If it wasn’t crystal, absolute, frozen-water sharp…the mags wouldn’t use it.While she kept to the beach, she’d take notes from photographers like Dan Merkel and Brian Bielmann, describing Colonel Albert Benson to be particularly helpful. Besides shooting the rising stars of the time like Shaun Tomson, Gerry Lopez, and Rory Russell, she brought lesser-known, local heroes into the spotlight like Marvin Foster and Louis Ferreira. She also quickly realized what every successful surf photographer eventually discovers—that in this field of the craft, no matter what art school you graduated from, your relationships with the talent trumps everything. The surfers have to like you, never the other way around.With stories to tell, she mentions several - like the time Jeff Hakman came home one day with Quiksilver’s first prototype.“‘They’re called boardshorts,’ he told he. They just looked like swim trunks to Shirley, but that’s how they were marketing them in Australia. She's still kicking herself for missing out on that deal. Also, Da Hui started in her kitchen, but that's another story.Text: John Prickitt |
Subsets and Splits